Trip report Winter Mammals 7–13 Feb 2015 7 day mammal watching tour in the Białowieża Forest and Biebrza Marshes Text and photographs by Łukasz Mazurek Tour Leader: Łukasz (Lucas) Mazurek Participants: Marc, Kris (B), Ian (uk) Wildlife: 16 mammal and 44 bird species recorded, full checklist on page 7 WWW.WILDPOLAND.COM 1 WILDPOLAND TOUR REPORT - WINTER MAMMALS, FEB 2015 Day 1, Saturday 7th Feb - Arrival The group arrived early and by 12:30 we were already on the bus and on our way north east. 1 Roe Deer and a few Buzzards were seen on the way. After checking in, a lovely dinner of traditional Polish soup and meats was followed by a short introduction to the area and a talk over a map. Day 2, Sunday 8th Feb - Białowieża Temp. -3° C, fresh snow Snow has fallen at night and we had a perfect winter aura. Early morning we have checked out the Bialowieza glade and found 3 Bison Bulls. We took our positions, allowed the animals to accept us and two of them came really close for a great photo session in the rising sun. After a hearty Polish breakfast back at our guestouse we have visited the Budy area where we saw 2 Wild Boar and very fresh footprints of a pack of Wolves in the snow. We followed them for almost 1 km and when they crossed the road we could count a total of 6 Wolves. We had lunch of sandwiches and freshly brewed coffee (standard at Wild Poland!) at a crossing of forest tracks and headed onto Pojedynacki tryb, one of our most favourite areas. The walk through an old forest was very enjoyable and brought sightings and good photos of 1 Wild Boar and 2 Bison bulls. WWW.WILDPOLAND.COM 2 WILDPOLAND TOUR REPORT - WINTER MAMMALS, FEB 2015 In the evening we decided to check out the meadows N of the forest for Bison but it looked that they had beed bothered by weekend tourists too much and hid in the forest as we saw none. We had a nice sighting of a family of ca. 7 Boar at a road side, though. Day 3, Monday 9th Feb - Białowieża Temp. -5° C, serious snowfall We decided to hit the meadows N of the forest in the early morning once again for the gut feeling that these herds will come out to feed on hay after a busy weekend. It was a great success and just before breakfast we saw a total of 39 Bison in three different herds at different locations. Heavy snowfall provided some drama and stunning pictures. Hot, freshly brewed coffee in the field was again a warm welcome before we arrived back at the guesthouse for a solid breakfast. One Roe Deer was seen on our way back. At breakfast, a flock of Bullfinches at the bird feeder in the garden took our attention and a few more bird species like Willow Tits, Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpecker were also seen. These birds out the window ignited a few requests, of which Black Woodpecker and a Nutcracker sounded doable so we checked out a couple of sites for them before lunch but the luck was not at our side and apart from wonderful winter scenery and a few Ravens we saw little. Another wish for that afternoon was photographing Red Deer which we did visiting a local Deer “whisperer” named Darek. This guy living in the forest has had Red Deer visiting his back yard for about 10 years now and Deer actually react to his calling, WWW.WILDPOLAND.COM 3 WILDPOLAND TOUR REPORT - WINTER MAMMALS, FEB 2015 especially when a bucket of corn can be seen in his hands :) A total of 7 stags came out and gave us some great views and photographs. After lunch, we took another long walk in the middle of the forest which was very enjoyable because of the wonderful scenery but wasn’t so successful regarding wildlife. A hearty Polish dinner of pork neck roast and a potato cake back at our guesthouse was very tasty and we enjoyed checking out our photographs from the day at a fire place. We also had a Wolf Howling drive at night with a bit of thrill when a doggy shaped animal was seen in a torchligh,t but came out to be a Fox. Day 4, Tuesday 10th Feb - Białowieża to Biebrza Temp. -2° C After breakfast we met Ewa, our guide to the Strictly Protected Area of the National Park - the UNESCO World Heritage site and a Biosphere Reserve. Ewa 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, a number of birds, footprints in the snow, a Red Squirrel and 3 Wild Boar that gave us some great views. We had lunch back at our guesthouse while enjoying the birds at the feeder (Lesser Spotted Woodpecker) and we hit the road towards the Biebrza Marshes. On the way, we have spotted 8 Roe Deer in the fields and 3 more Boar at a road side. One Elk in a torchlight was also a nice welcome to the Biebrza Marshes as we approached our guesthouse - Leśniczówka Biebrzańska. As usual, we enjoyed a plentiful home cooked Polish dinner and drinks around the fireplace. WWW.WILDPOLAND.COM 4 WILDPOLAND TOUR REPORT - WINTER MAMMALS, FEB 2015 