BELARUS

12–19 May 2012

Day 1 Flight from London to Minsk with an afternoon arrival followed by a four-hour drive to Hlupinskaja Buda in the Pripjatsky National Park where we will stay for 3 nights.

Day 2 The Pripyat River floods vast areas of meadows and forests in spring. The endless water-covered areas of the floodplain hold thousands of waterbirds, among them several highly sought-after breeding waders. After breakfast, we sail in a comfortable boat for an introductory excursion across the Pripiat River floodplain. Exposed grassy islands slowly emerging from the receding river waters, provide us with unique opportunity to view wader activity with many birds already settling to nest, including Terek Sandpipers, our target species for today. Numerous Common Snipes, Black-tailed Godwits, Eurasian Oystercatchers, Common Redshanks and Common Ringed Plovers characterise this magnificent wetland ecosystem. Slowly cruising between these grassy islands we may find one of Europe's rarest waders, Great Snipe, that breed in large numbers in the park. Numerous passerines also feature including Thrush Nightingale, Savi's and Sedge Warbler, Eurasian Reed-warbler, Eurasian Golden Oriole, Wood and Willow Warblers, Bluethroat, and Collared and Pied Flycatchers.

Day 3 After a leisurely breakfast, we will board our boat again for a half-day cruise at a leisurely pace. Endless thickets of riverside willows, flooded pastures and ancient stands of flooded oak forests create favourable conditions for Greater Spotted Eagle, which is quite common here despite its vulnerable status in the rest of Europe and we'll keep an eye in the sky to see this majestic raptor. We reach our riverside picnic spot by midday where our cook prepares lunch over an open fire whilst we explore water meadows and groves of old-age willows looking for Azure Tit, which frequently inhabit this area. Lesser Spotted Eagle, Eurasian Penduline-tit, Western Marsh-harrier, Gadwall, Green Sandpiper, Great Grey Shrike, Eurasian Hoopoe and Fieldfare are also found here. We depart mid afternoon and continue our way down the river.

The region still holds extensive oak forests with huge trees and we will explore one area looking for woodland species. Easy walks can produce all European species of woodpeckers including Black, Eurasian Three-toed, Grey-headed, Middle Spotted, Syrian and White-backed as well as Eurasian Wryneck. Other target species include Red-breasted Flycatcher, River Warbler and Short-toed Treecreeper. Adjacent open fields are excellent spots to see Black Stork, hunting Eurasian Hobby, Short-toed and White-tailed Eagles and European Honey-buzzard. Other birds may include Common Cranes and Hawfinch. But the tour isn't just about birds. If we are lucky, we may also see some typical representatives of riparian mammals, among them European Beaver, American Mink and European Otter. Small predators such as Pine Marten and Raccoon Dog can also be found. European Bison and Elk are quite common in the whole area, although they are incredibly shy and there is only an outside chance of seeing them, mainly at dusk. Our journey concludes on reaching a wonderful part of ancient flooded oak forest where our bus will be waiting to take us back to our base at Hlupinskaja Buda. On the way back we'll visit several dry habitats where Barred Warbler will be our main target. After dinner we will make a short journey to a broad forest-ride to look for owls, specifically for Eurasian Eagle-owl, Eurasian Pygmy-owl and Tawny Owl. Spotted Crake and Eurasian Woodcock will create pleasant background of spring sounds during our time here.

Day 4 After breakfast, we set off to visit another superb area of the Pripjat River floodplain close to the ancient town of Turov. The width of the floodplain near Turov is about 5–7 km with a mixture of water meadows, small islands, willow beds, flooded oak forests, pastures and dikes. We'll spend the day walking along dikes where thousands of Ruffs can be watched on their spring migration (a few pairs even breed annually). Terek Sandpiper is a well-known symbol of the area whilst other waders not already seen may include Spotted Redshank, Common Greenshank, Wood and Marsh Sandpipers, Grey Plover and Ruddy Turnstone. Several species of terns also feature including Black, White-winged, Little, Common and Whiskered all of which breed in huge colonies on meadow islands and floating vegetation. Caspian Terns can also be seen on migration. The area holds numerous small passerines including Citrine and Yellow (Blue-headed) Wagtails. We'll then cross to a scenic local village situated just on the edge of floodplain meadows looking for one of the rarest European birds – Azure Tit. This elusive resident bird breeds every year in wooden buildings and natural holes in trees. In the evening we plan to watch one of the most exciting events of Pripjat marshes – displaying Great Snipe. More than thirty males gather on the lekking place at dusk that is situated two kilometres downstream from Turov, in a dry meadow, and we use a boat to reach their displaying ground. We'll observe an impressive evening/night show that includes jumping, calling, running and fighting. Territorial calls of Corn and Spotted Crakes are common sounds of the area. Two nights Turov.

Day 5 A short pre-breakfast walk to the banks of the Pripjat River will give us the opportunity to see Great White Egret, White Stork, Garganey, Common Teal, Tufted Duck, Northern Shoveler, Little Gull, Skylark, Black Redstart, European Greenfinch and European Goldfinch. The rest of the day will be spent leisurely exploring this stunningly beautiful area. In the evening, we will visit an area to listen for and hopefully see Little Crakes as well as listening to the symphony of accompanying Tree Frogs and Fire-bellied Toads.

Days 6–7 After breakfast, we leave Turov and head west to Beloe fishponds. This IBA area is one of the region's largest breeding centres for many fish-eating and waterbirds. Black-necked and Red-necked Grebes, Great Bittern, Common Goldeneye, Smew and Great Reed-warbler can all be found breeding as well as many passage migrants. Continuing westwards we will finally arrive at the Sporovo Reserve, home to 90% of the world's Aquatic Warblers. The forest close to our accommodation also holds several breeding pairs of Great Grey Owls and we hope we can admire this magnificent, very confiding owl. Little, Spotted and Corn Crakes are all very vocal at this time of the year, which gives us the chance to see these elusive birds. The evenings will, however, be spent admiring the characteristic song flight of Europe's rarest songbird, Aquatic Warbler, and this is the easiest place in the world to see them. Northern Goshawk, Hen and Montagu's Harriers, Bearded Tit and Common Rosefinch are all common here whilst Black, Whiskered and White-winged Terns hawk insects over the marshes. Two nights in Sporovo.

Day 8 We drive back to the airport, to catch a morning flight back to London.

General Information The climate can be highly variable at this time of year from very warm to cold and wet. There will be a moderate amount of walking over easy terrain. There are no special medical requirements and insects are not a problem. Visas are required. Driving distances are quite long, but the roads between sites are good. Accommodation is based on twin rooms with shared facilities in Pripyatsky National Park and Sporovo Reserve and hotel with en-suite twin rooms in Turov. Single rooms may only be available in Turov.

Group Size Minimum number for tour to go ahead: 8; maximum group size: 10 with 1 leader, 12 with 2 leaders.