Latvia

Off we go - September 19th

Heading east this time to Latvia to tie-up the Baltic states on the very impressive Air Baltic Airbus A220-300 complete with free Starlink wifi and generous seat pitch. It made the flight to Riga very pleasant.

Picking up the hire-car was straight forward and with the airport located west of Riga, heading off on the two-and-a-half hour drive to Kolka was gratefully uneventful, and largely traffic free. The weather was cooler than that of the UK but it was still very mild and with a moderate south-westerly, I was anticipating that the search for migrant birds was going to be challenging. And that's how it transpired, across the four-night stay, a total haul of 71 species was fairly modest with a few interesting sightings along the way.

Kolka - 20th September

A lovely place but birdwise it was very quiet. That however was the least of my problems. The mosquitoes were my problem. And there were loads of them. Everywhere. Munching on any patch of exposed skin they could find. In my hair, in my ears, and up the bloody Khyber Pass if they had the chance. Within half-hour of my first full day, I was beginning to lose my shit. But somehow I managed to fight back, resistance against the deadliest animal in the world was something I was extremely proud of.  

Anyway, apart from the minor inconvenience of being chewed close to death, Kolka was rather lovely. Slītere National Park extends all the way to a sandy coastline that was easily navigable to the Point. 

I spent two days there, spending time just aimlessly wandering around to see what I could see. Stopping for more than a few seconds was really challenging due to my voracious blood-thirsty friends. 

There was plenty of parking within the local area. A viewing tower and monument designed by a local sculptor to commemorate those lost at sea provided prominent features along the track to the viewpoint.

The area is notable for its birdlife, with spring and autumn being the peak seasons. The sea held most of the initial interest with large rafts of common scoter, velvet scoter, good numbers of goldeneye, four goosander and a couple of eider. 

Along the foreshore, a small selection of extremely tame juvenile waders included dunlin, ringed plover, knot, grey plover and sanderling.

It was however disappointingly quiet. The forest areas were largely devoid of sound but for the subtle peeps and squeaks of common passerines such as blue tit, great tit and crested tit which were widespread around the area with a few willow tit bouncing around the pines. Vocal crossbill were seen regularly flying over in small numbers, and the sound of great spotted woodpecker would pierce the relative silence. A middle spotted woodpecker made a surprise appearance flying over my head into the forest.

Spotted flycatcher were frequently seen at various locations along the forest edge with a minimum of four birds present on the 20th. 

The most notable moment arrived late morning on the 20th. Having just procured a coffee from the shop at the Divjūriņas car park, a northern nutcracker flew over my head into the forest. This was my first ever sighting of one, a species that had eluded me on previous trips to Poland. It prompted a search  over the following day or so for a better look but unfortunately without success.

At this time of year, everything closes up. The one restaurant I'd hoped to dine in was now closed for the season and wouldn't open again until May. That's hibernation of the highest order.

So the local Citro supermarket it was. Thankfully this was open until 10pm so I bought myself some goodies and made myself a hearty salad that would last me for my two-night stay that even I was impressed with.

Kolka - 21st September

The weather had closed in, and during the early hours of the 21st, it started to rain. This continued well into the morning, extremely heavy showers were punctuated by claps of thunder, then the hailstones rattled down. It was actually all very impressive watching it all from the comfort of my cabin. But I wanted to get back out to the mozzies. 

By midday, the weather system had passed. The plan was to head east toward Riga but this would only take me back into the terrible weather. So I stayed in Kolka for most of the day on the 21st, sunshine had warmed the day and I really enjoyed it.

It was much the same as the day before, a few more willow tit, and the site and sound of 82 crane flying down the Baltic was pretty magical.

Tree pipit were a real feature with ones and twos rasping over along with numerous chaffinch and the odd brambling.

I then decided to take a walk into the local campsite within the village, where I managed to kick up three black redstart, three wheatear and a whinchat.

And that was the extent of it really. Nothing really exceptional, just very pleasant and thoroughly enjoyable. But it was time to move on and by the evening, I'd arrived at my motel, grabbed a pizza and a Latvian beer at the neighbouring town of Tukums and bade farewell to another day.

Kemeri and Lake Kanieris - 22nd September

Thankfully the weather was behaving itself today. The destination was Kemeri National Park and specifically a birdy area with lofty towers and boardwalk trails.

Again it was relatively quiet. Taking the rather rickety boardwalk which would have made a fastidious health and safety officer salivate, I headed into the reedbed.

The pinging sounds of bearded tit could be heard overhead and looking up, a 'swarm' of at least 30 birds were flying relatively high over. There were a few along the boardwalk too and were amongst the best views I'd had of this species.

The trail meandered round. I could imagine in spring this area would be alive with birdsong and some interesting species. It was slippery too coming close to stacking it on a couple of occasions.

Within the woodland, blue tit and great tit were once again numerous, but these flocks held some splendid 'northern' long-tailed tit of the race caudatus caudatus. Appropriate, as they were so good, and lovely little things too with their pristine, frosty heads.

Over the marshland, an osprey was quartering the area where later, an adult white-tailed eagle flushed at least 30 great white egret.

Toward the end of the trail, a black woodpecker appeared and thankfully hung around for a short while before flying back into the woodland. Such an impressive bird.

Yes it was quiet birdwise, and I got profusely bitten by the mosquitoes, but it was such a great experience spending time in a very peaceful, charming and attractive part of the world, but I had to get my car to the airport and head into the city.

Riga - 22nd September

The airport was only a 40 minute drive away and with the formalities over, I jumped on a bus and headed to my hotel.

The hotel was located on the edge of the old town, in fact, the entrance to the back of the building led straight into the centre which was really convenient. I do enjoy being a tourist for the day, especially in charming Eastern European cities. Riga is unsurprisingly stunning, full of medieval architecture, streetside restaurants and plenty of bars.

The Freedom Monument.

Rīgas Rātslaukums

Inside St. Peter's Church.

House of the Black Heads.

Powder Tower.

The afternoon was spent wandering around, taking in the sites and sounds. I dined at the amazing Restaurant Lasite ordering my brook trout main, and pancakes for dessert while an incredible guitarist played medieval music just to enhance the ambiance.

I woke the following day to the filthiest weather Riga could offer. There was nothing I could really do other than wait around or head to the airport. I headed to the airport, arriving four and a half hours early, relaxed, and reflected on another short and enjoyable trip.

eBird Lists

20th September - Kolka

21st September - Kolka

22nd September - Kemeri (Evazi Nature Path)

22nd September - Lake Kanieris