Over the last two decades I have driven hundreds of thousands of miles throughout the UK, Ireland, Europe and United States, all in search of new customers, new birds, or both. It has taken me to some great places, such as the below sea level Salton Sea in Southern California, the Texas Blackland Prairie, Rio Grande Valley and the central Florida wetlands in the USA. I have visited Honey Buzzard migration hotspot Falsterbo in Sweden, the superb Waddensee island of Texel and the wild Atlantic Way in the far west of Ireland, each of them special in their own way, many of them with birding memories to boot. I have been alone photographing male Siberia Rubythroat in both the Netherlands and Sweden, and photographed both Stellar’s & remarkably Spectacled Eiders all whilst being only a few kilometres away from a retailer visit.

Recently I have had to visit Iceland for new retailers, see earlier post, along with the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania, all looking for new places to stock Opticron. As ever though, there are always new birding locations to explore and new birds to be had, during lunchtimes or down time. Today in Sweden I have had just the 4 White-tailed Eagles on a reserve where I often have 2 or 3 times that amount. In early Autumn of 2024 I was in Estonia, and driving east along the E20 Baltic Highway towards the eastern border town of Narva. I was heading there as I had found what I thought could be a likely prospect to sell binoculars. As chance would have it, my boss rang to see where I was. I explained that I was heading towards the Russian border to have a meeting with a distributor that specialises in thermal imaging equipment. Sometimes, I just don’t think, there I was heading towards the Russian border with a car full of binocular samples, whilst Russia is at war with Ukraine, a proxy war with the West in all but name. I soon got a reality check and was instructed to turn around and drive away from the border. Definitely not one of my better ideas!

A quick re-routing of the Apple Car Play map and I was heading south towards Mustvee in Estonia, on the shores of Lake Peipus, which is shared between Estonia & Russia. I made for the shoreline and a strand of trees bordering the beach. Although it was September there was still a White Stork juvenile striding through the grass looking for food. Great White Egrets were fishing at the edge of a reedy bay, and Swallows & House Martins were feeding over the lake. Later I picked out a distant White-tailed Eagle over the lake towards Russia. I watched as it came closer to reveal that it had a fish in it’s claws and was munching it whilst heading to shore. After a quick check of the shoreline habitat for migrants proved to be a waste of time. I then checked out the retailers in town, nothing suitable so I continued my journey towards Tartu and my overnight stay.

At other times in the Baltic States I have caught up with White Storks and cranes and found some Yellow-browed Warblers in Pärnu on the coast of Estonia. Fieldfare are so much more approachable here too, winter flocks of Fieldfare in the UK are often just too wary to get anywhere near them.

My latest adventure was in Lithuania where I had signed up a new dealer in Vilnius. With a flight home at 22:30 I had some time to explore a little, I settled on a two-hour drive towards the far south of the country and close to the borders of Poland, Kaliningrad & Belarus. Žuvinto Biosphere Reserve. It is a large lake surrounded by wet marsh and huge reedbeds. It is a UNESCO Biosphere and SPA and a great place for breeding Common Crane, White-tailed Eagle, White Stork, Aquatic Warbler a shed load of  other warblers, water birds, herons, egrets and waders. Even though most birds had left the area it is still an important area for geese, ducks and Lapwings. I found a large flock of Russian Bean Geese in among the thousands of Greylags. There was an enormous flock of lapwings on the wet meadows and watching them get up into the sky along with the geese was quite a spectacle when two adult White-tailed Eagles plunged out of the clear blue sky towards them. The area would be fantastic in the summer. I may have to visit again in 2026, maybe even a late Spring visit.