latvia birding trip report

Latvia Trip Report March 2015 © Andy Walker 1 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk

Latvia Birding Trip Report

February 26th – March 1st 2015

Andy Walker http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk

Northern Hawk-Owl (Andy Walker)

A familiarisation trip for Birding Ecotours http://birdingecotours.com

http://birdingecotours.com/

http://birdingecotours.com/


Outline Itinerary

This was a trip I made with Jack Ashton-Booth, Tim Jones and Oliver (Ollie) Metcalf. We were helped out considerably by Gaidis Grandans (http://birdinglatvia.lv/) who guided us, took us around in his vehicle, and with his wife Maija incredibly kindly put us all up in their beautiful house in the forests of eastern Latvia. Here we were furnished with an incredible, and plentiful assortment of local and homemade food and drink. Jack and Tim had met up with Gaidis and Maija last spring when they’d spent time in the country doing various bird surveys. This was my, and Ollies first trip to Latvia. We owe Gaidis and Maija a great thanks for their hospitality and kindness, and for taking their time up for a long-weekend. This was a whistle-stop trip. We were enticed over by the reports we were seeing online of several Northern Hawk-Owls across the country and knowing there would be a decent supporting cast of other owls and woodpeckers available, and the hope that we might bump into something good of our own finding… Although a whistle-stop trip we packed in the hours birding. We were up at dawn (7am) and we were then on the go until about 11pm/midnight when we’d come back, have our evening meal and a few drinks. Our itinerary was: February 26th: Depart Leeds-Bradford airport (3.30pm local time), arrive Riga airport (8.00pm local time) and drive to Kolka, northwest Latvia. Overnight: A sauna, Kolka. February 27th: Full day birding in northwest Latvia (Kolka, Dundaga, Ventsplis areas), evening drive to Druviena, eastern Latvia. Overnight: Druviena. February 28th: Morning and night-time birding Druviena area (including conducting an owl survey for Gaidis), afternoon birding (Hawk-Owl twitch) to Kausa, southeast Latvia. Overnight: Druviena. March 1st: Morning birding around Druviena and Smiltene, afternoon birding in Riga city centre environs. Depart Riga airport (8.30pm local time) and arrive Leeds-Bradford (9.30pm local time). We flew with Ryanair Leeds-Bradford to Riga. Flights, including some baggage allowance so we could take sleeping bags and tripods for our scopes were in the region of £100 each and were booked about two weeks before departure. We used the Sentinal car park just outside the airport which was good value at £17 in total for the time we were away, including transfers. We used Gaidis’s car whilst in Latvia, just paying for fuel – which seemed cheap. The Euro appeared quite weak compared to the pound which was good for us. The weather was OK during our trip. We were greeted with fog/mist which lasted for the first couple of days, but then it did brighten up nearer the end of the trip. There was still a fair bit of snow (by UK standards) about, more snow in the east than the west. Day-time temperatures were around freezing (Zero0C) with night-time temperatures dropping to about -50C (possibly a bit lower). There was hardly any wind which meant we didn’t get the ‘wind-chill’ we often get in the UK which made for a pleasant change. It was still a case of lots of layers though. We stopped at a few cafés for lunches/hot drinks as we were driving around and were pleasantly surprised by how nice the food was – especially in the café in Dunaga. But the real highlight was the breakfasts and evening meals that Maija prepared for us. I took a few photos on my Panasonic Lumix FZ200 and my IPhone 5S, and Jack, Tim and Ollie took hundreds of photos with their cameras, phones etc. and I’ve included some of theirs here too. Some photos are in with the text then there are a few pages of photos at the end of the report.

http://birdinglatvia.lv/


Birding Highlights We logged 75 species on this trip as a group; I recorded 73 of these (missing Eider in Kolka and a flyover Common Crane from the vehicle near Riga). I got one new bird on the trip, Ural Owl – which was a nice surprise as I wasn’t expecting to get any ticks. Some of the highlights:

• Northern Hawk-Owl – Excellent views of a single bird that we spent the afternoon watching as it hunted (successfully catching three voles in three attempts!), then flew right towards us and ate and digested the voles. We were lucky enough to observe it bring up a pellet that we later collected! It was great to get an active bird and to watch go about its business. I saw my first Northern Hawk-Owl in Sweden in February 2006, won’t be leaving it that long again – they really are great birds, go see one!

