After an early morning domestic flight from Moscow to Vladivostok, we will immediately depart the airport for the large harbour of the historic city of Vladivostok. Over the coming two days we will make pelagic trips in the Peter the Great Gulf and conduct several exciting landings on a few key islands in the Gulf. Several large seabird colonies will be an extravaganza and pure heaven for any birder. Amongst others, we hope to come across large amounts of Spectacled Guillemot, Rhinoceros Auklet, Black-tailed- and Slaty-backed Gulls, Temminck’s- and Pelagic Cormorant. Rarer sightings might include Marbled and Ancient Murrelet, Common Guillemot, Harlequin Duck, Swinhoe’s Storm Petrel or Streaked Shearwater. Cute Spotted Seals are often found sunbathing on rocks near the islands. As we are in the middle of migration time, we should encounter good waves of passerines. Popov Island offers some excellent birding in the open grasslands that are full of flowers and butterflies. On the scouting trip in 2017 we came across many Chestnut-eared Buntings, (stejnegeri) Japanese Stonechat, Oriental Greenfinch, Grey-backed Thrushes, and, if we are lucky, we may bump into a Latham´s Snipe or Baikal Grasshopper Warbler. The forested parts of the island are full of Yellow-rumped Flycatchers, Pale-legged Leaf Warblers, Eastern Crowned Warblers, Ashy Minivets, Azure-winged Magpies, Japanese Pygmy Woodpeckers, and Japanese Tit. We will be greeted upon our return to Vladivostok each evening by swarming flocks of Pacific Swift. Back at our comfortable hotel, we will enjoy a flavorful dinner.

NIGHT | Comfortable tourist hotel in Vladivostok

As usual on this tour, we will have an early rise to go birding in the nearby forests where many gems are on the menu. We will do our best to show you Asian Stubtail, Black-naped Oriole, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Japanese Grosbeak and Azure Tit. Around noon there will be a significant dip in bird activity. We will use this time for an extended lunch and drive back towards the Khanka Lake. In the evening we will explore the lake vicinity once more in the hope of the previously mentioned duck species and hopefully more sightings of Oriental Stork, Amur Falcon, and curious Black-browed Reed Warbler. In the evening we will drive to the village of Luchegorsk where we will lodge for the coming two nights.

NIGHT: Tourist hotel, Luchegorsk.

Another early rise to reach a small, traditional Siberian village where we will board our three-person boats for an exploration of the Bikin River, sometimes called the Russian Amazon! It is an absolute delight to be on the river in the early morning with the sun just shining its first rays of light through the trees. This river is the best place for beauties like Scaly-sided Mergansers, Mandarin Duck and Long-billed Plover. The Mandarin Duck is an unmistakable, small duck and a big contender for the most beautiful duck on the planet. Large orange wing sails and whiskers combined with a coppery red, white and green head make it a real treasure to find in the Siberian wilderness. In the adjacent marshes, we hope to come across, amongst others, Far Eastern Curlew and the endangered Oriental Stork. The latter having a small worldwide population of fewer than 2000 individuals. This is also an excellent spot for the elusive Forest Wagtail. Back in the village itself, Daurian Redstart, White-cheeked Starling and Oriental Reed Warbler are omnipresent. In the evening hours, we will bird the marshes around town where Eastern Marsh Harriers are seen along with hopefully more Falcated Ducks. On dusk, we will explore the river edges in the hope of hearing the territorial deep “boo” calls of the Blakiston’s Fish-Owl. We return to our hotel in Luchogursk late in the evening.

NIGHT: Tourist hotel, Luchogursk.

Today will be mostly a travel day (700km, 9 hours), but we have some time in the morning to bird around the village, and near some of the marshes we visited the day before. One spot we have staked out will hopefully deliver a very pleasing Gray´s Grasshopper Warbler and lovely Grey-backed Thrush.  In the late evening, we arrive at our tourist hotel in Komsomolsk-na-Amur.

NIGHT: Tourist hotel, Komsomolsk-na-Amur.

Today we head for Lake Udyl where we will make some round trips of the lake to find the breeding and hopefully some hunting pairs of Steller’s Sea Eagle! These huge, striking raptors with their characteristic bright yellow beaks and white wing patches are our primary target during our stay at the lake. We have a good chance of close views as we travel by boat to several nesting sites staked out. On Lake Udyl we also hope to see the strange Swan Goose and the handsome Baikal Teal. In the nearby forests, Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, Dusky Warbler, Pallas’s Leaf Warbler, Oriental Greenfinch and Grey-bellied Bullfinch are common. On the third day, we head back towards Komsomolsk-na-Amur, where we expect to arrive in the early evening.

NIGHTS | Days 08-10, basic lodge, Lake Udyl.
NIGHT | Day 11, tourist hotel, Komsomolsk-na-Amur.

At this state nature reserve we are after one of the most sought-after grouse in the northern hemisphere; the Siberian Grouse! These small grouse are the only Russian endemic bird. They live in dense spruce forests with heavy understory. We will do our utmost best to find these attractive birds, and if we are fortunate enough to come across an individual, their trusting nature is hard to believe. They are a photographer’s dream! In this taiga forest, the endangered Black-billed Capercaille is also a big target. They occur in the same type of habitat as the grouse but are more challenging to locate. Other sightings in the forest may include Siberian Thrush, Mugimaki Flycatcher, Rufous-tailed Robin, Siberian Rubythroat, Red-flanked Bluetail, Arctic Warbler, Two-barred Greenish Warbler and Black-faced Bunting! Breeding Tristram´s Bunting is another highlight. In the evening we will have a lovely dinner in the city of Komsomolsk-na-Amur before we board an overnight train to Khabarovsk.

NIGHT: Sleeper train to Khabarovsk.

Our train reaches Khabarovsk in the morning, ready for our final day of birding. In the extensive wetlands near Khabarovsk, we have a whole new set of birds to discover. In the open areas, Lanceolated Warbler and Pallas´s Grasshopper Warbler are ubiquitously singing. The gorgeous and rapidly declining Yellow-breasted Bunting might be found nearby while a couple of Long-tailed Rosefinches are usually calling from willow scrub. Thick-billed Warbler would be one of the rare sightings of the day, but certainly possible. In the evening we check into our comfortable tourist hotel in Khabarovsk where we will enjoy a sizeable final dinner with a few shots of Vodka, just like the locals!

NIGHT: Comfortable tourist hotel, Khabarovsk.

All participants will have a day room until 11am at our tourist hotel in Khabarovsk before transferring to the local airport and subsequent departure home.