Wonderful South Moravia...

I have just finished a 5 day birding trip around South Moravia, in the Czech Republic, with 4 nice folks from the UK. We visited the lakes, floodplains and woodlands of the Palava area and saw a good mix of winter and spring birds... 7 woodpecker species including Black, Grey-headed, Middle Spotted, Lesser Spotted and Syrian, lots of Hawfinches, Short-toed Treecreeper, 6 Long-eared Owls, a Eagle Owl, a 3rd year Eastern Imperial Eagle, around 6 White-tailed Eagles, several Red Kites, male and female Smew, Garganey, Red-crested Pochards, 1000s of Bean and White-fronted Geese and 4 Red-breasted Geese on the last morning. South Moravia really is an under-birded area (at least by non-Czechs). "Mad March" Brown Hares were everywhere and Roe Deer abundant, too. Though we did not see Beaver we saw fresh signs of their activity. I have been visiting South Moravia for almost 20 years now and am yet to be disappointed by the habitats and species found there.