-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Eastern Europe ...Lithuania, a birder's tale. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Jos Stratford
- Start date
lark o'dell
today the local patch tommrow the world
nice pics jos
lark o'dell
today the local patch tommrow the world
thats a good picture congrats
Northbound for owls, eurobirding in the east!
I get my fair share of good weekends, but by any standard, this was really good! Some months back, as winter gripped our lands, I had eyed my northern neighbour with envy - the entire southern half of Finland was being swamped with Hawk Owls, not mere dozens, but literally hundreds! I waited and hoped, maybe a few would turn up down here, but it wasn’t to be. So a plan began to take shape - perhaps a trip north might be in order …sent a PM up to Hannu, maybe some Hawk Owls might be lingering? As spring came, memories of the owls began to fade, but then a couple of weeks ago, Hannu made contact - he’d found a single Hawk Owl and perhaps I might want to pop up. Not half did I want!
So, rounding off a rather busy week, I finished work at 9 p.m. on Friday and hit the road - Hannu’s patch is over 1000 km to the north …through the night I drove, across appalling roads in Latvia and up to the port of Tallin in Estonia - arrived there at 5 a.m. and started the weekend off in good style with a Long-eared Owl flying across the road just before the city! Onto the ferry and across to Helsinki - a few Barnacle Geese around the rocky shores, Common Terns commonplace, then on the road again. Continued my northward quest for another four hours and eventually pulled in at the appointed meeting spot at about midday, a tad on the tired side. Weather was none too kind, rather dull and occasional rain, but so began the weekend - with Hannu busy for the afternoon, I joined a friend of his and drove just 10 km or so and began a walk in a valley of dense spruce, the thick forest and gloom of sky would make photographs not so easy, but the birds were quite excellent - flocks of Common Crossbills abounded, a few Cranes flew over, but I had been warned that the target of the walk could be difficult. It was not the case - got to a particular spot, waited for a few moments and there, tapping away of a trunk barely twenty metres, was a splendid male Three-toed Woodpecker, what an excellent start to the day. A little across we could see a nest hole - in there somewhere would be a female, but she was probably still on eggs, so she made no appearance, even when the male went over and tapped on the trunk directly above the hole!
With that, retraced our footsteps and headed off to one other spot where sometimes waders congregate - not a lot of waders there, bar a handful of Little Stints, Ringed Plovers and Green and Common Sandpipers, but directly behind the pools was quite a sight - on open sand banks, groups of Black Grouse were lekking - 17 in the first group and 12 in the next. Get to see Black Grouse quite often here in Lithuania, but a treat indeed to see them at lek in such an easy and open spot. Then it started to rain! Back in the car, we decided best was to return to the spruce forests - quickly located the Three-toed Woodpecker again, managed a few photographs, though the light made for not good snaps. Added a Great Spotted Woodpecker for good measure, then returned to town to meet Hannu once again.
Evening went something like this …amazing followed by amazing! Started off at a little copse not far from Hannu’s town. A week before Ural Owl chicks had been ringed at a nest box here, so we were fairly confident we would find at least one of the adults nearby. Walked into the wood and, wow, there were the chicks, smack bang in front of us! Massive things if ever you saw ‘em, two of the chicks had fledged and were sitting in full view on low branches! What cracking birds, fairly ugly things though it has to be said! Not so for the adult, she was a absolute stunner - having uttered a deep hoo hoo, the presence of an adult female Ural Owl was before me, quite mesmorizing! She glared down and we were on her territory. Ural Owl are known for their aggression and a human intruder is fair game, so having inadvertently stumbled upon the chicks, we had to be a tad cautious of attack. Leaving the wood, I could have gone home happy, but the next to come was even better!