• Ural Owl – Incredible close-up, prolonged views of a single bird after the owl survey, and another two birds (a pair) seen during the owl survey. Great to be able to hear the male and female calling at each other. A much larger bird that I was anticipating, much bigger than a Tawny Owl.

• Eurasian Pygmy Owl – Great scope-views of a bird in Gaidis’ garden. This bird was the first we saw on the trip so was very popular. It was fun watching it getting mobbed by Great Spotted and Grey-headed Woodpeckers and an assortment of tits and Nuthatch. We saw another bird just before we commenced the owl survey and heard another two or three over the course of the last two days of the trip.

• Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker – Seen well, but briefly in Gaidis’ garden. • White-backed Woodpecker – Two males drumming at each other in Gaidis’ garden with

another unsexed (presumed female) bird there too. Great views of another pair in parkland near Madona.

• Grey-headed Woodpecker – A few birds seen in the northwest and seen frequently around Gaidis’ house and quite a few other places we stopped at.

• Middle Spotted Woodpecker – Seen at several locations, including in Riga city centre, Dundagas, Gaidis’ house etc.

• Black Woodpecker – Seen near Kolka, Gaidis’ house and several other locations – often seen flying with slow wingbeats over large blocks of forest. Very impressive bird!

• ‘Thick-billed’ Spotted Nutcracker – A vocal pair seen near Kolka in the northwest, with (at least) one bird seen around Gaidis’ house on two dates.

• Hazelhen – A male seen along the roadside in the northwest with a pair heard calling near Gaidis’ house. Typically, and frustratingly elusive.

• Black Grouse – Two lekking sites found, the first in the northwest, with approximately 11 black cocks; the second with eight black cocks.

• ‘Northern’ Long-tailed Tit – A lucky stop for a Common Buzzard resulted in the finding of a couple of stunning white-headed ‘caudatus’ birds. They were rapidly moving through the vegetation and unfortunately didn’t come close enough for me to be able to photograph them.

• White-tailed Eagle – Great views of a near-adult bird displaying overhead in the northwest. • Northern Goshawk – Exceptional views! I’ve been lucky and seen a fair few Goshawks, but

never like this! We had a flyover of a single bird in the northwest near dusk from the car but then were treated to at least three, possibly four pairs in Riga city centre! Several of these birds, one pair in particular gave incredible views. We watched a male hunting within parkland before it sat up out in the open at close-range, before flying to the female where the pair copulated! A real highlight of the trip. Impressive watching them hunting Hooded Crows!

• Peregrine Falcon – An adult female seen sat on the deck in the northwest. It had, unfortunately, flushed a decent flock of Bean Geese before we could get close to them! A bird likely to start breeding again in the country, hopefully. I think Gaidis said the species hadn’t bred in Latvia since the 1960s when they bred on the ground in raised bogs.

• Rough-legged Buzzard – A single bird (juvenile) seen well near Ventspils in the northwest.


• Common Crane – One seen by Jack and Ollie from the car. Unfortunately it flew out of sight before we could find somewhere to park so Tim and I missed it.

• Great Grey Shrike – Seen all over as we were driving around. Most impressive was probably the first bird we saw in the northwest as it was heard singing.

• Crested Tit – Recorded at several locations, a bird showed well in Kolka, but more often heard than seen and generally not particularly showy.

• Bohemian Waxwing – Several flocks of varying size (e.g. 2-50) seen in the east and southeast. Probably a few hundred birds seen in total but most were flyover records (and having seen one in York the weekend before we weren’t overly fussed on chasing them down – preferring to look for something a little different!).

• Parrot Crossbill – A pair of birds seen in the northwest as we were watching the Black Grouse lek. The male, although distant could be heard singing.

• Long-tailed Duck – Numerous adult birds seen off Kolka, stunning to see with their long tails!

• Smew – A male seen briefly as it flew past Cape Kolka. • Whooper Swan – Several flocks/family groups recorded across the country. • Tundra and Taiga Bean Goose – A couple of small flocks (by Latvian standards) recorded

in the northwest, unfortunately they were flushed by a Peregrine Falcon before we could drive closer and check for any Darvics/rarities within the flock.

