A huge bull bison in a secluded meadow in Belowezhskaya Pushcha
BELOWEZHSKAYA PUSHCHA, THE BELORUSSIAN PART OF A VAST ANCIENT FOREST SHARED WITH POLAND lived up to expectations, the highlight being the encounters with a total of 29 bison. The first meeting was with a large herd of 22 females and calves late in the evening, after sunset and needed a 51200 ISO rating and live view to capture anything other than an out-of-focus blur. The next evening we had a much more exciting encounter with a group of six bulls, one of them really massive, followed by a lone bull. All were quite wary and shy and slowly retreated back into the forest rather than confront us. I have admired bison since I was a child when I owned a book that showed a bison charging a small family car. Honey Buzzards soared overhead, woods were full of woodpeckers and hawfinches and the surrounding meadows held newly returned Red-backed Shrikes and sweet-singing Marsh Warblers. Wonderful!
Red-backed Shrike, male - delightful to see so many of these in the Belorussian countryside!
Great Grey Owl, Vygonoschansky reserve, Belarus
GREAT GREY OWL IS PROBABLY THE BEST LOOKING OWL and we enjoyed a wonderful afternoon encounter with one near its nest in the Vygonoschanksy reserve of southern Belarus on an action-packed day that included other special breeding birds such as Smew and Aquatic Warbler. The owls are at the southernmost limit of their European range in Belarus and specialise in preying on Water Voles in the flooded mixed pine and alder forests here. Our local guide Sasha was very keen to show us one of his precious owls as well as his new electric bicycle! It is impossible to say just how impressive this massive owl is at close quarters, I have seen them in captivity lots of times but there is nothing like seeing one in its natural home minus any baiting or playback etc. These views are all of the same perch.
Sacha, our local guide
Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker, an unobtrusive resident of the pine forest bogs of Belarus
WE SPENT SEVERAL DAYS IN THE WONDERFUL PRIPYATSKY NATIONAL PARK of southeast Belarus, a couple of days longer than most groups. Although we experienced some heavy thunderstorms at times, we still had enough time to see its most desired residents, including the enigmatic Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker, in a flooded pine bog. I love the background of these photos, lacking any green needles or other distracting foliage. Other highlights included: a female goshawk sitting on its nest, watching us with its deep orange beady eye; all five 'spotted' woodpeckers including finding active nests of Middle and Lesser Spotted; a pair of Eurasian Pygmy Owls and a delightful river cruise up the Pripyat that produced another seven Terek Sandpipers and three White-tailed Eagles. The flora here had many indicators of ancient forest including familiar ones to UK botanists like Toothwort and Herb Paris. It was also interesting to think that the entombed reactor at Chernobyl was only around 60 miles downstream, I never imagined I would be so close to it in my lifetime back at the time of the nuclear disaster in April 1986. Belarus suffered more than any other country, receiving the majority of the fallout from the reactor fire owing to an unseasonal southerly wind and rain. It is estimated that around 2.2 million people in Belarus live in contaminated areas and although the 30km 'zone of alienation' around the reactor itself is now open to tourists, it will remain uninhabitable for around 20,000 years.
Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker, Pripyatsky National Park
Eurasian Pygmy Owl, Pripyatsky National Park in torchlight at 32000 ISO!
White-tailed Eagle, Pripyat River
Toothwort, Pripyatsky National Park