[gwatola]

Hi

I'm going to Katowice for a few days in mid-January. Are there any parks (Forest Park?) or areas in the immediate area where I might see Black Woodpecker. Also, any good owl or wallcreeper localities in the vicinity?

cheers

George

[pandachris]

George

Will you have a car?

I'm sure that someone will reply with much more up to date info, but we drove from near Katowice (Piekary Slaskie) one morning last December and remarked that some of the habitat we passed through looked worthy of a look. We saw a couple of shrikes from the moving car.

Looking at the map, my guess is that the section along road #78, between the junctions with the 911 and 912 were the areas that looked worth a look, and simply from looking at the map, heading north on the 912 could be interesting - GoogleEarth could give some better clues.

Hopefully someone with real local knowledge will come along and give you better pointers, but we'll almost certainly explore the above area if we go back that way.

I would imagine that, if you're flying in, you will follow the 78 on the way to Katowice.

[stonechat1]

You should ask here (registration is free), George:
http://www.birdwatching.pl/

Regards,
Roman

[gwatola]

Hi Roman and PandaChris

Thanks for your replies. I'm being shown around on Friday by a "Birdingpal" Simon from Krakow, so will hopefully see some good birds. Costing me, but I guess that is to be expected. I'll let you know how I got on when I return on Sunday.

cheers

George

[stonechat1]

Originally Posted by gwatola

Hi Roman and PandaChris

Thanks for your replies. I'm being shown around on Friday by a "Birdingpal" Simon from Krakow, so will hopefully see some good birds. Costing me, but I guess that is to be expected. I'll let you know how I got on when I return on Sunday.

cheers
George

Hi George,
I´m wondering because:

A local Pal does not get paid, but should he/she offer to take you out birding, using their own vehicle, it would be courteous to pay for the fuel. A lunch and/or a small gift would also be appropriate, something as simple as a souvenir of your country, or a pin from your local birding club.
Source: http://www.birdingpal.org/Poland.htm

I hope you are talking about the above mentioned!

All the best,
Roman

[gwatola]

Hi Roman

Simon didn't mention he expected to be paid until after I had contacted him, that is, he hadn't put himself in the professional guide category. By this stage we were nearly ready to go to Poland, so as I was worried about not having anyone to show me around I agreed to go with him. He was very good value, and showed me my longed-for Black Woodpeckers near Krakow, and tried his best to find me Ural Owl in the snow, even offering to try at night-time. I can't complain, but maybe he should put himself in the appropriate category! We also saw Hawfinch and Middle Spotted Woodpecker, I saw 25 species in total in 3 days, certainly Poland in mid-winter is not a good time to go birding! I did enjoy Poland very friendly people, nice scenery, and good food and beer. Prices seemed very similar to England, except perhaps for eating out.

cheers

George