That's Owl, Folks! Belarus, May 11, 2019.

This was a busy day, with some travel, some owls, and the most endangered bird of the trip. It was to be our last real birding day of the trip. Some of us got up early to bird around the hotel grounds and look for Martin's Eurasian Nutcracker. Unfortunately, we didn't find it. We met the rest of the group and had our last substantial breakfast in Belarus. (They served these pancakes that were more like fried American biscuits. OMG!)

We had to drive quite a ways. It was after lunch that we picked up Sasha, another forest ranger. He was going to take us into an area set aside for Great Gray Owl nesting. Martin and I had seen Great Gray Owl in Minnesota, so it wasn't the highest priority, but who doesn't love seeing owls? We had been warned that it would be the worst place for mosquitoes, which I wasn't enthusiastic about. We covered ourselves in DEET and I put on my rain jacket with the hood up for protection. We took off down a path and I kept waiting for the attack. Mosquitoes adore me, so I told everyone I would draw them off. Imagine my surprise when the swarms never materialized.

We didn't have to walk too far, when we stopped and Sasha pointed to a tree. There, perched in a wooden nesting box, sat a female Great Gray Owl. Even though it wasn't a new bird for me, my breath caught. We weren't too close, but she still kept an eye on us. It was a big target bird for the rest of the group. The feeling was electric! Then a downy owablbllet poked his head up, to our great delight. While everyone else was drinking in the owls, I spotted a Pied Flycatcher. Barrie said we were really lucky. Most of the nest boxes in this forest were old tires with drainage holes in the bottom. He had seen an owl in one the year before, but all they could see was the top half of the female's head. The mosquitoes were never a problem. As we returned to the mini-bus we spotted a fox on the road.

Sasha then took us to another spot, where there was another wooden nesting box. Four downy Long-eared Owls peered out. It was a wonderful surprise, the fifth species of owl for the trip. They had a very fierce expression for babies. We then dropped Sasha off at his house, where three of his seven children came out and shyly looked at us. He made a little speech about God and the Bible, which I found a little uncomfortable, but I was glad for the birds he showed us.

We then left for the last hotel of the trip. We had a few birds along the road, and I enjoyed the countryside and small towns. We arrived at the hotel and checked in. Barrie said we would be leaving shortly for the last bird of the trip, one of the rarest in Europe. We went up to the room which was really lovely. I looked out over the town square and saw a couple of Common Swifts shoot by, another new bird for me. Most of us got on to the van to go to our last real birding stop of the trip. One couple chose not to go. I'm not judging. (Who am I fooling? I am too!)

We drove out past the edge of town to a marshy grassy area. We were going to look for Aquatic Warbler, one of the most endangered birds in Europe. This species has lost much of its wintering habitat in west Africa. Belarus is the easiest place to see it. We met a warden of the preserve and walked down the hill to see if we could find one. I was really surprised at the habitat. For some reason I expected it to be in reeds, but it was short grass marsh. As in other places we visited, the water levels were very low. We walked out listening for the call. One was calling nearby and we all struggled to see it, as it popped up and down. I finally got a decent look in the scope, but photos were impossible.

We trudged back to the mini-van and returned to the hotel for our last dinner in Belarus.I am not going to write about our trip to the airport the next morning, as it was fairly uneventful. We flew back to London on a two hour flight, with more gray meatloaf! I want to say, the food in Belarus was much better than the food on Belavia Air. The flight was comfortable and I was sad to say goodbye to our birding comrades.

I would highly recommend birding Belarus. Personally, I would not do it on my own. The signs are all in Russian, in the Cyrillic alphabet. Very few people speak English. There are some local guides, but in May they are hard to come by, as they are employed by tour groups. I was very pleased with Naturetrek. The tour wasn't really aimed at hard-core birders, but we saw almost every expected bird. The guides were wonderful, enthusiastic and very helpful. I got 43 new birds! My total list was 135 species.  If you have any questions, let me know!

