CZECH REPUBLIC
18th – 25th April 2009

Owls, Woodpeckers and much more.

This is an eight-day tour to this delightfully rural Eastern European country, which despite recently joining the EU still remains largely unexplored by many British birdwatchers. Its beautiful landscape hasn't changed much over the years and is a mix of gentle forested hills, meadows and small traditional farms. We'll be visiting three areas, starting with the Sumava National Park in southern Bohemia, an area of upland forest and peat bogs and home to many sought after species of owls & woodpeckers along with Nutcracker and Hazel Grouse. Next we'll stay a few nights in Trebonsko, with its mosaic of woodlands and fishponds, many dating back to the middle ages. Birds here should include Black Stork, White-tailed Eagle, Garganey, Bluethroat and Penduline Tit. Our final base will be in Southern Moravia where the climate has more of a Mediterranean feel. Here we'll look for Syrian and Grey-headed Woodpecker, Wryneck, Collared Flycatcher and Red-backed Shrike, while keeping an eye on any passing raptors, which may include the likes of Saker, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Honey Buzzard and Goshawk.

Day 1
We'll meet at the airport for our flight to Prague where our Czech guide, who will accompany us on this tour, will greet us on arrival. From Prague we'll head straight to our first base in The Šumava National Park. Bordering Austria and Germany, this entire area was depopulated in the soviet era and closed to visitors for 40 years, this proved to be of great benefit to the local wildlife, especially birds and plants. Once there we'll check in to our hotel before meeting with a local expert Slávek Kloubec who will escort us into the forest close to our hotel for an evening in search of Pygmy and Tengmalms Owl.

Day 2
The whole day will be spent in Šumava NP, with Slávek Kloubec. Before breakfast we will drive 8 km from our hotel to observe lekking Black Grouse on the large meadows in Vltava River valley an early start is essential here as it is almost impossible to observe these shy birds after 9 am.

After breakfast we'll visit the Boubín Primeval Forest, which is probably the most interesting natural reserve in the national park. It is situated in southeast foothill of Mt. Boubín and covers an area of 666 hectares mainly at an altitude of 920 - 1110m. Our target birds here are Ural Owl, Three Toed and White Backed Woodpeckers, Red Breasted Flycatcher, Black Stork, Hazel Grouse and Nutcracker.

We will also walk near the Vltava River through the reserve Mrtvy Luh searching for Dipper, Grey-headed Woodpecker and Lesser Spotted Eagle. Later we will pay a short visit to one of the typical peat bogs in Šumava with the possibility of Black Grouse and Hazel Grouse.

More than 1000 nest boxes have now been erected for Tengmalms Owls, and our local guide will show us some of the currently occupied and easily accessible ones, providing an excellent opportunity to observe this owl during daylight hours.

In the evening we will search for Ural, Pygmy and Tengmalms Owls near our hotel.

Day 3
After a few hours birding in Šumava we'll head to our next base in the Trebon region, visiting Ceský Krumlov on route for lunch. This castle city has preserved its medieval centre as no other town in the region and for this reason it entered the UNESCO register of monuments of world significance in 1992. While here we'll visit the castle park, which not only offers great views of the castle but is also home to Grey-headed Woodpecker. After lunch we'll continue to Trebonsko, our base for the next three nights and spend the rest of the day exploring this new region.

Days 4 – 5
The Trebon region is a man-shaped landscape, a flat or slightly undulating area near the Austrian border. The international importance of the fishponds and lakes of the area is acknowledged by its status as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and is home to 130 breeding species including one of Europes largest birds of prey, the White-tailed Eagle.

The creation of 460 fishponds and an interconnecting network of canals (13% of total area is covered with water-bodies) started in 14th century. Avenues of old oaks along the fishpond dams provide excellent birding as the various passerines and woodpeckers move along with the walker rather than escape into the forest

Here we should encounter Black Kite, Black & White Stork, Middle-Spotted, Grey-headed and Black Woodpeckers. While our search for a range of water birds, as well as Bluethroat, Collared Flycatcher and Penduline Tit should be very rewarding. Other birds could include Wryneck, Hawfinch and a few early returning warblers. In the evenings we will go out amid the stands of wetland pine to look for Woodcock, Tengmalm ´s and Pygmy Owls .

Day 6
Today we move to South Moravia where we meet with another local guide Martin Hrouzek. Here we'll visit the Lednické Ponds and the confluence of Jihlava and Svratka rivers. A system of five large fishponds, three large reservoirs and two rivers, this important area is a haven for birds and is protected by the Ramsar convention.

Here we hope to see Little and Great Bitterns, Night Heron, Red & Black Kites, Black Woodpeckers, Hoopoe, Bee-eaters, Penduline Tit and Red-backed Shrike.

In the evening we will visit a nearby quarry in search of Eagle Owl.

Day 7
Our last full day will be spent birding in South Moravia; Syrian Woodpecker will be searched for, bringing the possible total of woodpecker species to ten. This area is also excellent for raptors with Saker, Peregrine, Hobby, Honey Buzzard, Goshawk, White-tailed Eagle and Eastern Imperial Eagle all possible.

Day 8
Departure to the airport which concludes this tour.

To comply with Civil Aviation Authority
guidelines all flights are ATOL protected,
for more details see our terms &
conditions section 10.