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SPOROVO RESERVE, BELARUS

Aquatic Warbler, Sporovo Reserve.

We were not quite finished yet today. Pressing on towards our hotel at Bereza we started our exploration of the vast sedge fens of the Sporovo reserve. The main attraction here is the rapidly declining Aquatic Warbler. Time really is running out for this sedge fen specialist and sooner rather than later is a good plan if you want to see it. The sun was still shining and we had no trouble in locating at least three of these buzzing little warblers not far from the roadside, singing atop bull rush stems. A couple of Sedge Warblers allowed a good comparison with the much simpler buzzing song of Aquatic Warbler. The following morning we visited another sedge fen area where we found another very obliging Aquatic Warbler. There were many Sedge Warblers here as well as a few Eurasian Reed Warblers and a Common Grasshopper Warbler but the stars of the show were the lovely Citrine Wagtails, including two lemon yellow males.

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VYGONOSHANSKY RESERVE, BELARUS

Great Grey Owl, Vygonoshansky Reserve.

Heading further west we spotted a pair of Crested Larks by the roadside, a bird we had missed last time. One of them was busily collecting nesting material, including a piece of string! Eventually we stopped in a small village to pick up our local guide, who devotes his life to, amongst other things, studying the population of Great Grey Owls in the forests of Vygonoshansky. He took us straight to one of his six nest sites this season. An encounter with a Great Grey Owl is a very moving experience for anyone, not just birders so you can imagine the excitement amongst those of us who had waited their whole lives for this moment. The massive female owl of the pair stared down at us while we stood not far from where her young were hiding for half an hour or so, her partner was somewhere not far away but we did not search for him or their youngsters, keeping our disturbance of their secret lives to a minimum. The concentric barring of her huge round face is like no other owl and although I have seen many in captivity there is nothing like seeing Great Grey Owl in its natural forest home. The owls in southern Belarus are found far to the south of the true Taiga zone and are birds of mixed Alder and pine forest bogs, specializing in preying on hydrophilus vole species. Also in this area we visited a Tawny Owl nest box, where a couple of well grown fluffy chicks poked their heads out to take a look at us. Their parent was nearby but did not show well for anyone, the mobbing of Blackbirds and jays marking its position. A very nice surprise here was a Hazel Grouse next that we were taken too, complete with a female sitting on it, tucked in close to the trunk of a birch tree. This was a great ‘pickup’ for those on the main tour only but also a better look for those not. The woodland here is particularly lovely with carpets of Lily of the Valley. A group of 38 Common Cranes were in roadside fields outside the forest and we also stopped to take a quick look at the German WWI fortifications. This area also marked the front line between German and Russian forces in 1918 and some of the bunkers have proved difficult to remove for developments almost 100 years later. Apparently a road was planned to go through the site of one but all attempts to destroy it failed. Owing to the sandy soil, the Germans had sunk very deep foundations into the ground and eventually the road builders gave up, buried the bunker and built the road over the top of it!

Great Grey Owl, Vygonoshansky Reserve.

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PRIPYATSKY NATIONAL PARK, BELARUS

Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker, Pripyatsky National Park (female).

After our introduction to the forest of Pripyatsky national park we were looking forward to heading deeper into it! After breakfast it was time to head east towards our next accommodation. Not far from Turov a male Hen Harrier flew by, an uncommon bird in Belarus and another one new for the Birdquest Belarus list. We made several stops along the way, seeing a Lesser Spotted Eagle following the plough and as we watched it another goshawk flew over. Another regular stop produced a fine Barred Warbler in almost the same bush as in 2014 but this time a much nicer view of its intricately barred plumage and evil orange eye. We stopped again to investigate some more nice flooded oak forest, seeing the dark tide marks around the trunks of the trees that marked the highest extent of previous floods. A pair of Terek Sandpipers was on the bank of a creek and Middle Spotted Woodpecker was new for our list here. At a large clearing we added Short-toed Snake Eagle to the Birdquest BY list, while more Black Storks flew overhead along with a European Honey Buzzard and a couple of White-tailed Eagles. After another nice picnic lunch in lovely surroundings we reached the River Pripyat shore at Doroshevichy. The ferry was waiting for us and a short crossing took us to the northern bank of the river and our wonderful wooden lodge, home for the next couple of nights.

