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Home , Common chaffinch, Common chiffchaff, Great spotted woodpecker, Tyniec, Wawel Cathedral

: & ART IN ROYAL KRAKÓW

SEPTEMBER 3–11, 2019

Great Spotted ©Rick Wright

LEADERS: RICK WRIGHT & GERARD GORMAN LIST COMPILED BY: RICK WRIGHT

VICTOR EMANUEL NATURE TOURS, INC. 2525 WALLINGWOOD DRIVE, SUITE 1003 AUSTIN, TEXAS 78746 WWW.VENTBIRD.COM

POLAND: BIRDS & ART IN ROYAL KRAKÓW September 3–11, 2019 By Rick Wright

Photo Gerard Gorman What do birders talk about? Birds, of course. Birding. Even, truth be told, just occasionally, other birders. And, if you happened to be part of our congenial and universally interested group in Kraków, just about everything else—from the origins of the word (or words?) “slug” to the meaning of heraldic swans and the vexed identity of the Polish National Museum’s most famous mustelid. In between captivating conversation, we explored the landscapes, natural and cultural, of Poland’s most appealing city and the surrounding countryside. Of necessity, many birding trips skimp on the creature comforts, but we lived in the lap of luxury in our elegant hotel right on the Rynek Główny, Kraków’s vast medieval

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 2 Poland: Birds & Art in Royal Kraków, 2019 market square. Gothic and churches, palaces, and the enormous Cloth Hall market were at our very doorstep, with fine food and drink just a few short steps away in every direction. The Wawel, the massive castle complex comprising palaces, the , and daunting fortifications, was an easy walk down the Royal Way, itself a veritable encyclopedia of architecture.

A quiet early morning from our hotel. Photo Rick Wright It took just a day or so to familiarize ourselves with the compact city and its charms, such that we could take full advantage of the odd free moment for shopping, sightseeing, or ice cream. We quickly found that the city was far from birdless: flocks of Jackdaws, Rooks, and Hooded Crows flew in every afternoon to stage before roosting, and the parks and tree- lined avenues produced tits, , and Black Redstarts as we wandered from sight to sight.

The glorious high choir of St. Mary's, just a few steps from our hotel door. Photo Rick Wright It would be invidious to force the choice, but our favorite moments on our strolls had to include regularly hearing (and seeing) the trumpeter of St. Mary’s as he blew his

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 3 Poland: Birds & Art in Royal Kraków, 2019 hourly tune, or debating the meaning of the white mustelid in Leonardo Da Vinci’s Woman with an Ermine///Ferret , or admiring the eighteenth-century ship-like in the abbey of Tyniec. Our excellent meals, too, took us into beautiful settings, from the impressive fourteenth-century cellars housing Chimera to the art nouveau whimsy of Jama Michalika.

A light-hearted fresco above our table in Jama Michalika. Photo Rick Wright As enchanting as Kraków proper is, we were still eager to get out of the city to experience the birdlife of central Europe in migration season. The scrubby woodlands beneath Tyniec abbey were alive with Chiffchaffs, Great and Blue tits, Spotted Flycatchers, and the first of many, many jays we would encounter. Our walk along the placid there turned up Caspian Gulls and two remarkably obliging European Kingfishers; the colorful little water sprites fished across the channel from us, flashing electric-blue and deep orange as they changed perches low above the stream. On the other side of the city, the ancient oxbow of provided rich hunting grounds for a beautiful Common Kestrel, while Barn Swallows—their white underparts and filamentous tail streamers so unlike American birds—hawked high above as they worked their way south. It was here, too, that Gerard introduced us to “Robin’s pincushions,” delicately frilly galls produced when a diplolepsis wasp lays its eggs in the twigs of a wild rose; the gall is named not for the familiar red-breast, but rather for Robin Goodfellow, the mischievous imp of the English countryside who would serve as inspiration for Shakespeare’s Puck.

