When: 7 days in mid May 2024

Where: Białowieża Forest & Biebrza Marshes

Who: 5 Wise Birding clients

Type of the tour: spring tour

Highlights: a total of 152 bird species (10 species of woodpeckers, Nutcracker, Pygmy Owl, Lesser & Greater Spotted Eagles, Little Crake, Great Snipe, 3 species of marsh terns, 17 species of warblers, Citrine Wagtail, 4 species of flycatchers) & 11 mammal species (Bisons, Elks, Beavers, Wolf, Pine Marten)

Trip report

After the pick-up of the group we headed east, in the direction of Białowieża Forest. We had a 2,5 hrs drive ahead before the lunch break, but despite flight departure at early hours no one was asleep. This means we seen pretty much on our way –White Storks, 3 Montagu’s Harriers (2 males + female), Ravens, Yellowhammers & Roe Deers. We had a lunch stop in Drohiczyn Town where suddenly Syrian Woodpecker starts to call ca. 15 metres from our table! We saw the bird flying overhead together with local Serins & Common Redstarts calling from the gardens nearby. Whitetailed Eagle was soaring over the restaurant also, not bad as for the meal stop.

We arrived to our accommodation in Białowieża around 3 p.m. and after the fast check-in we headed to the woodlands. But before that we had a look on the nesting Black Redstarts (right next to our rooms!) as well as the local White Stork nest & Camberwell Beauty that just flew past us. On the way to our destination we kept our eyes open and it resulted in observation of 3 European Bisons. We stopped the car & spent some time there – thanks to that we added Redbacked shrike, Whinchat, Lesser Spotted Eagle & calling Wrynecks to our list.

Finally we were in the forest. In 2hrs walk we had some nice birds – we’ve seen two active nests of Middle-spotted Woodpeckers, Collared Flycatcher, Hawfinches, Crested Tit, Black Stork, 2 Lesser Spotted Eagles + we heard Green & Whitebacked Woodpecker.

Wow, not bad as for the first day!


We started Day 2 early before breakfast. As we were packing the stuff in the bus we heard Barred Warbler behind our accommodation and in a minute we were watching a nice male displaying there. Our main morning targets were woodpeckers as soon as we arrived to the first stop a male Threetoed Woodpecker showed up. Later it was followed by a male Greyheaded & flight views of Black. Collared Flycatchers & Common Cranes were very active there also. Next stop was to try with Pygmy Owl but because of the phone call of my friend we changed our plans – Wolves are around. We decided to go on one of the forest road crossing in hope that wolves that his friend saw 0,5hrs ago will still be around and indeed, immediately as we arrived we were watching a single Wolf standing on the middle of the road! That was a good decision & perfect morning.

After breakfast we departed for a walk on the edge of the forest. We had Marsh Warblers, Wood Warblers, Pied & Spotted Flycatchers, Grass Snake, numerous Firecrests & a few calling River Warblers which we finally see after a few attempts. But the highlight of the walk was a nice male of Thrush Nigthingale that gave us amazing concert a few metres away from us, fully covering our scopes fields of view.

One of the main events of the day was an evening visit to the Great Snipe lek. But before that in the afternoon we made a few stops focusing on a certain species and thus we added Wryneck & a very obliging male of Redbreasted Flycatcher to our list.

After dinner we set for the Great Snipes. A walk to the lek was already very productive as we saw first Grasshopper Warblers, Common Snipes & Whinchats there followed by calling Great Reed Warbler & numerous Corn Crake. We arrived to the place & started waiting for the sunset – after that they start the proper display. At least 11 snipes were vocally active and immediately when it gets darker started to display, jump & fight. Despite relatively high vegetation (+ 3 weeks than usual) we saw them nicely. Our journey back to the accommodation went through the woodlands so in the bus lights we were able to spot some mammals – including Pine Marten & Red Fox crossing the road in front of us.


Again, Day 3 we started early. We hoped to find White-backed Woodpecker & Pygmy Owl before breakfast. The latter didn’t show (yet we heard it calling) but the former gave us amazing views when the female was drumming on the exposed tree in the woodlands. During morning observations we also heard Hazel Grouse, saw Black Woodpecker a few times & added Green Sandpiper to our list. As we are driving back to our accommodation for breakfast we found a herd of 5 Bison bulls on one of the forest glades so we stopped for a while. Corn Bunting, Lesser Spotted Eagle & a pair of Wrynecks were also present there.

We spent a day around Siemianówka Reservoir. We had amazing views of a colourful male of Citrine Wagtail. In the bushes around the lake Bluethroat, Stonechats & Penduline Tits were also active. On the water we added a few waterfowl species like Gadwall or Garganey but we also observed Whiskered, Black & White-winged Black Terns hunting above the surface. Over our heads Greater Spotted Eagle glided, probably to the nest located nearby. Later we visited a neigbouring gravel pit where a small colony of Bee-eaters had just established. And indeed, the birds were there as well as Woodlark and Little Ringed Plover.

In the evening we decided to try with Tengmalm’s Owl. We arrived to the small midforest clearing at sunset and waited until it gets dark. At least two Woodcocks were roding above us along with two Nightjars churring around. The owl didn’t call neither show up, but we did hear Long-eared Owl singing.