White-tailed Eagle (Tim Jones) In addition to the above it was nice to see some different sub-species of a range of common birds from the UK such as borealis Willow Tit, palustris Marsh Tit, major Great Tit, caeruleus Blue Tit, cristatus Crested Tit, familiaris Treecreeper, major Great Spotted Woodpecker, and pyrrhula Eurasian ‘Northern’ Bullfinch.


Daily Log We were in Latvia to look for Northern Hawk-Owl. We knew of a few birds in the country but they were widely scattered. We were originally planning on heading east straight away, but due to a week of fog/mist Gaidis made the call for us to head out northwest to look for a bird that had been seen near Kolka, hoping the visibility might be better there. If we didn’t find the bird in that area we’d head southeast to a site where he had one two weeks before our trip. If we still didn’t connect we were going to try and get access to a bird on a military site closer to Riga. So in reality we had two or three chances to find a known bird, or we’d have to find our own… and three days of birding to do it in. February 26th Our scheduled flight out of Leeds-Bradford was good value and ran more-or-less to time. It was a bit of a shock when we landed as we thought we were still going through cloud, but it was just low-level fog/mist. Customs was very quick (much quicker than Leeds-Bradford on our return). In no time at all we were ready to get going. We were met in Riga by Gaidis in his people-carrier (The Italian Stallion) which was just the right size for us and all of our optical and camera gear. We made the short drive round the complicated Riga road network to a supermarket where we stocked up on food and drink for the evening, mainly drink. We headed northwest through the mist/fog towards Kolka where we were to overnight and spend the next day birding. A few stops to try for Eurasian Eagle-Owl were unsuccessful but we did hear our first Whooper Swans and managed to avoid hitting any giant Red Deer. We arrived in Kolka about 1am, had some food and drink and went to bed, in a sauna! A hot night! February 27th After about 4 hours sleep it was time to leave the nice hot sauna and get into the cold Latvian countryside and kick off the birding. It was still foggy so was difficult to gauge where we were and what was around us (lots of forest and the Baltic Sea apparently). Jack heard a Tawny Owl behind the sauna while the rest of us were struggling to wake up! We made the short drive to Cape Kolka where we had Magpie, Hooded Crow whilst walking through the car park. When we hit the sea we started connecting with some cool birds, including: very smart adult Long-tailed Ducks, numerous Velvet and Common Scoters, a couple of Goldeneye, Goosander and Great Crested Grebes and singles of Greater Scaup and a tantalisingly brief fly-through male Smew. Other birds noted were: Herring, Great Black-backed, Common and Black-headed Gulls, Mute Swan, and Cormorant. Just round the coast at some docks there was an Eider, which I missed, and a Lapwing, which I saw. We spent some time driving the local roads for Capercaille and Hazelhen, unsuccessfully, however we did find some great birds such as a pair of ‘Thick-billed’ Spotted Nutcrackers, a couple of stunningly beautiful caudatus ‘Northern’ Long-tailed Tits, Crested Tit and a great look at a Black Woodpecker that flew right over us before landing in clear view. A few other birds here included Marsh, Blue and Great Tits, Treecreeper, Common Buzzard, Siskin and Mealy Redpoll. We also saw a few Red and a lot of Roe Deers.


Black Woodpecker (Tim Jones)

We made our way to the farmland where the first of our target Northern Hawk-Owls had previously been recorded, but with no luck – the visibility really wasn’t helping. Our owl-searching near Vidale brought us our first of many Great Grey Shrike of the trip. This bird could even be heard singing from its perch which was good to hear. We then heard distant Eurasian ‘Northern’ Bullfinches trumpeting away but a rather ‘hard-looking’ dog barking its head off where the birds had gone meant we decided to wait for another chance to see these birds! Our first Great Spotted Woodpeckers were seen nearby, as was our first Greenfinch, Eurasian Jay and pale and dark forms of Common Buzzards, but still no Northern Hawk-Owl. Some parkland around the town of Dundaga provided us with fantastic views of our first Middle Spotted Woodpeckers – I really like this delicate-looking species. We also added a few more trip birds such as Mallard, Tree and House Sparrows, Feral Pigeon (!), Fieldfare, and Nuthatch. We finally got sight of a flock of stunningly sharp Eurasian ‘Northern’ Bullfinches and after hearing them the night before saw some Whooper Swans. We grabbed some food from a café in Dundaga – the food was brilliant. Soup, a large home-cooked meal (just a half portion filled a plate) and a drink for each of the five of us came to about £15 in total! We did rave about this place for the rest of our stay! A very enjoyable meal. After lunch we moved along to the Sliteres area. We were a little higher here, relatively, and it paid off as the murk wasn’t as bad and we could get a nice view of the landscape, and then some birds. A Grey-headed Woodpecker flew into view and started calling, it gradually flew closer, and then a second bird flew in. We were very pleased with this and just as we were preparing to leave a near-adult White-tailed Eagle flew in and displayed overhead whilst continuing to fly through. Great views. We also had Raven, Eurasian Jay, Magpie and numerous Roe Deer here.


