Autumn break in the Carpathians Large mammals and good birding! 3-10 September 2016

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1 Autumn break in the Carpathians Large mammals and good birding! 3-10 September 2016 We will visit three highlights in southern part of Poland: Bieszczady & Tatra Mountains and the extensive fishponds near Krakow. Incredibly list of mammals will make this holidays really impressive. Almost all species of big central European mammals live European Bison, Brown Bear, Wolf, Lynx, Chamois, Wild Boar and many small with Beaver, Otter, Red Squirrels (often in black phase), Stone & Pine Marten, Weasel and Ermine. Impressive Red Deer which have mating time and fight in open meadows.our focus are special birds with Pygmy and Ural Owl, Hazel Grouse, Nutcracker, Alpine Acccentor, many Woodpeckers with Black, Grey headed, White-backed and Three-toed, Lesser spotted and Golden Eagle and many more. They are still in known territories with young generation then more easy to localize. Migration in full swing will produce many birds following south as good raptors, different geese species and Cranes in the mountains. There will be really birds fair at the fishponds near Krakow where amongst many species Temminck's and Little stint. It is also good time for some rare butterflies as Camberwell Beauty and Yellow legged Tortoiseshell which are still numerous in this region. It will be opportunity to spot Fire Salamander, a big black and orange amphibian that was the primitive symbol of alchemy which mate in autumn time. Some nice Gentians are still in full blooming. Photographers will love this holiday for the atmospheric morning mists and the extraordinary fungi. Very photogenic is also unspoiled countryside where farming has been practiced in harmony with nature for centuries. After nature walks we will finish a day with famous Polish cuisine. European Bison Karl van Ginderdeuren Ural Owl Price: 750 GBP/ 900 Euro (70 GBP/ 100 Euro single room supplement) 7 nights /8 days if minimum 5 participants and includes accommodation in nice small mountain hotels with en-suite rooms 2 bedded rooms with private facilitates, fantastic food (breakfast, lunch pockets, big dinner), transportation by minibus, enter fees to the national parks, local guides and expert guidance in English. NOTE: We are able to organize for you accommodation and sightseeing in Krakow before or after the tour.

2 Day 1: KRAKOW AND BIESZCZADY MOUNTAINES Meeting at the Krakow airport about noon. Passage to Bieszczady Mts (4 hours) which is in the South East corner of Poland by the border with Slovakia and the Ukraine. There are rolling hills, higher peaks overgrown with ancient beech forest and grassy open meadows here and the region has a very low population density, hence wildlife thrives especially birds of prey and large mammals. Dinner and rest before fascinating nature walks! Overnight (4 nights) in very nice pension in the middle of nowhere. Day 2/4: BIESZCZADY MOUNTAINES Breakfast and easy walk through these ancient woodlands should contain some good Woodpeckers with Three toed, White backed, Grey headed and Black. They are more difficult then in spring time but some of them call and drum and are quite easy to find when feeding then sooner or later we will spot them. It is the best time of the year to find Hazel Hen by special whistle. We will cross many territories of this difficult bird then for sure will observe them. Magnificent Lesser spotted Eagle, Honey Buzzard, Hobby and Black Storks still present in their breeding ground. The other species present here all year round Golden Eagle, Northern Goshawk and Sparrowhawk, Raven, Nutcracker and all the Tits with Crested, Marsh and Willow, Goldcrest, Firecrest, Common Crossbill, Bullfinch, Hawfinch. We will observe migrating flocks of Cranes, Montagu's Harriers with more and more frequent Pallid Harriers the last years. Three toed Woodpecker Jarek Malkowski Wild Bieszczady Mts Evenings we will spend to find Owls which have the highest voice activity in September as they create new territories. Especially magnificent Ural Owl will be one of our main target, They are even possible to find in the day time. The other small beauty is Pygmy Owl, not rare in this area. We will find them when call from the tops of the spruces at dusk. The other species as Tengmalm's and Eagle Owl are more difficult to observe but still possible. Dusk is also the best time for mammals which range is really promising. Red Deer will still be rutting and we should hear them bellowing and even observe when fighting. This area is home to a good population of Brown Bear and they will be preparing for winter and feeding up on berries on meadows. We have a reasonably chance to see them by day. There are more and more meetings with Wolves and really difficult is Lynx and Wild Cat. They are not easy to find but observed during some tours especially in autumn. We will be especially focusing on which Bison often come to the open meadows. Species as Wild Boars, Red Squirrels and Pine Marten are frequent.