Photographs for the day:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72157708746996103

Species list:
Mute Swan
Common Cuckoo
Common Snipe
Eurasian Marsh-Harrier
Montagu's Harrier
Great Gray Owl
Eurasian Kestrel
Eurasian Jay
Rook
Wood Lark
Eurasian Skylark
Barn Swallow
Common House-Martin
Aquatic Warbler
Savi's Warbler
European Pied Flycatcher

Belarus, Day 5, May 10, 2019. Into the Woods

I made a big mistake the morning of May 10th. We were on the third floor of the hotel and my knees were sore. Martin got up early to bird around the hotel. I said, "No thank you! I will stay up here until breakfast, as another trip up and down three flights of stairs does not appeal to me!" As I said, this was a big mistake. Martin came up very excited and asked me to play the tape I had of Eurasian Nutcracker, one of my most wanted birds. I played it and he said "That is it!" He had seen a bird perched on top of a pine tree. It was chased off by other birds, but he got a decent look. It was the right shape, streaked below. We later found out another member of our tour group was also up early and was on the other side of the tree and saw it, too. I told myself we would probably seen another one, as the tour group from the year before had one in a forest.

We went down for yet another substantial breakfast. They do like a big breakfast in Belarus! Afterwards we met at the bus to head into the woods. First we had to pick up a local forest ranger, Anton. He was going to guide us, hopefully showing us a few specialty birds. He was a really nice guy, very affable. We drove into the forest and parked the van. Barrie warned us again about not getting off of the trail and watching for ticks. He also asked everyone to be as quiet as possible and stay close together, as we would see a lot more that way. I won't comment on how the group did following these instructions.

There was an outhouse by the parking area, and we were advised that we would not be finding better facilities. I was fine, so I walked past it to look at flowers. I was surprised when a small rodent darted out of the foliage, running behind the outhouse. I got a good look at it, gray with a rusty colored back. It was a Water Vole. I was actually excited to see it. Mammals are harder to see than birds. As we started walking I saw another and actually got a photo of it!

This day in the forest is kind of a blur to me. It is hard to remember the order we saw things in. I do remember one of the first birds we saw was a Firecrest, a bird that is similar to our Golden-crowned Kinglet. They flit around and move so fast. I got a quick shot of it singing, but the crest isn't showing. We walked into a less traveled area and walked into a clearing. Anton pointed out a hole in one of the trees and there was a tiny owl peeking out! It was a Tengmalm's Owl, known as a Boreal Owl in the states. I was not really expecting to see this owl, so I was really happy.

Then we heard the flight call of a Black Woodpecker. One flew around the clearing, and finally came into another tree, sticking its head into a hole, feeding its young. I do want to mention, we were not close to these birds, but further back. My photos of the woodpecker are over-exposed, but it was still a thrill to see it. Black Woodpecker is a honking big bird. This was by far the best look I have ever had of it. We picked up yet another woodpecker, Gray-headed. We were kicking it on woodpeckers!

We added a few more new birds to our list. A beautiful Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker was a real prize. It is another bird that can be difficult to find. It also completed all of the possible woodpeckers for Belarus, nine species. Then we found the bird of the day for me, a Eurasian Pygmy-owl. We heard it tooting right off of the trail. It was soon spotted and we got great looks. It is very similar to our Northern Pygmy-owl. We finally went back to the hotel for dinner. (We ate lunch at some point, but I can't tell you when.

We had a big evening ahead. One of the big draws of the Bialowieza forest is the mammals. There are a good number of European Bison, one of the animals we all wanted to see. These animals became extinct in the wild in the 1920s, but have been successfully reintroduced. They are easiest to see at dusk in meadows next to the woods. Other mammals are also possible crossing the roads, including wolf and lynx. Both of these predators are very difficult to see, but we were hoping. We had not gone far from the hotel when I spotted a canine running on the road. I yelled "Wolf!" I was more than a bit embarrassed when it turned out to be a fox. I got a bit of teasing about this. We ended up seeing three more that evening.

We passed a small lake and somebody, maybe Martin, spotted a bird swimming. It turned out to be one of the least common birds of the trip, a Black-throated Diver, known as an Arctic Loon in the states. Martin, Barrie, and a few other members of the group, had seen five flying over at the fish ponds on the first day. I did not see them, so I didn't mention them. :-D

We stopped at place where Anton knew there was a special bird. Martin never had seen a Tawny Owl when he lived in England. This bird was his "tart's tick", an easy bird to see, but one that eluded the birder. I won't go into the reasons he hadn't seen one, but it was his own damn fault. Unfortunately, we weren't lucky. Barrie and Ishtvan said we would come back after dark, as they are really vocal.

