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February 2009. Three-toed Bonanza! PDF Print E-mail
Written by Jos   

Three-toed Woodpecker

In a month that traditionally sees few birds, February proved be an excellent month - primarily with fantastic action at my Labanoras feeding station.

The feeders really hit the jackpot - not only did the female White-backed Woodpecker and a Grey-headed Woodpeckers visit throughout the month, but a fabulous Three-toed Woodpecker appeared on the 7th, my first ever in Lithuania and the eighth species of woodpecker on my land (seven during February!). Other highlights during the month included a search to see Bisons in Poland, various night escapades to search for owls and the chance finding of another Three-toed Woodpecker, this time a female in the north of the country. 

 

1st February. Big Beastie Goose Chase.

T'was minus 16 on the thermometer, a crisp layer of snow on the deck. An hour before dawn, I was on the road, southward bound. 30 Waxwings in south Lithuania, another seven as I crossed the Polish border, February was kicking off in fine style, out of the country again!

Bison trackAnother hour of slippery roads and I arrived, the broken woodlands and meadows of Knyszynska, my latest destination to play out a fruitless search for European Bisons, the continent's largest land mammal. Skirted round a few likely spots, saw signs on shrubs that suggested the big beasts had been about, then spotted a young man wandering around a snow-covered meadow, seemingly peering down at intervals. Maybe he is a Bison-spotter, thought I, and went over for a chat. With my Polish limited to approximately two words, the conversation was never going to last long, but with one of those words being zubr, ie Bison, a smile developed across the man in the field. Come, come, he beckoned and off we marched across the field. At the ground he pointed, and there I saw, the first signs of my desired animal, tracks of European Bison.

 

Waxwing

 

Fresh tracks in the snow, a herd of about seven had been feeding recently, another two animals wandering through some time earlier. And so started my wild goose chase ...in temperatures that began to numb, four hours I followed those tracks, kilometre after kilometre! Saw Roe Deers, saw Great and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, saw a Red Fox, but not hide or hair of the Bison! Great fun tracking them though, always wondering if the next brow would reveal the herd lingering under a tree and pacing across a meadow.

 

 

Alas, it was not to be. As the afternoon wore on, and there seemed little indication I was really any closer, I turned and retreated, back to my car to thaw out. Northward again, 55 Waxwings and a Hawfinch in a village, one more Red Fox, but my quarry remains wandering the wilds, I will be back!

 

7th February. Three-toed Woodpecker!

Three-toed WoodpeckerAfter a few quiet days, watching the coming and goings in my garden, up I pottered to my Labanoras feeders. With a week of temperatures down to near minus 20, the feeders were buzzing - stacks of Great Tits, Blue Tits by the dozen. Settled down for a couple of hours in the cabin, hoping for all the usual visitors. In they came, first a Middle Spotted Woodpecker, then another, next a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, then the first of several Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Rather a grey dull day weatherwise, but full of colour at the feeders - two races of Nuthatch, a nice flock of chunky Bullfinches, Long-tailed Tits nearby. With a swoop, down came a White-backed Woodpecker, a splendid bird, the star of my feeders, this particular female now celebrating her fifth week at the feeders, very pleasing so I thought.

Three-toed Woodpecker

 

An hour or so later, I decided upon a wander, maybe I could try to find a Pygmy Owl. Trotted across the ice, lanky labrador in tow, all quiet on the owl front. Had a look at the Beaver house, admired the recent tree carnage inflicted by active Black Woodpeckers, then spotted something odd ...a new Beaver lodge!!! Jeepers, there are three on my land now, poor trees! Wandered over to have a look - then tack-tack-tack-tack, tact-tack-tack, a woodpecker hammering away just ahead. One quick look and a sudden intake of breath, a stunning THREE-TOED WOODPECKER right in front of me, Lithuania's rarest woodpecker! Wow, seen them in Finland, even looked for them in Lithuania, but here was one right on my land, brilliant. Naturally, I didn't have my camera with me and, especially with the dog going loopy on the ice just nearby, I fully expected it would be a missed opportunity. But no, nipped back to the cabin, shut the dog in, grabbed the camera and returned to find the bird in the very same tree! Lighting conditions far from ideal, but I braced against a tree and reeled off a few shots. Then the bird flew and landed on the trunk right above my head, barely three metres away! Super tame bird, it worked every stump in the area, before flying off to an area a few hundred metres distant. And there I found it again, on a rotten bough just metres above the ice-covered swamp. A very approachable bird, I did manage some pretty pleasing shots, especially given the light.

Amazing little plot of land this, eight species of woodpecker now recorded, five on the feeders and the others all within 100 metres!

 

8th February. City Birding.