3 We will spend some time in the habitats of workaholic Beaver. They need to collect many branches for winter then busy this time of the year. It is also the place we are able to spot Otter. The richness you will also find in the mushrooms kingdom here with Cauliflower fungus, Chicken of the wood, Earthstars, Parasol mushrooms and hundreds other species with science fiction shapes and colors. Autumn flowering plants with Gentians as Gentianella cilliata & Gentiana asclepiadea and Autumn Crocus Colchicus autumnalle. The other highlight is Fire Salamander the only amphibian mating in autumn. Overnight in Bieszczady Mts European Bison Fire Salamander Day 5/6: TATRA MOUNTAINES After a prebreakfast walk we move on to the Tatra Mountains National Park, a World Heritage Biosphere Reserve where we will spend the next 2 days. Journey by cable car up to over 2000m above sea level. Vegetation zones visibly change with the increase in altitude with lower forests of mainly beech & fir giving way to the upper forests of spruce & dwarf pine before the shrubs, which start after the timber line. Once beyond all this we reach the alpine meadows with a few species of creeping willows amongst the rocks and within the Carpathian Arch is the predominant area for high mountain flora of exceptional richness. This beautiful habitat will give us the opportunity to find Alpine Accentor, Water Pipit, Golden Eagle and Peregrine. With a bit of luck we will see the rare and enigmatic Wallcreeper working it's way along the sheer granite faces probing for insects. Red bellied Dipper very active along the streams. View to Tatra Mts

4 Chance for good mammals with Chamois (the Tatra Mountains subspecies) on the meadows where they feed undisturbed. They run up and down defying gravity as they leap along almost vertical slopes! We will walk down and rest on the stones where a colony of Tatra Marmots is active during the day. They love lazing about on the rocks in full sun. This part of the Carpathians Mountains has a fairly dense population of Brown Bear survive in the wild here, and good chance for they can be seen on open meadows where they will be preparing for winter and feeding up on berries. Short walk in the peat bogs where resident Black Grouse which gather for false lekking time. Meadows will produce some good birds as Great Grey Shrike and Whinchat. It is possible to spot the first wintering here Hen Harriers, Rough legged Buzzard and Merlin. Overnight in Pieniny Mts. NOTE: If you wish short visit in Zakopane old town is pretty as only wooden houses built in highlander s style. We will also take a brake in Chocholow village which is now a "living open-air museum" of vernacular timber architecture. The most complete survival of an old highlander village. The majority of the houses here were built during the nineteenth century. Alpine Accentor Brown Bear family Tomasz Zwijacz Day 7: FISHPOND IN UPPER WISLA RIVER VALLEY Breakfast and passage (2 hours) to Zator near Krakow. It is the place with thousands hectares of extensive hundred years old - fishponds where autumn migration in full swing. They were created by monks in the Middle Ages and are today an important wetlands for birds and an excellent place for birdwatching. There is good access via the dikes. It is also the area where the highest account of bird species in Poland was recorded. We will observe good movements of migrating wildfowl, waders, terns, warblers and innumerable songbirds. Empty ponds with fresh muddy are feeding ground for vaders with Little Stint, Temminck's Stint, Curlew Sandpiper and single Broad billed Sands in flocks of Dunlin, Ruff, Spotted Redshank, Redshank, Greenshank, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Little Plover and Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Northern Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwit and some Whimbrels & Eurasian Curlew. Good chances for Marsh Sandpiper and maybe any American or Siberian vagrants as Pectoral Sandpiper which is recorded every last autumn. There will be many Common Snipe and single Jack and Great Snipes. The other highlights are Common Crane, the last White Stork still possible and for sure Black Stork which migrate little a bit later. Big flocks often over 200 of Great White Egret and Grey Heron. The best time of the year to spot Great & Little Bittern.

5 There are many Night Heron hidden in the reedbeds which also holds Reed Bunting, Bluethroat, Sedge Warbler, Penduline and Bearded Tit and many more. Open water will produce huge number of waterfowl with some. Ducks in huge number are represented by Ferruginous Duck, Red-crested Pochard, Gadwall, Teal, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Garganey, Shoveler, Pochard with northern species as Goldeneye, Wigeon, Pintail, Red-breasted Merganser and Goosander. It will be possibility to observe Little, Red-necked and Black-necked Grebe, Bewick's and Whooper Swan amongst numerous Mute Swan, Bean, Greater White-fronted and Greylag Geese. Over our heads White-tailed Eagle spending winter here and migrating Osprey, Eurasian Marsh and Hen Harrier and more and more frequent in the last years Pallid Harrier. The other highlight are Caspian Gull and Yellow legged Gull which will be possible to study in every age, Lesser Black-backed Gull of Scandinavian race, Mediterranean, Little, Black-headed and Common Gull. Terns are represented by Common Tern, Whiskered Tern and possible Caspian Tern. There are many Cormorant and maybe every year vagrants Pygmy Cormorants. Walking along the dikes sometimes we will hear characteristic call of flying Common Kingfisher. Great Black baked Gull Marcin Faber Spotted Crake Marcin Karetta Searching extensive fields surroundings fishponds we will have opportunity to spot rare or extincted in Western Europe species as Great Grey Shrike and maybe the last this summer Red backed Shrikes, Grey Partridge, House&Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Siskin, Linnet, Yellowhammer, Corn Bunting, Black Redstart, Whinchat, Stonechat, Wheatear and flocks of Thrushes with Fieldfare, Redwing and Mistle Thrush. Numerous flocks of Wagtails and Pipits are represented with Tawny, Tree and Meadow with single Red-throated and Water Pipits and also Yellow, Grey headed, White with single Citrine Wagtails. Old forest and gardens in the neighborhood are excellent place to find additional species interesting for western birders with Short toed Treecreeper, Middle, Lesser, Syrian, Black and Grey headed Woodpeckers. Overnight in nice familiar hotel in Zator Day 8: DEPARTURE DAY Prebreakfast visit in the fishponds. Late breakfast and passage to Krakow (½ hour). Flight home.