We went out in the field really early today, with hopes of spotting European Bison somewhere in the Bialowieska forest. We had no luck with this huge mammal, but there were plenty of birds to see and hear.
View from my hotel window before sunrise 27 May 2004. This scenery combined with the trumpeting calls of Common Cranes and grating sounds from Corn Crakes produced a magic experience.
We drove around in the park with the car windows lowered so that we could hear begging Woodpecker chicks. It was an effective way to find nests of several species. During the day we found active nests of Middle-spotted Woodpecker, White-backed Woodpeckers, Great-spotted Woodpecker and Wryneck. In addition was saw Grey-headed Woodpecker.
Collared Flycatchers in numbers
Such a dense Woodpecker population does also provide a perfect habitat for secondary hole-nesters. And the next species up was one of the more famous inhabitants of the Bialowieska, namley the Collared Flycatcher. During the day we recorded 20-25 birds. Several of the males were sitting outside nesting boxes, giving nice digiscoping opportunities (despite poor light conditions in the dense forest).
We spent all day in or near the Bialowieska forest. Other noteworthy records were a singing Barred Warbler, good numbers of Corn Crakes in agricultural areas, Golden Orioles here and there, River Warblers, several Thrush Nightingales and a total of five different singing Red-breasted Flycatchers. In the evening we watched a few Common Noctules Nyctalus noctula hunting near the hotel.
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