Baltic by Name... (1 Viewer)

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

Saturday continued:

When we woke it was near time to catch the ferry across to one of the Estonian islands, a hot spot for some of the birds we were after and seals. Before that, however, we had time for a charge around some tracks though scrubby heathland and low conifer forest – not to any great effect unfortunately!

Over the ferry (nothing exciting on the way over, largely because we took our cue from other passengers and stayed in our nice warm car) we drove past some frozen bays of the Baltic, with a White-tailed Eagle standing on the ice with some Hooded Crows in anticipatory attendance.

Crossing the island we saw very little: in winter the Baltic states’ birdlife becomes very thin indeed. Jos drove us to a small harbour at which a fishing boat was landing its catch of small fish. Hundreds and hundreds of Long-tailed Ducks, with a smattering of Goosander, Scaup, Goldeneye and Tufted Ducks, were active on the unfrozen sea round about. The Long-tails were calling – delightful – and some were coming in and out of the harbour. I concentrated on them while Jos took a much greater interest in half a dozen Grey Seals that were cruising slowly back and forth across the harbour.

From there we carried on towards the far point of the island, checking coastal access points for seaduck. At the far end we were exposed to a brutal cold wind but this was supposed to be a key spot. Jos manoeuvred the car skilfully to enable us to scan the sea without actually freezing to death. It still took a considerable time until Jos spotted three female Steller’s Eiders flying towards us and I picked up one of the best ducks in Europe. Yippee!

We moved round the point and Jos found a few more Steller’ses swimming near a mixed flock of Common and Velvet Scoters: then a bit further on he located a big flock of them – about 160 – and finally I had eyes on the fabulous sight of drake Steller’s Eiders. We found our way to one end of the arc of sandy beach off which the flock was feeding, but then made our only real mistake of the day by reckoning we could find another forest track to bring us out right next to them. We failed in this. We should have bitten the bullet and walked the few hundred yards along the beach that would have been required. Can’t be right all the time.

After probing for a suitable track in several locations we walked out to the coast from a car park, and found we were miles the far side of the flock. Time was marching on and we left to range across the island interior in search of raptors – without much success. A couple of Buzzards were not really what we were after….

At least the sun was now out, and when we arrived back at the ferry port we found Smew and Scaup showing really rather well, They kept us occupied until we could board the ferry. This time we climbed the companionways to the sundeck and scanned the sea – especially the ice-edge – relentlessly on the way back. Once again Jos picked out the key sighting, finding the small head of a Ringed Seal bobbing in the light chop about two-thirds of the way back. Luckily it stayed up long enough for me to get views of its distinct small muzzle before it sank backwards under the surface and completely vanished, never to be seen again.

Back on land we started a serious search for Lynx, Wolf and the newly discovered astonishing outpost population of Golden Jackals. How did they move so far across Europe undetected? For them to be escapes (from where?) beggars belief, as they have been seen in several locations: shot animals have confirmed the ID, and anyway the only confusion is Wolf – why would locals string jackals when they know perfectly well they are in Wolf range? But so far there is no chain of evidence connecting them to the nearest previously known population North of the Balkans.

Anyway, the only predator we saw during the evening was a very bushy Red Fox. Some Roe Deer also deigned to show themselves, so at least the mammal list was going up a bit. A Great Grey Shrike on a telephone wire and two Snow Buntings added to the bird interest.

Unfortunately when we reached the hotel Jos had booked for the night, it turned out that they had also taken a booking for a birthday party. Unwilling to be kept awake by loud music and heavily soused revellers, we left and made our way to another ferry port from which we intended to visit another island the next morning.

John

Long-tailed Duck X 3
Steller's Eider X 2

A couple more from Saturday:

Smew drake

White-tailed Eagle

Sunset

Sunday 15 February

It was a cold night in the car, with my sleeping bag only just coping – I could have done with having my thermal longjohns on as well as the top. It was a long way below freezing and still windy when the sun struggled up to brighten but not warm the morning. Outside the car, Hooded Crows fluttered about the car park and I took a few snaps.

We took an early morning drive, finding lots of tracks but no animals apart from more Roe Deer. A Willow Tit teased me but left before I could get pictures. We had nice views (though not in photographable light) of a Red Squirrel.

We scanned the here heavily frozen sea in the hope of finding more seals hauled out, but without success: a distant White-tailed Eagle refused to come nearer. We also discovered that the ferry timetables meant that if we went to the islands, we would have to be there all day – and we had planned to be on the way back to Lithuania by about lunchtime or mid-afternoon. Hm. One ferry offered another shot at seals, one led to an island with two Hawk Owls – but we’d clocked seals as well as we were likely to, and I’d seen that wonderful Dutch Hawk Owl….