We drove on and arrived at the best meadow for European Bison. It was getting close to sunset. We parked and started scanning and spotted some on the forest edge. We got a bit closer, but they were still distant. My photos don't begin to do them justice. I did get a little bit of digiscoped video on my phone. Martin helped other tour members get some digiscoped video, too. We were all excited. Then, on the other side of the meadow, a few Red Deer came out. We had seen Roe Deer, but not Red. Then the rarest mammal of the trip came out in the same area, several wild boars. They were far too distant and the light was too poor to even try for photos.

It was getting dark, so we started back to the hotel. Martin saw a badger run across the road. I did not. I am still bitter. We stopped again at the Tawny Owl spot, and sure enough, they were vocalizing. One flew across the road and Martin got his tart's tick. We heard an incredibly eerie call. Barrie and Ishtvan were mystified. Antone said it was a Common Crane. It was quite late, so we drove back to the hotel and I hobbled up the three flights of stairs.

Unfortunately, Flickr is down so I can't post a link to my photos.

Bird species seen:
Mallard
Common Goldeneye
Common Cuckoo
Eurasian Nightjar
Common Crane (heard)
Eurasian Woodcock
Green Sandpiper
Black Tern
White-winged Tern
Arctic Loon
Great Egret
Common Buzzard
Eurasian Pygmy-Owl
Tawny Owl
Tengmalm's (Boreal) Owl
Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker
Gray-headed Woodpecker
Black Woodpecker
Eurasian Jay
Eurasian Skylark
Barn Swallow
Common House-Martin
Crested Tit
Willow Tit
Common Firecrest
Willow Warbler
Common Chiffchaff
Great Reed Warbler
Collared Flycatcher
Whinchat
Eurasian Starling
White Wagtail
Common Chaffinch
European Goldfinsh
Yellowhammer

Belarus, Day 4, May 9, 2019. What a beautiful day!

We woke up to bright sunshine and blue skies. It was absolutely gorgeous, the best weather of the trip. Of course, it was going to be a travel day, with limited birding. There were a few stops planned, so it wasn't going to be a total wash. We had our last breakfast at the hotel, still very substantial. We got in the bus and drove to Alshaney, where we had another chance for Azure Tit. We had seen a pair well the first morning, but they were a bit distant, so we were hoping for closer looks and photo ops. A pair of Long-tailed Tits flew by right after we got off the bus. We walked up a berm along the river and almost immediately had a pair of Azure Tits, quite a bit closer, but very uncooperative as far as photos went.

The biggest surprise was a Eurasian Nightjar that flushed and landed on a branch. Unfortunately, a pair of nest Fieldfares took umbrage and chased it off. Barrie spotted a Green-veined White butterfly, the a swallowtail flew by. A Brimstone sulphur butterfly landed on a discarded red piece of clothing. We walked further down the berm, where a singing Garden Warbler played hard to get. We turned and walked the other way to a reed bed, where a Savi's Warbler was singing. We got good looks, and I got terrible photos. Martin had stayed at the spot where we had the Azure Tit, hoping to get something good. Unfortunately, the pictures he got were not fabulous.

We drove several hours, passing through the city of Pinsk. We made a few stops, seeing a Crested Lark, both Lesser and Greater Spotted Eagles, and several other birds. We visited a Belarussian grocery store, where we all purchased our favorite new snack, mega chips, a large rectangular potato chip, sort of like Pringles, but much better! We arrived at our new hotel in the Bialowieza National Park, on the Polish border. The setting was amazing. We checked in and got settled for two nights, and headed down for dinner. It was the best meal of our trip, mushroom soup and a braised pork. We had a big day ahead of us, so it was early to bed!

Photos from the day:
http://sngcanary1.blogspot.com/2019/05/belarus-may-8-2019-so-many-woodpeckers.html

Species list:
Common Cuckoo
Eurasian Nightjar
Eurasian Moorhen
Northern Lapwing
Black-tailed Godwit
Common Redshank
Lesser Spotted Eagle
Greater Spotted Eagle
Eurasian Marsh-harrier
Eurasian Hoopoe
Eurasian Golden Oriole
Crested Lark
Barn Swallow
Azure Tit
Savi's Warbler
Garden Warbler
Spotted Flycatcher
Whinchat
Northern Wheatear
Fieldfare
Western Yellow Wagtail
White Wagtail
Yellowhammer

Belarus May 8, 2019. So Many Woodpeckers!