Middle Spotted Woodpecker (Tim Jones)

Grey-headed Woodpecker (Tim Jones)

We decided to try and spend some more time looking for the Northern Hawk-Owl, without success, but we did find a field containing 11 male Black Grouse that were busy lekking. Whilst looking at these some Parrot Crossbills were discovered, and heard singing. We completed our loop back to Kolka where we had great views of a Crested Tit, and more Eurasian ‘Northern’ Bullfinches. A large flock of Siskin provided some distraction but we couldn’t pull any Arctic Redpolls out, just a couple of Mealy Redpolls. Jack spied a fantastic male Hazelhen from the back of the van; I got a brief glimpse from my side of the van as it was sat on the bank on the edge of the forest. We swung round but the bird flushed so some of us got flight views, unfortunately Tim missed it (I think he was sleeping, again). A bit frustrating! We decided that we had probably dipped the first of the Northern Hawk-Owl opportunities we had so decided to finish the day with some geese before we had to hit the road out east.


We finished the afternoon at Ventspils. We were rewarded with Taiga and Tundra Bean Geese and a decent flock of Whooper Swans, but as we tried to get close to them to check for Darvics/rarities they were flushed by an adult female Peregrine Falcon! We also had a juvenile Rough-legged Buzzard, three Great Grey Shrikes, nesting Raven, hundreds of Hooded Crows, a few Jackdaws, a female Sparrowhawk with a huge crop – for a moment giving the impression of a male Goshawk, and a large flock of Yellowhammers. The final new bird seen in the day was a real Goshawk, a huge female that flew over the main road as we were driving back towards Riga just before it got dark. A stop at one of the Eurasian Eagle-Owl stakeouts we’d visited 24hrs previously was slightly more successful, in that we heard a female grunting, but it didn’t show, and the male didn’t come out and play either which was a shame. Still, a great first days birding in Latvia. We then drove for about 5 hours, arriving at Gaidis’, and his wife Maija’s beautiful log house in the idyllic countryside in the middle of nowhere near Druviena around midnight. After an incredible homemade meal prepared by Maija, and some beers, we headed to bed at about 2am. Excited to see what would be outside in the morning. February 28th We woke around 7am, and took our first look at Gaidis’ garden in daylight. It didn’t take long to start connecting with great birds. Ollie and Jack had a Black Woodpecker fly through, and then two male White-backed Woodpeckers started announcing themselves in the tree tops, giving good scope views as they tried to impress a presumed female bird. A Great Spotted Woodpecker could also be heard drumming, and then a male Grey-headed Woodpecker got in on the act and sat atop a tree giving good scope views. A distant Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker called so we decided to head into the forest to try and connect with it. It didn’t take long before the bird flew in and gave brief but good views. Walking through the forest we were seeing Moose footprints and lots of Beaver signs. Hazelhens could be heard, but again they didn’t play ball.

Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker (Tim Jones)


We had a great breakfast (very nice honey) and as we were preparing to head away for the day to try for our second shot at Northern Hawk-Owl a Eurasian Pygmy Owl became vocal. We found it by looking for the birds mobbing it (Great Spotted and Grey-headed Woodpeckers and an assortment of smaller birds: Treecreeper, Nuthatch and Great, Marsh and Blue Tits). It then gave great scope views for ages! You forget how tiny these owls are until you see them next to a Great Tit! Whilst packing up the car for the day we got slightly distracted by a very smart borealis Willow Tit and then had a ‘Thick-billed’ Spotted Nutcracker fly over.

