Poland Days 5 - 6

Wednesday was the day that we transferred from Bialowieza to Biebrza, but there would be a lot of birding along the way. Our first stop was in a large set of meadows, which have often been productive in the past for both birds and butterflies.

Corn Buntings sang regularly, and a male Red-Backed Shrike displayed on the fence posts and bushes. A Wryneck gave a brief fly-by, and we saw our first two Cranes of the tour in one of the meadows.

A pair of Queen Of Spain Fritillaries showed well and landed regularly along the path, which were the first of the tour.

Queen Of Spain Fritillaries 

I then noticed a butterfly flying around a small tree, but lost sight of it when it landed. However, it soon got up and flew again, and this time landed in view. The first identification was White-Lettered Hairstreak, but I took a couple of photos, and after zooming in and studying the books, we realised it was a Black Hairstreak, a butterfly I was not expecting to see in Poland.

Black Haistreak - the row of white-tipped black spots down the edge of the wing rules out White-Lettered

We then walked through one of the meadows, where birds included a flock of five Great White Egrets flying over that were probably migrating. I saw a Brown Hair briefly as it ran through the meadow, and there was also a Roe Deer that showed itself better. We had great views of a Woodlark land very close, accompanied by the constant song of Skylarks. Corn Buntings showed well as we walked back, as did another Red-Backed Shrike.

Our next site produced a flock of Cranes in one of the fields, that allowed a close approach, and a load of Starlings feeding by the roadside.

We then made out way to a set of fishponds, but the day was turning out to be painfully hot. A huge Black-Headed Gull colony occupied the first couple of ponds, but one pond did hold a very smart pair of Red-Necked Grebes. Other Birds were Great Reed, Reed and Sedge Warbler, Great Crested Grebe and a Little Grebe calling but remaining unseen. There were a few Coots around, a Goldeneye, a drake Garganey and some booming Bitterns, but the heat made it hard to see much else, so we headed back, where we found out it was 35 degrees!

Red-Necked Grebe nest building

We then started the main drive to Biebrza, but stopped on the way to look at birds on the wires. There were many Yellowhammers, a couple of Corn Buntings and, eventually, a Tawny Pipit, which posed nicely. We also saw a Great Grey Shrike hunting, displaying that, looking at all the birds you see on wires, can be rewarding in Poland!

Tawny Pipit

Our final stop of the day was to look for Aquatic Warbler. After being attacked by Horseflies at the parking spot, we headed up a boardwalk to listen out and look for these birds. There were many Sedge Warbles singing, and I was struggling to separate Sedge Warbler song from Aquatic. Luckily, Neil heard an Aquatic Warbler then located it. We had amazing views of a couple of these birds, as they sang, flew around and landed on reeds, often on the top helpfully.

From this watchpoint we also saw a distant Eagle, that, at first, was thought to be a possible Greater Spotted Eagle, but it was too distant to be sure and, to be honest, I had no idea. But in the end, it was left unconfirmed, though there was a high chance it was actually 'just' a White-Tailed Eagle. 

A Snipe flew over and a Marsh Harrier showed well, but I managed to miss the Montagu's seen by others, though I knew I would get more chances in the days to come.

We then arrived at the hotel and had a good amount of time to get ready for the coming days.

Thursday was the first day in the marshes, and we visited yet another set of fishponds today. However, this one had a difference. It was the one I had been most excited about because it was said to be good for Waders, once of my favourite kind of birds.

But before all that, we had a pre-breakfast walk to look for Bluethroat. We arrived at the site and waited for birds to appear. The first was a Savi's Warbler that eventually came to within a few metres and showed out in the open...great start!

Neil then noticed a Penduline Tit, that ended up flying straight at us then circle round a few times, presumably visiting a nearby nest. A Garden Warbler sang and gave brief flight views as well.

Our target birds was seen on a piece of dead vegetation - a male Bluethroat. It gave very brief views before returning a few minutes later, and this happened a few times. We headed up the observation tower to see if we could see it from there, and this turned out to be a VERY good decision. We saw the Bluethroat perform a songflight, land in a bush, fly in our direction, then land in the middle of the boardwalk just metres away! It left and came back a few times, showing amazingly well.

Bluethroat

Then, I saw movement on the boardwalk when the Bluethroat had left and immediately assumed it was the same bird. But after looking closer, I realised that it was actually a Thrush Nightingale! We had only heard these this tour, and I thought the best I would get of one would be an obscured view in a bush, but there was once hopping about on the boardwalk in front of me.

Thrush Nightingale

So, after this very successful morning, we headed for the fishponds. Upon arriving, I thought any hope of waders would be lost after seeing one of the fishponds had been filled, but it turned out that they were still around, and the other ponds had a good amount of habitat for waders on them.

The first pond contained a close Black-Tailed Godwit and some handsome Wood Sandpipers. We noticed that one of the birds next to the Wood Sand was actually a Green Sandpiper, giving a great comparison between the two species.

It may not be a perfect shot, but it shows the Wood Sandpiper in front and the Green Sandpiper behind

The next pond contained a couple of Greenshanks, quite a few Little Ringed Plovers, a summer plumaged Dunlin, a Ruff, and, best of all, a pair of Summer Plumaged Little Stints. There was also a Teal next to a Garganey, a flock of Caspian Gulls and a singing Marsh Warbler by the path, with the regular Sedge and Great Reed Warblers.

On the final pond there was another drake Garganey and a Grey Plover on one of the islands. A Hoopoe flew across the water where there were good number of Shovelers and Great Crested Grebes, with another Little Grebe calling out of sight. A couple of White-Tailed Eagles also flew over, and a Whooper swan flew in and allowed good views.

Whooper Swan

One of the highlights here, however, was when a ringtail Hen Harrier flew out of the reeds, a bird I wasn't expecting to see in Poland, and I expected a Male Montagu's Harrier to come and mob it even less! it was a spectacular sight to see these two species side by side, showing clear difference in structure, especially wing length. The Montagu's then landed by the side of the fishponds, and could be viewed from where we stood.

Next, we headed to a quarry, where there was a colony of Sand Martins, a purring Turtle Dove heard, and some Bee-Eaters seen well both in flight and perched.

Our final stop of the day was to look for raptors, but all we saw was Common Buzzard and Marsh Harrier, so we headed back to the hotel after a great and very successful day.

I was here