East towards Belarus

ONWARD TO BIALOWIEŹA

On Saturday 18th March around 1pm we left Warsaw in rain. The route was traffic laden as this was the main road for Russia and The Baltic countries. It was busy with large trucks and traffic lights and once the other side of the River Vistula it was different. This is the poor side of the city where change and reconstruction is slow. The older buildings still had the bullet holes from WW2. Eventually we left the traffic lights behind and moved more freely. However, road construction seems to be a Polish pastime and we had many chicanes to negotiate where work was being done.

The areas that we passed through was flat with huge fields, some flooded as we were close to the River Bug. Many of the buildings were small and often of wooden construction. There was a plethora of old timber barns among good quality houses.

In passing we saw:
Large White Egrets
Common Cranes
Mallards
Lapwing
A Raptor spotted by Michelle and possibly Buzzard

Not a great list and when we were close to our destination we slowed down to look for Bison. We saw none but there were Roe Deer crossing the road and stayed close enough for a good view.
A Fieldfare sang from a tree on our arrival and I expect that we will see many more. Hooded Crows were common place and up to now the White Stork nests were empty as it is a little too early for them.

The forest that we are in lies across the birder with Belarus and is of 700 square kilometers on the Polish side and 800 square kilometers over the border. There is much dead wood lying on the forest floor with some having been felled for safety reasons. Andy, our guide, explained that the Spruce which is a northern tree has a shallow root system and with the hot dry summers the trees have suffered. They are then attacked by beetle which weaken the tree even more.

The snow had only receded a short time ago and there was a lot of standing water both in the fields and amongst the trees.



Over dinner we were given our information for the next seven days. So it is out for 6.30am for an early morning attempt to see Bison and anything else that is crepuscular. Then back for breakfast and out for the day.

Our Hotel.