The weather promised to be better this morning. I looked out before breakfast and there was no rain! It was still a bit gray, but I was happy to take it. After breakfast we drove into the Azerani forest in the Pripyat National Park. We arrived and applied insect repellent, as Belarussian forests are full of bitey bugs. We we sternly warned to not wander off the trail and to avoid brushing up against vegetation, as ticks are a big problem.

We started down a trail, and I was immediately distracted by wild flowers. Lily-of-the-valley was thick on either side. I grabbed a few photos, and hustled to catch up with the group. We spotted an Eurasian Treecreeper working its way up a trunk. Then one of the guides found one of my favorite birds of the day, a Red-breasted Flycatcher. A bit later we saw a Collared Flycatcher, another great looking bird. The first woodpecker of the day was a Great Spotted, one I had already seen in England. We heard a Gray-headed Woodpecker, but it didn't show itself. We crossed an open wet bog, where Eurasian Three-toed Woodpeckers are often found, but only had a Lesser Spotted, another bird I had already seen. Then we heard a wonderful song, an Eurasian Golden Oriole. We had glimpses of the bird flying over, but I only saw the silhouette.  A young White-tailed Eagle flew overhead. When we arrived at the van I was shocked to see a Black Woodpecker fly up out of the grass by a water filled ditch. We had gotten brief looks at one in Spain, but this was much better!

We left the woods to bird a riparian area, looking for Barred and Icterine Warbler and raptors. We did a lot of driving, stopping, listening, getting out and walking, but had no luck. The guides said it may have been too early, and they had not arrived yet. We drove out to a meadow, where we had a beautiful Black Stork soaring overhead. A beautiful Greater Spotted Eagle also circled above us. A black mini-bus pulled up with another group of birders that we had seen several times. (I commented that they were the evil birding group, like the meteorologists in the black vehicles in the movie Twister.) They told us they had seen a Barred Warbler right where we had looked earlier. We got back in our white mini-bus and retraced our steps.

When we got to the spot we heard the Barred Warblers singing. Maybe they arrived five minutes after we left. They are a big honking warbler. It was difficult to photograph them, as they stayed deep in the brush, but I did get a few shots. A pair of Red-backed Shrikes jumped up, giving us even better looks than we had the day before. We worked the area a bit moer and were rewarded with fantastic looks at a Eurasian Golden Oriole at eye level! This oriole is nothing like our orioles in the states. They are much heavier, shaped more like a cotinga. I saw a bird back from the trail, deep in shrubs. It was a European Robin. I called it out, but no one seemed to hear me. I told our guide  Barrie later, and I don;t think he believed me. It was not where you would expect a robin, but I am certain.We got fabulous looks at a Wryneck, another species of woodpecker, though not a typical one.We did some more birding in the area and got one of our main targets, White-backed Woodpecker.. Then we got another target, a Middle spotted Woodpecker.

It was time to head back to the hotel, and we were going to take a shortcut. Rather than driving back the way we came, crossing the Pripyat by bridge, we were going to take the ferry. This proved to be a bit of an adventure. We pulled up to the river crossing and got off of the mini-bus. Istevan pointed out a posh hotel on the other bank and told us the ruler of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, had a summer house a short way up the river. Our driver tried to get onto the ferry and bottomed out. He tried another angle and finally was able to get on. We all followed and boarded. White-winged, Whiskered, and Common Terns flew over the river. The crossing was short and we disembarked. The mini-bus had an even harder time getting off the fairy. Finally after several tries, he succeeded. We made the short drive back to the hotel where we had beer, wine, and dinner.