Photo Rick Wright

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Nowa Huta, after the morning's rain. Photo Rick Wright Forest habitats around the world are notoriously difficult birding in fall migration, but our visits to the Tyniec and Wolski , though generally less lively than our walks along the river or past the fields of Nowa Huta, resulted in some of the most memorable encounters of our tour. In Tyniec, two European fed nonchalantly in the low branches and even on the ground in front of us; the moment was the more poignant for its precise setting, the somber memorial to more than 500 Kraków Jews murdered by the Nazis in 1942.

Photo Rick Wright We spent our last birding day in the Wolski forest, in hopes of finding some of the woodpeckers that are so famous a part of Poland’s avifauna. With Gerard in the lead, there was no way we could fail. Great Spotted Woodpeckers performed admirably right in the parking lot, and we had walked hardly half an hour into the woods when a greenish shape flashed across the trail to land on a dead stub above us. The Gray-headed Woodpecker is a

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 5 Poland: Birds & Art in Royal Kraków, 2019 not overly common, and usually shy, resident of continental woodlands, and we were delighted to have a good 25 minutes with this male, a long-awaited “lifer” for some of us and a welcome sighting indeed to all.

Photo Rick Wright As if that were not enough, just as we turned to leave the woodpecker to his foraging, a great black swooped past us through the trees: a Black Woodpecker, Europe’s largest and one of the world’s most dramatically plumaged picids. Less accommodating than our Gray-headed, this one flew on, not to be seen again, but it was still some time before our excited little group of birders could catch our breath again. So it went the entire time we were together: birds, art, history, excitement, and great good company. It was hard to believe that our tour had ended when we met for our final hearty dinner together, and I hope that all of us look forward as much as I do to our next opportunity to explore another landscape equally rich in the human and the wild.

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Photo Rick Wright ITINERARY September 3: en route to Kraków. September 4: assembly at hotel 4:30 pm. Warm, bright skies, calm. Walk around main market 4:30-6:10 pm. Dinner in hotel 6:30-8:00 pm. September 5: breakfast in hotel beginning 7:00 am. Departure 8:40 am. Arrival Vistula at Tyniec Abbey 9:10 am. Birding river trail to 12:40 pm. Bright, clear, calm, 60s up to mid-70s F. Lunch at Tyniec Abbey 12:55- 1:50 pm. Monastery museum 2:00-2:30 pm. Abbey church 2:30-2:50 pm. Tyniec Woods and Shoah memorial 3:10-4:15 pm. At hotel 4:50 pm. Dinner and checklist 6:30-8:40 pm. Warm, clear, calm. September 6: breakfast in hotel beginning 7:00 am. Departure for Zator fish ponds 8:30 Birding the Wawel. Photo Gerard Gorman am. Roadside sunflower patch 9:35-9:50. Partly cloudy, calm, low 70s F. Spytkowice fish ponds 10:10 am to 1:15 pm. Lunch at Pod Lipani 1:20-2:25 pm. Pzereb fish ponds 2:30-3:30 pm. At hotel 4:45 pm. Dinner at Gruzinskie Chaczapuri 7:00-9:25 pm. Mostly clear, calm, 60s F.

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 7 Poland: Birds & Art in Royal Kraków, 2019 September 7 : breakfast in hotel beginning 7:00 am. Departure 9:00 am. High overcast, calm, low 60s F. Royal Way to Sts. Peter and Paul, St. Andreas, Wawel Cathedral. Coffee break 11:45-12:10 pm. Mist and clouds. Wawel Cathedral Treasury and Museum 12:20-1:10. Lunch at Groble to 3:10 pm. Mostly cloudy, dry, calm, 60s F. Walk along Vistula and Royal Way to Sts. Peter and Paul. At hotel 4:45 pm. Steady rain. Dinner and checklist 7:00-9:15 pm. Partly cloudy, calm, 60s F. September 8 : breakfast in hotel beginning 7:00 am. Heavy rain, then clearing; low 60s F. Departure 9:30 am. National Museum 10:00-11:40. Coffee 11:45-12:25. Henry Jordan Park 12:30- 1:15. Partly cloudy, calm, high 60s F. Lunch 1:45-3:10 pm. At hotel 3:50 pm. Dinner and checklist 6:00-7:50 pm. Clear, calm, 60s F. September 9 : breakfast in hotel beginning 7:00 am. Rain, distant thunder, followed by intermittent light rain and mist. Departure 8:30 am. Nowa Watching woodpeckers in the Wolski Forest. Photo Rick Huta park and wildlife reserve 8:50- Wright 11:40 am. LIght mist followed by partial clearing; 60s F. At hotel 12:25 pm. Lunch 1:00-2:25 pm. St. Mary’s Basilica 3:00-4:10. Heavy showers, followed by partial clearing; low 60s F. Dinner 6:30-8:15 pm. Partly cloudy, high 50s F. September 10 : breakfast in hotel beginning 7:00 am. Bright, mostly clear, 50s F, breezy. Departure 8:30 am. Wolski Forest 8:50-11:50 am. At hotel 12:20 pm. Lunch 12:55-2:00 pm. Free time. Bright, clear, high 50s F. Dinner 6:00-7:55 pm. September 11 : breakfast in hotel beginning 7:00 am. Bright, clear, low 60s F. Tour ends.

