Poland days 7- 8

It was the last full day in Poland, and I was woken up early by one of the resident Hoopoes calling.

We met one of our local guides, then set off, seeing an adult White-Tailed Eagle on the way.

As soon as we got out the car at the first sight, a large Eagle started circling low down. It was clearly a Spotted Eagle, but it looked large and very dark plumaged. We watched it slowly climb higher, debating its identity, but in the end it was confirmed as a Spotted Eagle hybrid, because the primaries were like Lesser Spotted but the plumage like Greater. An interesting bird, and it shows you have to be careful when identifying the Eagles in Poland.

We headed up the path, where there were a lot of songflighting Sedge Warblers, and a large flock of White Storks gathering near the tower, with two Great White Egrets trying to fit in. Two Curlews were also in the field next to the path.

Around the tower we saw Greylag Goose, Lapwing, Whiskered Tern and a Moorhen. That Moorhen was the first and only of the trip, and has been something that is more difficult to find in these areas of Poland this year.

On our way back we had a couple of very brief fly past Citrine Wagtails, which unfortunately landed out of view. A few moments later, Neil noticed a Black Stork high in the sky, circling. Although it was high up, its plumage features could be seen perfectly, clearly showing it was a Black rather than a White. Back at the car, we saw Willow Warbler and heard River Warbler and Golden Oriole.

Next we headed to a spot by the river to eat lunch, and it was the best place I had ever eaten in. We sat with Black, Whiskered and White-Winged Black Terns just metres away, showing amazingly well, with all three occasionally in the same view. Common Terns were also numerous, and a surprise Little Tern decided to drop in. We also saw Redshank, Black-Tailed Godwits, Little Ringed Plover and Lapwing from this spot. Lastly, we had another brief view of a Black Stork flying away.

WWBT with Black Tern

Our next stop was quiet, but we saw Blue-Headed Wagtails here, as well as Great White Egrets and Grey Herons. A day-flying Noctule Bat was a surprise, as it appeared to be dive-bombing us.

Our final stop of the day was another good spot for butterflies. There were a lot of Willow Warblers around, but my attention was mainly on all the species of Heath butterflies flying around. First was a Small Heath, then we had views of both Pearly and Chestnut Heath, showing the difference between the two. A Corn Bunting sang constantly and a couple of Tawny Pipits showed reasonably well.

Other butterflies included Black-Veined White, Comma and Glanville Fritillary.

A bit further up, we had Dark Green and Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary, Large Copper and another one of the butterflies we saw at the start of the week, that was confirmed as an Assmann's Fritillary.

Chestnut Heath

Pearly Heath

Dark Green Fritillary

Large Copper

This was unfortunately the end of the full days of the tour, with the next day being spent travelling along the roads back to Warsaw.

However, there were a couple of birds the next day, including a Hoopoe in the hotel garden, a Black Redstart singing on a lamppost and lots of Swifts going over.

Once we arrived back at Stansted, we had to wait over an hour for our luggage to come, but we got it eventually. It was a shame to be back in the UK after such a great trip - one of the best I've ever had. 

The only negative was that the birds over the next few days all seemed very normal, and I was expecting to hear an Icterine Warblers sing any minute.