Corn Crake, Pripyatsky National Park.

The surrounding area of mostly forest with river valley scrub and marshes and small villages dotted here and there is very birdy and we explored a couple of villages, finding a pair of Azure Tits building a nest in a fence post at one and a couple of very co-operative Corn Crakes at another, where we also enjoyed some very nice views of a singing (if you can call it that) wryneck. They are always a real pleasure to hear singing as well as to see. Deeper into the forest we had a superb encounter with a pair of Eurasian Three-toed Woodpeckers in a flooded pine bog. This was a relief for those on the main tour only but took our tally to five this time round! At this time in spring when they are busy feeding young they can be unresponsive and tricky to find.

Corn Crake, Pripyatsky National Park.

In between excursions we did some river watching from the sandy bluff above the Pripyat in the grounds of the lodge. I fancied this as a good visible migration watch point and we started to back this theory up with some evidence. Looking south across the river it is possible to scan a very wide area of countryside for birds following the course of the Pripyat, which should represent a major flyway for migration between the Baltic and Black Seas. The best sessions were around lunchtime and in the late afternoon and produced a total of 21 European Honey Buzzards heading northwest across the river in less than two hours, OK not exactly Eilat or Batumi but still interesting inland in Eastern Europe. Frequent Black Storks, White-tailed Eagles and Western Marsh Harriers also livened up the sessions but these were no doubt local birds. There was a small eastward passage of Caspian Gulls one evening and I think that earlier in the season when there is more migration taking place things could be very interesting indeed if someone fancies staying at a very nice lodge with birding on the doorstep.

European Honey-Buzzard (male), Doroshevichy riverwatch, Pripyatsky National Park.

The village itself and its surrounding meadows and riverside willows is picturesque and an early morning pre-breakfast walk produced a very showy Corn Crake calling from wild boar diggings, singing River Warbler and Azure Tit as well as a pair of Terek Sandpipers on the riverbank. Wonderful stuff! Our evening spotlighting drives in the Pripyatsky National Park produced a couple of nice encounters with Eurasian Pygmy Owl, which can sometimes be a tricky bird to see at this time of year as well as some good views of Tawny Owl and Eurasian Woodcock. A couple of Corn Crakes were attracted to a recording of their song landing right next to us in the dark! Brown Hare, a wild boar and Red Fox were other notable sightings.

During our time here we also made a very enjoyable afternoon river cruise for several hours along the River Pripyat, seeing the lovely riverine habitat and some of its inhabitants from a different perspective. The highlight was at least 34(!) Terek Sandpipers along the riverbank to the west of Doroshevichy. Impossible to tell whether these birds were all holding territory or on passage as they were accompanied by Ruffs, Common Greenshank, Wood Sandpipers and Temminck’s Stints but some were engaging in courtship behavior and this is a very impressive count in Europe regardless! Five species of terns (Little, Common, White-winged, Black and Whiskered) were present along the river, Thrush Nightingales sang from the shadows, River Warblers belted out their weird sewing machine reeling songs, another Azure Tit flashed its snazzy blue-and-white plumage in an old willow and towards evening family parties of Wild Boars emerged to drink at the water’s edge.

Terek Sandpipers, Pripyat River.

As I watched news coverage of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl back in 1986, now only around sixty miles downstream of us, I never imagined that in less than 30 years I would be quite so close to it. The radiation levels of the core zone are now such that the entombed reactor has even become a tourist attraction. It has also become a haven for wildlife, which thrives undisturbed there, particularly wolves and elk. Obviously a nuclear disaster is preferable to human habitation from a wildlife point of view.

Pripyat River just upstream from Doroshevichy.

Ancient willows at Doroshevichy, Pripyatsky National Park.

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TUROV, BELARUS

Azure Tit, Alshany Pumping Station.

