The early days of December would not be high on my list of recommended times to visit Lithuania, the weather often dire, the country usually fairly devoid of birds - summer and autumn birds gone, the crisp snows and occasional winter specials yet to arrive.
However, with a bevy of woodpeckers dripping off every other branch around my feeders in Labanoras the day before, surely I could find at least a few of them to keep Birdforum member Mark Hows happy for the day, a visiting birder usually resident in the woodpecker-starved nation of ye olde Great Britain.
So off we went, departing Vilnius pre-dawn, temperatures just below freezing. Arrived at Labanoras with the light still poor. Great Spotted Woodpeckers on the feeders, Willow Tits now numbering three (Marsh Tits more common). I proposed a quick walk before settling in the cabin, a wander to some choice areas - this turned out to be quite a good move, White-backed Woodpecker found quite quickly, relatively brief views also of a distant Black Woodpecker and the Three-toed Woodpecker that had arrived on my land one week earlier (a rare species, only my third record on my land). Not a bad start.
Back at the cabin however, after an initial half hour of relative calm, during which the highlight was a Black Woodpecker dropping onto a tree just outside the door, things were about to go ballistic!
In a manic 45 minutes, a male White-backed Woodpecker kicked off the action flopping down onto the nearest feeder, almost immediately followed by another, this time a female. Battles with a bolshy Great Spotted Woodpecker then began, repeated chases back and fro, other Great Spots arriving, then a third White-backed Woodpecker, another female! Ooo, nice. A Middle Spotted Woodpecker flitted in, then almost immediately out. The status quo at this point: centre feeder, White-backed Woodpecker; left feeder, White-backed Woodpecker. Out back, one or two Great Spots on trunks, the third White-backed on a distant tree. Things were getting a bit crazy now, in from the right, amongst umpteen Great Tits, Nuthatches and assorted Marsh and Willow Tits, one male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker! Straight onto one of the trees with a feeder he went, the little fella was almost nose to nose with one of the feeding White-backed Woodpeckers!
Commotion just beyond, a woodpecker swooping to momentarily displace the White-backed Woodpecker. Stone me, it was the Three-toed Woodpecker arriving, almost never have I seen this species in this part of the forest! From the open door of my cabin, a truly remarkable collection of birds gathering in front! And then it got one better - plonking itself on a trunk directly above a feeder, then edging its way down, a Grey-headed Woodpecker - not the female seen the day before, but a newly arrived male.
And so continued the woodpecker frenzy for another half an hour, Middle Spotted Woodpeckers putting in only brief appearances, but the rest truly doing the business, White-backs almost contantly present, the Three-toed staying for about 20 minutes. And to top the lot, in hopped my pride and joy, one of the recently arrived Red Squirrels!
Doorway delights! Getting all seven woodpecker species is a rare event indeed, to get all seven without even stepping out from the cabin door is a treat I honestly did not expect for my visitor from the UK, a good day indeed.
For desserts, after a bunch of Roe Deer prancing across my meadows, we then happened upon a flock of about 150 Waxwings in a nearby town, before driving off into Middle Lithuania to shiver as cold winds buffeted our back while we watched a herd of about 50 European Bison grazing in fields adjacent to forest. A long drive north produced almost zilch else, one Great Grey Shrike, one Rough-legged Buzzard and a sunset marked by more Waxwings. Night adventures flopped, a long drive through forests producing only a Brown Hare.
However, with a bevy of woodpeckers dripping off every other branch around my feeders in Labanoras the day before, surely I could find at least a few of them to keep Birdforum member Mark Hows happy for the day, a visiting birder usually resident in the woodpecker-starved nation of ye olde Great Britain.
So off we went, departing Vilnius pre-dawn, temperatures just below freezing. Arrived at Labanoras with the light still poor. Great Spotted Woodpeckers on the feeders, Willow Tits now numbering three (Marsh Tits more common). I proposed a quick walk before settling in the cabin, a wander to some choice areas - this turned out to be quite a good move, White-backed Woodpecker found quite quickly, relatively brief views also of a distant Black Woodpecker and the Three-toed Woodpecker that had arrived on my land one week earlier (a rare species, only my third record on my land). Not a bad start.
Back at the cabin however, after an initial half hour of relative calm, during which the highlight was a Black Woodpecker dropping onto a tree just outside the door, things were about to go ballistic!
In a manic 45 minutes, a male White-backed Woodpecker kicked off the action flopping down onto the nearest feeder, almost immediately followed by another, this time a female. Battles with a bolshy Great Spotted Woodpecker then began, repeated chases back and fro, other Great Spots arriving, then a third White-backed Woodpecker, another female! Ooo, nice. A Middle Spotted Woodpecker flitted in, then almost immediately out. The status quo at this point: centre feeder, White-backed Woodpecker; left feeder, White-backed Woodpecker. Out back, one or two Great Spots on trunks, the third White-backed on a distant tree. Things were getting a bit crazy now, in from the right, amongst umpteen Great Tits, Nuthatches and assorted Marsh and Willow Tits, one male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker! Straight onto one of the trees with a feeder he went, the little fella was almost nose to nose with one of the feeding White-backed Woodpeckers!
Commotion just beyond, a woodpecker swooping to momentarily displace the White-backed Woodpecker. Stone me, it was the Three-toed Woodpecker arriving, almost never have I seen this species in this part of the forest! From the open door of my cabin, a truly remarkable collection of birds gathering in front! And then it got one better - plonking itself on a trunk directly above a feeder, then edging its way down, a Grey-headed Woodpecker - not the female seen the day before, but a newly arrived male.
And so continued the woodpecker frenzy for another half an hour, Middle Spotted Woodpeckers putting in only brief appearances, but the rest truly doing the business, White-backs almost contantly present, the Three-toed staying for about 20 minutes. And to top the lot, in hopped my pride and joy, one of the recently arrived Red Squirrels!
Doorway delights! Getting all seven woodpecker species is a rare event indeed, to get all seven without even stepping out from the cabin door is a treat I honestly did not expect for my visitor from the UK, a good day indeed.
For desserts, after a bunch of Roe Deer prancing across my meadows, we then happened upon a flock of about 150 Waxwings in a nearby town, before driving off into Middle Lithuania to shiver as cold winds buffeted our back while we watched a herd of about 50 European Bison grazing in fields adjacent to forest. A long drive north produced almost zilch else, one Great Grey Shrike, one Rough-legged Buzzard and a sunset marked by more Waxwings. Night adventures flopped, a long drive through forests producing only a Brown Hare.
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