Photos from the day: http://sngcanary1.blogspot.com/2019/05/belarus-day-2-may-7-2019-well-that-was.html

Bird species seen:
Garganey
Mallard
Stock Dove
Common Wood Pigeon
European Turtle-dove (heard only)
Common Cuckoo
Common Redshank
White-winged Tern
Whiskered Tern
Common Tern
Black Stork
White Stork
Gray Heron
European Honey-buzzard
Lesser Spotted Eagle
Greater Spotted Eagle
Eurasian Marsh-Harrier
 White-tailed Eagle
Common Buzzard
Eurasian Hoopoe
Eurasian Wryneck
Middle Spotted Woodpecker
White-backed Woodpecker
Greater Spotted Woodpecker
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Gray-headed Woodpecker (heard only)
Black Woodpecker
Red-backed Shrike
Eurasian Golden Oriole
Eurasian Magpie
Hooded Crow
Common Raven
Barn Swallow
Marsh Tit
Eurasian Blue Tit
Great Tit
Eurasian Nuthatch
Eurasian Treecreeper
Eurasian Wren
Wood Warbler
Willow Warbler
Common Chiffchaff
Icterine Warbler
Eurasian Blackcap
Barred Warbler
Spotted Flycatcher
European Robin
Thrush Nightingale
Red-breasted Flycatcher
Collared Flycatcher
European Starling
White Wagtail
Common Chaffinch
Hawfinch
European Goldfinch
European Serin
Yellowhammer
House Sparrow
Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Belarus, Day 2, May 7, 2019. Well, that was Ruff!

I woke up well before the scheduled breakfast time. I was really nervous about the weather, as Istvan had said to expect heavy rain and winds. I peaked out the window and saw it was very gray, but not raining. I thought maybe the weather forecasters in Belarus were as inaccurate as the ones in the states. We got dressed and went down for breakfast. Belarussians like a big breakfast!  We finished, loaded the bus, and set out for our first destination, a small village nearby where Syrian Woodpeckers can be found.

It was spitting rain a bit and it was really cold and windy. We found the Syrian Woodpecker quickly. It was the first new woodpecker for me for the trip. Woodpeckers were high on our target list. We wandered around a bit more and had Black Redstart, sing Thrush Nightingales, Whinchats, and a few flashy European warblers. (Sarcasm alert!) It started to rain more heavily.

We went into town to do a little sightseeing to avoid the rain. We visited a lovely, tiny blue wooden church, packed with icons and perfumed with the scent of cut lilacs. May 7th is a holiday in Belarus, a day to honor the dead. The cemetery next to the church was full of people decorating graves, even in the rain. A much fancier church was across with the road, with gilded onion domes and shiny copper roofs. We visited a spot for shorebirds and saw a few, but the weather was still challenging, so we had an early lunch, including a shot of raspberry vodka.

The weather had eased a bit, so we headed to another shorebird spot, a set of sewage settling ponds. It was about a quarter mile walk on a high berm, with the wind howling. Another group of birders was already there. I picked my way along, thinking I was sure to be blown off. When we got to the area where the other birders were, I almost jumped off the berm for joy. There were over 200 Ruffs, including breeding plumaged males of every possible color. I remember when I had my first field guide and I saw the illustrations of breeding plumaged Ruffs, I was smitten. It is amazing to be me that there can be so many different color combinations in the same species. I have seen female Ruffs a few times in Texas, but they are a bit nondescript. These males, some of the squaring off with each other, competing for females, were stunning. I took hundreds of photos. Unfortunately, due to the wind, I was not as steady as I should have been, and my photos are not fabulous, but I still treasure them! We also had a White Wagtail, several Yellow Wagtails, and a Citrine Wagtail.

Then Istvan said we needed to go to the nearby banding station. They had a surprise for us. We pulled up to a little wooden house, and as many of us as could, crowded into the tiny room where they were ringing the birds. The rest of the group peered through the window. The main bander had two Terek Sandpipers they had caught and were getting ready to release. It was so cool to see these birds in the hand! They were much smaller than I expected, as birds in the hand always are. Sara, one of tour participants, has done banding in England, so they gave her on the of the birds to release. It flew off like a shot! One sobering thing was the water level by the station. Normally in spring the river floods and it comes right up to the house. This year it was a dry field. It was last year, also. It has been very dry. This has a negative impact on many of the breeding birds.

We walked down to the river and saw quite a few more shorebirds and I found a couple of Gargany. We had another couple of Terek Sandpipers. Martin found a Temminck's Stint and a Common Ringed Plover. White-winged and Whiskered Terns flew by. There was an Eurasian Oystercatcher on the river bank. In the states American Oystercatchers are only found right on the coast, usually on the beach. Belarus is far from any sea, being completely landlocked. Where was this bird catching oysters?

