While there will be no hosted face-to-face events this year -- except with faces of the feathered kind -- people are nevertheless urged to make the most of Latvia's enviable ornithological offerings, while keeping suitable physical distance and avoiding crowding.
What's good for the goose...
This year, the DAP is calling for special attention to be paid to geese, and the reporting of observations via the website www.dabasdati.lv. These reports will contribute to a joint study between the Institute of Biology and the DAP to create conditions for the prevention of conflicts between migratory geese and the agricultural sector.
Birds can be watched everywhere - at home, in parks, on a favorite walking trail and elsewhere. For example, in Ķemeri National Park, one of the best places for bird watching is Dunduri meadows. There are no nature trails in Dunduri meadows, but a road leads through the territory, along which you can observe nature in the form of a “safari” through a car window, organizing impromptu stops as soon as you notice something interesting. In the meadows surrounded by forest you can see cranes, swans, thrushes, sea eagles and other birds. They will be easy to see from the built-in viewing platforms and the 5.5 m high tower.
Take a virtual look at Dunduri meadows in this video.
Another possibility is to see the exhibition of original drawings by the artist Daiga Segliņa titled "Nature in Drawings", which is available in the library of Laudona Parish. Subject to national restrictions, the library is available to one person or to those living in the same household at the same time. More information here .
From April 16 to June 16, the Līgatne nature trails will feature a photo exhibition “Free as a Bird in the Air” created by the association “White Wolf Trails”, dedicated to Jānis Baltvilks. The exhibition is based on quotations from Baltvilks' poetry and miniatures, to which photographers Baiba Dālberga, Armands Majevskis, Ruslans Matrozis, Andris Poišs and Sandris Rabkevičs have dedicated their photographs. In the exhibition you will meet a bird with two words, a bird that sings about the market, a bird that fishes in the clouds, a bird that breeds its father's mud, and others. The exhibition will be open-air by purchasing an entrance ticket to the Līgatne nature trails. More information here .
In addition to these Spring Bird Days activities, everyone is invited to participate in other events announced by the Latvian Ornithological Society. Bird watching days are organized by the Latvian Ornithological Society (LOB) in cooperation with DAP and other partners.
And if you want to brush up on your birdsong identification skills, listen to our recent features giving samples of some of the most popular trills and twitters you can encounter at this time of year.