BIRDS Waterfowl Graylag Goose, Anser anser : a flock of nineteen over the Zator fishponds September 6. Mute Swan, Cygnus olor : common at the Zator fishponds September 6, the day’s total well into the dozens. One on the Vistula September 7. Gadwall, Mareca strepera : twenty or more at the Zator fishponds September 6. Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos : about a dozen on the Vistula at Tyniec September 5. Common at the Zator fishponds September 6. Several on the banks of the Vistula September 7. Half a dozen flyovers at Nowa Huta September 9.

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 8 Poland: Birds & Art in Royal Kraków, 2019

Common Pochard, Aythya ferina : a notable concentration of nearly 40 birds at the Zator fishponds September 6. Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligula : about 20 at the Zator fishponds September 6. Ferruginous Duck, Aythya nyroca : a single bird at the Zator fishponds September 6, picked out by Gerard from a flock of Mallard. Photo Rick Wright pochards overhead. Pheasants and Grouse Ring-necked Pheasant, Phasianus colchicus : 4 roadside birds September 6. Grebes Little Grebe, Tachybaptus ruficollis : common at the Zator fishponds September 6, including juveniles; total was about 15. This , so reclusive at so many sites, is particularly easy to see here.

Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus : a dozen or more at the Zator fishponds September 6, including stripe-headed chicks of varying size. Pigeons Feral Pigeon, Columba livia : very common in Kraków, especially where they were being fed in parks; early morning flocks, usually mixed with jackdaws, neared 200 Little Grebe parent and young on the Zator ponds. Photo Rick Wright individuals. Also common in the countryside, at farms and in villages.

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 9 Poland: Birds & Art in Royal Kraków, 2019 Pigeon, Columba palumbus : seen every day, mostly as flyovers, including over Kraków’s central square; the largest numbers, totaling perhaps 25, were at Tyniec September 5. Eurasian Collared Dove, Streptopelia decaocto : one on main market September 4. Three or four at Tyniec September 5, with scattered birds in suburbs and villages. Three at Nowa Huta September 9. One heard near Wolski September 10. Rails Water Rail, Rallus aquaticus : at least two heard, and one very briefly seen, at Zator fishponds September 6. Eurasian Moorhen, Gallinula chloropus : a dozen or more, including young birds, at Zator fishponds September 6. Eurasian Coot, Fulica atra : very common at Zator fishponds September 6, with the day’s total into the low hundreds. Sandpipers Dunlin, Calidris alpina : four flyovers at Zator ponds September 6. Gulls and Terns Black-headed Gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus : common at Zator ponds September 6. Two on Vistula September 7. Caspian Gull, Larus cachinnans : seven or eight at Tyniec September 5, representing all age classes. Small numbers at the Zator ponds September 6; two or three over the Vistula September 7. Whiskered Tern, Chlidonias hybrida : common at Zator ponds September 6, the total of more than 25 birds including a dozen or more fresh juveniles. Cormorants Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo : largest numbers at Zator ponds September 6, one or two almost continuously in sight. Six flyovers on the way to Wolski September 10. Herons Great Bittern, Botaurus stellaris : very close views of a spectacular bird in flight at Zator ponds September 6. Little Bittern, Ixobrychus minutus : brief but excellent views of an adult bird in flight at Zator ponds September 6. Gray Heron, Ardea cinerea : three or so on the Vistula in Kraków September 5, with two passing over Tyniec the same morning. Half a dozen at Zator fishponds September 6. Great White Egret, Ardea alba : about 15 at the Zator fishponds September 6; this species continues to increase at a startling rate in central Europe. Little Egret, Egretta garzetta : two at Zator ponds September 6.