This time before breakfast we tried with Pygmy Owl – and finally on Day 4 we were lucky. A male gave us amazing views sitting on the branch only several metres from us. Black Woodpecker also perched nearby & we added Tree Pipit to our list. We still had some time before the meal so we wanted to look for warblers in Białowieża town, near the accomodation. It looked like Common Rosefinches & Icterine Warblers have just arrived as they were singing intensively there, but Great Reed Warbler & Lesser Whitethroat were also new birds on our list. Suddenly, a harrier flew over our heads – it turned out to be immature female Montagu’s, which was quite a rarity in the Forest.

This was our last day at the Forest and for the afternoon we were planned to meet Białowieża National Park ranger to join him on the walk into the famous Strict Reserve. It is the core area, protected under UNESCO name, an untouched woodland being the last remaining primeval forest in lowland Europe. Having a little time ahead, we headed to the coniferous woodland to get some new habitat & possibly see some new birds. And indeed, we had Nutcracker, Willow Tit, calling Stock Dove & Tree Pipit on our short walk there. Then we arrived to the meeting point next to the Strict Reserve where we met our ranger, Mateusz, & we begin our adventure. We had an amazing walk through woodlands and as usually here there was nothing special amongst wildlife present, but we have seen loads of Bank Voles and heard many Red-breasted & Collared Flycatchers. It was a nice forest ecology lesson that perfectly ended our stay in Białowieża Forest.


Day 5 was a travel day to the Marshes, so after breakfast we headed north-west in the direction of Biebrza Marshes. We planned two stops – one at Dojlidy Fishponds and one at the spot where Lesser Grey Shrike (a huge, local rarity) was observed a day before. In the second spot we didn’t find the shrike itself, but had Great Grey, Meadow Pipits & Honey Buzzard. The fishponds was very fruitful. We observed Little Crake male from a few meters in an open reedbed area along with Savi’s Warbler, Bittern booming, Whiskered Terns hunting above the pond surface & Penduline Tit on the nest. On the way back to bus we also found Large Copper warming up on the dirt track.

We checked-in in our accommodation on Biebrza Marshes in the afternoon & decided to do a little birding before dinner. We made two stops on the tower-hides which gave us first Elk record, Cranes, Garganeys, Common Redshanks & Marsh Harriers overhead. But the main goal of the day was the visit to Aquatic Warbler site on the fen mire. We spent over an hour there observing one male of Aquatic Warbler (+ two other herad nearby), together with many Grasshopper Warblers, at least two Short-Eared Owls, a few Montagu’s Harriers and even two Great Snipes displaying in the distance. The ambience of the open marshland at the evening was amazing.


An early start was planned for the morning of Day 6. We headed to look for some „closer” Elks & Bluethroat which some part of the tour have not seen in the previous days. Both aims was completed successfully with nice Elk observation from ca. 50 metres & amazing white-spotted Bluethroat singing in the reedbed.

After that we made a traditional loop around Southern Basin of Biebrza Marshes. We made visits to several tower-hides & points overviewing river valley. It brought us our first Black-tailed Godwits and Ruffs, but also Blue-headed Yellow Wagtails, Common Redshanks, Black Terns & White-tailed Eagle along with Greater-spotted Eagle overhead. A White-winged Black Tern colony was also nearby, so we watched tens of birds hunting over the water, flapping their wings like marshy butterflies. A thunderstorm appeared on the horizon which was the only weather disturbance we came across during the tour. We decided to visit a Lesser-spotted Woodpecker nesthole where birds should be probably already feeding juvs. Almost immediately we saw a male going inside the hole, which later didn’t show up. This means it was our 10th woodpecker species recorded during the tour.

Next to our dinner place someone claimed to have Greenish Warbler but after multiple attempts we didn’t have a sign of the bird. But after dinner a nice activity was planned – beaver boat trip, organized by our accomodation’s owners. During the dinner we discussed the tour highlights but I said that they might change after the boat trip. And indeed, seeing at least 4 Beavers from a few-meteres-distance exceeded our expectations. This was also accompanied by a nice scenery of night-time river valle with Spotted Crakes & Frogs calling distantly. While we arrive back to the lodge Long-eared Owl was calling nearby.


It was our last day of the tour and as we saw pretty much everything, so nothing was planned before breakfast on Day 7. We packed our luggage into the bus and decided to make two stops before having our final meal and heading to Warsaw. Firstly, we stopped on the edge of the Biebrza river valley overlooking the marshes. Whiskered Terns flew upwards the river and some Black-tailed Godwits could be seen displaying on the grassland. Gray Partridge, an addition to our list, was also seen on the dirt track nearby. Second stop was near Tykocin town, where we also involved a bit of a cultural information as it’s the beautiful, former Jewish town, with a lovely market square. But we also had some nice birds there like Bittern booming, a pair of displaying Montagu’s Harrier, several Marsh Warblers & White-tailed Eagle soaring overhead.
After lunch we headed to Warsaw where tour ended in the late afternoon.