Photo Gallery
Photos by Patty Briggs and Bryan Bland unless otherwise noted
The Czech Republic is a delightfully rural country in which to wander in search of birds, with many flower-filled meadows and miles of attractive woodland.
A popular target bird in the Sumava Mountains is…
..Tengmalm’s Owl, seen here with a Red Vole.
Our delightful hotel (converted from baroque, gothic, and renaissance shield houses) in the old town square of Trebon…
…is just a few minutes walk from the town walls and castle gardens…
…and the town fishpond beyond, which on our pre-breakfast excursions has yielded…
…Great Crested Grebe (shown here), Goldeneye, Smew, White Stork, and various woodpeckers.
This set of 500 or so medieval fishponds, separated only by country roads…
…or embanked tree-lined walkways ensures a mix of water and woodland species: here Bryan sketches the diagnostic features of Middle Spotted Woodpecker.
Great Egret…
…and Little Bittern are rare birds in the Czech Republic, but both have been seen several times by WINGS groups.
On the outskirts of Prague, our hotel is just a few minutes from the beautiful Pruhonice castle gardens, which are excellent for pre-breakfast birding.
Even in the center of Prague, the Old Town Square not only offers one of the most beautiful assemblages of buildings in the world but is also a stake-out for Peregrine, which breeds on the medieval spires of Our Lady Before Tyn church.
Our musical venues range from the gilt and plush…
…of Prague’s several magnificent opera houses…
…to the more intimate surroundings for our private concerts, such as this room in Janácek’s house in Brno, where he composed some of his best-loved music (performed here by the world famous Janácek Quartet).
Another appropriate concert location is the fairy-tale town of…
…Cesky Krumlov, where, since the early 1990s, the celebrated composer Vlastimil Lejsek and his wife, Vera, have given us a private recital of Dvorak’s Sumava Suite (in the very landscape that inspired its composition).
Occasionally we have been treated to the world premiere of one of Lejsek’s own pieces, and in 2002 we celebrated the Lejseks’ Golden Wedding and the fiftieth anniversary of their debut as a duet.
Folk music comes to the fore in Moravia at the Vlcnov Ride of the Kings Festival…
…with locals in traditional costume…
…and groups performing at every street corner…
…with plenty of opportunities to join in the dancing.