Carniolicum - Wildlife & Biodiversity in Slovenia: Białowieża forest

Białowieża forest (Poland)
7th - 17th October 2016

photos by Domen Stanič & Sara Cernich

After 10 days in the Białowieża forest in eastern Poland, we are back to our blogging duty. It will be (once again) a quite difficult task to present here the trip's highlights without neglecting anything interesting we saw during our stay in such a great place for wildlife. A full report about this year's spring experience in Białowieża can be found here. In that post you can find all the general information about the place, its habitats and forest communities plus the typical wildlife. This time instead we'll try to be more concise - with more photos and less text.

The main targets of the trip were: seeing (self-found) Bison & other mammals and finding some forest birds, especially woodpeckers. Moreover we wanted to visit some areas (many actually!) that we didn't manage to see in spring and see the changing autumn colours in the forest. As typical for this time of year, the forest was full of all sorts of fungi. Unfortunately we didn't have any ID tools with us, so we couldn't name all the species we photographed. Nevertheless in the selection below there are several of them, so if you can help with fungi/lichen ID, please e-mail here: stanicdomen@gmail.com.

Enjoy the pics!

European Bison Bison bonasus on the northern edges of Białowieża forest. We were lucky enough to find a herd of up to 60 Bison feeding in a field on two different occasions. The group consisted of both adult bulls and cows, plus some young individuals too (including this year's calves). Here a video collage of the above herd. For more about Bison in Białowieża forest see also this video by Adam Wajrak.

White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos (nominate ssp.) - male. It wasn't very easy to find, but this species is still quite common in the Białowieża forest. We found a total of 4 different individuals (1 male and 3 females).

Oak-lime-hornbeam forest (Tilio-Carpinetum) is a prime habitat for the White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos. The species also favours wet alder forest (Alnetum).

White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos (nominate ssp.) - female. The above females are also featured in this video (from min 2:38 onwards).

English Oaks Quercus robur are the basic tree components in almost every forest type in Białowieża.

Three-toed Woodpecker Picoides tridactylus (nominate ssp.) - a female in a pine-spruce forest. This was the only Three-toed of the trip. Note the completely white back-patch of the tridactylus subspecies. This video tells the story of the Three-toed Woodpecker and its conservation problems in Białowieża.

Pine-spruce forest (with Pinus sylvestris and Picea abies) - habitat of the Three-toed Woodpecker Picoides tridactylus.

Pine Marten Martes martes. This animal was surprised while climbing on a tree in front of us. After a minute or so, when it realised it was "trapped" on the tree, it dashed off and disappeared into a nearby reedbed.

Spruce forest full of decaying wood. Many of such stands are also affected by spruce bark beetle outbreaks. This is good for birds & nature, but not for foresters and the economy - see this video.

Middle Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos medius. This was by far the most common woodpecker after Great Spotted D. major. We saw/heard at least 33 different individuals during our trip. It was usually heard calling in alder woods (Alnetum) or oak-lime-hornbeam forest (Tilio-Carpinetum).

Views over flooded alder forest/alder carr (Carici elongatae-Alnetum).

Bike was very useful when visiting large parts of the forest on very long trails, which would be otherwise impossible to do on foot. The habitat change noticed during such trips was amazing (from dry coniferous forest to broadleaved forest and flooded alder woods in the range of a few hundred meters). Here an alder carr (Alnetum).

Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius was a quite common bird, encountered during most of our daily trips and in all the different forest types.

Flooded alder carr (Alnetum) with decaying trees where the above Black Woodpecker was photographed.

Feeding signs of Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius on alder Alnus glutinosa.

Footprint of Wolf Canis lupus. Such tracks were found a few times along forest trails, but the most exciting encounter was with a "real" wolf - actually a howling individual we heard one evening in the northern part of the forest, under an almost complete full moon!

Red Squirrel Sciurus vulgaris - collecting nest material. This was the commonest mammal species to be seen in the forest.

Fomitopsis pinicola growing on dead spruce Picea abies.

Lichen sp. which was very common especially on old English oaks Quercus robur.

Nutcracker Nucifraga caryocatactes was seen almost on every visit to the forest, usually in single numbers.

Forest tracks along spruce (above) and bog-pine forest (below). During a bike ride through these habitats we first flushed, but then managed to see quite well two Hazel Grouse Bonasa bonasia, running on the forest floor. One of the two was clearly a female. Even if they were on the move we had great views of this very shy species (which is however very abundant in Białowieża!).

A break to watch a White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos.

Fomitopsis pinicola in flooded alder forest.

Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major was by far the most common bird species of the trip. Wherever we stopped in the forest and listened, we could hear their pecking sounds. Almost every day we saw/heard at least 10-20 different individuals and the total sum of the trip amounts to an astonishing 100 individuals! They were found in all the different forest types (from dry conifer forest to bog pine forest and flooded alder forest) so picking out rarer species proved quite challenging.