As mentioned before, Hannu had sent me a message of a single Hawk Owl he’d seen twice in an area of extensive open forest, so off we went. Arrived and had the favoured perches of the previous weeks pointed out - but no sign of any Hawk Owl! We separated and started to search - he went left, I right. Right took me to a spruce grove and suddenly there was an alarm call …‘oo er, that sounded good’ I thought and no sooner had I thought that and up popped a right stonking Hawk Owl, sat itself on the top of a conifer and effectively said ‘see how beautiful I am’. He sure was! I stumbled back off to find Hannu, then we returned for more views - a wonderful bird, not at all interested in us, sometimes passing a glance at us, but otherwise content to dominate the setting, power and beauty rolled into one. Then something extraordinary happened - the one bird turned into two birds, one carrying a mouse!!! Now this was seriously good, it had to mean a breeding pair, if so the first in the area for about 20 years! Soon the one bird flew off to a distant dead tree, then followed by the second, then by me! The mouse was handed over to presumably the female, then she began to rip into the mouse. Just at this moment I fancied a few photos, but the female had other ideas - she suddenly took off and flew back to a tree just near where we had started …and directly into a hole in the tree! A nest!!! Sure enough, we scoped the hole and there looking out was the Hawk Owl, but not the adult, but a well-grown chick! Holy moses, this was a spectacular finale to the first day! Watched the hole for a while - first one chick looked out, then mother and chick, then mother flew out and returned to her favoured perch, then two chicks squeezed into the hole to view the world around! He world around included two stunned birders!
Having prior to this evening seen no Ural Owls and only a single Hawk Owl many years ago, to say that I was a little content would sure be an understatement! Could it get any better? Well, there was still another day to go
A heap of photos to follow!
I get my fair share of good weekends, but by any standard, this was really good! Some months back, as winter gripped our lands, I had eyed my northern neighbour with envy - the entire southern half of Finland was being swamped with Hawk Owls, not mere dozens, but literally hundreds! I waited and hoped, maybe a few would turn up down here, but it wasn’t to be. So a plan began to take shape - perhaps a trip north might be in order …sent a PM up to Hannu, maybe some Hawk Owls might be lingering? As spring came, memories of the owls began to fade, but then a couple of weeks ago, Hannu made contact - he’d found a single Hawk Owl and perhaps I might want to pop up. Not half did I want!
So, rounding off a rather busy week, I finished work at 9 p.m. on Friday and hit the road - Hannu’s patch is over 1000 km to the north …through the night I drove, across appalling roads in Latvia and up to the port of Tallin in Estonia - arrived there at 5 a.m. and started the weekend off in good style with a Long-eared Owl flying across the road just before the city! Onto the ferry and across to Helsinki - a few Barnacle Geese around the rocky shores, Common Terns commonplace, then on the road again. Continued my northward quest for another four hours and eventually pulled in at the appointed meeting spot at about midday, a tad on the tired side. Weather was none too kind, rather dull and occasional rain, but so began the weekend - with Hannu busy for the afternoon, I joined a friend of his and drove just 10 km or so and began a walk in a valley of dense spruce, the thick forest and gloom of sky would make photographs not so easy, but the birds were quite excellent - flocks of Common Crossbills abounded, a few Cranes flew over, but I had been warned that the target of the walk could be difficult. It was not the case - got to a particular spot, waited for a few moments and there, tapping away of a trunk barely twenty metres, was a splendid male Three-toed Woodpecker, what an excellent start to the day. A little across we could see a nest hole - in there somewhere would be a female, but she was probably still on eggs, so she made no appearance, even when the male went over and tapped on the trunk directly above the hole!
With that, retraced our footsteps and headed off to one other spot where sometimes waders congregate - not a lot of waders there, bar a handful of Little Stints, Ringed Plovers and Green and Common Sandpipers, but directly behind the pools was quite a sight - on open sand banks, groups of Black Grouse were lekking - 17 in the first group and 12 in the next. Get to see Black Grouse quite often here in Lithuania, but a treat indeed to see them at lek in such an easy and open spot. Then it started to rain! Back in the car, we decided best was to return to the spruce forests - quickly located the Three-toed Woodpecker again, managed a few photographs, though the light made for not good snaps. Added a Great Spotted Woodpecker for good measure, then returned to town to meet Hannu once again.
