Musteika

History

Musteika has been known since the 18th century: it was mentioned in 1785 by the Varėna Manor inventory. In 1795, it belonged to the Margionys folwark and had 41 people. The northern part of Musteika is the older one and till the beginning of the 20th century belonged to Vilna Governorate (Troki County, Merech volost) while the southern one (so called the Averkos' End) is later. It was established by jägers (so called osochniks) from Berzhty village in modern Belarus. This part of Musteika belonged to the Grodno Governorate. The whole region of Musteika was called Gudy Land ('the land of Belarusians') although all the population was Lithuanian. The main occupations of Musteika's inhabitants were forestry, beekeeping, mushroom and berry picking, hunting, resin extraction. In 1918, professor Tadas Ivanauskas established first formal Lithuanian school in Musteika. It was later closed by Polish authorities, but later reopened and operated till 1970. In 1940, the village shortly belonged to the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, but later was transferred to Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. The Newly established Musteika kolkhoz was quickly liquidated because of poor soil and Musteika forestry was founded instead. In the 1980s, military polygon established to the south from Musteika but was abandoned after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 2006, the Musteika Dzūkish Traditional Beekeeping Museum was founded. Every year it hosts the Week of Living Folk Arts.

Most-observed species

• Great Spotted Woodpecker

  Dendrocopos major (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  66
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  62
• White Wagtail

  Motacilla alba Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  57
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  54
• Common Chiffchaff

  Phylloscopus collybita (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  53
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  52
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  50
• Yellowhammer

  Emberiza citrinella Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  49