Yesterday we left Bergen by plane early in the morning, and after a change of planes in Copenhagen we landed in Vilnius 11:45. We hired a car, and went for the birds at once. Our first destination was Druskininkai in southern Lithuania. We drove on big and small roads towards the town, and stopped at several locations that looked good for birds.
The birding highlights were quite a few, but the always present White Storks were appreciated. Other good birds were Black Redstarts, quite a few Wood Warblers, Red-backed Shrikes, Serins and Rosefinches, Black Woodpeckers, Montagu's Harrier and an adult Lesser Spotted Eagle. 61 species were observed this first day in Lithuania.
We spent the night at Regina hotel in Druskininkai, and had a fast breakfast before heading for the field at 07:30. Today's birding was concentrated in the Druskininkai vicinity, and we visited several wet- and woodlands. At Kalesninkų tvenkinys we got out first Great Reed-warblers, and both River and Barred Warbler was observed in Merkine. Two Great Egrets were feeding near Metelys, a species we found to be rare in Lithuania. However, during the last years more and more have been seen in the Baltics. At this site we did also see both Black Tern and White-tailed Eagle. The first Eurasian Hoopoe was heard in Norulai, while a Great Bittern gave some hoots in Žuvintas. A Great Grey Shrike got our attention in Metelių regioninis parkas, but we did not manage to identify it as anything else than a normal excubitor. A Black Kite was also present at this site.
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