Evening went something like this …amazing followed by amazing! Started off at a little copse not far from Hannu’s town. A week before Ural Owl chicks had been ringed at a nest box here, so we were fairly confident we would find at least one of the adults nearby. Walked into the wood and, wow, there were the chicks, smack bang in front of us! Massive things if ever you saw ‘em, two of the chicks had fledged and were sitting in full view on low branches! What cracking birds, fairly ugly things though it has to be said! Not so for the adult, she was a absolute stunner - having uttered a deep hoo hoo, the presence of an adult female Ural Owl was before me, quite mesmorizing! She glared down and we were on her territory. Ural Owl are known for their aggression and a human intruder is fair game, so having inadvertently stumbled upon the chicks, we had to be a tad cautious of attack. Leaving the wood, I could have gone home happy, but the next to come was even better!
As mentioned before, Hannu had sent me a message of a single Hawk Owl he’d seen twice in an area of extensive open forest, so off we went. Arrived and had the favoured perches of the previous weeks pointed out - but no sign of any Hawk Owl! We separated and started to search - he went left, I right. Right took me to a spruce grove and suddenly there was an alarm call …‘oo er, that sounded good’ I thought and no sooner had I thought that and up popped a right stonking Hawk Owl, sat itself on the top of a conifer and effectively said ‘see how beautiful I am’. He sure was! I stumbled back off to find Hannu, then we returned for more views - a wonderful bird, not at all interested in us, sometimes passing a glance at us, but otherwise content to dominate the setting, power and beauty rolled into one. Then something extraordinary happened - the one bird turned into two birds, one carrying a mouse!!! Now this was seriously good, it had to mean a breeding pair, if so the first in the area for about 20 years! Soon the one bird flew off to a distant dead tree, then followed by the second, then by me! The mouse was handed over to presumably the female, then she began to rip into the mouse. Just at this moment I fancied a few photos, but the female had other ideas - she suddenly took off and flew back to a tree just near where we had started …and directly into a hole in the tree! A nest!!! Sure enough, we scoped the hole and there looking out was the Hawk Owl, but not the adult, but a well-grown chick! Holy moses, this was a spectacular finale to the first day! Watched the hole for a while - first one chick looked out, then mother and chick, then mother flew out and returned to her favoured perch, then two chicks squeezed into the hole to view the world around! He world around included two stunned birders!
Having prior to this evening seen no Ural Owls and only a single Hawk Owl many years ago, to say that I was a little content would sure be an understatement! Could it get any better? Well, there was still another day to go
A heap of photos to follow!
Last edited:
Day one weather transpired against me on the photo front ...but when such crackers are sitting in front of you, you can but try. Cranked up to ISO 800 and higher, played with exposure compensation a bit and used very low shutter speed. results not amazing, but a few came out good enough to catch the moment.
First two pictures are of the Ural Owl, adult and fledged youngster, next a couple of the Hawk Owls, then a single shot of the Three-toed Woodpecker in its dark dank forest!
First two pictures are of the Ural Owl, adult and fledged youngster, next a couple of the Hawk Owls, then a single shot of the Three-toed Woodpecker in its dark dank forest!
Attachments
Last edited:
turkish van
Number 1 celebrity badger
You're a lucky guy Jos.
:bounce:
:bounce:
lark o'dell
today the local patch tommrow the world
nice pics lucky you lot arn't ya
Day two in Finland
Day starts early up in these northern latitudes, so dawn saw us up and out by 3.00 a.m.! Having not the slept the night before, have to say my eyes struggled for the first couple of hours and managed to miss the first birds of the day due to eyes being shut! Two Hazel Grouse scuttled across the road, then another, then a Black Woodpecker …each time just as I had closed my eyes for a second or two!!! By 4.00 a.m., we were on the hunt for Great Grey Owl - an area of big spruce had held a bird earlier, but nowt there this day. Wandered round for some time in a state of semi-slumber, then contemplated finding a nice patch of soft moss and having a snooze and wait for Hannu to find all the birds, but somehow mustered up a bit of energy …in about half an hour, kicked up a Black Grouse, saw a Black Woodpecker and encountered a couple of Crested Tits, all nice enough in themselves. Then retracked and found a 24 hour coffee shop …ah, that was not bad.