Eurasian Pygmy Owl getting mobbed by Great Spotted Woodpeckers and Great Tit (Tim Jones)

Great Spotted Woodpecker mobbing Eurasian Pygmy Owl (Oliver Metcalf)


We left the house, making a few stops along the way to the second Northern Hawk-Owl spot, would it still be there after last been seen two weeks ago? Who knew? But we were willing to give it a punt. We were all a little nervous, but enjoyed seeing a few good birds along the way including: Middle Spotted, White-backed, Great Spotted, and Grey-headed Woodpeckers, c.70 Bohemian Waxwings, Black Grouse (8 lekking males), Common Crossbill, two Great Grey Shrikes, lots of Yellowhammers but no Pine Bunting! Common roadside birds included: Raven, Hooded Crow, Magpie, Eurasian Jay and Common Buzzard.

White-backed Woodpecker (Tim Jones) We arrived in the Kausa area, southeast Latvia, a couple of hours from Gaidis’ house. Suddenly we were all a little more awake… we started along a dirt track, a flock of Waxwing, logged but pretty much ignored. Driving a short way along the track and Ollie suddenly slammed the brakes on. He’d only gone and found it! Sat on a power line in the bottom of the valley was a stunning Northern Hawk-Owl. We parked up, grabbed our scopes and cameras and excitedly got a decent viewpoint. Relief. We spent the next couple of hours having a great time watching the bird hunt voles (successfully three times in a row). After each catch it would fly towards us, sitting in full view as it ate and digested its food. Brilliant views of an active bird, we were all very, very happy! Watching the bird fly head-on towards us was great. Such a strange/awesome bird. A half-owl, half-accipiter with a wingbeat akin to a Peregrine Falcon! Makes for one impressive bird! We saw it bring up a pellet which was too tempting to ignore, so after it flew off with its third vole we went to explore its perches. It didn’t take too long to find a couple of owl pellets, though it would take us a bit longer to get out of the area after getting the van stuck in someone’s muddy driveway – whoops, time to push! We’d also noted a Great Grey Shrike along the same set of power lines as the Northern Hawk-Owl and were pleased to find a shrike pellet to add to our collection! Whilst we were here a flock of 50 Waxwings flew through and a couple of Ravens and Jays flew overhead. A Great Spotted Woodpecker alarmed as the owl flew a bit too close for comfort.


Northern Hawk-Owl (Tim Jones)

Northern Hawk-Owl (Tim Jones)


Northern Hawk-Owl Pellets (left two) and Great Grey Shrike pellet (right one) (Jack Ashton-Booth)

Northern Hawk-Owl (Andy Walker) Over the moon we went and grabbed some celebratory food and drink (and to wash the mud off us). The day couldn’t get any better.


Oh yes it could. And it did. We’d told Gaidis we’d like to help out and do an owl survey for him that evening so we headed across to a large block of forest. As we were divvying up maps, GPS, torches, MP3s etc. we heard a couple of distant Ural Owls – too far away, and at least two, probably three Eurasian Pygmy Owls, one of these flew in and gave good prolonged views sat high in a tree. Jack and Tim took one transect, getting a Tawny Owl, Pine Marten and Moose. Ollie and I took another transect and had ‘good’ views of a vocal male and female Ural Owl (a lifer for me) – we didn’t have a torch so we got ‘good’ silhouette views, the male flew right in above us and the female was sat out on an open snag! After the survey we decided to head to the place where Ollie and I had recorded the pair, however before we could get there we found a different Ural Owl right next to the forest track we were driving along – we then got incredible views of this bird for a good 10-15 minutes or more, it felt like an hour! Breathtaking views. I was struck by its overall size, and the white ‘circles’ around its dark eyes, set off well with its yellowish bill – and its talons…!

Ural Owl (Andy Walker) We were all in a bit of a daze by now. It was difficult to take in the quality birds we’d seen throughout the day. We made a brief stop on the way back to Gaidis’ house to look at some hibernating bats (Northern Brown and Long-eared I think) where there was also a very vocal Tawny Owl. We also saw some more Roe Deer. Another beautiful evening meal (at midnight) from Maija was washed down by a few celebratory drinks. And then a few more. This was one of my most enjoyable days of Western Palearctic birding.