Scots pine Pinus sylvestris in the Białowieża forest grows in natural stands that can be very old.

Pholiota sp. growing on Norway spruce Picea abies.

Crossbills Loxia curvirostra were quite common, usually seen passing overhead. Similarly were doing large flocks of Siskins Carduelis spinus and Bullfinches Pyrrhula pyrrhula ("trumpeting" ssp. pyrrhula most commonly heard).

View over the Narewka river valley in the heart of Białowieża forest. A quite exciting mammal encounter on the Narewka was that of a swimming Beaver Castor fiber. They are said to be common in the area and they inhabit all the main water courses in the Białowieża forest. Signs of their presence were frequently seen as well.

Tree barks: Scots pine Pinus sylvestris (left) and English oak Quercus robur (right).

Fungi sp.

An old Hornbeam Carpinus betulus with fungi (Fomes fomentarius).

Puffball mushroom.

Usnea sp. which was quite common on old oaks, alders and spruce.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos minor (female). This was the only individual of its species seen during the trip. Other woodpeckers seen/heard and not photographed were Grey-headed Picus canus and Green Picus viridis.

Bison fur on a "scratching site" - a big tree stump, where Bison Bison bonasus like to scratch away mud and parasites from their fur.

Footprints of European Bison Bison bonasus were frequently encountered along forest trails.

Dead wood in an oak-lime-hornbeam stand (Tilio-Carpinetum).

Amazing fungal formations on dead wood.

Tiny Norway spruce Picea abies like to grow from elevated positions, usually on decaying tree stumps of the same species.

Fox Vulpes vulpes on a hunt along a path in the Białowieża forest. Foxes were frequently encountered, also by day.

Mammal spotting from an observation point.

Moon over the Białowieża forest. On this evening we heard a howling Wolf Canis lupus and a concert of 3 singing Pygmy Owls Glaucidium passerinum at the same site.

Spruce forest with dead wood and fungi.

Cladonia sp. growing on the mossy floor in a spruce forest.

One of the many long, straight trails that lead through Białowieża forest.

Fungus sp. growing on the forest floor.

The most vividly coloured leaves where those of the Norway maple Acer platanoides.

Fomes fomentarius growing on aspen Populus tremula.

Phleogena faginea - a relict of primeval forest, found only on dead trees in natural and semi-natural forests.

An information board describing White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos.

English oak Quercus robur - some were quite impressive in size.

Jay Garrulus glandarius was the second commonest bird species after Great Spotted Woodpecker. These birds were usually doing their favoured autumn activity - gathering and transporting acorns around the forest. On one occasion they did even more: in the middle of the day they made us see a bird we otherwise wouldn't. Very loud and rasping calls from Jays caught our attention and we knew some mobbing was going on. A few seconds later, unbelievably, a Tengmalm's Owl Aegolius funereus flapped a few meters past us, followed by a flock of noisy stalkers. The owl then quickly disappeared in the thick conifers and couldn't be relocated anymore. Jays win!

Autumn colours by a forest glade.

Fomes fomentarius on a fallen oak tree.

Middle Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos medius on alder Alnus glutinosa.

Białowieża National Park (above) and nature reserve (below) signs.

A stuffed Woodcock Scolopax rusticola in Białowieża National Park's Natural History Museum. However we did also see a live bird, flying over a forest road at dusk.

Kuehneromyces mutabilis (probably).

Fungus sp.

Puffball Lycoperdon sp.

Mistle Thrush Turdus viscivorus exactly where it should be: beside a mistletoe Viscum album.

Bog-pine forest is the less frequent of all the forest types present in Białowieża. It is found on waterlogged (boggy) soils and characterised by the presence of boreal trees like Scots pine Pinus sylvestris, silver birch Betula pendula, downy birch Betula pubescens, Norway spruce Picea abies and aspen Populus tremula.

Lichens: Ramalina sp., Usnea sp., Hypogymnia sp. in a stand of flooded alder forest.

Tree-hugging was a common practice in the presence of large trees.

Phallus impudicus is a fungus with a strong scent of carrion (rotten meat) and thus attracts many insects (mostly flies) that disperse its spores.

The border with Belarus in the heart of Białowieża forest.

A haystack for the winter feeding of Bison very close to the border with Belarus (see border signs and posts).

Relaxed bike ride through the forest on a sunny day.

Birding at Siemianówka reservoir - a huge artificial lake on the river Narew, north of the Białowieża forest.

Lake Siemianówka is very rich with waterbirds. During our visit we enjoyed up to 18 Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus (a regular species in NE Poland), a female Common Scoter Melanitta nigra and 3 White-tailed Eagles Haliaeetus albicilla. While traveling outside the Białowieża area (west of Hajnówka) we also picked out a large flock of Golden Plovers Pluvialis apricaria (+150) and 2 Rough-legged Buzzards Buteo lagopus in agricultural areas.