My Introduction to European Birding (Moscow)

While not the first species I observed after landing in Moscow, it was the first life bird I encountered

Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix)

One of the quirks of commercial air travel seems to be that routes may take travelers further than their eventual destination. While it would likely only take about 12 hours of travel to fly from the Southwestern U.S. to Anadyr (the largest settlement in eastern Chukotka, RU), the only regular flights operating out of Anadyr fly to Moscow. While this necessitated a much longer traveling time, it gave me an opportunity to build in some extra time before and after the field season to work on tracking down some Western Palearctic species.

After some confusion at the Charles de Gaulle airport I found my gate and managed to see my life Eurasian Kestrel and Carrion Crow flying outside of the window (along with ubiquitous Rock Pigeons). I finally arrived at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow at about 7:45pm local time. After navigating the Visa area and currency exchange I made it outside. My first birds in Russia were… Barn Swallows. Not as exotic as I was expecting (my second Russian species was a flyover Hooded Crow for example), but always fun to see the white-bellied and longer-tailed versions of this cosmopolitan species.

I tried (and failed) to figure out how to catch the train from Sheremetyevo to the subway system (my mistake was apparently walking outside the airport) and ended up just getting a cab to the nearest station. I was pretty exhausted at this point and just wanted to get to where I was staying for the night. My inability to use any local wifi complicated things, and I hadn’t come from a terminal with a SIM card store, so I was navigating relatively blind. Fortunately, once I got to the subway station things became much more straightforward. The Moscow metro is often touted as a must-see attraction for those visiting the city and after navigating it, I can see why. Not only is it convenient and inexpensive, but many of the older stations were commissioned in the 1950’s and boast elegant marble and stonework (some of which has neat Jurassic age marine fossils), stained glass, and ridiculously long escalators.

By about 10pm I had finally navigated to the Akadamechiskaya metro station where I met up with a local birding guide, Veronika Samotsoskaya. In addition to guiding, Veronika had also graciously offered me a couch to sleep on for the few days I was in Moscow before I continued to Anadyr. While I had missed the best period of migration through the region (mid April to mid May), I was still excited by the prospects of tracking down as many species as possible with my two full days in the city. 
After about 3 hours of sleep we started west of the city on a two-hour drive to the Lotoshino Fish Farm. When researching the region on eBird before this trip I had noticed this hotspot seemed to produce the highest diversity and most unique species in the region. It is however, incredibly difficult to access via public transportation which was one of the reasons I first contacted Veronika. While it is labelled as a “Fish Farm” in eBird, in truth it appeared closer to what I would call fishing lakes than a commercial fish farming operation. We encountered many local anglers out enjoying the weekend while we hiked around the ponds for much of the day. Black-headed Gulls and Gray Herons were abundant, and I was surprised by the number of vociferous Great Bitterns calling all around as well. While raptors were relatively scarce and we couldn’t seem to locate any of the local pairs of Azure Tits, there were plenty of singing warblers to keep me on my toes. Sedge Warblers were particularly abundant in the reed beds with Great Reed Warblers and a handful of Eurasian River Warblers adding to the cacophony. By the end of the day I had managed to commit these songs to memory (at least temporarily). A single pair of Common Pochards put in an appearance, along with a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers at a nest cavity, and an agitated Spotted Flycatcher. On the way back to Moscow (trying to time our departure to avoid traffic jams with some success) we poked around some farm fields where we encountered a pair of Northern Lapwings, a singing Meadow Pipit, many Common Buzzards riding thermals, a Whinchat, and a male Common Redstart. 

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major)

The next morning Veronika and I took the metro to the Moscow Main Botanical Gardens to look for some more forest species. It was relatively empty of people first thing in the morning on a Sunday, and we didn’t start seeing many other visitors until midmorning. For a large city, I was impressed with the apparent number of greenscapes in Moscow. While several woodpeckers and Eurasian Jay were notably absent, there were plenty of other species to keep me occupied trying to learn the new and unfamiliar soundscape. A family of Eurasian Treecreepers were particularly entertaining as three recently fledged juveniles took turns begging for food from the nearby parents on either side of the path. Several families of Ruddy Shelduck paddled placidly across seemingly every water body we saw. This species was apparently released in the Moscow area several decades ago by the zoo and has now become established. Other waterfowl were scarce, but Black-headed Gulls were ever-present and vocalizing. Walking along the wooded paths we encountered a calling Goldcrest high in the canopy (sounding for all the world like its cousin the Golden-crowned Kinglet). Several Icterine Warblers were also singing squeakily overhead, sounding almost like Kiskadees or Social Flycatchers. Overall, I was impressed by the diversity and abundance of species at the Botanical Gardens, though we missed Black Woodpecker which had been high on my target list. After thoroughly covering the gardens until early afternoon I felt I had a pretty good feel for navigating and there was a metro station less than a block from the entrance, so I would be sure to try again for the woodpeckers on my return to Moscow in August. On the walk home we ran across a final new species for the initial Moscow leg of my journey, a Garden Warbler singing in some tall trees behind an apartment building.

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)

By the end of my brief initial foray in Moscow I managed to find 84 species, over 50 of which were life birds.  Not a bad introduction to Russian birding, and it put me on track to meet my goal of 200 species for the country by the end of my trip with plenty of “easy” target species left over for me to try for upon my return through in August.