A part birding-part doing other stuff trip with my girlfriend Karen!

13th
After catching a mid morning flight from LDN Luton to Warsaw we picked up our hire car + headed north-east towards Biebrza Marshes National Park. After getting a bit lost (resulting in a small detour of at least 80km!) while getting out of Warsaw we made it to out Hotel in Goniadz (Hotel Bartek) shortly after dark. On the way we saw a Honey Buzzard low over the road, several Marsh Harriers, 50+ White-winged Terns, 1 Whooper Swan and a distant Elk on the marshes. This was closely followed by another one stood in the road! We fell asleep to the croaking of Pool frogs and the distant Corncrakes and reeling of a Savi’s Warbler.

14th
0600 and I was out birding the hotel area – in the rain! I saw Thrush Nightingale, Golden Oriole, Icterine + Wood Warbler, Common Rosefinch, Marsh Harrier and White-winged Terns over the marshes and Lesser-spotted Eagle and Montagu’s Harrier over the hotel complex itself! After Breakfast we drove south along the east side of the marshes stopping here and there to explore. We soon found Hawfinch, Crane, lots of White Storks (may on nests), a colony of White-winged terns near Laskowiec and Garganey. We spent some time around the area of Wisna marshes, here we saw a male Penduline Tit and a Raven and several Buzzards over. Heading back north, this time along the western side of he National park, we stopped at Brzostowo. A smart male Black Redstart was around farm buildings, 281 cranes was an impressive sight, all 3 Marsh terns were present as were Common and Little.. Wood Sandpiper, Garganey and Black-tailed Godwit were seen and Golden Oriole was heard. In nearby farmland I found Crested Lark, Blue-headed Wagtail, Grey Partrudge and Yellowhammer. In the evening we went to the Gt. Snipe lek site at Budy. After 3 hours spent on the viewing platform we left without seeing any! We did however see Elk, Gt. Grey Shrike, Bluethroat, Woodcock and Roe and Red Deer. A Nightjar was sat on the road near Goniadz.

15th
The highlight of some balcony birding in the morning was a Gt. White Egret which flew west following the river and a Serin singing in the car park. Most of the morning was spent looking around the streets and shops of Bialystok few birds were seen apart from a Lesser Whitethroat and some Jackdaws showing varying characteristics of the race soemmerringii. We did however get a Parking Ticket and couldn’t understand it! Just to the south of the town were a series of small lakes. Here I saw Gt. Reed Warbler, several smart Red-necked Grebes, Osprey, Whooper Swan, all 3 marsh Terns, and heard a Bittern. Back at the hotel I sat out on the balcony + had 5 Black Storks circling overhead, these were then joined by an adult White-tailed Eagle! 4 of the Storks were relocated feeding on the marsh just before we went out again. After seeing another Elk and quite a long walk through mosquito infested marshy scrubland we came to an open area. Here we heard and eventually saw Aquatic Warbler from the watchtower. We heard several more in the area as well as Grasshopper Warbler, River Warbler, Icterine Warbler, Thrush Nightingale etc. We also had good, albeit brief, views of a smart male Bluethroat by the track.

16th
We checked out of the hotel at 0930 and began heading south towards Bialowieza. On the way we saw several Red-Backed Shrike, female Ortolan Bunting etc. A stop at Siemienowka Reservoir produced all 3 marsh Terns (especially Black and Whiskered), Garganey, Gt. White Egret, Lesser-spotted Eagle and Red-backed Shrike. On arriving at Bialowieza and checking into out Hotel (Bialowieski) a Wryneck was heard from the balcony before we went out to book a guide to allow access to the National Park. A short walk around the small lakes in the village produced several Spotted Flycatcher, Thrush Nightingale, River Warbler and Gt. Reed Warbler.

17th
We started early, met our guide and headed into the forest! Although our guide spoke very good English she wasn’t too good on wildlife and birds, most of the time she just told us which way to go + followed c20yds behind! Wood Warblers were everywhere as were Collared Flycatcher and the occasional Pied. The first woodpecker was a White-backed seen several times briefly in the tree tops. This was closely followed by a smart Three-toed which showed well feeding on the side of a large pine. As we carried on some very loud drumming could be heard from a patch of dense cover, as we waited a Black Woodpecker appeared and flew right over our heads! Also seen were Golden Oriole, Red Squirrel, Hawfinch and a male Montagu’s Harrier. Nearby we saw a Wryneck. After some lunch we went to the Bison reserve, a small zoo with only local wildlife, here we saw, Elk, Bison, Wild Boar etc.etc. A pair of Collared Flycatcher were inspecting nest holes in the Bison Enclosure and a Grey-headed Woodpecker showed very well feeding on the ground in the Tarpan (a type of horse) Enclosure! From here we headed back o the boardwalk at the ‘Zebra Zubra’ trail, here we saw Common Rosefinch, Icterine Warbler, Golden Orioles and Nuthatch. In the evening we took a walk down another nearby track with the highlight being a Hazelhen flushed from near the path.

18th
An early start saw me back at the track where we finished last night, this time however, I followed it all the way to the river. Another Hazelhen was flushed and I also saw White-backed Woodpecker and Red-backed Shrike. River, Grasshopper and Sedge Warbler were heard among others. Before we began the drive to Warsaw we went back to the ‘Zebra Zubra’ trail, this time we sat in the car park rather than walking anywhere + saw much more! Golden Oriole, Hawfinch, Gt and Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Icterine Warbler, Common Rosefinch, Pied Flycatcher, Tree Pipit and Montagu’s Harrier were all seen and Black Woodpecker, Thrush Nightingale and River Warbler were all heard! Most of the rest of the day was spent driving to and battling with the traffic in central Warsaw! Peregrine was seen in Warsaw over McDonalds!

19th
A day in central Warsaw produced little in the way of birds but I did see, Golden oriole, Goosander and Black Tern along the river, Tree Sparrow, 2 Red Squirrel, male Peregrine, 1 Common Gull etc etc.

20th
Very uneventful day, drove to Airport, dropped off car and flew back to Luton!

Total of 126 Species!! For more pics + a complete list click here!

Summary

A great trip with some quality birds. Highlights were the Three-toed and Grey-headed Woodpeckers as they were both quite unexpected. As I was with Karen not all the time was spent birding and we did get to see quite a bit of the country and the capital city!

ALL PICS Taken with a Nikon coolpix 4500 camera + some also using Swarovski ATS80HD Scope, 8x30 Bins or Nikon 3x tele-converter