Due to a backlog of news items, I have chosen this time for a combination of two trips to the now well-known Biebrza area in the north-eastern corner of Poland. Especially since the next trip there is already planned in two months.
There is not much news to write about compared to the many previous trips. The Lepidoptera remain an important item in both periods and the goal is to get an increasingly complete picture of the species present there. And that requires a lot of visits due to the relatively limited time that I spend there. I therefore dare not make a statement about how diverse the butterfly world is in the area. And since no one is active in this region (as far as I know), I can hardly find any information about it. However, I do see a whole series of species via local friend Jan that he collects in the periods that I am not present. And that is quite a lot, since it comes down to holidays that often fall in the same periods. The disadvantage of nature-related work that I am bound to (ecological green management). I send the observations I make to a database of various collaborating national institutes in the field of nature. The University of Warsaw is leading in this, if I understand correctly. It is true that up until now I mainly send in those species that I know (think) are not very common in Poland. I then get that information from another, public database, where many enthusiasts share their observations.
Many of the finds are made by my friend Jan. His search drive is enormous and I regularly have to make an effort to keep up with it photographically. A photo book is made for each year and as a thank you for his many searches, a copy is always included. The series now covers eight “years”.
In the dark evening hours, a UV lamp is also used for searching. This often produces completely different species that hide during the day.
As I wrote earlier, the next trip is already on the calendar. Due to circumstances, I am now leaving considerably earlier in the year and I hope to encounter a high water level again. If this is the case, attention will also be paid to bird life. Waterfowl and waders in particular can occur then in high numbers. The only thing that has to cooperate is the weather in the form of a lot of precipitation. The air currents in Europe this winter do show a special pattern and the area has seen little winter weather so far. Perhaps the coming Polar Vortex can bring some change here? And if not, the other subjects are already on the agenda.
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Germany, Bavarian Forest, july 2023
Summer vacation 2023! Not as usual in Poland, but this time the Bavarian Forest in Germany. Originally the Black Forest was the intention, but we could not find a holiday home to our liking there. In addition, this region is very touristy and that is something we do not like either. By “we” I mean our family. It also became clear from the information we could find that the nature in the National Park “Bayerischen Wald” in particular looked much more attractive. And that soon became apparent on site. The forests showed a great variety of tree species and there was no shortage of undergrowth.
Our accommodation was part of a typical German house, if I may describe it that way. Because it was not permanently inhabited, we had the place to ourselves. Around the house was a large “wild” garden, bordered by forest at the back. At the front was an asphalt road, but there was so little traffic on it that it even provided some life in the brewery. Behind that followed an unmown, herb-rich meadow and then a large piece of forest. In short, a wonderfully quiet place with nature on the doorstep. Fifty metres to the left we walked straight into the woods. For us Dutch people, the hilly terrain obviously took some time getting used to when walking.
The National Park is very worthwhile. The policy now is that in a large part of this park, nature is allowed to do its thing. In recent years, large parts of the pine forests have died, but the areas that have been freed up are rapidly being regrown. And then with species that are able to maintain themselves without human help. Ultimately, a nature typical of the location is created and the associated organisms benefit most from this.
We stayed at an altitude of about a thousand metres. This was clearly visible from the vegetation, among other things. Species that had already finished flowering in the Netherlands still formed beautifully coloured roadsides here. And with plant species that are typical of more mountainous terrain. In terms of bird life, the large numbers of Crossbills were striking and it was during an evening walk that we saw our first Capercaillie. A female, admittedly, but it was one! To be honest, I hadn’t thought about the fact that we could find this species there.
A second surprise during the walk was a specimen of the Large Copper. It was sitting on the path and I just managed to not put my size forty shoe on top of it. Because the temperature had dropped considerably in the meantime, the butterfly could no longer fly away. Something had clearly gone wrong there. We then made sure that the butterfly could spend the night unharmed and that also gave us the opportunity to photograph the species at our leisure. A golden opportunity. It is striking that the biotope is very different from what we know in the Netherlands as a suitable habitat.
