From a wildlife point of view I wanted us to visit two areas in particular - the forest and surroundings at Bialowieza (bordering Belarus) and the marshes in the Biebrza valley. We managed to find time to visit both. Bialowieza is the oldest surviving expanse of natural lowland forest and is extremely impressive. In order to enter the main protected area you need to hire a guide as there is no public access to the best parts. Our guide certainly gave as a fantastic tour, pointing out plants and wildlife we might otherwise have missed, as well as giving us little snippets of info about the history and politics of the area. Well worth visiting (one less place on the bucket list to visit). The Biebrza Marshes are vast, the largest of their kind in Europe. We only managed to see a very small aprt of the area. Although July is not the best time for birds and there was little standing water, there was still plenty to experience.
Inside the species-rich Bialowieza Forest.
Rays of sunshine, Bialowieza Forest
Biebrza Marshes near Goniadz, Poland
Adult White Stork Ciconia ciconia, Bialowieza, Poland
Three large and hungry mouthfuls to feed in a nest at Goniadz, Biebrza Valley, Poland. In many European countries people construct nesting boxes for blue tits etc. In Poland they go one better and make huge nesting platforms for white storks, every village seemed to have at least one pair of storks.
Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis, Palace Park, Bialowieza, Poland
Pool Frog Pelophylax lessonae, Goniadz, Biebrza Valley, Poland. The chorus was mega!
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