Jos suggested we could instead hit a couple of good places on the way back and I cheerfully assented. Off we went on the empty roads – a very welcome feature of the whole of the Baltic states except the cities, which are manic indeed.

Yellowhammers joined the bird list, Feral Pigeon, Marsh Tit. We had another White-tailed Eagle by an unfrozen river (most were partly or completely frozen and one or two had people sitting on the ice fishing through holes.) Unfortunately as we circled back, parked and made our way to a disused historic bridge, the eagle headed away from us – over the in-use road bridge we’d just crossed!

After following one of these rivers and also seeing a frozen lake which had been used by local motorists for ice racing, we reached a snowy national park and set off along a slippery boardwalk in search of birds and other wildlife. It was absolutely finger-numbing cold (through thinsulate mittens) and a lazy wind cut effortlessly through many layers of thermal clothing. Also, not even a Great Tit was calling, although Jos had heard a Black Woodpecker as we arrived.

We moved on to the National Park HQ, where there was a forest trail with a chance of various mammals including Beaver, and some of the woodpeckers. We had a nice walk, and out of the wind, the sun did have some effect.

Just after leaving there a major tragedy occurred as Jos yelled “Hazel Grouse” and I went “where?” as I scanned the forest edge a mere five or ten yards away. Unfortiunately that meant I was looking straight over the top of the bird, which took the opportunity of our passing to skedaddle across the road into the trees on the other side, visible to Jos in the mirrors but not to me. As we returned and parked up, Jos noted that they often park up in nearby trees and offered to go and try to find it while I staked the forest out from the edge of the road. Good plan. He tried really hard but it had obviously ignored what it was supposed to do and legged it for miles into the forest.

We went on, with me feeling pretty crushed, partly because I felt I’d been even more incompetent than usual in missing this point-blank opportunity, and partly because I’ve seen all too many reports from people venturing into the boreal forest and coming back without Hazel Grouse – I could easily see me joining their ranks. My feelings were not helped by Jos helpfully telling me it had been a stunning male!

We passed through Latvia during the afternoon with minimal wildlife delays, in fact my total Latvia list now stands at Mute Swan, Herring Gull, Hooded Crow, Coot, Mallard, Buzzard, Great Tit, Raven and Magpie.
Almost as soon as we crossed the border into Lithuania we had a Rough-legged Buzzard, and a bit further on another showing well enough to make a photograph. After dark I spotted a Red Deer in a roadside ditch (it was a very big ditch) by its eyeshine, which at least added a new mammal to the trip list.

With a full night’s sleep in a warm building I was ready for the long-awaited and much anticipated visit to Jos’s land!

John

Looks like you had a great trip despite the Hazel Grouse dip!

GusHawk said:

Looks like you had a great trip despite the Hazel Grouse dip!

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It gets better, honest!

John

I'm looking forward to it then. I've read through Jos' mammal forum and it looks like he knows exactly what he's doing, not surprised that it gets better

Hello John

What a fabulous report of what you have seem on your travels, and you have seen many birds that I would be proud to see. :-O

Did you manage to see the Dutch Hawk Owl at all? o

Love the Long Tail duck - that is a one long tail o

Thank you for sharing your experiences - a great read. :gh:

Regards
Kathy
x

I'm sorry its taken me so long to get back to this.

Kathy - yes, I did get the Dutch Hawk Owl: we were surprised how easy it was to twitch over there using the Channel tunnel.

Now for the best birding day of the trip:

Monday 16 February

It was a bright sunny morning as we left Vilnius for Jos’s legendary reserve. Wildlife was minimal on the way there, but as soon as we parked up on the packed snow at the end of his track there were Jays and the clear calls of Great Tits in good numbers. There were even Yellowhammers, once common near me but now requiring searching in the chalk fields to the West.

We walked down to the cabin where I was installed with my camera, carefully concealed except for the end of the lens. Jos filled those feeders that looked depleted and went off to do some management work while I waited for the goodies to start turning up. First I was treated to Great Tits, then Marsh Tits joined in. I was sort of ignoring both and then realised that with the sunshine coming over my shoulder and also reflecting off the snow, I had an opportunity not to be wasted, so Great and the occasional Blue Tits became quarry as well as the Marsh Tits and Jays.