In short, it was a successful holiday, which would almost certainly lead to a repeat.
Polen, Biebrza National Park, spring 2023
For the twenty-fifth year (or more) in a row I visited the Biebrza marshes and surroundings in Poland. In contrast to previous years, there was still enough water left in the area and I was able to use my floating hut once. That was also limited to one time because the water level dropped rapidly. One reason for the faster disappearance of the water could be that there is very little snow these days. As a result, the frost penetrates further into the ground and the meltwater flows away over the ice, as it were. With a thick layer of snow, the frost penetrates significantly less deeply into the ground and the meltwater therefore sinks into the same ground sooner. And then it flows out of the area less quickly. If winter also continues until later in the year, the melting starts later and therefore also the drainage of the water. Until recently, the end of April/beginning of May was the period in which this took place, now it is, to say, the beginning of April. It is therefore important to assess the situation immediately upon arrival and to make use of perhaps the only day that appears to be suitable.
As can be seen in the previous news items, there are of course plenty of other subjects available. But usually the focus is on the Lepidoptera, the group of butterflies and caterpillars. And despite the many times that I have now visited the area, we keep finding new species of caterpillars. There is also a big difference between one year and the next. Species that are suddenly present in good numbers are not or hardly found the following year. What is clear is that the variety of butterfly species (day and night) is still very large in this area. Searching for caterpillars is a fairly time-consuming activity. That search is not only limited to the daytime hours, but if you use a UV lamp, the nighttime hours are also included. Many caterpillar species hide during the day and only come out when it is dark. And if I am completely honest, that is actually my favorite way of searching. The finds I make, I pass on to a database called “biomap.pl”. This is a database, set up by various Polish nature institutes and aims, among other things, to map the biodiversity of the country. And that is information that can be used again when, for example, large-scale construction projects are planned and one wants to know the presence of scarce or rare species. Where it is of course to be hoped that this is used to the benefit of nature! And, unfortunately, this information also makes clear what the influence of the development of the country is. May the Polish government have the wisdom to preserve the natural state of the country as much as possible. After all, there is more then enough space in this country!
Poland, Biebrza National Park, autumn 2022
That I am behind in posting current news items is a fair statement. I hope to make up for that now with a catch-up race. In terms of travels and locations that I have visited, not much has changed in that time. Poland remains a favorite destination. This fall came early and that meant that, in addition to the usual search for butterflies and caterpillars, there was a possibility to see and photograph migrating Cranes. The local birds often do not yet make any moves to go to their wintering areas, but that does not apply to the Scandinavian cranes. This is recognizable because these specimens have a slightly darker plumage. That was new information for me and I had to hear and learn from my local friend Jan.Because mid-September actually falls under the heading “end of summer”, there is little point in looking for a clear autumn image. Mushrooms could be a subject, but then you need regular precipitation and the right temperatures. In short, the focus actually went directly to the group of Lepidoptera. The database that I am building up of that is slowly getting larger.Searching for caterpillars is quite labor-intensive, but again during this week we were able to add several new species. The wealth concerning this group is so great in the Biebrza area that I can continue there for many years. Due to the obligations concerning my work and family life (school holidays) it is actually always the same periods in which I visit the area. The first should be over in a few years and then completely new possibilities arise. But for now this is it and in all honesty I am far from complete and there are still plenty of species to discover in these periodes.
Danmark- Brovst, North Jutland summer 2022
At the request of our daughter, we went on holiday to Denmark in the summer of 2022. The decision about the location was made on the basis of some photos of the holiday home and its surroundings. The area also looked great on Google Maps. Lots of nature, close to the coast and a holiday park where the houses are at a good distance from each other. This, supplemented by reports of a very low crime rate (the ATM is literally in the parking lot) and plenty of peace and quiet, made the choice not difficult.
