Just When You Thought You'd Heard It All!

At Ille's suggestion, I caught the bus this morning to the small town of Viimsi just a few miles north of Tallinn. There, she had told me, were a number of small, urban woodlands where I should find something to keep me interested. but before that,

just a couple of shot from last nights birthday dinner, unfortunately birthday girl Helis is hiding behind the foliage, sat next to her is her boyfriend, and Ille's youngest son, Herkko, then Ille and Me.

Helis and Herkko again.

It was just 10 paces from the bus to the nearest wood, which was full of bird song.

Chaffinch

A sweet but unfamiliar song was constant from high in a Silver Birch tree and although it took a while to locate the bird it was a Pied Flycatcher, a song I have never heard before!

Robin

Nuthatch, it will be noted that the northern race of this familiar woodland bird is all but devoid of the peachy orange breast and belly of the ones found in UK.

 
and a back view.

a smart White Wagtail

Having spotted a pair of Common Scoter I assumed the large number (hundreds rather than tens) were the same, but on closer inspection most were to seen as Long-tailed Duck, but only a couple ventured near enough for a photo call.

Hooded Crow good numbers keep the fore-shore clean.

Another unfamiliar, yet beautifully sweet song, came from this Icterine Warbler another song I have never heard before, and unlike the few I have seen skulking in the lower levels of thick bramble, this, one of a pair, seemed happy in the tops of the local Silver Birches.

Between seeing the Icterine Warbler above and this smart Fieldfare I also heard, again for the first time, the song of  Redstart. It was only when this Thrush started up that i was reminded of the return of Martin Cade (Warden of the Portland Bird Observatory) from last years 'birding' holiday in Sweden and Finland. Of course full of news of Great Grey Owl and Steller's it was soon apparent that one of his highlights was the 'song' of Redwing. The same happened to me today, and as it was also feeding I thought a little patience may result in something even better? 

Only a brief glimpse of these images will show you what I mean. Have you ever watched a pair of Fieldfare feeding young? what I presumed to be the female bird directed me to the nest, but seemed concerned about my presence and simply perched on the lip of the nest making these open beaked gestures.

Thinking the coast clear it proceeded to feed the 5 nestlings, then carrying out domestic cleaning of the bottom of the nest, before

being relieved by the more colorful partner, which I thought had to be the male. What a sight!

 

Some of the fauna in these wood included (white) Wood Anemony

and with same leaf stucture what I think must be (yellow) Wood Anemony.

a general view of one of the woods.

During the walk back to Ille's I took this photo of a monument to what I know not.

A view of Tallinn from the north east.

The Mariner's Monument.

The estonian Flag.

Germany joined the ranks of the readership today, bringing the countries tally to 60. Welcome to ALL new readers! It's now getting late so I hope to bring an update of species counts tomorrow - good night.

Good to Be Back in Tallinn, Estonia

The good thing about taking a flight at about 20-00 on a cloudy day is you get to see the sun again. We took off at 20-10 and were airborne for about 90 minutes in bright sunlight. A 2 hour wait at Riga airport, Latvia soon passed by as I caught up on some notes, arriving Tallinn at 00-50 this morning. The welcome was as expected, with a light meal and good bottle of wine a great springboard I thought for my now 17 days in Estonia.

To bore the reader with a few statistics, the overall bird total for my wanderings ended at 66 which, considering this was not a 'birding trip', I thought reasonable.

Blackbird, House Sparrow
Cirl Bunting, Goldfinch
Swallow, Herring Gull
Hooded Crow, Blackcap
Serin Common, Sandpiper
Lesser Kestrel, Starling
House Martin, Feral Pigeon
Black Kite, Pallid Swift
Hen Harrier, Grey Heron
Common Buzzard, Jay
Chaffinch, Great Tit
Collared Dove, Common Kestrel
Turtle Dove, Magpie
Stock Dove, Pheasant
Grey Wagtail, Peregrine
Mute Swan, Cormorant
Jackdaw, Swift
Marsh Harrier, Canada Goose
White Stork, Mistle Thrush
Tufted Duck, Black-headed Gull
Little Gull, Lapwing
Chiffchaff, Mallard
Wood Pigeon, Blue Tit
Chiffchaff, Coal Tit
Nightingale, Fieldfare
Booted Eagle, Wren
Moorhen, Corn Bunting
Whitethroat, Skylark
White Wagtail, Black-eared Wheatear
Cuckoo Great, White Egret
Golden Oriole, Long-tailed Tit
Greenfinch, Tree Sparrow
Song Thrush, Lesser Whitethroat

The total number of countries visited ended here in Estonia at 17 and included:-

Croatia*, Slovenia*
Austria*, Czech Republic*
Slovakia*, Hungary*
Serbia*, Montenegro*
Albania*, Kosovo*
Macedonia*, Bulgaria
Romania*, Moldova*
Ukraine*, Latvia
Estonia

Those asterisked were new to me, with my personal countries tally now standing at 120. As for the Blog stats, it is currently read by as many as 1,450 people at any one time from 59 countries including Pakistan, Costa Rica, Algeria and Italy. The latest country to join the readership was Bolivia.