Next up, a cross-country slog - did I fancy bumping into a Willow Grouse, he had asked. Now I’m a sucker for such questions, so off we went - parked the car and trudged a half hour or so through a mosaic of wet forest and marsh to reach an extensive open vlei. Quite a stunning wild place, a bit like a raised bog. Plenty of good birds too. Out in the middle, a few grouse could be seen, then suddenly loads of grouse! A flock of about 23 male Black Grouse had got up off the bog and were sat in low trees, quite a spectacle. Looking through, suddenly realised there was a single very large grouse just to their left, hmm nice big rounded tail too! Quick peep through the scope and it was confirmed - a splendid male Capercaille standing out in the open. A few Wood Sandpipers about too, flushed one bird by accident only to find it was sat on a nest - retreated quickly to let the bird settle again, then continued our quest - squelched across lots of good habitat. Found one very ex-Willow Grouse, essentially a pile of feathers below a plucking post, being half white clearly had some disadvantages when the likes of Goshawk appear! Onward we walked, paused to watch an Osprey on a nest, then got to see the second bird returning with a fish. Common birds rather thin on the ground - a few Whinchats, a couple of pairs of Yellow Wagtails, a Wheatear and lots of Tree Pipits. Still hadn’t seen the main purpose we had trekked out here and, just as I was thinking we would not see it, a shout from Hannu and there cruising past was a splendid Willow Grouse, rather more alive than the first and giving good views as it flew past and headed off into another bit of forest heath.
By now too, the sun had appeared, so it was decided to return to a couple of the spots from the day before - simply walk back to the car and off we would go. Simply walk back to the car, humph! We went the wrong way, got totally lost and started to amble about in the forest and bog without any real idea which way would be best and which would take us ever further from the car. An hour perhaps later, we stumbled upon a track, went left and eventually got to a lake and, good news, Hannu recognised the spot, bad news, it was many kilometres back to the car if we stuck to the track! Toyed with the idea of hacking back through the dense forest-bogs, but agreed the longer track route would be the better option. And so it was, the rewards of getting lost soon presented them, first bumped into a Hazel Grouse (thus ‘getting back’ the birds missed earlier in the day, plus making it four grouse species for the location). Next had a few Common Crossbills calling and when two landed in a pine, thought it would be nice to have a look at them. Hmm, can I see two white wing bars? Got the scope and sure enough, there was a cracking male White-winged Crossbill, then another one just below. Soon the flock moved across to another pine and perhaps as many as four birds could then be seen. Excellent, it is a good few years since I have seen this species and it is none too common in this part of Finland too! Getting lost was certainly turning into our fortune …and then we hit the jackpot. Almost at the end of the first track (two more to go), we passed through an open area and there sat on a dead tree was …another pair of Hawk Owls! Blimey, what a stoke of luck …clearly another breeding pair, after the excitement of the day before, certainly didn’t expect this. Nothing like a Hawk Owl to help the legs the last few kilometres!
Concluded with a return to the locations of the day before - with the sun now out, perhaps a photo or two might be possible. Got back to the first Hawk Owl site and immediately saw the two adults. Wandered over to take a couple of photos, took a few shots, then went to put my scope on the ground …and almost plonked it straight on top on a Hawk Owl chick! One of them had fledged! Hawk Owls have the tendency to leave the nest hole some days before they can fly - they then scramble around on the ground and climb into trees for a few days …seems a risky strategy to me, but this is what this one had done and now he was sitting pretty, quite far from the nest and just gawking at me as I carefully retracted my scope from almost on top of him! Needless to say, took a few photos, then decided it time to make a tactical retreat from the area. Stopped in at the Ural Owls too and got a couple a reasonable pictures, but all too soon it was time to start thinking about the journey south again.
Left Hannu mid-afternoon and zoomed off down the country, saw little en route, best being Kestrels, etc, but made good time and by early evening was back on the ferry returning to the Baltic States. Fell asleep on the boat and got woken to be told we had arrived in Tallinn some time before - went down to the now empty car deck and started up the car. Off I drove again into the night!