We returned to the hotel for dinner, but we weren't done for the day. We drove to an area near the river where Great Snipe breed. This was one of Martin's main target birds. He had seen one in the UK, years ago, but not well. I was really excited to see them, as well. They can be very tough to see displaying. You have to be there right at sunset. Sometimes the fields are flooded so much you have to take a boat. This time it was walkable, but it was a long slog, especially as we were trying a new kind of over-boot, which made it even harder. On the way out we heard a Corn Crake, which are very difficult to see. Martin and I were the only ones lucky enough to see it scurry across the road.

We finally got to the lekking area where the same birders we had seen earlier in the day at the Ruff spot,  were already set up. We had our scope, and the tour leaders had two more. The snipe run along little trails in the grass. Occasionally they will stick up their heads. If you are lucky you will see them jumping. Finally one was spotted. We all took turns looking in the scope, but it moved off. We kept looking. After a while, another popped up. After quite a long wait, everyone had seen one. The walk back seemed even longer and we were so spread out, we were not always sure we were going the right way. Simon, one of the tour participants, was kind enough to tote our scope back, as Martin's shoulder had given out and my knees were screaming. We were more than happy to get back to the hotel!

Link to photos from the day, including many, many lousy Ruff photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72157708664240004

Species seen this day:
Gargany
Mallard
Common Wood Pigeon
Common Cuckoo
Corn Crake
Eurasian Oystercatcher
Northern Lapwingras
Common Ringed Plover
Little Ringed Plover
Black-tailed Godwit
Ruff
Temminck's Stint
Common Sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper
Common Redshank
Black-headed Gull
Caspian Gull
Little Tern
Black Tern
White-winged Tern
Whiskered Tern
Common Tern
Gray Heron
Eurasian Marsh-Harrier
Eurasian Wryneck
Syrian Woodpecker
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Jackdaw
Rook
Hooded Crow
Common Raven
Eurasian Skylark
Barn Swallow
Common House-martin
Eurasian Blue Tit
Great Tit
Wood Warbler
Willow Warbler
Sedge Warbler
Lesser Whitethroat
Spotted Flycatcher
Thrush Nightingale
Black Redstart
Whinchat
Eurasian Blackbird
Fieldfare
European Starling
Western Yellow Wagtail (thunbergi)_
Western Yellow Wagtail (flava)
Citrine Wagtail
White Wagtail
Common Chaffinch
European Greenfinch
Eurasian Linnet
European Goldfinch
European Serin
Yellowhammer
Reed Bunting
House Sparrow
Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Belarus, not where I expected to go birding. Day 1

I haven't written any posts in quite some time, mostly because I couldn't imagine anyone reading them. I decided to go ahead and do a daily report for this trip because Belarus is not on the radar for the vast majority of American birders.

We came to the decision to go to Belarus in a round-about way. Martin's nephew was getting married in England, and we decided to attend. Since we were already going to be going that far, we decided to add a birding trip in Europe. Our initial choices were Spain, where we have already gone, Corsica, or the Shetland Islands. Martin then discovered that Naturetrek, a British tour company, had a trip to Belarus, departing London the day after the wedding. There were a number of birds there that we both badly wanted, including several woodpeckers and Azure Tit. We were a bit hesitant, as we usually do our trips on our own, or with a couple of friends. You never know who is going to be on a regular tour. It turned out that our worries were unfounded.

We met up with the tour group, our British leader, Barrie Cooper, and 11 other participants at Gatwick on May 5. We flew on Belavia Air, the official Belarusian airline. We had an uneventful flight. The aircraft was great. I won't mention their food, though. (Is meatloaf supposed to be gray?) We arrived at about 730PM and went through customs. At this time, Belarus no longer has visa requirements if you fly into Minsk. We met our in country guide, Istvan Pentek, and our ground arranger, Julia. Julia took us to change some money and we loaded up for a long drive to our first hotel, on the Pripiyap River in south Belarus. We arrived just before midnight. A Thrush Nightingale was singing loudly. We agreed to meet for breakfast at 8AM.

The sun rises very early this time of year in Belarus. We woke up early and I looked outside. There was some drizzle, but it didn't look to bad. We went down and had a substantial breakfast, a very substantial breakfast. We went out for our first walk, hoping to see our main target, Azure Tit. This bird is normally found in Asia. Belarus is on the very edge of its range. It is a gorgeous little thing, white, blue and black, by far the most attractive of the tits, at least to me. The other possible target was Eurasian Beaver, which is usually found near our hotel.

