Poland birding resources? (1 Viewer)

Hi guys,

so we have moved to Warszawa from Prague, a move that seemed like a birder's wet dream, as from here, the famous north-east of Poland starts, one of the greatest birding hotspots in Europe, right?

Well, so far I have honestly some mixed feelings, stemming mainly from my lack of ability to obtain specific information. Surely, I can just wander around interesting places, but the area is insanely huge and given the time of the year much less lively than when I was there in May a couple of years ago. Sure, first thing after settling in, we went to Biebrza and watched us some Aquatic Warblers (still singing), but what next?

The thing is, in Czech Republic, birding is extremely easy thank to the AVIF database (http://www.birds.cz/avif.obs.php) - a openly accessible database that has almost all the bird sightings anyone ever did in the country. You just pick a species and browse locations overlaid on google maps, down to a meter sometimes (some birds can be really geocached with it). Does something like that exist in Poland?

So far I found http://www.birdwatching.pl, which has some interesting rarities, but otherwise it's pretty dead (definitely doesn't have a good coverage on most species) and http://www.ornitho.pl/ which seems to have more records, but won't let me search the database unless I send in 30 observations a month (not sure how long time span is sampled, do I need to do it for a month or a year? and who thought of such stupid policy anyway?) and observations of the most interesting species are forced to be hidden by server rules anyway ... and from what I can tell, most observations in general don't even have exact location.

I am not really looking for general birding sites, such info is widely available, but on how to find specific locations for specific birds. Any such hints would be dearly appreciated!

Let me know if you find any additional resources. I just moved to Bydgoszcz, and I'm just starting to explore. The highlight so far was a white tailed eagle near Koronowo last weekend.

opisska said:

http://www.ornitho.pl/ which seems to have more records, but won't let me search the database unless I send in 30 observations a month (not sure how long time span is sampled, do I need to do it for a month or a year? and who thought of such stupid policy anyway?) and observations of the most interesting species are forced to be hidden by server rules anyway ... and from what I can tell, most observations in general don't even have exact location.

Click to expand...

If like the French version (which perhaps it isn't), think you just need to put a few records in to start using it/searching. And perhaps by just recording a few lists of common species around your house/park/journey to work you will fulfill the criteria (and there's no harm in people recording the commoner birds anyway).

30 individual records, or lists? - surely the former?

dantheman said:

If like the French version (which perhaps it isn't), think you just need to put a few records in to start using it/searching. And perhaps by just recording a few lists of common species around your house/park/journey to work you will fulfill the criteria (and there's no harm in people recording the commoner birds anyway).

30 individual records, or lists? - surely the former?

Click to expand...

I've gone through my pictures taken so far in Poland (to be sure I report only real observations, the photos are a good diary) and even after about a hundred records, I am still not allowed to use the search.

EDIT: apparently, it just takes patience, the next day after the data entry the restriction is lifted

Nothing more precise than ornitho.pl exists for Poland at the moment (and which most of us, polish birders, refrain from using anyway, the reasons being many and varied),

I think you can do best by contacting directly people from this e-mail group:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/ptaki
readily used by some competent birders from the NE, most of them based in Bialystok.

Hi,
I wonder whether you are still around - what were your experiences after all? I am moving to Warsaw and just look around
I heard about some observation points around Wisla river, very close to Warsaw - do you have any knowledge?

I do also consider hiring a guide - I found Wild River guide who operate on Wilsa (https://wildriver.pl/). Did you (or anyone else around) checked these guys?
It all looks very reasonable, but wanted to check first

Hi to you too! I lived in Warszawa for 5 years, moved back to Prague last year.

The entire Wisla course is nice because it's unregulated and mostly the floodplains are left wild. There is a nice part north of Gdanski bridge very close to downtown, where it's a bit stony and there is even terns nesting. Then Wyspy Zawadowskie south of town are famous and good, I saw for example a Caspian Tern there. I would just bike from Siekerki bridge south for an hour or two along the river and watch birds. Note that in breeding seasons, entry on the sandy banks and islends is forbidden in this area.

Hi,
Warsaw should have an active birding scene. I suggest starting at Facebook wih Birding Poland and Ptaki Polski, also OTOP: O nas and ask from there about people in Warsaw willing to go together. You don't really need a guide.

I don't bird there since several years. But good spots were, and most probably still are:

• Vistula near Wyspy Zawadowskie to Gassy,
• Vistula near Kazuń Nowy and Sady,
• meadows at Narew near Pomiechowo and Bronisławka,
• Zegrzyński Reservoir - southern and eastern bank,
• fishponds Stawinoga,
• fish ponds at Raszyn not far from Warsaw airport.
• forest reserve Las Młocinski in Warsa
• Kampinoski Park narodowy near Górki, Cisowe, Zamość (car is necessary).

Many of these places can be overrun by sunbathers, boats etc. Note also, that with a car you can go for a weekend, or even for a very long day trip to the classic Polish sites Białowieża or Biebrza.