Day starts early up in these northern latitudes, so dawn saw us up and out by 3.00 a.m.! Having not the slept the night before, have to say my eyes struggled for the first couple of hours and managed to miss the first birds of the day due to eyes being shut! Two Hazel Grouse scuttled across the road, then another, then a Black Woodpecker …each time just as I had closed my eyes for a second or two!!! By 4.00 a.m., we were on the hunt for Great Grey Owl - an area of big spruce had held a bird earlier, but nowt there this day. Wandered round for some time in a state of semi-slumber, then contemplated finding a nice patch of soft moss and having a snooze and wait for Hannu to find all the birds, but somehow mustered up a bit of energy …in about half an hour, kicked up a Black Grouse, saw a Black Woodpecker and encountered a couple of Crested Tits, all nice enough in themselves. Then retracked and found a 24 hour coffee shop …ah, that was not bad.
Next up, a cross-country slog - did I fancy bumping into a Willow Grouse, he had asked. Now I’m a sucker for such questions, so off we went - parked the car and trudged a half hour or so through a mosaic of wet forest and marsh to reach an extensive open vlei. Quite a stunning wild place, a bit like a raised bog. Plenty of good birds too. Out in the middle, a few grouse could be seen, then suddenly loads of grouse! A flock of about 23 male Black Grouse had got up off the bog and were sat in low trees, quite a spectacle. Looking through, suddenly realised there was a single very large grouse just to their left, hmm nice big rounded tail too! Quick peep through the scope and it was confirmed - a splendid male Capercaille standing out in the open. A few Wood Sandpipers about too, flushed one bird by accident only to find it was sat on a nest - retreated quickly to let the bird settle again, then continued our quest - squelched across lots of good habitat. Found one very ex-Willow Grouse, essentially a pile of feathers below a plucking post, being half white clearly had some disadvantages when the likes of Goshawk appear! Onward we walked, paused to watch an Osprey on a nest, then got to see the second bird returning with a fish. Common birds rather thin on the ground - a few Whinchats, a couple of pairs of Yellow Wagtails, a Wheatear and lots of Tree Pipits. Still hadn’t seen the main purpose we had trekked out here and, just as I was thinking we would not see it, a shout from Hannu and there cruising past was a splendid Willow Grouse, rather more alive than the first and giving good views as it flew past and headed off into another bit of forest heath.
By now too, the sun had appeared, so it was decided to return to a couple of the spots from the day before - simply walk back to the car and off we would go. Simply walk back to the car, humph! We went the wrong way, got totally lost and started to amble about in the forest and bog without any real idea which way would be best and which would take us ever further from the car. An hour perhaps later, we stumbled upon a track, went left and eventually got to a lake and, good news, Hannu recognised the spot, bad news, it was many kilometres back to the car if we stuck to the track! Toyed with the idea of hacking back through the dense forest-bogs, but agreed the longer track route would be the better option. And so it was, the rewards of getting lost soon presented them, first bumped into a Hazel Grouse (thus ‘getting back’ the birds missed earlier in the day, plus making it four grouse species for the location). Next had a few Common Crossbills calling and when two landed in a pine, thought it would be nice to have a look at them. Hmm, can I see two white wing bars? Got the scope and sure enough, there was a cracking male White-winged Crossbill, then another one just below. Soon the flock moved across to another pine and perhaps as many as four birds could then be seen. Excellent, it is a good few years since I have seen this species and it is none too common in this part of Finland too! Getting lost was certainly turning into our fortune …and then we hit the jackpot. Almost at the end of the first track (two more to go), we passed through an open area and there sat on a dead tree was …another pair of Hawk Owls! Blimey, what a stoke of luck …clearly another breeding pair, after the excitement of the day before, certainly didn’t expect this. Nothing like a Hawk Owl to help the legs the last few kilometres!