A pair of White Storks was nesting across the road from the hotel. Hooded Crows were flying into the trees nearby. A Eurasian Hoopoe, a crazy looking bird with a big crest, long bill, and fabulous markings flew in. We walked behind the hotel and were disheartened to see that the river bank had been torn up, doing some "improvements." We quickly realized that it was very unlikely that we would see any beavers. The drizzle increased a bit, but we kept on. Istvan said we would walk to the area where the tits had nested the previous year. It was maybe a third of a mile from the hotel. He ran ahead to check the area, and came back. For the first time in the trip we were stopped by a soldier. He seemed unwilling to let us proceed, maybe because of the construction work on the river. Istvan talked our way through and we walked down to the nesting area. On the way we spotted a couple of Eurasian Oystercatchers. It was really odd to see oystercatchers in a land-locked country, far from the sea. Unlike our oystercatcher, these birds are often seen in grassy areas, or on rivers.

The tits had nested in an electrical box the year before. Steven said we might have to wait a while before seeing them. I was not feeling particularly hopeful, thinking the construction might have put them off. Happily, I was wrong! We very quickly spotted the pair, flitting around in some willows. They were rather distant from the path, but we got excellent looks. I also got horrible photos. We were close to ecstatic to have gotten our biggest target out of the way. There were no beavers to be seen, but we didn't care.

We then loaded up the van and went to the Belaje fish ponds, hoping to see one of my other wanted birds, Smew. This white duck is very difficult to see in the states, but a few pair nest at these fish ponds. The drizzle had become a light rain at this point. The road was blocked off, so we had to walk. The first pond held a couple of pairs of Great Crested Grebes, one pair doing their breeding display. We walked a bit farther and I spotted a Little Bittern, which flew out of the reeds. Great Reed Warblers were singing in several ponds. Caspian Gulls flew overhead. We passed another birding group, for the first of many times we saw them
on our trip. We walked down past several ponds and finally got our target bird, the Smew. We had both the male and female. Due to the rain, I didn't take any photos. I heard the first of many Common Cuckoos, which sound just like the clock.It was a bird I really wanted.

We ate lunch crowded under the shelter of a nearby bus stop. The rain continued. We then got back into the bus and drove to a nearby meadow, where we had a chance to spot mammals, as well as birds. Unfortunately, the mammals must have been staying inside having tea during the rain. We did get great looks at a Red-backed Shrike. Both White and Yellow Wagtails strolled along the road. We were all pretty wiped out from the very late arrival the night before, so we went back to the hotel for dinner.

Itsvan said the weather for the following day looked even worse with heavy rain and high winds. We were a bit disheartened. We went outside to check to see if maybe the beavers were around. As feared, the construction on the banks seemed to have pushed them out. Despite this, I was still very happy.

Species seen:
Gadwall
Mallard
Common Goldeneye
Smew
Great Crested Grebe
Rock Pigeon (feral)
Stock Dove
Common Cuckoo
Eurasian Oystercatcher
Northern Lapwing
Little Ringed Plover
Black-tailed Godwit
Ruff
Common Snipe
Common Sandpiper
Common Greenshank
Wood Sandpiper
Common Redshank
Black-headed Gull
Caspian Gull
White-winged Tern
Whiskered Tern
Common Tern
White Stork
Great Cormorant
Great Bittern
Little Bittern
Gray Heron
Great Egret
Eurasian Hoopoe
Eurasian Wryneck
Red-backed Shrike
Eurasian Magpie
Hooded Crow
Common Raven
Eurasian Skylark
Barn Swallow
Common House Martin
Azure Tit
Willow Tit
Common Chiffchaff
Great Reed Warbler
Lesser Whitethroat
Thrush Nightingale
Black Redstart
Whinchat
Northern Wheatear
Eurasian Blackbird
European Starling
Western Yellow Wagtail (thunbergi)
Western Yellow Wagtail (flava)
White Wagtail
Common Chaffinch
European Goldfinch
Eurasian Linnet
European Greenfinch
Yellowhammer
Reed Bunting
House Sparrow
Eurasian Tree Sparrow