March 1st We had a lazy start for our final morning, apart from Ollie who was up with the lark watching a/the ‘Thick-billed’ Spotted Nutcracker and a couple of Grey-headed Woodpeckers in Gaidis’ garden. After a leisurely, and very nice breakfast we said goodbye to Maija, clocked the garden ‘borealis’ Willow Tit and headed in the direction of Riga for our early evening flight home. No need to try and get into the military zone for the third Hawk-Owl we knew about! Relief. The plan was to drive around and try and find some Capercailles and Hazelhens, but unfortunately we found neither, despite putting in some effort. We did get more good view of Black Woodpecker and a few Whooper Swans though, and Jack and Ollie spied a Common Crane from their side of the stallion. Unfortunately we couldn’t pick it up again when we could find somewhere to park with a gap in the trees. Tim saw a Hare of some sort. We were going to go to Riga tip to look at seagulls, however, rather fortuitously Gaidis got an email about a few Northern Goshawks that had been showing well in the city centre parks over recent days. It was a bit of a no-brainer and we headed into the city for some ‘Urban Birding’. It didn’t take long to get some results. We were sat at a set of traffic lights and had a pair in display over the city! We then pulled up at a small park. Over the next hour we were treated to my best views ever of Northern Goshawk. Or to be more precise, a pair of them… The male was getting escorted around the park by about 40 Hooded Crows, occasionally it would turn and chase one of them as if to make a point! At one stage it flew straight towards us and scattered a flock of House Sparrow and flew a few feet over Tims head. We followed it around the park for a bit, eventually it sat out in the open on top of a tree (after a brief visit to one of many nest sites in the park). We got lots of photos of it! Just when we thought the experience couldn’t get any better he flew off, at the same time we realised there was another bird that had remained undetected by us a couple of trees away – it was absolutely huge. It was the female. The male looped round, landed next to her and they mated right in front of us! Unbelievable. A few seconds later they’d both gone their separate ways and we were left in shock stood in the middle of the park with people going about their everyday life, walking their kids/dogs, feeding the floaters etc. The female flew up and sat on an aerial on the tallest building around the edge of the park, the Hooded Crows didn’t take their eyes off her! Neither did we.

Male Northern Goshawk (Tim Jones)


Northern Goshawk copulating (Tim Jones)

Northern Goshawk chasing Hooded Crows (Tim Jones)


Northern Goshawk being chased by Hooded Crows (Oliver Metcalf) We spent the next few hours checking out other known nest sites around Riga. In total we recorded at least three, probably four pairs of Northern Goshawks, getting more good views. We also connected with quite a few new trip birds, presumably due to the lack of snow in Riga and more food being available, these included: Common Kingfisher, Rook, Starling, Blackbird, Chaffinch and Brambling. We also had great views of more Middle Spotted and Great Spotted Woodpeckers. We finished up having a big slap-up dinner in a shopping mall near the airport, admiring all the guys smartly dressed with their man-bags as we walked around in our dirty boots and all covered in mud from pushing the van out of the ditch the previous day. At the airport we said goodbye and a huge thank you to Gaidis, what a great guy. Got on our plane and in no time at all were back in York.

Black Grouse (Tim Jones)


Summary We all had a fantastic time in Latvia and enjoyed seeing a great range of birds. My highlights were the Northern Hawk-Owl (one of my favourite birds in the world), Ural Owl, Northern Goshawk, White-tailed Eagle, Black Grouse and wide-range (six species) of woodpeckers. Our full trip list is provided below. Birding in Latvia was very enjoyable and I can’t wait to get back over there and see it without a covering of fog/mist and snow! It must be an incredibly impressive birding destination when all of the summer migrants are in. The under-watched nature of this northeastern-European country gives a good chance of finding something very unusual, and being able to enjoy the birds without large crowds of people. A huge ‘thank you’ must go to Gaidis and Maija for their hospitality and in making the trip a huge success, and a lot of fun. Also thanks to Jack, Tim and Ollie for providing images for this report, and making the trip what it was – a good laugh with some quality birds thrown in. If you would like any further information please drop me an email to andywalker1000 AT hotmail.com subject Latvia Birding or visit http://www.birdingecotours.com/ (new Latvia Birding Itinerary coming soon). Thanks, Andy 8th March 2015 http://birdingecotours.com/staff/andrew-walker