Concluded with a return to the locations of the day before - with the sun now out, perhaps a photo or two might be possible. Got back to the first Hawk Owl site and immediately saw the two adults. Wandered over to take a couple of photos, took a few shots, then went to put my scope on the ground …and almost plonked it straight on top on a Hawk Owl chick! One of them had fledged! Hawk Owls have the tendency to leave the nest hole some days before they can fly - they then scramble around on the ground and climb into trees for a few days …seems a risky strategy to me, but this is what this one had done and now he was sitting pretty, quite far from the nest and just gawking at me as I carefully retracted my scope from almost on top of him! Needless to say, took a few photos, then decided it time to make a tactical retreat from the area. Stopped in at the Ural Owls too and got a couple a reasonable pictures, but all too soon it was time to start thinking about the journey south again.
Left Hannu mid-afternoon and zoomed off down the country, saw little en route, best being Kestrels, etc, but made good time and by early evening was back on the ferry returning to the Baltic States. Fell asleep on the boat and got woken to be told we had arrived in Tallinn some time before - went down to the now empty car deck and started up the car. Off I drove again into the night!
Attachments
Last edited:
Michael McKee
Well-known member
Thanks to Jos for a fantastic trip.
The highlights, which Jos recounts so well, were many. Particularly memorable moments included the Pygmy Owl preening on a branch a few feet from our heads. Whilst showing an interest in what we were doing it seemed totally unconcerned as we both fired away with our cameras. This shortly followed by a Black Woodpecker tearing its chosen tree apart provided the slightly surreal experience of getting amazing views of two birds I had never seen before in a landscape that felt like I was back in the Scottish Highlands.
Back on Jos’s local patch a group of immature White-tailed Eagles which circled just above us gave truly breathtaking views and I managed to get some nice full frame shots. A short drive from these open meadows and we were on narrow tracks, through the pine forest, barely wider than the car itself. It was on these tracks that we caught up with a pair of Hazel Grouse, an elusive bird that I had hoped but not expected to see.
Needless to say I can’t wait to go back!
Here are a few of the photos from my trip:
Red Squirrel (by Jos's house)
Pygmy Owl
White-tailed Eagle
Crane
The highlights, which Jos recounts so well, were many. Particularly memorable moments included the Pygmy Owl preening on a branch a few feet from our heads. Whilst showing an interest in what we were doing it seemed totally unconcerned as we both fired away with our cameras. This shortly followed by a Black Woodpecker tearing its chosen tree apart provided the slightly surreal experience of getting amazing views of two birds I had never seen before in a landscape that felt like I was back in the Scottish Highlands.
Back on Jos’s local patch a group of immature White-tailed Eagles which circled just above us gave truly breathtaking views and I managed to get some nice full frame shots. A short drive from these open meadows and we were on narrow tracks, through the pine forest, barely wider than the car itself. It was on these tracks that we caught up with a pair of Hazel Grouse, an elusive bird that I had hoped but not expected to see.
Needless to say I can’t wait to go back!
Here are a few of the photos from my trip:
Red Squirrel (by Jos's house)
Pygmy Owl
White-tailed Eagle
Crane
Attachments
Michael McKee
Well-known member
Good stuff Mike, welcome back whenever.
Sandwiched between wanders up to Finland and the coming weekend to Blighty, it was good to get up to my land today for the 'routine' birds. Carried out my first check of the nestboxes of the season - I have a total of about 170 boxes, but today was turn of just the 20 Starling boxes and, have to say, I was well chuffed to find chicks in no less than 18 boxes - an occupancy rate of 90% (only 60% last year). Hopefully, there will be similar increases in the Pied Flycatchers too, as it certainly seems there are more in the forest this year. Wandering around with my ladder, also notched up a male Red-backed Shrike, a pair of Golden Orioles, an overhead Black Kite and a male Marsh Harrier over the meadows. All in all, nice to be on the land today.
Sandwiched between wanders up to Finland and the coming weekend to Blighty, it was good to get up to my land today for the 'routine' birds. Carried out my first check of the nestboxes of the season - I have a total of about 170 boxes, but today was turn of just the 20 Starling boxes and, have to say, I was well chuffed to find chicks in no less than 18 boxes - an occupancy rate of 90% (only 60% last year). Hopefully, there will be similar increases in the Pied Flycatchers too, as it certainly seems there are more in the forest this year. Wandering around with my ladder, also notched up a male Red-backed Shrike, a pair of Golden Orioles, an overhead Black Kite and a male Marsh Harrier over the meadows. All in all, nice to be on the land today.
