The day started with pretty dark weather and not all of us joined the morning walk but they missed. There weren’t many birds around but we had two Otters swimming in the sea, three Slender-billed Gulls and a group of Whooper Swans flied over.
Today we started our way to the north. We stopped at several places but there weren’t many birds. Instead our van got stuck in the mud for a couple of minutes until a friendly person stopped and pilled us out. We were unsuccessful putting sticks and boards under the tires so had to stop someone. Luckily we had this guy who helped us.
Further along we drove up a mountain pass where we had groups of Buntings and Finches feeding together. It was quite a spectacle for our guests from the UK who miss the old times in their country. Up on the mountain pass we had two Great Grey Shrikes which were the bird of the day for Florian. We searched in vain for Woodpeckers at several places but there was little activity in the forest too. We still managed to tick Middle spotted, Great spotted and Green Woodpecker but none of the other ones. A Goshawk patrolled an area not far from the place where we searched for the woodpeckers
The Sun was setting but we decided to make another stop at an Eagle Owl site. It didn’t take us long to locate a bird in its usual place. Couple of minutes later I spotted a second bird sitting right in the open in its full superiority. I love these birds. So powerful. They didn’t mind us watching them which gave us a lot of time. It was getting dark and we had to go. Further along the team got excited by several small groups of Grey Partridges. They decrease everywhere so we do appreciate seeing them. Our mammal list also got bigger since we added Red Fox and a Wild Hare. These were the last things to see for the day. Time for a nice cold beer.