Who’s just seen a Hawk-Owl? Left to right: Jack, Ollie, Andy, Gaidis, Tim

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Latvia Trip List

1. Mute Swan, Cygnus olor. 27.02.2015. Cape Kolka. 2. Whooper Swan, Cygnus cygnus. 27.02.2015. Dundaga village area. 3. Taiga Bean Goose, Anser fabalis fabalis. 27.02.2015. Ventspils. 4. Tundra Bean Goose, Anser fabalis rossicus. 27.02.2015. Ventspils. 5. Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos. 27.02.2015. Dundaga village. 6. Greater Scaup, Aythya marila marila. 27.02.2015. Cape Kolka. 7. Common Eider, Somateria mollissima mollissima. 27.02.2015. Kolka Harbour. 8. Long-tailed Duck, Clangula hyemalis. 27.02.2015. Cape Kolka. 9. Common Scoter, Melanitta nigra. 27.02.2015. Cape Kolka. 10. Velvet Scoter, Melanitta fusca. 27.02.2015. Cape Kolka. 11. Common Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula clangula. 27.02.2015. Cape Kolka. 12. Smew, Mergellus albellus. 27.02.2015. Cape Kolka. 13. Goosander, Mergus merganser merganser. 27.02.2015. Cape Kolka. 14. Black Grouse, Tetrao tetrix tetrix. 27.02.2015. Between Sliteres and Kolka. 15. Hazel Grouse, Bonasa bonasia bonasia. 27.02.2015. Kolka wider area. 16. Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis. 27.02.2015. Cape Kolka. 17. Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus cristatus. 27.02.2015. Cape Kolka. 18. White-tailed Eagle, Haliaeetus albicilla. 27.02.2015. Sliteres. 19. Northern Goshawk, Accipiter gentilis gentilis. 27.02.2015. Between Ventspils and Riga. 20. Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus nisus. 27.02.2015. Ventspils. 21. Common Buzzard, Buteo buteo buteo. 27.02.2015. Between Kolka and Vidale. 22. Rough-legged Buzzard, Buteo lagopus lagopus. 27.02.2015. Ventspils. 23. Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus peregrinus. 27.02.2015. Ventspils. 24. Common Crane, Grus grus grus. 01.03.2015. Road to Riga. 25. Northern Lapwing, Vanellus vanellus. 27.02.2015. Cape Kolka. 26. Black-headed Gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus. 27.02.2015. Cape Kolka. 27. Common Gull, Larus canus canus. 27.02.2015. Cape Kolka. 28. ‘Baltic’ ‘European’ Herring Gull, Larus argentatus argentatus var. omissus. 27.02.2015. Cape

Kolka. 29. Great Black-backed Gull, Larus marinus. 27.02.2015. Cape Kolka. 30. Rock Dove [Feral Pigeon], Columba livia dom. 27.02.2015. Dundaga village. 31. Common Wood Pigeon, Columba palumbus palumbus. 28.02.2015. Barkava. 32. (H) Eurasian Eagle Owl, Bubo bubo bubo. 27.02.2015. Between Ventspils and Riga. 33. (H) Tawny Owl, Strix aluco aluco. 28.02.2015. Druviena village. 34. Ural Owl, Strix uralensis liturata. 28.02.2015. Pededze Forest, Lubans Wetland Area SPA. 35. Northern Hawk-Owl, Surnia ulula ulula. 28.02.2015. Kausa. 36. Eurasian Pygmy Owl, Glaucidium passerinum passerinum. 28.02.2015. Gaidis’ and Maija’s House,

near Druviena. 37. Common Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis ispida. 01.03.2015. Riga city. 38. Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Dendrocopos medius medius. 27.02.2015. Dundaga village. 39. White-backed Woodpecker, Dendrocopos leucotos leucotos. 28.02.2015. Gaidis’ and Maija’s

House, near Druviena. 40. Great Spotted Woodpecker, Dendrocopos major major. 27.02.2015. Between Vidale and

Dundaga. 41. Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker, Picoides tridactylus tridactylus. 28.02.2015. Gaidis’ and Maija’s