But it was woodpeckers I was after and of course the first couple to arrive were Great Spotted Woodpeckers, about as welcome as the icy wind, particularly since Jos had mentioned they tend to chase the other species off! Notwithstanding that they too caused my shutter to rattle, and suddenly things became more interesting with the arrival of a Middle Spotted Woodpecker, and a male at that. I was barely getting to grips with that when I saw another new arrival high on a tree. Jos had warned me to let this one start feeding before taking any pictures, as otherwise it would tend to spook, so I watched entranced but a little impatient as a male White-backed Woodpecker hopped casually backwards down a tree and then across onto a feeder.

Both these European species were birds I had seen (in Germany and Finland respectively) but without a hope in hell of getting a photograph: to have both point-blank in front of me in perfect light was one of my best birding experiences of recent years. With the White-back settled I began to take a few pictures and after a while it jumped back onto the tree so I could get a couple of shots of it without the feeder.

There was a more distant feeder higher up another tree, the position being such that birds approaching it were likely to give views on a nice bit of tree without the feeder in view: all three black-and-white woodpeckers used it on-and-off and I got shots as well as more fantastic views.

Then a bird arrived that I have been in range for several times and never seen: suddenly Grey-headed Woodpecker was on my list and in my viewfinder. It was very quick and went straight to the near feeder, which was the only place I managed to photograph it: but what a great view of my first ever Grey-headed Woodpecker!

Jos came to check on me a few times while I was there, which I appreciated: even tucked in the cabin it was very cold. At least I was out of the wind. Eventually he suggested a tour of his land and I agreed happily. We found tracks all over the place, on the snow-covered ice of the lake and in the deeper snow in the woods: Pine and/or Stone Marten, Otter, Roe and Red Deer, probable Wolf and eventually, Lynx. Hoo-whee! It’s still around. Unfortunately we were not lucky enough to fall over it. I was also treated to a view of Jos’s resident Beavers’ lodge. Then we set off into the woods, as Jos reckoned there was a reasonable chance he could come up with a Hazel Grouse and after my previous disaster I was ready to try anything that might work. Our first finds, however, were in a highly mobile Tit flock: Willow Tit, some delightful white-headed Long-tailed Tits, a Crested Tit and a couple of Coal Tits. Whatever else, I was being treated to a top-class tit show. A Sparrowhawk quietened and hid the small birds and we carried on.

Someone else’s dog exploded out from under a fallen tree, barking, and gave both of us a heart attack. We shooed it away and carried on, comparing its paw prints to those we had provisionally identified as Wolf and being pretty convinced our ID was correct. Pausing behind a tree to make yellow snow, I belatedly noticed some tracks and photographed them – then promptly forgot them as Jos found two Hazel Grouse as they jumped up from the ground into a big pine tree.

This time I made no schoolboy error and got some nice views of both perched up and walking about on the thick pine branches. Another great lifer under the belt! I’ve read plenty of trip reports that bemoan the elusiveness of Hazel Grouse, so it was definitely a highlight of my trip, and a cracking looking bird even looking up towards the light. We manoeuvred about to try to get better views and succeeded to an extent: but the birds soon tired of the attention and departed.

Back at ground level we emerged at the edge of the woods to find the familiar sight of roughly turned earth and lots of Wild Boar hoofprints. Jos was particularly pleased with these as there has been a severe nationwide boar cull which he anticipated leading to problems year-ticking the species – just what you want on a Big Year! The animals were nowhere to be seen but given their presence Jos was confident it was just a matter of time.

Remembering the tracks I’d photographed I asked Jos what he thought: his diagnosis of Badger agreed with my own and added another species to the list whose passing we had been able to note.

Leaving the area we had a look for a Great Grey Shrike that has been wintering there but couldn’t find it. Living close to Thursley I wasn’t particularly bothered. I’d had an awesome day!

John

More pix:

Middle Spotted Woodpecker X 2

White-backed Woodpecker X 2

Grey-headed Woodpecker TICK!!

John

And some tracks and signs:

Pretty certain Wolf

Badger

Wild Boar snouting

Beaver Lodge

Marten sp

John

Really like those Woodpecker shots John.

Rich

This report just gets better and better! I'm starting to get into tracking a little bit, opens up a whole new world of knowledge. Well done on the lifers

Farnboro John said:

...I was being treated to a top-class tit show...

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Nothing else can beat that :t:

Fine woodpecker shots indeed! I especially like the first Middle-spotted, and an amazing array of mammal tracks!

Cheers
Mike

I'll get this one finished and out of the way. Sorry for the gaps between episodes, it seems very busy at the moment.

