WILDPOLAND Trip report Winter Mammals, 1-7 February 2014 7 day mammal watching tour in the Białowieża Forest and Biebrza Marshes# Text and photographs by# Łukasz Mazurek Tour Leader: Łukasz (Lucas) Mazurek Participants: Jean François, Fabienne, Jean-Pierre, François, Laurent, Brigitte, Bernard (FR) Wildlife: 18 mammal and 40 bird species recorded, full checklist on page 6 1
Day 1, Saturday 1st Feb - Arrival We had an interesting start as part of the group missed their flight and arrived a few hours later. While waiting for them, we had a walk in the Old Town of Warsaw and a nice dinner at a Jewish Restaurant with those, who arrived on time. When everyone was finally here, we set off just before 22:00 and it was nearly 2 am as we checked in at our guesthouse in Białowieża. 4 Roe Deer were seen on the way. Day 2, Sunday 2nd Feb - Białowieża Temp. -8 C. We started at 9 am, after a hearty breakfast and saw 1 Bison at a small glade, followed by 5 Red Deer stags, 2 Bison at the edge of the Teremiski village and 6 Red Deer hinds. Still before lunch, we had a nice walk through the forest which brought Wolf footprints, a White-tailed Eagle and ca. 15 Ravens. After lunch at the forest glade, we transferred to the meadows in the N of the forest where we saw another 15 Bison in total. Day 3, Monday 3rd Feb - Białowieża Temp. -11 that feels like -16 C, clear sky. This morning we had an early start before breakfast and a short walk in the forest that brought 2 Black Woodpeckers, a selection of Tits, 2 Roe Deer and 3 Red Deer. After breakfast we have found 7 Bison bulls at the edge of the forest and they allowed us to come really close and everyone enjoyed this unique photo-session. 2
Later, we went for a walk west of Budy village and found 5 Bison sleeping around a haystack, plenty of footprints (Pine Marten, Fox, Wild Boar, Bison, Red Deer, Roe Deer), Black Woodpecker, several more Bison in the distance and 7 Red Deer. Driving through the Teremiski village, once again we saw 2 Bison and 7 Red Deer. This evening we decided to visit the edge of the National Park in Białowieża and had some great views of 7 Red Deer and 1 Bison bull in one frame, in the setting sun, a good end of a gorgeous day. Day 4, Tuesday 4th Feb - Białowieża to Biebrza Temp. -13 C that feels like -18 C, sunny. Once again we decided for an early morning walk in the Wolves territory and saw a Hare, Red Deer and heard a Pygmy Owl near. After breakfast we met Arek, our guide to the Strictly Protected Area of the National Park - the UNESCO World Heritage site and a Biosphere Reserve. Arek was very knowledgable and extremely enthusiastic (as always) and apart from enjoying our time in the reserve, we had seen dozens of huge, centuries old trees and a number of birds. Everyone had a good view at 3 White-backed and 1 Middle Spotted Woodpeckers. Back at our guesthouse, we had a delicious traditional Polish lunch of home made pierogi (dumplings stuffed with cabbage and wild mushrooms) and we hit the road towards the Biebrza Marshes. On the way, we have spotted 4 Red Deer in the fields and 4 Bison at a road side with the setting sun behind - a wonderful picture. Further along the way 3 Roe Deer were spotted and 1 young Elk as we approached our guesthouse in the Biebrza - Leśniczówka Biebrzańska. As usual, we enjoyed a plentiful home cooked Polish dinner and drinks around the fireplace. 3
Day 5, Wednesday 5th Feb - Biebrza Southern Basin Temp. -11 C that feels like -16 C. This early morning we went on a drive in the Elk/Moose winter habitat and saw the total of 6 Elks quite close. Satisfied, we came back for breakfast. Later, we have driven south to search for Beavers and Otters. The weather was gorgeous and we saw a Beaver and an American Mink at one site, followed by an Otter, a few Foxes, 1 more Beaver and a yet another American Mink fishing. Birds seen this day included many Swans, Mallards, Black Woodpecker, Marsh Tits, Nuthatch and a Great Grey Shrike. Day 6, Thursday 6th Feb - Biebrza Southern Basin Temp. -7 to -5 C. We had another early morning drive in the Elk winter habitat and saw the total of 13 Elks, most of them a bit further than yesterday but the last one - a female was very tame and gave us some great views. After breakfast we had a short walk at Barwik that gave us fresh Wolf tracks and pooh as well as some good views of Willow Tits. 4
