dwatsonbirder
Well-known member
Participants: Gareth Blockley, John Firendship-Taylor, Daniel Watson
Itinerary: 4 days in Bialowiza NP, 3 days in Biebza NP
Introduction:
After a very successful visit last year (170 + species and finding several scarcities/rarities), it was inevitable that I would want to return to Poland again this spring. None of the team from last year were able to make it due to work/family commitments, so I teamed up with my local birding friends Gareth and John on what would be their first and my second visit to this wonderful country.
The timing of the trip was selected to coincide with several of my target species we missed by a few days last year, which are local rarities in their own right: Blyth’s reed and Greenish warblers, as these are species that I have wanted to catch up with on their breeding quarters for a long time after seeing migrants in the UK and south-east Asia. The timing was less optimal for species such as woodpeckers and some passerines, and it was evident that there was a subtle shift in the numbers of some species in relation to last year, with many birds actively feeding young and being consequently being less vocal
Day one:
A mid morning flight meant that we arrived in Modlin airport just before midday on Sunday. The weather was great with bright sunshine and very warm. First bird off of the plane was a singing Black redstart before we’d even made it off of the runway and to customs. We collected our hire car (Nissan qashqai) and set off for the forests. One slight problem – we decided that we would use the flashy in-built (Polish language) satnav in the car rather than Gareth’s tomtom – and as a consequence we set off in a north- westerly direction (a bit like a misguided greenish or Blyth’s reed warbler…) and ended up driving as far as Ostroda before we clocked our error!
In the end it took us a total of 9hrs to get to Bialowiza, arriving at our accommodation just before 11pm. Bugger.
Along the way we had a few nice birds to lift the spirits, Serin, Marsh warbler, Hobby, White stork, Pied flycatcher, Golden Oriole, Montague’s harrier, which helped the situation, but with it being the start of the holiday, and being a generally affable bunch, we made light of the situation and ended the evening having a beer listening to Corncrake, Thrush nightingale and Icterine warblers singing in the warm night of the forest.
Day two:
We awoke about 5:45, and John and Gareth were keen to get out asap, it took me a little longer as I was in desperate need of a shower. I joined them on the road towards Zebra Zubra a little after 6am, and in the meadow on the left of the road we added Red backed and Great grey shrikes, Barred, Marsh and River warblers, Whinchats, Crossbill, Great spotted and Green woodpeckers (my 10th Polish woodpecker after seeing the other 9 last year!) and a vocal corncrake in a 30-minute wander.
I suggested that we may want to head into the village and spend some time in Palace Park, which surely ranks with the likes of Central park and Suan Rot Fai as the best town parks for birding. On our way we saw a few Tree sparrow, and as we entered the park John spotted a wryneck sunning itself on a roof.
For the uninitiated the park is excellent for birds, and is a must do for at least one morning if visiting the area.
We quickly located more Marsh and Icterine warblers, as well as Common rosefinch, Great reed warbler, Serin, Northern long tailed tit, and the first of many Hawfinch “tik-ing” overhead. We walked around the lake soaking in the atmosphere and headed towards the wooded area to the northern end of the park.
By the plastic bison we saw our first decent woodpecker – a fine male Middle spotted, which flew back and forth between the trees near the lake and where the bird was nesting. We didn’t see the female that morning, but we did see both birds in the same general area on the day we left, so we assumed that their brood had hatched during the time we were there.
Our forth woodpecker species of the trip was added shortly afterwards, with a smart female Lesser spotted feeding in some trees before flying towards the nest on the other side of the park.
By the main entrance to the park we spotted a cracking male Collared flycatcher hawking for insects, whilst a female appeared from a hole in a nearby tree.
We settled down for a good hour to watch and photograph the birds as they foraged for insects and popped in and out of the nest, these birds are always a pleasure to see, and the great views they afforded meant they were a very early highlight of the trip.
We continued around the park, and Gareth picked up a Honey buzzard drifting overhead, sadly John didn’t get onto the bird which was a bit frustrating as this was a major bogey bird for him – next time!
By this time we were rather hungry, and we opted for dinner before trying a site where I had seen Bison last May. We enjoyed some delicious local food – John and I enjoying wild boar, Gareth opting for Carp –before heading to a clearing to the west of the village. We spent an hour in-situ before deciding to have a drive around the general area, sadly there was no sign of any Bison, but we did catch up with a hunting Tawny owl as well as seeing a few Roe and Red deer and a single fox.