Tuesday 17 February

Jos had to work today, so the previous evening we had popped up to the airport to meet the bloke delivering my hire car for the day. This was all very well but on the way back I had to follow, after 30 seconds in an unfamiliar left-hand drive car in the dark in an unfamiliar city full of drivers who think Deathrace 2000 is a training video, Jos’s confident driving. I am not normally a nervous driver but I basically hung onto his tail in the manner of “Stick to me like glue” going AAAAARRRRRRRRRRR all the way home.

In the morning I set off sedately for a predetermined target area that I could not miss. Of course, that depended on me hitting (managed) and staying on (failed) the correct road North out of Vilnius. I’m a fair navigator so I quickly worked out I was on the wrong road and set off to correct my error. The tarmac road quickly turned into a dirt track and then to an ice-coated dirt track, on which I drove with fingers clenched on the wheel and buttocks clenched into the seat. Eventually by guess and by God I reached the correct motorway and set off briskly for my destination.

Arriving in the correct area I took a while to work out the exact directions, which although accurately written could be interpreted incorrectly by an idiot such as myself. The weather was fine, sunny and clear: the landscape was open fields interspersed with small thickets and large pine plantations. The fields were, if not full, liberally spattered with small groups of Roe- and larger groups of Red Deer.

Unfortunately they were devoid of the European Bison I was seeking. Poo. I hate it when you can’t find herds of something the size of a car. I searched up and down the road, then started checking out the side tracks. The closest I got was a half-run-over Bison pat. I’m not a great tracker but I could see this wasn’t today’s doings.

Jos had given me a couple of other sites for the bison so I set off to check these out. On the way the road turned into a dirt track, but it was wider than many British A-roads and smoother than many Surrey A-roads, so frankly no worries. As I proceeded on my lonely way (no potholes and no other traffic: possibly a connection, Watson) I became aware of a helicopter gradually overtaking me and slid to a halt with sufficient time to photograph a Lithuanian MiL 8 Hip tasked to SAR.

The two other European Bison sites came up empty. Jos had given me a couple of birding sites but I decided two things: (1) I preferred to commit the whole day to the bison hunt and (2) I was determined to head to the airport in time to reach it in daylight: looking for it in the dark among the locals in the rush hour completely failed to appeal.

I turned around and headed back up to the first site. En route I found a White-tailed Eagle sitting in a field and watched that for a while. I reconnected with the Red and Roe Deer groups but still couldn’t find any bison. Grey partridge was however a trip tick. Eventually I had to set off back down the motorway. The weather was still glorious, bright sunshine without any mist or encroaching cloud or other issues. I reached the city thinking I could hack this, and emerged from the far side thinking I’d obviously missed the appropriate turning. Oops. I took the next left and circled back. Every side road was clogged with rush hour traffic. None of the signs said anything helpful. The drivers, I admit, made due allowance for the seemingly mad and certainly incompetent late-lane-changing imbecile. I wasn’t even hooted once!

Having visited the central railway station and a few other landmarks, and having begged the spirits who watch over benighted birders that I was lost, alone and desperate, that I just wanted to go home and please to let me, I spotted a sign that said airport. I set off that way and didn’t see another for ten minutes (this is a long time in a city.) Then I recognised, ahead, a junction with a chain minimarket where Jos had stopped to buy milk the previous evening. It was close to the airport, I knew. Hurrah! Double hurrah when I saw an airport sign confirming my ID, and treble when the distance to run was 1 km.

I turned into the airport entrance with relief, parked up and dropped the car keys in the company’s return box. After that it was all plain sailing apart from a few shenanigans to make sure I met the weight requirements of the budget airline.

Back in Britain I scooted round the M25 and had a Tawny Owl fly inwards to the London side somewhere near Denham.

The Baltic states are a really great place for wildlife and I shall certainly be back for another crack at some of the stuff I missed. Recommended!

Many, many thanks to Jos for his assistance and more particularly his company on a great short break.

John

Roe and Red Deer
Red Deer
White-tailed Sea Eagle

Glad you enjoyed the trip - pity about the Bison ...hope you didn't look over the top of one

In those frozen lands, now wander flocks of Cranes, plus White Storks returned to my land today and generally migrants are pouring in.

Looks like you had a great trip, worthwhile despite the unseen beasts and undesirable city time! I'll be looking to explore the Baltic area in the future

GusHawk said:

Looks like you had a great trip, worthwhile despite the unseen beasts and undesirable city time! I'll be looking to explore the Baltic area in the future

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It was a great trip and its a truly fantastic area to go wildlife-watching. I shall certainly be back and I would recommend it to others.

John