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 10 Poland: Birds & Art in Royal Kraków, 2019 Hawks Western Marsh Harrier, Circus aeruginosus: at least five individuals, including at least one splendid adult male, at the Zator fishponds September 6. , nisus : one at Tyniec September 5. One high over the Wawel September 7. A large bird, presumably a female, dashing down the path at Nowa Huta September 9. Western Marsh Harrier at Zator ponds. Photo Rick Wright , Buteo buteo : a very dark bird at Tyniec September 5. Two at the Zator ponds September 6. One over the Wawel September 7. One over Jordan Park September 8. Kingfishers Common Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis : excellent prolonged views of two fishing and perching on the Vistula at Tyniec September 5. A flash of blue at the Zator ponds September 6. Woodpeckers Great Spotted Woodpecker, major : very good views of a female at Tyniec September 5. Two in Jordan Park September 8. One at Nowa Huta September 9. Outstanding views of two males at Wolski September 10.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Dryobates minor : an extremely obliging male at Tyniec September 5; there may have been a second bird there. Eurasian Green Wooodpecker, Picus viridis : heard at Tyniec September 5. A flyover from Jordan Park September 8 landed briefly across the street for quick views. Gray-headed Woodpecker, Picus canus : excellent prolonged views of a male in the Wolski forest Great Spotted Woodpecker. Photo Rick Wright September 10. Black Woodpecker, Dryocopus martius : a dramatic flyby female in the Wolski forest September 10. Falcons Eurasian Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus : a distant bird over main market September 4. A young male seen very well at Tyniec September 5. A female hunting and hovering at close range at Nowa Huta September 9.

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 11 Poland: Birds & Art in Royal Kraków, 2019 Jays and Crows , Garrulus glandarius : common every day in all but the most urban habitats; these handsome birds are given to erratic wandering some years, and this appears to have been the start of an autumn incursion of the species. , Pica pica : common throughout.

Eurasian Jay. Photo Rick Wright Eurasian Jackdaw, Corvus monedula : very common throughout, with flocks of dozens passing over Kraków each afternoon on their way to roost. Rook, Corvus frugilegus : small numbers seen every day, passing over with jackdaws, feeding on fields, even loafing on rooftops in Kraków. Hooded Crow, Corvus cornix : quite small numbers throughout, in the countryside and in the city; never more than three birds in a day. Common Raven, Corvus corax : four across from a roadside sunflower field September 6, eventually mobbing a dark Common Buzzard. Swallows Bank Swallow, Riparia riparia : eight or ten at the Zator ponds September 6. Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica : small numbers throughout, with a distant flock of some 60 individuals over Nowa Huta September 9. , Delichon urbicum : a few high overhead at Tyniec September 5. Two or three over the Vistula September 7. Tits Eurasian Blue , Cyanistes cyaneus : small numbers, up to half a dozen, at most wooded sites. , Parus major : small numbers, up to half a dozen, each day, in parks, forests, and wooded streets. Penduline Tits Eurasian Penduline Tit, Remiz pendulinus : excellent views of two birds in the reeds at Zator ponds September 6.