House, near Druviena. 42. Black Woodpecker, Dryocopus martius martius. 27.02.2015. Between Kolka and Vidale. 43. Grey-headed Woodpecker, Picus canus canus. 27.02.2015. Sliteres. 44. Great Grey Shrike, Lanius excubitor excubitor. 27.02.2015. Vidale Area. 45. Eurasian Magpie, Pica pica pica. 27.02.2015. Cape Kolka. 46. Eurasian Jay, Garrulus glandarius glandarius. 27.02.2015. Between Vidale and Dundaga. 47. ‘Thick-billed’ Spotted Nutcracker, Nucufraga caryocatactes caryocatactes. 27.02.2015. Between

Kolka and Vidale. 48. Western Jackdaw, Corvus monedula soemmerringii. 28.02.2015. Druviena village. 49. Rook, Corvus frugilegus frugilegus. 01.03.2015. Riga city.


50. Hooded Crow, Corvus cornix. 27.02.2015. Cape Kolka. 51. Common Raven, Corvus corax corax. 27.02.2015. Sliteres. 52. (H) Goldcrest, Regulus regulus regulus. 01.03.2015. Varninas. 53. Eurasian Blue Tit, Cyanistes caeruleus caeruleus. 27.02.2015. Between Kolka and Vidale. 54. Great Tit, Parus major major. 27.02.2015. Between Kolka and Vidale. 55. Crested Tit, Lophophanes cristatus cristatus. 27.02.2015. Between Kolka and Vidale. 56. Willow Tit, Poecile montanus borealis. 27.02.2015. Kolka. 57. Marsh Tit, Poecile palustris palustris. 27.02.2015. Between Kolka and Vidale. 58. ‘Northern’ Long-tailed Tit, Aegithalos caudatus caudatus. 27.02.2015. Between Kolka and Vidale. 59. Bohemian Waxwing, Bombycilla garrulus garrulus. 28.02.2015. Druviena village. 60. European Nuthatch, Sitta europaea caesia. 27.02.2015. Dundaga village. 61. Eurasian Treecreeper, Certhia familiaris familiaris. 28.02.2015. Gaidis’ and Maija’s House, near

Druviena. 62. Common Starling, Sturnus vulgaris vulgaris. 01.03.2015. Riga city. 63. Common Blackbird, Turdus merula merula. 01.03.2015. Riga city. 64. Fieldfare, Turdus pilaris. 27.02.2015. Dundaga village. 65. House Sparrow, Passer domesticus domesticus. 27.02.2015. Dundaga village. 66. Tree Sparrow, Passer montanus montanus. 27.02.2015. Dundaga village. 67. Common Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs coelebs. 01.03.2015. Riga city. 68. Brambling, Fringilla montifringilla. 01.03.2015. Riga city. 69. European Greenfinch, Chloris chloris chloris. 27.02.2015. Between Vidale and Dundaga. 70. Common ‘Mealy’ Redpoll, Acanthis flammea flammea. 27.02.2015. Between Kolka and Vidale. 71. Eurasian Siskin, Spinus spinus. 27.02.2015. Between Kolka and Vidale. 72. Eurasian ‘Northern’ Bullfinch, Pyrrhula pyrrhula pyrrhula. 27.02.2015. Vidale Area. 73. Common Crossbill, Loxia curvirostra curvirostra. 28.02.2015. Druviena village. 74. Parrot Crossbill, Loxia pytyopsittacus. 27.02.2015. Between Sliteres and Kolka. 75. Yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella citrinella. 27.02.2015. Ventspils.

Ural Owl (Tim Jones)


A Few Photos

Birding at Cape Kolka (Jack Ashton-Booth)

Jack pointing out why Tim keeps missing the Hazelhens… (Jack Ashton-Booth)


Gaidis’ and Maija’s beautiful house in the forest (Andy Walker)

Gaidis’ garden (Jack Ashton-Booth)


Ollie, Gaidis, Jack and Tim enjoying the Eurasian Pygmy Owl (spot the Muscovy Duck and Geese!)

Heading into the forest with a local fixer (Andy Walker)


Andy in the forest (Tim Jones)

Ollie in the forest (Tim Jones)


The forest can make your eyes go funny!

Us watching the female Goshawk in Riga (Jack Ashton-Booth), and her watching us! (Tim Jones)

Andy looking at something! (Oliver Metcalf)

latvia birding trip report

Documents