This evening there has been a bit of trouble with the Internet plus a lot of trouble with the operator. This has meant there are no photographs of tonights little party. Helis, the lady friend of Ille's youngest son Herkko, had a birthday yesterday with, fortuitously the celebratory dinner being this evening, so it seems I got here just in time!

Also today, I have started an Estonian 'bird list' which because I stayed within the city all day only reads -

Herring Gull,  Black-headed Gull

Great Tit,  House Sparrow

Feral Pigeon,  Hooded Crow

Jackdaw,  Cormorant

Blackbird,  Blue Tit

Chaffinch,  White Wagtail

Woodland Walk, Not Concrete Jungle

First of all my apologies for no post during the past 32 hours or so. Not through lack of Internet access, but more a desire to get on with the traveling and get some ground covered, even resorting to moving overnight (another hotel bill saved).

After a brief stop in Kosovo, I reached Skopje capital of Macedonia early Sunday morning and with buses running about every hour onward to Sofia, Bulgaria decided to take a look at the most tempting wood-covered slopes on the edge of the city. Walking seemed like an option but I soon tired of plodding a series of tiresome streets, so got a cab half way up the hill. I was not disappointed as the very first thing I heard was a Nightingale in full song, which soon showed itself in an Aspen tree allowing a couple of reasonable shots for this usual skulking bird. In all I saw or heard no fewer than c14 Nightingales during the day!

Butterflies were certainly on the wing, as were a few diurnal moths most of which I have no chance of identifying. Those that I could included Wood White, Orange-Tip and one of the Swallowtails, the latter 2 evading my photo attempts. The other things in numbers were Tortoises, Tree Sparrows and a few Sub-Alpine Warblers, while single sightings included a (Great Spotted) Woodpecker of sorts, Common and Lesser Whitethroat, Greenfinch, Wren all additions to the trip list, while now usual contenders such as Hooded Crow, Starling, Jackdaw and White Stork were also seen.

Nightingale

Tortoise number 1

Sub-Alpine Warbler

Small Bracket Fungi Sp?

Thought to be Wood White Butterfly?

Tree Sparrow - most birds were making the most of the emergence of these small green caterpillars.

A 'Skipper' Butterfly of sorts.

A view from above Skopje city, with the last of th Balkans in the distance.

The same showing the football stadium.

Tortoise number 2

Time was soon upon me to cross Bulgaria, and having seen much of this country during 3 other visits, there was no plan to stay. With continuing luck my bus met another departing in just a toilet stops time for Chisinau, capital of Moldova. Thus far in Bulgaria the terrain had consisted of mainly mixed wooded hillsides, fast flowing streams with a few patches of arable land. Within a very short time of leaving the bus station we were in a completely different environment of open plains and mile after mile of rich, fertile farmland. Surely this country must be self sufficient for food, which includes its neighbour to the north (Moldova) as things seemed to be even more green here. This continued right across the country, in every direction as far as the eye could see. The only incident worthy of report was when we stopped at a small town just north of the border in the dead of night. The driver usually announces how long the stay will be, with everyone so far coming to me personally to make sure I understood. It is my usual practice to get off at every stop even if only to check my bag. On this occasion it's a good job I did as on of the locals was happily taking my bag for a walk. Soon stopped by myself and the driver, he still didn't realise he had the wrong bag despite his being about twice the size of mine and black rather than my beige. While I did raise my voice, I'm sure there was no intent with this and the man simply collected his case from the hold, nodded an appology and left. Let that be a lesson to us all - keep your eye on the ball, or have you bag stollen as I once did in La Paz, Bolivia!