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Nuthatches Eurasian , Sitta europaea : one heard at Tyniec Abbey September 5; at least three in Tyniec woods the same afternoon, feeding low in the trees and on the ground. One at the Zator fishponds September 6. One or two heard in Jordan Park September 8. Close views in Wolski forest September 10. Creepers Short-toed Treecreeper, A still stub-tailed young Penduline Tit. Photo Rick Wright Certhia brachydactyla : excellent views of two vocal birds in Jordan Park September 8. Heard in Wolski forest September 10. Wrens Eurasian Wren, Troglodytes troglodytes : one heard in Tyniec Woods September 5. Kinglets , Regulus regulus : one with Blue Tits at Tyniec September 5. Leaf Warblers Common Chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita : common and conspicuous at Tyniec September 5, where several gave very good views as they fed in open foliage and bathed in puddle on the path. Several at Zator ponds September 6. Two or three at Nowa Huta September 9. Reed Warblers Common Reed Warbler, Acrocephalus scirpaceus : brief views of one or two at the Zator fishponds September 6. Sylviids Eurasian Blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla : about eight at Tyniec September 5. Two or three at Zator September 6. One along the Vistula September 7. Two at Nowa Huta September 9. Greater Whitethroat, Sylvia communis : one, possibly two, at Tyniec September 5. Old World Flycatchers and Chats Spotted Flycatcher, Muscicapa striata : four or five at Tyniec September 5. One at Zator ponds September 6. Two in Jordan Park September 8.

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 13 Poland: Birds & Art in Royal Kraków, 2019 European Robin, Erithacus rubecula : one at Tyniec September 5. Three or four at Zator ponds September 6. Two at Wolski September 9. Common Redstart, Phoenicurus phoenicurus : one at Tyniec September 5. Black Redstart, Phoenicurus ochrurus : one at Tyniec September 5. At least three around buildings at roadside sunflower patch September 6. Two at Wawel September 7. Two or more in parking lot at Nowa Huta September 9. A Black Redstart in classic parking lot habitat. Whinchat, Saxicola rubetra : extended scope Photo Rick Wright views of a single bird at Nowa Huta September 9. Thrushes European Blackbird, Turdus merula : two or three roadside birds September 6. Two outside the National Museum September 8. One at Nowa Huta September 9. Fieldfare, Turdus pilaris : a total of about 20 flyover birds at Nowa Huta September 9; none deigned to land in view. Starlings European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris : small numbers in open country; largest flock was only about 40 individuals, on way to Wolski September 10. Pipits and Wagtails Tree Pipit, Anthus trivialis : one at Tyniec September 5. White Wagtail, Motacilla alba : several on the road to fishponds the afternoon of September 6. Common Chaffinch, coelebs : one seen at a distance, and another heard, at Tyniec September 5. Two, a male and a female, seen well at Wolski September 10. Hawfinch, Coccothraustes coccothraustes : one over Zator ponds September 6. A flyover at Nowa Huta September 9. European Goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis : at least one in roadside sunflowers September 6; another scoped at Zator ponds the same day. Old World Sparrows , Passer domesticus : three roadside birds September 6 were the only ones seen. Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Passer montanus : an impressive concentration of 25 or more in roadside sunflowers September 6.

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 14 Poland: Birds & Art in Royal Kraków, 2019 MAMMALS Rodents Wood Mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus : two or three on a stump in Wolski forest. Eurasian , Sciurus vulgaris : one at Tyniec September 5. Small numbers in Jordan Park and at Nowa Huta. Especially conspicuous in Wolski forest, with individuals ranging from bright foxy red to nearly black.

AMPHIBIANS Frogs Edible-type frog, Rana sp. : noisy and easily seen at Zator ponds September 6.

SELECTED INSECTS Butterflies Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui : one or two at Zator ponds September 6.

Peacock, Aglais io : at Tyniec September 5 and at Zator September 6. Red Admiral, Atalanta vanessa : at Tyniec September 5 and in Jordan Park September 8. Small White, Pieris rapae : at Tyniec September 5. Large White, PIeris brassicae : at Tyniec September 5. Dragonflies

Painted Lady. Photo Rick Wright Scarlet Darter, Crocothemis erythraea : at Tyniec September 5. Ruddy Darter, Sympatrum sanguineum : at Zator ponds September 6.

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 15 Poland: Birds & Art in Royal Kraków, 2019 SELECTED MOLLUSCS

Snails and Slugs Roman Snail, Helix pomatia : several at Nowa Huta September 9. Slug sp., : common at Nowa Huta September 9.

Roman snail roaming a trail. Photo Rick Wright

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