Later, we transferred south to try for Beavers and Otters again and see if we could get any closer views. That proved to be a good decision as we had good views of an Otter close, followed by another Otter a bit more distant and a close Beaver. Everyone enjoyed the day and an earlier come back for dinner. Day 7, Friday 7th Feb - Biebrza to Warsaw through Tykocin Temp. -4 C. Today we started after breakfast and transferred north towards Brzeziny Kapickie, saw 1 Elk on the way. We had a short but very successful walk the birch forest with very fresh evidence of Beaver activity, followed by 2 females and 1 male of Grey-headed Woodpeckers that gave us great views as well as a Middle Spotted Woodpecker. Having briefly stopped at Goniadz viewpoint and Czechowizna Lake, we drove around the fishponds in Knyszyn and found 2 White-tailed Eagles, including one sitting on the ice and giving good views in the scope. The group wished to see the small, baroque town of Tykocin that once had a significant Jewish population. We visited the synagogue museum and had lunch of sandwiches and different Polish soups in a small Jewish Restaurant Tejsza. We departed towards Warsaw as it was getting dark and after a bit of traffic we checked in at the Gromada Hotel at 18:00 and said goodbye. On the next day, we have arranged for a 3 hrs walk in the old town of Warsaw in the morning with a history guide. Everyone enjoyed that a lot. The group had their flight in the afternoon of that day (Sat 8 Feb) and some continued their journey through Poland to Krakow. 5
Checklist F - footprints H - heard C - common MAMMALS Species name Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 SUM European Bison Bison bonasus 18 17+ 4 22 Red Deer Cervus elaphus 11 23 5 1 40 Roe Deer Capreolus capreolus 4 1 2 5 1 3 16 Wild Boar Sus scrofa F F 0 Elk Alces Alces 1 7 13 1 22 Wolf Canis lupus F F F 0 Red Fox Vulpes vulpes 1 F F 6 2 9 Racoon Dog Nyctereutes procyonoides F 0 Eurasian Otter Lutra lutra 1 2 3 Pine Marten Martes martes F F F F 0 American Mink Mustela vison 2 2 European Polecat Mustela putorius F 0 Stoat Mustela erminea F F 0 Weasel Mustela nivalis F 0 European Beaver Castor fiber 2 2 4 Red Squirrel Sciurus vulgarus F F 1 1 European Hare Lepus europaeus F F 1 1 Bank Vole Clethrionomys glareolus F 0 Number of species: 1 8 6 9 5 9 1 18 BIRDS Species name Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 SUM 039 Mute Swan Cygnus olor 20 20 40 043 Greylag Goose Anser anser 2 2 049 Mallard Anas platyrhynchos 30 130 50 210 075 White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla 1 2 3 089 Rough-legged Buzzard Buteo lagopus 1 1 2 091 Common Buzzard Buteo buteo 1 2 3 201 Feral Pigeon Columba livia feral C C 0 211 Eurasian Pygmy-Owl Glaucidium passerinum H 0 225 Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius 3 1 1 1 6 6
Species name Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 SUM 225 Grey-headed Woodpecker Picus canus 3 3 227 Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major 4 6 5 1 4 20 227 Middle Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos medius 2 1 3 229 White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos 3 3 275 Fieldfare Turdus pilaris 1 1 277 Blackbird Turdus merula 1 1 2 311 Goldcrest Regulus regulus H 3 3 317 Great Tit Parus major C C C C C 0 317 Coal Tit Periparus ater H 0 317 Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus H 6 10 10 26 319 Crested Tit Lophophanes cristatus 4 1 5 319 Willow Tit Poecile montanus 3 3 319 Marsh Tit Poecile palustris 10 10 5 1 26 321 Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus 1 H 1 323 Nuthatch Sitta europaea C 5 C 1 6 325 Treecreeper Certhia familiaris H 1 1 329 Northern / Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor 1 2 3 331 Magpie Pica pica 15 20 35 333 Jay Garrulus glandarius C C 5 5 10 335 Jackdaw Corvus monedula 1 1 337 Rook Corvus frugilegus C 0 337 Hooded Crow Corvus cornix 60 20 80 337 Raven Corvus corax 15 7 6 10 5 43 343 House Sparrow Passer domesticus 10 2 20 1 33 343 Tree-Sparrow Passer montanus 3 10 6 100 119 351 Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis 2 6 8 351 Greenfinch Carduelis chloris 2 2 351 Siskin Carduelis spinus 3 1 H 4 355 Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula 5 3 10 H 18 355 Hawfinch Coccothraustes coccothraustes 25 5 30 373 Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella 20 200 220 Number of species: 0 16 19 19 20 18 5 40 For full size photographs, please visit our news at www.wildpoland.com or our facebook page: www.facebook.com/wildpoland# 7