Birdwatching in Belarus

Spring is the best time to go birdwatching. Belarus has an advantageous position in the centre of Europe. Its virgin forests, natural rivers and numerous marshes are a paradise for birds from all over the world. And the best time for photo and audio hunting is from mid-April to June.

Find out who is the prince of the Polesie

Ancient Turov on the Pripyat River is famous for archaeological excavations, Orthodox shrines and flood meadows. In the spring, almost one and a half hundred hectares outside the city turn into a continuous accumulation of feathered travellers. Scientists have calculated: in the spring there can be up to two hundred thousand individuals at the same time. 

PHOTO: WWW.WALKTOFOLK.BY

This variety of trills and variegation of feathers take one's breath away! Birds make nests in tall grass, bask in the sun on trees, and even appear on city streets. Experienced birdwatchers come to Turov to look at the Terek sandpiper, ringed plover, great snipe, oystercatcher, ruffs. In the hollow trees you can see the azure tit, which is popularly known as ‘knyazyok’ (princeling). It fills the surroundings with its trills and waves gentle blue wings. In pre-pandemic times, crowds of Western European tourists came to Belarus to see this rare beauty. After all, the habitat of the prince is very narrow: Belarus, southern Siberia and Central Asia.

Make friends with capercaillie in Naliboki

The capercaillie is the largest forest bird in Belarus. Males impress with their wingspan and bushy tails, steely green chest feathers, and bright red skin around the eyes. Females look different, they are smaller and practically merge with the forest environment in plumage colour. Luxurious, but extremely shy. No matter how much you call, or lure them with treats, capercaillie will not come out to people of their own free will. However, there is a place in Belarus where a person managed to make friends with wayward winged beauties. A unique nursery has been operating in Nalibokskaya Pushcha for several years. Capercaillie are bred here in conditions that are fully consistent with natural conditions, and then they are released into the forests. All this is arranged in order to prevent the death of a rare Western European species, which has long been on the verge of extinction in Europe.
You can watch the birds in the nursery online, they are recorded on a round-the-clock basis. It’s more captivating than any series. After all, relationships between birds develop similarly to humans. The courtship alone is worth watching! It’s beautiful, impressive and loud.

Get spooked by the great grey owl

During the Great Patriotic War, the swamps in the Polesie were a reliable shelter for Belarusian partisans, and one of the country’s most amazing ecological trails lies here today.
On a path through dense forests and shallow lakes, one can meet lynx, pond turtle and great grey... owl! This is an owl with a ‘height’ of almost one metre and a wingspan of one and a half metres. A distinctive feature of the night bird is yellow eyes and a black spot under the beak (for which ornithologists called it ‘bearded’). Despite its gigantic size, it is a quiet bird, it flies almost silently. Nevertheless, when meeting people, it behaves extremely arrogantly and pretends that no one is around.
However, other species from the owl family are also found in the Vygonoshchanskoye swamp. For example, an eagle-owl, a pygmy-owl and his brother in ‘pants’ — a boreal owl.

Find the feathered partisan

Today, the fauna on Olmany is one and a half hundred species of birds. Europe’s largest complex of raised, transitional and lowland bogs has been preserved in its natural form. Why? In the 1960s, the 41st closed aviation training ground was located here, and there was no way for common people to get to the swamp. The birds, however, were given the green light.
The most difficult task for birdwatchers is to find the greater spotted eagle. You can only hear the sonorous ‘quick-quick’, but this secretive guy from the Accipitridae family does not like to show himself. He is a real partisan. As you walk through the swamps in search of it, you will pass lakes that the locals consider sacred, as well as sand dunes with pine trees. Such a beauty! In autumn, you can eat plenty of cranberries here, natural glades with juicy berries are impressive in scale.

Catch a connecting flight at the bird airport

If you want spectacular photos for your social media, go to the Vitebsk Region. Tourists have chosen the Yelnya swamp thanks to a comfortable boardwalk eco-trail and bright landscapes.

Photo: www.planetabelarus.by


Once a huge lake, today it has turned into 118 small ones, separated by a bog. The peak of the season is autumn, there are thousands of cranes during the migration. It is not just a swamp, but a real bird terminal. Other interesting passengers include curlew, merlin, and black-throated loon.
And Yelnya is one of the few points on the map of Belarus where you can watch the willow ptarmigan. It changes its colour to the lighter one by winter, so as not to become easy prey for predators.

By Sofia Arsenyeva