Farnboro John
Well-known member
I have had a standing invitation to visit Jos in his Lithuanian fastness for several years but until this winter never had the combination of the time and the cash to make it happen. Our long weekend in Norway a couple of years ago definitely moved the project closer and now I have had what I hopefully consider my first visit, because for any Northern European habitue there are lots of reasons to keep going back.
Jos suggested a four day trip would allow us time to get up to Estonia to look for seaduck, seals and some of the mammals more common there than near him, such as Lynx – a big draw! I left the planning to him as the local expert and concentrated on field guide plates and working out what kit to take with me. In the end I took more than I needed but it could all have been useful…
Friday 13 February 2015
Of course I ended up travelling on Friday 13th.....
I arrived from Stansted courtesy of Ryanair at about 2230 Friday night and in typical Jos style it was into the car and straight off to a patch of forest for a night drive on snowy, icy tracks looking for the resident wolves.
I found the spotlighting exhilarating, partly because there seemed a permanent imminent risk of extinction due to deep ditches, trees and ice in combination and partly because normally I have to both drive and spotlight myself, with Marion not allowing me to do both on the move. I quickly gained confidence in Jos’s driving and was able to search through the dense stands of conifer and birch and occasionally more open broad-leaf trees without worrying about the way the car lurched and skidded on the rough tracks.
Saturday 14 February
I had organised the trip before I realised it meant I would be away on St Valentine's Day. Marion was not amused when she was informed! It could have been worse I suppose...
Unfortunately the wildlife wasn’t playing ball until very near the end of the night drive when Jos spotted an owl perched up by his side of the track. It was quickly identified as a Ural Owl and a lifer for me – yippee! We had a good view of it in Jos’s LED torchlight before it flew off and was quickly lost among the trees.
With a long drive in prospect we returned to the main road and set off Northwards. I slipped into a trance-like state, occasionally surfacing but often relapsing into a doze. Luckily I was fairly awake at the moment when a wakeful Raccoon Dog (many are hibernating) belted across the road in front of us. It wasn’t a tick but I’d only seen one before and this was closer. At least I know now what the back end of one moving at speed looks like.
We were passing through a town when out of nowhere ahead of us (unless it was just an effect of my coma) suddenly a barrage of blue flashing lights indicated trouble. Jos had a short interview with the Law about how fast he was going, paperwork was undertaken and on we went. I hadn't really thought about where the Baltic states are, but when you see Moscow signposted at motorway junctions it does get your attention!
After an heroic effort from Jos we parked up in the last knockings of the night to grab a couple of hours sleep. Despite the frankly Baltic temperatures (that's got that bad joke out of the way) we both slept comfortably without bothering to grab sleeping bags out of the back of the car.
John
Jos suggested a four day trip would allow us time to get up to Estonia to look for seaduck, seals and some of the mammals more common there than near him, such as Lynx – a big draw! I left the planning to him as the local expert and concentrated on field guide plates and working out what kit to take with me. In the end I took more than I needed but it could all have been useful…
Friday 13 February 2015
Of course I ended up travelling on Friday 13th.....
I arrived from Stansted courtesy of Ryanair at about 2230 Friday night and in typical Jos style it was into the car and straight off to a patch of forest for a night drive on snowy, icy tracks looking for the resident wolves.
I found the spotlighting exhilarating, partly because there seemed a permanent imminent risk of extinction due to deep ditches, trees and ice in combination and partly because normally I have to both drive and spotlight myself, with Marion not allowing me to do both on the move. I quickly gained confidence in Jos’s driving and was able to search through the dense stands of conifer and birch and occasionally more open broad-leaf trees without worrying about the way the car lurched and skidded on the rough tracks.
Saturday 14 February
I had organised the trip before I realised it meant I would be away on St Valentine's Day. Marion was not amused when she was informed! It could have been worse I suppose...
Unfortunately the wildlife wasn’t playing ball until very near the end of the night drive when Jos spotted an owl perched up by his side of the track. It was quickly identified as a Ural Owl and a lifer for me – yippee! We had a good view of it in Jos’s LED torchlight before it flew off and was quickly lost among the trees.
With a long drive in prospect we returned to the main road and set off Northwards. I slipped into a trance-like state, occasionally surfacing but often relapsing into a doze. Luckily I was fairly awake at the moment when a wakeful Raccoon Dog (many are hibernating) belted across the road in front of us. It wasn’t a tick but I’d only seen one before and this was closer. At least I know now what the back end of one moving at speed looks like.
We were passing through a town when out of nowhere ahead of us (unless it was just an effect of my coma) suddenly a barrage of blue flashing lights indicated trouble. Jos had a short interview with the Law about how fast he was going, paperwork was undertaken and on we went. I hadn't really thought about where the Baltic states are, but when you see Moscow signposted at motorway junctions it does get your attention!
After an heroic effort from Jos we parked up in the last knockings of the night to grab a couple of hours sleep. Despite the frankly Baltic temperatures (that's got that bad joke out of the way) we both slept comfortably without bothering to grab sleeping bags out of the back of the car.
John
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