Poland

I arrived in Kraków during the evening of June 6th with travel companion Stuart (previous joint trip to Nimes). We were in time to visit the market square where a live outdoor orchestra was playing Holst’s Planets Suite during the evening as part of Kraków’s 750th anniversary celebrations.

Kraków’s Market Square, which was packed with half a million visitors during the evening

Stuart photographed this male Black Redstart near Kraków

Among the many places of interest we visited in and around the city, a “must see” was the salt mine at Wieliczka.

Down in the salt mine – the figures are carved out of rock salt in one of the mine’s 2000 chambers

From Kraków our next destination was the village of Krościenko situated in the Pienini mountain range - a range of rolling wooded hillsides with some staggering limestone crags and outcrops, largely preserved within the Pieninski National Park.

The rolling countryside of the Pienini range

The village of Krościenko, our home for four days

One of the most popular activities in the national park is to take a raft trip through the Dunajec River gorge where some of the best crags are to been seen. We were hopeful of finding the elusive Wallcreeper, especially as a the national park map indicated its presence here!

Rafting down the Dunajec River

Negotiating the "rapids"

A more active pursuit was trekking up to Trzy Korony, the highest point in the Pienini range, a walk which rewarded us with views of Hazel Grouse.

Trzy Korony – we made it, but not up that face!

The evidence!










Trade Descrip- tion? We did not find this bird indicated on the map, the elusive Wall- creeper!!


Our next objective was to visit to the lofty Tatra Mountain range that lies on the border between Poland and Slovakia.

View of the Tatra Range from the Pieninys

The route took us via Zakopane to Kuznice where we started walking up the track up towards Giewont mountain. Although resources did not permit an assault on the summit, we climbed high enough to obtain some spectacular views of mountain scenery. We then went to Łysa Polana and took a horse-drawn carriage for a 9-km ride into the heart of the range, to the lake of Morskie Oko.

Into the Tatras the easy way!

Morskie Oko - the heart of the Tatras

"Bird of the trip" - we found this Nutcracker here

Our final day in the Pininis was spent on local walks to the Wawoz Homole gorge, and a walk along the bank of the Dunajec River where we crossed the border into Slovakia for a coffee.

Jim and Stuart in Slovakia - another country "ticked off" the list!

We saw 85 species of birds, of which I found the most interesting to be: Black Redstart, Fieldfare, Icterine Warbler*, Hawfinch, Great Reed Warbler, Green Sandpiper, Red-backed Shrike, White Stork, Black Stork, Scarlet Rosefinch, Whinchat, Serin, Collared Flycatcher, Hazel Grouse, Nutcracker*, Ring Ouzel.

There were numerous butterflies in the mountain meadows, including: Brimstone, Green-veined White, Small Copper, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Large White, Orange Tip, Painted Lady, Silver-washed Fritillary, Ringlet, Mountain Ringlet*, Duke of Burgundy, Large Skipper, and various Blues of uncertain identity.

* Lifer