With lakes and rivers frozen across the country, a wildfowl aficionado in Lithuania has but one way to turn - the languid waters of the Nemunas River as it flows through the country's second city, Kaunas.  Kaunas hydro-electric plantChurned by a hydro-electric power plant, the ice-free river plays host to hundreds of swans and thousands of ducks (see picture, right, winter 2007). At its best when the temperatures dip to the extreme lows that typify many of the winters out here, I was not sure I would see much on this day - the temperatures were almost tropical, clocking a most unseasonal five degrees above freezing!

No need to worry - with the preceding week hitting double-digits below zero, there were plenty of birds ...a grand total of 2610 Goldeneyes for starters. In reality, the numbers were likely much higher, I merely visited a fraction of the river. Add to the tally, heaps of Mallard, at least 600 Mute Swans, 460 Coots, dozens of Goosanders and the selection became even more impressive, especially with the added bonuses of seven Smew, three Scaup and a smart adult male Red-breasted Merganser.

Not a bad day in all, roll on a real spell of cold weather though.

 

13-16 February. Out Owling.

Black Woodpecker

 

Days rolled by, Marsh and Willow Tits jostled at my garden feeders, snow fell. Up at Labanoras, the feeders became ever busier - Blue Tit numbers rising, woodpeckers in the usual abundance. Other than diagonal ringing on many trees, no sign of the Three-toed Woodpecker of the previous week, nor the regular White-backed Woodpecker on the feeders, but still plenty of action - two Black Woodpeckers demolishing yet more trunks, plus a good bevy on the feeders - five Great Spotted, two Middle Spotted and the female Lesser Spotted. Bonus of the day, however, went not to these birds, but a Lesser Redpoll in amongst a flock of about 30 Mealy Redpolls, a rare bird indeed in Lithuania.

 

For all the woodpeckers though, February is really the season to subject body and soul to hypothermia and wander the nights in the hope of an owl or two, a good few species lurking in the deeper depths of Lithuania's forests. Sub-zero temperatures, crisp snows underfoot, three nights on a trot, out I went.

Night one. A timid affair - blighted by snow becoming rather heavy, I toured a few of my favoured haunts, silence all around till I drew alongside a stand of pines standing tall ... po-po-po-po-po, the clear voice of a Tengmalm's Owl rang out, very nice indeed. Did not bother looking for it, the falling snow would not have helped, so left it for another time.

Night two. Far to the north, an attempt to find Ural Owls in forests straddling the Lithuanian-Latvian border. The day had started well enough, a stop midway revealing a good selection of forest birds - a male Hazel Grouse sitting in a tree, a Black Woodpecker in a copse, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker feeding in weed stalks with a White-backed Woodpecker overflying it, then a Middle Spotted Woodpecker in forest depths.

Arriving at the owling site an hour before dark, a quick wander added to the woodpecker tallies - another Black Woodpecker, the day's frst Great Spotted Woodpecker ...then, absolutely remarkable, just a week after seeing my frst in Lithuania, I bumped into another Three-toed Woodpecker! This time a female, the bird fed on the trunk of a dead conifer, before flitting off into birches off yonder. Really did not expect that! As for the owls, a bit of a wash-out, at least four Tawny Owls were hooting away, but not even a hint of anything else!

Night three. A few more kilometres ploughing through snowy forests, one Tengmalm's Owl calling nearby, but went silent as soon as I thought about going to look for it!

 

21-22 February. Woodpecker Bonkers.

White-backed WoodpeckerCensus Days, my annual attempt to put numbers to my feeding stations in both Vilnius and Labanoras. A mix of extrapolation from ringing data, recognition of individuals and direct counts, the numbers are best estimates, but make for impressive reading.

Up at Labanoras, a very good start - the resident Black Woodpecker bashing another tree to smithereens, Great and Middle Spotted Woodpeckers in and out at the feeders. Soon, I settled down to log the many visitors, Great Tits by the bucketload, Blue Tits in numbers much higher than previous years, Marsh Tits seemingly a little down. One Willow Tit present too. In popped the female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, all going much as expected. Then arrived my latest super-star, the female White-backed Woodpecker, onto the feeders for a good quarter of an hour, returning several times through the day. But hmm, either she has broken her bill or I now have two birds present ...time will tell! A search for the Three-toed Woodpecker failed to reveal this bird, but fresh signs suggest he is still about. Another hour at the feeders and one of my more elusive visitors popped in - a female Grey-headed Woodpecker onto a peanut feeder, the sixth woodpecker species of the day.

Back in Vilnius, a surprise ...a female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker there too, the first ever on my garden feeders! Add all the regular Tree Sparrows, a single Greenfinch and the assorted Nuthatches and tits, and the census was complete.

In total, approximately 770 birds of 22 species, most Great and Blue Tits, but also at least 21 individual woodpeckers and added bonuses of Sparrowhawk, Willow Tit and Long-tailed Tit

Last Updated ( Monday, 23 February 2009 )
 
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