Day 5, Wednesday 11th Feb - Biebrza Southern Basin Temp. 0° C This early morning we went on an Elk Safari drive and saw a total of 9 Elks and 3 Roe Deer quite close. Satisfied with plenty of atmospheric photographs we came back for breakfast. Later, we have driven south to search for Beavers and Otters. The weather was gorgeous and we saw 2 White-taile Eagles, several Rough-legged Buzzards, 3 Great Grey Shrikes, Goosanders, Goldeneyes, Whooper Swan, 2 Foxes but water mammals were difficult to find because of high temperatures and rivers free of ice. One Otter was briefly seen by Marc. After lunch of traditional Polish pierogi at a roadside bar we continued our search. A drumming male Black Woodpecker gave us some good views in the scope and a female Grey-headed Woodpecker was a nice find. It was already after sunset as we spotted a Beaver swimming in one of the canals and soon after a Water Vole was spotted by Ian in a ditch very close to the minibus and we had some good views. As we slowly retreated towards our guesthouse, two more Beavers gave us good views swimming by their lodge and chewing some twigs on top of it but there was already little light for photography. Last sighting on that day were two more Elks in the torchlight near our guesthouse. WWW.WILDPOLAND.COM 5 WILDPOLAND TOUR REPORT - WINTER MAMMALS, FEB 2015 Day 6, Thursday 12th Feb - Biebrza Southern Basin Temp. -1° C Early morning, we had another Elk Safari drive and saw 5 Elks. After the usual plentiful breakfast we drove around the southern basin of the Biebrza Marshes and transferred south to focus on finding more Beavers and Otters. We had some great views of an adult White-tailed Eagle, several more Rough-legged Buzzards, more Waterfowl, small and tame birds like Yellowhammers and Bullfinches and found two Otters that gave us long and good views coming on top of the ice to feed. At the end of the day we positioned ourselves near one of the Beaver lodges and waited for them to come out at dusk. Two American Mink were firstly seen fooling around. They obviously occupied the same lodge! Finally one Beaver came our and swam around for a while and we watched and photographed it as long as the dimming light allowed. On our way back for dinner, we drove slowly and found one Beaver chewing the twigs just at the side of the road. It gave us stunning views in a torchlight and was a great end of the day. Day 7, Friday 13th Feb - Biebrza to Warsaw Temp. -1° C in the Biebrza to +8° in Warsaw Once again we started early to try our chances with Elks and it has been a great morning with 6 Elks seen and photographed well plus a nice Red Squirrel as a bonus. After a hearty breakfast we headed south for Warsaw and stopped at a few sites for Otters briefly. Two Otters were seen there. Happy, we arrived at the Warsaw airport by 13:00 on time for everyone to catch their flights. WWW.WILDPOLAND.COM 6 WILDPOLAND TOUR REPORT - WINTER MAMMALS, FEB 2015 Checklist F - footprints D - droppings 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 5 39 F 44 Red Deer Cervus elaphus F 7 F 7 Roe Deer Capreolus capreolus 1 F 1 8 3 6 19 Wild Boar Sus scrofa 10 F 6 16 Elk Alces Alces 1 11 5 6 23 Wolf Canis lupus 6F 0 Red Fox Vulpes vulpes 2 1 F 2 2 7 Badger Meles meles F 0 Eurasian Otter Lutra lutra 1 3 2 6 Pine Marten Martes martes F + D 0 American Mink Mustela vison F 2 2 European Beaver Castor fiber 3 2 5 Red Squirrel Sciurus vulgarus F 1 1 2 European Hare Lepus europaeus F F F 0 Bank Vole Clethrionomys glareolus F 0 Water Vole Arvicola terrestris 1 1 Number of species: 1 8 5 10 7 8 3 16 BIRDS Species name Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 SUM 039 Mute Swan Cygnus olor 12 10 22 039 Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus 1 1 043 Greylag Goose Anser anser 17 200 217 049 Mallard Anas platyrhynchos 6 20 20 12 100 158 067 Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula 2 20 22 069 Goosander Mergus merganser 5 4 9 075 White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla 2 2 3 7 089 Rough-legged Buzzard Buteo lagopus 7 6 13 091 Common Buzzard Buteo buteo 5 3 4 12 24 175 European Herring Gull Larus argentatus 1 1 201 Feral Pigeon Columba livia feral C C 0 203 Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto 5 5 WWW.WILDPOLAND.COM 7 WILDPOLAND TOUR REPORT - WINTER MAMMALS, FEB 2015 Species name Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 SUM 207 Tawny Owl Strix aluco H 0 225 Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius H H 1 1 225 Grey-headed Woodpecker Picus canus 1 1 227 Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major H 1 1 1 3 227 Middle Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos medius 2 2 229 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos minor 1 1 275 Mistle Thrush Turdus viscivorus 1 1 2 275 Fieldfare