Aquatic Warbler returns to Lithuania
It's official - Aquatic Warblers are back to Lithuania!
Water level in sedge meadows is still rather high and weather keeps changing - it is too early for nesting. Therefore the males are still finding their way around and mostly keeping quiet.
Nonetheless, project team who have been visiting project sites in Nemunas River Delta and Kliosiai Landscape Reserve together with project success monitoring expert prof. Alexander Kozulin last week managed to hear one of the birds singing.
It is still early spring for warblers - they have just come back, but meadows are full of other singing birds: the Common Snipe can be heard high above the Sysa polder during the day and wet meadows are full of Sedge Warblers, while Corncrakes and Spotted Crakes are taking over the lead chorus at night. We also saw Sea Eagles gracefully spreading their wings along Kroku Lanka Lake in Tulkiarage polder.
In preparation for an intense summer season project team visited the sites to take vegetation and soil samples, perform water measurements, observe test mowing in project area in Kliosiai and meet local residents.
Project experts also visited Zuvintas Biosphere Reserve where return of the Aquatic Warbler is also much awaited.
In the photograph by Z. Morkvenas above - sedges at the Tyrai fen where first Aquatic Warbler male was heard singing this spring.
More field trip images in the gallery here.
