Introduction and Day 1
From the 8th July to the 22nd July I went on a birding holiday with Simeon and James Grundy to Poland. We stayed in the small town of Słońsk in the west of the country, in the Warta mouth national park, just a few kilometres from the border with Germany. This whole area is teeming with birdlife and is really underwatched, so truly pioneering birding. The basis of the trip was the kind offer of some free land to pitch a tent and general help with the language and other aspects that birding in a foreign country brings, from a world-listing friend. So, on the 8th, with our bags packed, we set-off to Stanstead and, after nearly missing the plane twice (at one stage with two out of three suitcases on the plane and the gate closed!), thanks to a 25 minute delay we left the country. Some 2 hours later we touched down in Posnan, west Poland. After a nice trip round Posnan we made the journey to our base at Słońsk. On route 8 White Storks and a Great Grey Shrike were noted, as well as a single Marsh Harrier. Driving past the tower hide at Czarnowska Gorka we were amazed to see 4 Wild Boar, with 2 adults and 2 young feeding by the roadside. A great introduction to the country! We eventually managed to get the tent set-up and we slept that night in great anticipation of what was to come, with a Grasshopper Warbler reeling and a Water Rail calling in the background... We soon discovered a group of young Belgian birders were staying at a nearby campsite, which provided some competition (of course!) but also some friendly social banter!
Day 2
An early start was in order to make the most of the day. Unfortunately I wasn't quite up early enough, as I missed the Purple Heron the other two had fly over, the only one of the trip! Normally at this time of year the estuary was fairly dry. But this wasn't a normal year - heavy rain in Czechoslovakia meant the whole area was flooded with bad consequences. We soon learnt all the grebes and most of the terns had failed and the typical and expected estuary birds would thus be more difficult to find. Unperturbed we began by scanning the estuary. A single Whiskered Tern was patrolling distantly, while we were awestruck when a sub-adult White-tailed Eagle carried a fish into a nearby dead tree and began devouring it in front of us. Wow!
At least 40 Wood Sandpipers were feeding on the muddy edges, as were 3 Green Sandpipers, a Common Sandpiper and a Ruff. We were also becoming readily familiar with some of the commoner species of the area, with 22 Blue-headed Wagtails, 16 Red-backed Shrikes, 25 White Storks and 60 Tree Sparrows quickly seen.
An excellent selection of warblers were singing and skulking from the surrounding bushes, including 2 Marsh Warblers, 2 'buzzing' Savi's Warblers, a Grasshopper Warbler, 10 Great-reed Warblers and 4 Icterine Warblers. 5 Golden Orioles and a Common Nightingale were also present., although as always the former wouldn't pose for photographs.
Raptor movement was also good, with 5 Red Kites, 3 Hobbies, a Black Kite and 2 Goshawks particularly noteworthy. An interesting high raptor looked a good shout for an 'aquila' sp. but it drifted off before it could be conclusively nailed. Associated with this was a good count of 7 Black Storks, as well as a Raven. Hooded Crows were very common and 5 Cranes were the first of many.
An evening drive out with Richard Campey, who was also birding the area, proved very productive, with the best bird a super calling Black Woodpecker a few kilometres east of the town along the river. This area was alive with birds, with 2 Common Rosefinches (a male and a female) on the track, as were 2 Wrynecks, along with our first fantastic views of Great-reed Warbler and Icterine Warbler. Simeon also found a Spotted Flycatcher nest, with 1 adult bird seen well.
Other good sightings from the day included a Great-white Egret flying across the wash and a male Black Redstart which I saw briefly on a nearby house. Despite spending most of the day birding in a very small area around the plot we had managed to cram in a lot of quality sightings, with a commendable total of 85 species seen.
Day 3
We spent the day concentrating on a similar area, although we did venture slightly further afield in the afternoon by bike. At least 15 White Storks provided some excellent photo oppurtunities, particularly a single bird in a wet meadow which decided it would like a grass snake for lunch! 4 Black Storks also circled overhead.
A female Goldeneye was a new bird for the trip list and raptors were again high on the agenda, with an adult female Honey Buzzard of particular note, as well as 2 White-tailed Eagles, 10 Red Kites, 2 Black Kites and a female Goshawk.
Much of the stuff was similar to the previous day. Wood Sandpipers dropped to 15, with 2 Yellow-legged Gulls, 2 Green Sandpipers and a Redshank also on the flood. A cycle ride to the pumping station produced 2 female Redstarts, a Common Nightingale carrying food to a nest, 5 Fieldfares, a singing Marsh Warbler, several Great-reed Warblers, 3 singing Icterine Warblers, 15 Red-backed Shrikes and 5 Spotted Flycatchers, including adults feeding young. James also managed to get onto a Lesser-spotted Woodpecker. A trip into town produced the first 3 singing Serins.
On winding down for the day the birds were still coming. 2 Crested Larks flew over, while 2 Cranes majestically glided along the far edge of the flood and the gushing sound of wingbeats signalled the flypast of 3250 Starlings, heading to their evening roost. An evening walk produced 5 reeling Grasshopper Wablers and 4 buzzing Savi's Warblers, a fitting end to the day.
Day 4
A quick-fire start to the day produced two additions very near the plot, firstly at least 2 Short-toed Treecreepers and then a fantastically obliging juvenile Thrush Nightingale that sat croaking at us from a bush before flying down to the path, where it actively pottered about for some time.
Later on we took a trip further afield to a riverside walk at Betonka, but as expected it was flooded. Simeon tried his best but we eventually had to admit defeat...
We took this as an oppurtunity to explore the surrounding farmland and were delighted to find an excellent array of species. Most notable were 4 Hoopoes, another new bird for the trip list, while 2 Serins, 2 Black Redstarts, a Whinchat and 4 Wheatears acted as back-up.
Day 5
The main aim of the day was to secure better views of Black Woodpecker, while hopefully adding some new birds to the trip-list on the way. This ensured a long bike ride was undertaken, but we were rewarded for our efforts! A Hoopoe over the plot was notworthy, while raptors continued to perform well, with 2 White-tailed Eagles, 3 Black Kites and a Honey Buzzard noted amongst the many Red Kites and Marsh Harriers. A flock of 95 Cranes was spectacular and the largest group so far.
Parts of the riverbank were teeming with life, with at least 6 Barred Warblers noted, including at least one cracking male, many Icterine Warblers, Great-reed Warblers and Marsh Warblers and particularly good numbers of Red-backed Shrikes and Spotted Flycatchers. Particular highlights included 2 Thrush Nightingales, 2 Savi's Warblers, 4 Crossbills and 6 Hawfinches, including a juvenile, 1 Ortolan Bunting, as well as Corncrake which gave one burst of song right in the middle of the day - our only one of the trip.
We eventually got to the woodpecker site and after a long wait a Black Woodpecker started calling from deep in the wood. James gave it a quick blast with the speakers and before long it flew in directly over our heads, calling loudly, a second bird started calling and then the original bird looped over our heads before landing on an exposed dead tree - what a sight!
On returning to our tent our host pointed out a Black Woodpecker flying over! A garden-tick for him. The day ended with 4000+ Starling flying over the tent, heading to their roost.
more to come soon...
7-spot Ladybird
hoverfly sp.
Common Darter action - note remenants of a fly in the mouth on the last shot!
Migrant Hawker
Common Snipe - one of several on Redwell Marsh
