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BELARUS!

Salihorsk Salt Mines

MY IMPRESSION OF THE COLD WAR SOVIET UNION WAS OF GRIM SALT MINES AND GULAG LABOUR CAMPS. The former can still be seen in Belarus but it also has a huge proportion of natural vegetation cover compared to most European countries and with a sparce population (it has never fully recovered from losing one third of its people in WWII) wildlife flourishes here. Although we did not see any large predators we enjoyed several great encounters with a total of 29(!) European Bison and bird life was very much in evidence everywhere. The immigration process at a modern-looking Minsk airport was painless and quick and we were soon heading south, past cyryllic road signs on a broad new dual carriageway almost empty of traffic. Fields were a lot larger than I was expecting, owing to the former communist co-operative farming methods but away from them, swathes of silver birch trees cloaked vast Scots Pine forests that stretched to the horizon. Several hours later we reached the Pripyat Valley and our comfortable hotel in the ancient town of Turov, where we had time for a quick walk through of the site for our follow morning's photography, Turov Meadows - Western Palearctic hotspot!

Viktor at Turov Meadows

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MORE PENDLE DOTTEREL TIME

Eurasian Dotterel, female, Pendle Hill

A SECOND TRIP OF DOTTERELS ON PENDLE HILL STAYED UNTIL I RETURNED FROM SPAIN, long enough for me to see make the hike up the hill to see them. There were three birds, two females and a male frequenting the Ogden Clough path much further down the hill than I have ever seen them before. Hassled by photographers for much of the morning they were a little wary. I draw the line at people trying to feed mealworms to them and will not be passing on any more dotterel news except privately to local birders. I am sick of people who cannot be bothered to help search for birds descending like locusts as soon as something scarce is reported and treating the birds like playthings.

Eurasian Dotterel, male, Pendle Hill

Eurasian Dotterel, female, Pendle Hill

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STONE CURLEW

Eurasian Stone Curlew, a female returns to her nest

EURASIAN STONE CURLEW IS ONE OF TEN SPECIES OF STONE CURLEWS scattered across the planet and has been one of my favourites since I first saw it on Weeting Heath in Suffolk more than 30 years ago. The night air of the Lleida Plains is filled by their demented wailing calls and although they are common here they are surprisingly unobtrusive during the day. We were privileged to be able to photograph a pair at their nest from a small and very hot canvas photo hide. It was wonderful to watch the adults changing over, while at the same time worrying that every time someone walked, rode a bicycle or drove a vehicle past their nest the sitting bird would scurry off for a few minutes. Interestingly the slightly smaller and neater female was much more attentive than the male, which usually nodded off during his incubation shift. Nest hides are usually short-lived opportunities because, like many shorebirds, the young leave the nest within a day or so of the eggs hatching. A big thank you again to our partners Birding in Spain for this amazing experience.

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LITTLE OWL

Little Owl, Lleida Plains, Catalonia

LITTLE OWLS MAKE LOVELY PORTRAIT SUBJECTS! A pair are nesting in the same pile of limestone rocks that I photographed them on three years ago on the Lleida Plains and whilst they are not uncommon it is sometimes tricky to capture them in the light you are looking for. Add to this their reluctance to perform when it is windy or raining. In this case the light was soft evening at the end of a very hot and sunny day. It was well worth the wait.

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