Our time spent exploring the area around Turov was simply fantastic again! Early morning started with showy Thrush Nightingales, singing in full view and collecting nest material. It is always more extrovert than its thicket-loving Common relative and its rich but slightly discordant song (more Jimi Hendrix than Eric Clapton to my ear) and is a common sound of the Belarusian spring countryside.  Other welcome migrants seen on the edge of the small village included: Red-backed Shrike, the first of many; Golden Orioles including a pair building a nest high in a willow; Icterine Warbler (with its song full of loud buzzing and wheezing notes); European Pied, Spotted and Red-breasted Flycatchers; Common Rosefinch (a red songster) and a gorgeous nest-building female Serin. The bird that most folks wanted to see more than any other on this trip was the gorgeous Azure Tit, breeding at the western limit of its range in Belarus, and sure enough one appeared in the usual place, feeding on phragmites reed heads. Although we enjoyed some nice views, we were not able to find a nest in one of the rickety houses here this year, the female probably incubating rather than feeding young like last time. We got the impression that most birds were breeding a little later than in 2014.

Thrush Nightingale, Kremnoe.

However, Terek Sandpiper is the emblematic bird of Turov and we were lucky to enjoy some nice views of a couple on the banks of an ox-bow lake, reminiscent of the Common Sandpipers. Exploring a little further into the myriad channels and marshes along the Pripyat we found more waterbirds, which included: Terek Sandpiper (another two pairs); Northern Shoveler; Garganey; Common Goldeneye; Common Oystercatcher; Northern Lapwing; Common Ringed Plover; Black-tailed Godwit; Common Redshank; Wood Sandpiper; Temminck’s Stint; Curlew Sandpiper (a brick red bird); Dunlin and Ruff but the star of the show was probably a young Northern Goshawk, which zoomed past us chasing shorebirds, Quentin could even hear the rush of air(!). Later another goshawk, this time an adult was hunting low over the meadow, they must find rich pickings during spring migration here. Less interesting and much less common was the second calendar year Greater White-fronted Goose feeding quietly by the hordes of feral geese out on the marsh, presumably a lingering wild bird. Soaring overhead were our first Black Storks, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Black Kite, Common Kestrel as well as plenty of Western Marsh Harriers and Common Buzzards and a Common Raven. A Stock Dove flew over the meadow, an uncommon bird here. Sedge Warblers buzzed away nearby and ‘Dombrowski’ form Yellow Wagtails were a common sight on the meadow. Whinchat and Meadow Pipit were also new for the tour and in the middle of town a pair of lovely Syrian Woodpeckers delighted near their nest hole as we passed pretty wooden village houses, most of which are smallholdings with cultivated fields for back gardens.

Greater Spotted Eagle (adult), near Turov.

After lunch we made our way to an area of open country bordering the forest of Pripyatsky National Park that is usually good for raptor watching. We had not been in position long when a fine adult Greater Spotted Eagle soared into view, this time showing all the requisite features without any hybrid anomalies: seven obvious fingered primaries; suffuse pale base to primaries on the upper wing and no double comma below; darker coverts than flight feathers and particularly, very dark brown, almost back plumage (it is called Black Eagle in Hungarian). Five Black Storks were also up soaring over the forest here as well as a Lesser Spotted Eagle for Dima and several Common Buzzards. Three Common Cranes had flown in from the forest to feed on the agricultural fields and a nearby reed-filled ditch produced our only Marsh Warbler of the trip, singing away in the open and allowing us to see such as its pale claws and silvery-tipped primaries. They also appeared to be a little late in arriving this year. Nearby we checked the same area of flooded oak forest as last year, where White-backed and Grey-headed Woodpeckers and also Collared Flycatcher showed up very nicely in the afternoon sunshine. A Garganey was disturbed from a ditch, a Wryneck also showed briefly, forest-breeding Green Sandpipers flew around calling loudly and a pair of Grey Partridges was our only sighting of the tour. Smart Red-backed Shrikes hawked for insects and a Great Grey Shrike was nearby – these two shrikes breed side-by-side here.

Grey-headed Woodpecker, near Turov.


The grand finale to a superb day’s birding was an evening visit to a Great Snipe lek by the River Pripyat near Turov. The main act here also did not disappoint on a sunny evening we were able to watch the snipes arriving at their display ground. I have visited the Narew Valley lek in Poland several times and have always been a bit disappointed by poor views of the birds in long grass so it was a pleasure to be able to watch the snipes here in much shorter grass and at closer range once again. Their display starts with a clicking of the bill and then the birds eventually fluff up their plumage and throw back their heads, while making peculiar popping sounds, ending with a flash of their striking wing markings and their bright white outer tail feathers. We counted nine birds here dotted around the lekking area. Many of the males are ringed and also carry geolocators that have tracked them to their wintering grounds in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), taking a mere two days from Turov, one of the fastest migrating bird journeys! The supporting cast this evening included Black-tailed Godwits flying around but Corn Crakes were strangely almost absent with one bird calling where we had around eight last time. They also appeared to be late this year or maybe simply absent? Nevertheless this was another classic birding day that few of us will forget.