By now (Tuesday 11th May) I have to admit to feeling a little travel weary, and most of my thoughts were for a well appointed and comfortable little apartment I know in the Estonian capital of Tallinn. Feeling I will get a warm welcome there, I looked at the geography and it looked like a bus to Lviv (pronounce Lavov I was told), much closer to my destination, then a flight from there. The 18 hours on the coach passed very quickly with good thoughts and the back seat to myself a decent nights sleep was had. Unfortunately, it was a case of "best laid plans of mice and men, I was in the sh*te again", there are no direct, or sensible flights from there with the best suggestion being a taxi to Kiev (capital of Ukraine) and a flight from there. It's 600Km and 200 Euros in a cab, but the alternative wasn't worth pondering, so biting the bullet off we went. Luckily I got a most helpful taxi driver, helping me in more ways than one, and this too was a fairly quick, comfortable and interesting ride.

A couple of shots from a fast moving taxi,

of typical Ukrainian roadside buildings.

Turn right for Odessa, left for the Airport.

A timely reminder, at this spot we were just 20 miles from Chernobyl!

Main road bridge over the Dnieper River entering Kiev.

A typical appartment block in Kiev, Ukraine.

These are a couple of posters which line all major routes here in Ukraine,

supporting Russia's celebration of 65 years since the end of World War II.

I am now at Kiev airport awaiting the 20-10 flight to Riga, Latvia then on to Tallinn where I should arrive at 00-50 tomorrow, I know there will be someone waiting for me, but more about Ille tomorrow I hope!

Once again this has been a little rush, so please overlook the mistakes, thanks to all new readers, some of whom have sent e-mails (will get around to then in due course) and hope to talk again soon

One of These Days - Pink Floyd

Saturday 8th May 2010

A day like this comes along occasionally, and in my little world I grab it by the lower band! Wanting to get to Montenegro, with some haste to utilise time, it was fortuatous that the first bus was at 09-00. At Euros 15 for a clean comfortable room you don't get much in the way of breakfast, so it was the 'old reliable' 2 packets of crisps, a bar of chocolate and a bottle of water and we were off.

Through some of the most spectacular scenery, the whole journey from Sarajavo, Bosnia to Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro was by and large through the Balkans. There were 40 people for the 25 seater bus, so I lent on my experiences in India, Ceylon and elsewhere to trample the women and kids underfoot to get a window seat. That achieved, all I had to do was to sit back and enjoy 8 hours of pure beauty. Snow covered peaks fell to meet woodland in full leaf and meadows covered in spring blooms, Cowslips, Celandine, Harebell and Daisies just to name a few. Throughout, we followed the courses of a number of rivers which were dwarfed by giant rock escarpments, ideal I thought for Wallcreeper, but unfortunately none were seen.

10 Km from the border we stopped for a coffee break where at least c3 Nightingales were singing away, while at 'passport control', we waited in the sunshine as Wren and Garden Warbler were added to the 'trip list'. With a hitch, passports were stamped and we were once again on our way passing more crumbling farmsteads and small villages as well as a Booted Eagle.

Don't you know we're riding on the Bosnia Express?

The village of Stanica Foca

Kanjon National Park

Well into the Balkans

At the Montenegro Border

More views through the Balkans on the Montenegro side.








Entering Podgorica, Montenegro

There was some good news and some bad news for me at the Podgorica Bus Station, the good was an overnight bus to further my journey, but the bad news was the wrong destination. No public transport whatsoever ply's the route from Montenegro to Albania, so it looked like an Albanian stamp was going to evade my passport, but there's more than one way to skin a cat. The set price in a taxi to the border is 25 Euros (none negotiable) so e35 'return' seemed like a bargaining chip. With a little help from an English speaking Montenegrin lady I secured this deal with the driver, and we were off to the Albanian border.

Mico Perovic made Jenson Button look positively sluggish as we raced towards the border, but managing to secure Corn Bunting and Black-eared Wheatear on the way. The plan was to literally 'twitch' Albania, get the 'stamp' and return to base, which is exactly what we did. On the way I was a little concerned that the Albanians, not the most confiding nation in the world, would not accommodate me but I need not have worried. At the border post I almost strolled through the Montenegrin exit, while at the Albanian side the official seemed a little too inquisitive? Not satisfied simply with the detail in my passport he wanted to know precisely 'where' I lived in England (unusual). Once I mentioned Dorset, his eyes lit up and went on to tell me that his brother is the manager of a pub in Bournemouth. I could probably have had all the stamps I wanted after a 5 minute encounter. I decided to walk about a mile into Albania, more or less to validate having been there, before returning to the same police officer who led me to his colleague on the other side to complete exit formalities. On the way back to Podgorica, Mico was determined to take me to his local bar, and with time to spare, why not? Half a dozen 'brilliant' locals met us at the door, and already I felt like a 'local' myself, with mine host producing the coffee in double quick time. Some conversation in broken English plus a couple of local songs and my own vocal contribution it was time to get back. Once there, Mico talked the Bus Station Tavern owner to let me use his power connector, and here I am sat in the sun writing up today's Blog with the bus leaving for Skopje, Macedonia in just one hour - I'll be back tomorrow.

with the local darts team, or was it billiards?