By 11pm and after a celebratory beer we were pretty exhausted and we called it a night ready for a 4:30 start the next day.
Itinerary: 4 days in Bialowiza NP, 3 days in Biebza NP
Introduction:
After a very successful visit last year (170 + species and finding several scarcities/rarities), it was inevitable that I would want to return to Poland again this spring. None of the team from last year were able to make it due to work/family commitments, so I teamed up with my local birding friends Gareth and John on what would be their first and my second visit to this wonderful country.
The timing of the trip was selected to coincide with several of my target species we missed by a few days last year, which are local rarities in their own right: Blyth’s reed and Greenish warblers, as these are species that I have wanted to catch up with on their breeding quarters for a long time after seeing migrants in the UK and south-east Asia. The timing was less optimal for species such as woodpeckers and some passerines, and it was evident that there was a subtle shift in the numbers of some species in relation to last year, with many birds actively feeding young and being consequently being less vocal
Day one:
A mid morning flight meant that we arrived in Modlin airport just before midday on Sunday. The weather was great with bright sunshine and very warm. First bird off of the plane was a singing Black redstart before we’d even made it off of the runway and to customs. We collected our hire car (Nissan qashqai) and set off for the forests. One slight problem – we decided that we would use the flashy in-built (Polish language) satnav in the car rather than Gareth’s tomtom – and as a consequence we set off in a north- westerly direction (a bit like a misguided greenish or Blyth’s reed warbler…) and ended up driving as far as Ostroda before we clocked our error!
In the end it took us a total of 9hrs to get to Bialowiza, arriving at our accommodation just before 11pm. Bugger.
Along the way we had a few nice birds to lift the spirits, Serin, Marsh warbler, Hobby, White stork, Pied flycatcher, Golden Oriole, Montague’s harrier, which helped the situation, but with it being the start of the holiday, and being a generally affable bunch, we made light of the situation and ended the evening having a beer listening to Corncrake, Thrush nightingale and Icterine warblers singing in the warm night of the forest.
Day two:
We awoke about 5:45, and John and Gareth were keen to get out asap, it took me a little longer as I was in desperate need of a shower. I joined them on the road towards Zebra Zubra a little after 6am, and in the meadow on the left of the road we added Red backed and Great grey shrikes, Barred, Marsh and River warblers, Whinchats, Crossbill, Great spotted and Green woodpeckers (my 10th Polish woodpecker after seeing the other 9 last year!) and a vocal corncrake in a 30-minute wander.
I suggested that we may want to head into the village and spend some time in Palace Park, which surely ranks with the likes of Central park and Suan Rot Fai as the best town parks for birding. On our way we saw a few Tree sparrow, and as we entered the park John spotted a wryneck sunning itself on a roof.
For the uninitiated the park is excellent for birds, and is a must do for at least one morning if visiting the area.
We quickly located more Marsh and Icterine warblers, as well as Common rosefinch, Great reed warbler, Serin, Northern long tailed tit, and the first of many Hawfinch “tik-ing” overhead. We walked around the lake soaking in the atmosphere and headed towards the wooded area to the northern end of the park.
By the plastic bison we saw our first decent woodpecker – a fine male Middle spotted, which flew back and forth between the trees near the lake and where the bird was nesting. We didn’t see the female that morning, but we did see both birds in the same general area on the day we left, so we assumed that their brood had hatched during the time we were there.
Our forth woodpecker species of the trip was added shortly afterwards, with a smart female Lesser spotted feeding in some trees before flying towards the nest on the other side of the park.
By the main entrance to the park we spotted a cracking male Collared flycatcher hawking for insects, whilst a female appeared from a hole in a nearby tree.
We settled down for a good hour to watch and photograph the birds as they foraged for insects and popped in and out of the nest, these birds are always a pleasure to see, and the great views they afforded meant they were a very early highlight of the trip.
We continued around the park, and Gareth picked up a Honey buzzard drifting overhead, sadly John didn’t get onto the bird which was a bit frustrating as this was a major bogey bird for him – next time!
By this time we were rather hungry, and we opted for dinner before trying a site where I had seen Bison last May. We enjoyed some delicious local food – John and I enjoying wild boar, Gareth opting for Carp –before heading to a clearing to the west of the village. We spent an hour in-situ before deciding to have a drive around the general area, sadly there was no sign of any Bison, but we did catch up with a hunting Tawny owl as well as seeing a few Roe and Red deer and a single fox.
By 11pm and after a celebratory beer we were pretty exhausted and we called it a night ready for a 4:30 start the next day.