We followed up this success with our first walk in the woods. Turov lies on the edge of the vast Pripyatsky National Park, much of which consists of pine forest bog. We enjoyed a very productive walk through mixed deciduous and pine forest, interspersed with pretty dammed bogs, the work of the local beavers. The forest floor itself had a lovely flora with many ancient woodland indicators such as Toothwort and Herb Paris. The walk got off to a good start with a Red-breasted Flycatcher singing, complete with red breast (some songsters are first year birds in female type plumage). Collared and European Pied Flycatchers were also present, the latter included a couple of grey-brown variant males, which are apparently commoner in eastern Europe. A huge Black Woodpecker nest hole was located in an area of flooded forest, the adults feeding their hungry youngsters. We also added Eurasian Nuthatch and ‘Northern’ Treecreeper here – both with bright white flanks unlike their western counterparts and as the walk came to an end several Hawfinches were feeding in roadside trees.

Smew, Beloe Fishponds.

Departing from our usual schedule, after breakfast we made a visit to Beloe Fishponds, located around 45 minutes drive north of Turov, where we found a good concentration of water birds on the southern ponds. Gadwall, Mallard, Common Pochard, Tufted Duck and Common Goldeneye were numerous and amongst them we were pleased to find at least 7 pairs of Smew, which breed here at the westernmost limit of their range. Beloe is designated BirdLife International’s IBA BY019 ‘Bielaje fish farm’ in recognition of its waterbird breeding populations, particularly its c.20 pairs of Smew, it is the sole breeding site for this smart duck in Belarus. Dima had a fly-by Ferruginous Duck and around four White-tailed Eagles soared overhead, a handful of shorebirds included Wood Sandpipers and Little Ringed Plover. A few Eurasian Bitterns boomed from distant reed beds and there were a few large gulls around, mostly Caspian and a handful of Commons but one large white-headed second year gull, which had a heavy pale based bill, advanced head and body, pale under wings and dark slate grey adult feathers emerging in its mantle was presumably heuglini = ‘Siberian Gull’. In between heavy rain showers, passerines on the fringes of the fishponds included some smart Red-backed Shrikes, a lovely white-spotted male Bluethroat and plenty of Great Reed Warblers. We then switched our attention to the northern collection of ponds, where we were treated to a marsh tern spectacle. Hundreds of White-winged Terns were hawking low over a large marsh, with smaller numbers of Black and Whiskered also present. Eared Grebes frequented a colony of Black-headed Gulls for protection and on a nearby drained fish pond at least 12 Black Storks were feeding on fish in the shallows, a similar number of Great Egrets was also here and shorebirds included Wood, Green and Common Sandpipers but unfortunately not the hoped-for Marsh. Four rusty-necked Whooper Swans and some very instructive views of second calendar year Caspian Gulls followed before it was time to head back south to Turov.

Beloe Fishponds landscape.

The following morning was cold and windy but again not windy enough to stop us from enjoying some nice views of Great Reed Warbler and Savi’s Warbler at another regular site at a dyke beyond the fields containing endless cucumber greenhouses at Alshany. A Eurasian Penduline Tit also afforded some excellent views, as ever like a miniature Red-backed Shrike while a northern Long-tailed Tit flitted past. From the same spot a River Warbler started up its crazy sewing machine-like song and afforded some great views as its whole body shivered. Another star attraction here was a pair of Azure Tits in riverside willows, which stayed put taking in the morning sunshine and allowing some ridiculously close views, the male occasionally feeding the female. Presumably they had also not nested yet. A Eurasian Hoopoe was searching for ants along the sandy path atop the dyke and to our surprise a huge Elk broke from cover in the reeds and galloped north over the farmland.

Azure Tit, Alshany Pumping Station.

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