Lithuania Winter Weekend

15th - 19th February 2007

15th February :- Today was spent travelling and everything went with out incident, ironically I heard my first singing Chiffchaff of the year as I left Spain for colder climates. I met Jim, Ray & Bob at Stansted and together we landed in a cold and snow-clad Kaunus Airport where we were met by Jos (our local guide), Alan, Frank & Simon, who had already flown in from Liverpool. After a quick beer we loaded the minibus and set off west to the Baltic Coast, it was a long drive but soon enough we arrived at Palanga, and our hotel for the night.

16th February :- Breakfast was taken early and soon enough we were walking through parkland to Palanga Pier and hopefully our first target. The first species of the trip were Jackdaw, Hooded Crow, and Great Tit, but at the coast we soon added a couple of distant Red throated Divers, 2 Common Scoter, lots of Great Crested Grebes, Long tailed Ducks, Goldeneye, Herring, Great Black backed, & Black headed Gulls. It was freezing, but Jos assured us it was usually colder!!!, and it was he that called our target species Steller's Eider. Everyone saw the pair well as they flew past the pier at  very close range, temporarily taking away the cold we had been feeling. Soon after we left and after a welcome coffee we drove a short distance south along the beach, which was completely covered in snow, here we found a small flock of Siskins, as well as a lot more seaduck, grebes and gulls. It was nearing lunchtime so again we headed south, to Klaipeda the largest Lithuanian town on the Baltic coastline. We made our way to the ferry port seeing a few Common Buzzards, Kestrel and plenty of Rooks on the way, ad while waiting for the ferry we added Common Gulls, House & Tree Sparrows, Great & Blue Tits. On Klaipeda Island we had a good walk to it's northern point where we had a young White tailed Eagle (unfortunately flying away) 6 Smew, 3 Red Breasted Merganser, 150+ Goosander, an Eider, more Long tailed Ducks, Mute Swans, and Common Ravens. Late afternoon we returned to the vehicle and embarked on a three hour drive east, past Vilnius to our fantastic hotel in the heart of the Laboneras Forest. An excellent evening meal with wine and beer completed a very good first day.

17th February :- We gathered outside to another fresh, cold morning with gorgeous blue skies showing us our accommodation and grounds in their full glory, along with Nuthatch, Jay, Great & Blue Tit around the local feeder. Off we drove though the forest, Jos giving us a lesson in how to deal with these snowy conditions before arriving at his own private cabin with it's garden (and it's feeders). We gathered in the cabin while Jos quickly got the heater going, and put the kettle on. As we warmed ourselves with coffee and toasted sandwiches we watched the activity at the garden feeders seeing mainly Tree Sparrows and Great Tits, but also a House Sparrow (a good winter record here), several Marsh Tits, a Borealis Willow Tit, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blackbird, Hooded Crows and Magpie. After this we made the short walk through snow to his woodland cabin and a whole new set of feeders, and this was awesome. Once we had all settled down in the cabin the birds started to arrive with Great & Marsh Tits making the initial forays. Great Spotted Woodpeckers came down, and then a whisper of "middle spot just here" brought point blank views of a lovely male Middle Spotted Woodpecker, closely followed by 9 gorgeous Northern Long tailed Tits feeding off the scraps on the ground. Another Middle Spotted Woodpecker arrived, this time a female and finally a pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers flew on to the feeder less than one metre from our view point, other birds included Nuthatches, Willow Tits, and Jays. There was a slight lull in the activity so Jos, Alan, and Frank left to return to his garden for another coffee and see what was happening there. The rest of us continued watching the feeders seeing more of the same species, and giving the photographers some fantastic opportunities. Finally just before we were about to leave and join Jos et al  for lunch we hit the jackpot with a female Grey headed Woodpecker as she nervously crept up and down a couple of trunks in full view before departing. Very pleased with our morning we left for lunch and after this headed out to the Labernos Forest, enroute stopping off at our hotel which was a good move since we found 7 Waxwings in the garden. This area of forest is good for Pygmy Owl but alas they were not to be found this time, and generally the forest was quiet with just Crested, Blue & Great Tits, Nuthatch, Greenfinches and Ravens around. We did enjoy walking on the frozen lake, and the spectacle of the snow-clad pines, then on the return journey we fond a few Northern Bullfinches at the side of the road.

18th February :- This morning we returned to Jos's land and glimpsed a Fieldfare as we drove into the parking area, a good start. We had decided to change the format this morning hopefully giving the Alan & Frank a good chance of the Grey headed Woodpecker, so we split into two groups. During the course of the morning we swapped positions with both groups having another excellent time watching the forest ad garden feeders, logging 3 (1male, 2 female) Grey headed Woodpeckers, 5 Middle Spotted, 4 Lesser Spotted & 6 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Northern Long tailed, Marsh, Willow, & Great Tits, Nuthatches, Eurasian Treecreeper, Jays, Blackbird, a few Northern Bullfinches, 20+ Common Redpolls, 40+ Tree Sparrows, and a Raven, with mammals including a few Roe Deer and a couple of Foxes. After lunch we headed back west to Vilnius where we were stopping for our final night, but before checking into our hotel we visited a nearby forest. Here we searched in vain for Hazelhen but we did find plenty of tracks of these elusive grouse, other interesting tracks we found here included Wolf and Elk. The birds were fairly scarce but we did manage to find a lovely Northern Grey Shrike, Goldcrests, Crested, Blue & Great Tits, Bullfinches and Yellowhammers. Back in Vilnius we saw plenty of Rooks, with Mute Swan and Mallards on the river, then after our evening meal we returned to the forest where we did hear a Tengmalm's Owl but unfortunately couldn't locate it. A quick drive around the city's historical old town revealed some exquisite architecture within this Baltic State capital.

19th February :-  After breakfast we left the hotel for Kaunus an our midday flights but we still had time for one last site to visit. Jos took us to the river next to the Hydrological Station thus keeping the water temperatures elevated and full of wildfowl and attendant White tailed Eagles. During our short stay we found 4 White tailed Eagles, Bean Goose, Mute Swans, Tufted Ducks, Mallard, Coot, and 100's of Goldeneye. An excellent end to a superb short break in this very interesting country.

Many thanks to Jim, Ray, Bob, Alan, Frank & Simon for making this the success it turned out to be, and obviously a very special thank you to Jos Statford for all his hard work both during the break and on his land. Anyone interested in a similar experience next winter please contact me (0034 962854374) about dates and availability.