Sunday 9th May 2010

After a much more comfortable than expected night on the bus, we arrived at Skopje, Macedonia, via Kosovo, at 07-00. All border crossings went without a hitch and within minutes I found this little coffee bar with free Internet access, enjoying an early morning drink with a Spanish guy I met on the bus. The plan is to have a look around the city before heading off again, probably to Sofia, Bulgaria. If Billy (Rhubarb & Custard) Crumble is reading this I bet a few memories of our visit some years ago will come flooding back. We had just moved on from Burgas, on the Black Sea, to Thessaloniki, Greece when the World Trade Center was destroyed. It was interesting to note the young women in the pub were dancing on the tables while watching the news footage??

Ille's latest contribution to the art world, I hope to be viewing this in real life very soon.

Belgrade to Sarijavo, Bosnia

It took a full hour yesterday afternoon to walk to the Eastrn Railway Station, but once there it was a simple task to get a ticket for the overnight train Prague to Belgrade, Serbia. Getting a meal was equally simple, but the choice was almost Hobson's with just Burger King on one corner and McDonald's on the other. Selection was made simple by the fact that the latter was 50 feet closer, but served as a timely reminder as to why I don't frequent these places. The food was shite (but filled a hole), while the obvious regualar 'grazers' at this establishment were living proof that they did put Humpty back together again!

Having opted for the 15 Euro fare (370 miles x 8 hours) I was only afforded a seat rather that a sleeper, but up to seconds before departurnde it seemed I had secured a compatment to myself. That's when Milan Karobic and his mate Nenad Dugic burst in announcing, "we only chose these seats because you looked interesting". It was one of those moments you wished you'd put a bag over your head, but once we had settled down to some conversation it became clear that they too were interesting. For 20'somethings they were extremely well travelled, and when the chat got round to contemporary music they sure as hell knew their stuff. There was never going to be any chance of serious sleep until we had cleared both sides of the Hungarian/Serbian border by which time we had covered most places between Mongolia and the Grand Canyon, plus Led Zeppelin to The Clash. In addition, during their visit to Amsterdam they had bought endless amounts of cakes, biscuits, waffles etc so we were able to share a fine picnic.

Sleep comes like a drug, in God's country (U2) so I woke just 15 minutes from Belgrade surprisingly refreshed. They on the other hand seemed a bit phased and announced they would be heading home for more sleep. However, that was not before they put me right about visiting the city. I hope they, and the people of Serbia will forgive me for saying that the tour was short lived, but it was interesting walking the banks of the River Sava for an hour or so. You'll note I have spared the reaer yet another bridge photograph!

By noon it was time to move on again, and once again most conveniently there was a bus about to leave for Sarejavo, Bosnia. Once again there was plenty of space on the bus to start with, so was able to concentrate on the lap top until the battery died on me. At the first stop I grabbed an espresso and wandered around outside, to find a man with a huge BBQ spit-roasting a whole sheep, I only wish there was time to have taken him up on it.

After about 2 hours we reached the border town of Zvornik, nestling on the Lake of Drina, where on both sides the officials were very friendly and relaxed and soon had us on our way. Passing the first 2 of a 6 tunnel complex we could already see the lower slopes of The Bakans appearing, with neat, tiny villages and farms it was difficult to imagine that only a short few years ago the region was 'war-torn'. We had also picked up some new passengers, my new travelling companions being Tamara and Marina, both in their late teens and at university. With good English, they were able to fill in all the detail I would otherwise have missed.

As for birds, they were always goin to take a back seat on this trip, but I did add Coal Tit and a late Fieldfare to the 'trip list', while a distant Eagle Sp passed unidentified.

There was a advert hording in the city that caught my eye. I have no idea what for but the caption read:- 'A gentleman is simply a patient wolf'.

This photo, best known to itself, wouldn´t upload yesterday. Me and my Dad in Prague.

Milan Karobic
Nenad Dugic

Me Waffling again

The three of us

Surrounding hills of Sarijavo

The Art Acadamy

One of manz Moscs

War damage still visible on the Library

General cirty scene

12th centurz church

Dowbtown Sarijavo
The new Sarijavo growing

More war damage

More surrounding hills

It has been hell og a game getting this post off, as Ive had to use a local computer. Press S and zou get a hzphen etc, etc please excuse the faults.