Gavin Haig
Well-known member
I wander around with a ladder most days (well, nearly most days) and never have this kind of company - I am seriously envious. Mind you, I do have other local birders to banter withJos Stratford said:
Gavin Haig said:
Overall a naff weekend, missed half the birds I had hoped to see, rained off on Sunday and got the car stuck in a rut! Into this medley of misfortune, the one glimmer of joy was the visit to my land on Saturday for another wander around with a ladder, a.k.a. nest box check.
With Mr H paying another visit, we had started off the day hoping to bump into the Pygmy Owls not so very far from my land. With sunshine and singing birds galore, the day started pleasant enough, but guess what we didn’t see! The first time they have failed to play ball, we saw not a peep of a single one! Did find breeding Great Grey Shrikes though, so not all was lost.
With that, we motored off through the forest and towards my land. Almost there …then, suddenly, a shout of 'raptor overhead'! Looked interesting, certainly worthy of a second look, so hit the brakes and pulled the car to a halt on the grit. Cranked to look back and there, off flying and trailing a fish, a fine Osprey. Moderately common in these parts, but always a very good bird to see, this one was clearly heading to its nest off yonder in the pines. Not a bad start. Some minutes later we were in my meadows - dozens of Whinchats about, a Marsh Harrier too, three singing Common Rosefinches and, even better, a singing Marsh Warbler (common in Lithuania, but not on my land). Then we wandered down to the wood. Sat on the veranda of my cabin and, just as I watched a Goldeneye near my biggest nest box and pondered a sandwich with Paul, a major surprise flew across - jeepers, a Tawny Owl! Not as common as in the UK, I had never seen one on my land before, nor in fact many in the country at all, so I was well happy with this. Watched it fly across and where did it go? Straight to the aforementioned nestbox!!! Sat at the hole for some minutes and then disappeared inside …now I was seriously happy, surely I had a breeding bird! Eighteen months earlier I had hauled that box, weighing seemingly half a ton, through a kilometre of deep snow and then struggled to pull it up its chosen tree …I had optimistically termed it an owl box, but in reality expected it to be used by Goldeneye or Mallard (the latter used it in its first year) ….but, back to the present, it seemed I was now about to get my rewards! Watched for a while more and it did not come out, so decided to get on with the checking of the nest boxes - this really is an all day task, specially as I was going to be ringing the young! Lots of healthy sized broods of Great and Blue Tits, some almost at fledging, plus a good few Pied and Spotted Flycatchers, both species on eggs. Though the nest boxes took the time, couldn’t really fail to notice the singing Icterine Warblers and Golden Orioles, not to forget a very noisy pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers (their young are about to fledge). All good birds, but there was one nestbox I was itching to check - so off I waded across to the island on which it is located. I had very cleverly hoisted this massive box high in an Alder overlooking water - very good, but requiring a bit of acrobatics to check its contents! Got to the box and didn’t really fancy a mother Tawny Owl in my face, so gently tapped the box before looking in - I heard the shuffing of feet! Nothing flew out, so I peered through the hole …there, peering back from the darkness, was the owl! Still no sign of her flying out, so I gently put my hand in to check if she had chicks - expected to lose half my arm, but she did nothing! Felt round the box and, in addition to the mother, there were at least two chicks, very young and not old enough to ring, so retreated back down the tree and let my lodgers be, I was sure happy with that. At the bottom of the tree, another surprise came in the form of a pair of northern Long-tailed Tits, my second pair of the day! These too are not very numerous as breeders, and I don’t find pairs every year, so all in all it was turning into a red letter day! Finished off the boxes, then retreated back to the meadows and had a sit atop my raptor viewpoint - nice little selection …one male Montagu’s Harrier displaying, then mobbing a Marsh Harrier, one Lesser Spotted Eagle drifting some way off, then a couple of Common Buzzards. Over to the left, a Red-backed Shrike.
With that, we departed for our next destination.
Last edited:
lark o'dell
today the local patch tommrow the world
great report again jos lots of good birds
Similar threads