The travel time is also shorter than what we are used to towards Poland, but that was a bit disappointing afterwards due to a number of reasons. It was already dark when we arrived. The next morning it turned out that we had made an excellent choice. A large garden that consisted largely of heather and surrounded by a large amount of pine and oak trees. At birds we immediately saw Bullfinches, Redpolls and Hawfinches. The silence, except for the bird sounds, was deafening!
From the garden you walked directly onto the heath. The area is quite wet in winter, but unfortunately Denmark also had to deal with a serious drought in the summer of 2022. Since 1989, almost all of Europe has been affected by changes in large-scale air circulation over Europe and the North Atlantic. The result is significantly more sun and less precipitation in spring and summer. At least, that has been the situation in recent years.
A situation that is not favorable for many butterfly species. It ensures that when the caterpillars are there, there is a shortage of food plants. It literally dries up. This jeopardizes the reproductive cycle. The number of caterpillar species I found was therefore limited. This despite intensive searching, especially in the night hours. However, it has produced a number of new species and actually, that was what I’ve been hoping for. The area is home to a number of very interesting plant species, which could produce the necessary special caterpillars, especially in spring. This visit will therefore be continued.
The weather was remarkably cool. On many days the wind was strong and since it came in from the sea, it meant that the jacket had to be put on regularly. And whether the devil played with it, but the raincoat has also been out of the closet a number of times.
The fact that we were clearly further north was also noticeable by the sea water temperature. Especially because the current was northerly, it took some “courage” to take a dip in the sea. With an outside temperature of sixteen degrees, that is of course less inviting, but all that is a matter of persevering. My daughter wanted to swim in the dark, but because of the strong winds that regularly raised their head, we have given up that idea.
But oh well…… shaving stones over the water with your father is also fun.
Poland, Biebrza National Park, spring 2022
Business as usual in Spring 2022. For the umpteenth, now countless times, traveled to the above area during this time of year. Not on my own this time, but in the company of daughter and sister.
Despite the fact that the winter was again as we have known it in Europe for the last decade, too warm and with a mainly westerly wind direction, I always hope that the conditions will be back to normal. That is, a situation where the entire delta is flooded. This is due to the precipitation in the source area of the rivers Narew and Biebrza. This is mostly the case during much of the winter and then the area is home to large numbers of geese, swans and ducks. However, in the last seven to ten years this water is gone before the end of April and with it, the conditions that previously caused an explosion of bird life. The Ruffs that normally arrive around this time, are now moving on two weeks earlier.
But, not taking a chance is always wrong, and so I brought my floating hide again. Fortunately, I know one location where there is always water enough. Unfortunately, this piece is slowly overgrowing, partly because it remains too wet during the summer to mow. And when spring is also very cold and the other birds arrive later then “normal”, there are not so many opportunities left. The few mornings I spent in the water yielded almost nothing. A pair of Red-necked Grebe that was about to nest was actually the only real opportunity. Because disruption then constitutes a clear risk, extremely careful action is required.
The cold spring in turn meant that there were no leaves on the trees yet and the herbal vegetation had yet to get going. The well-known search for caterpillars was therefore again a challenge this time. A month later, the situation within this group is completely different, but my school-going daughter ánd work prevent me from going then. Bring on the pension I would say. From the stories of my Polish friend Jan I pretty much conclude that every bush is then loaded with many species. This does not seem to be an exaggeration as I always get a bunch of photos to see, taken with his smartphone. In between there is always a large batch of species that I have not seen before. There’s something to look forward one might say. The beauty of that time is also that the numbers of butterflies are large. Not to mention the end of June when species such as Emperor butterflies populate the area.
In short, to be continued!
Poland, Biebrza National Park, summer 2021
Setting up a website is one thing, posting news regularly is another. And the latter is sometimes the case. Although sufficient material has become available, I have neglected the latter.
This is the impetus for catching up. A series of at least four items to be current again.
This series is the footage of yet another visit to the Biebrza swamps in northeastern Poland. The period is August 2021. Also this time the focus was mainly on finding caterpillars and butterflies. And if there is enough of that, there is little time left for some other subjects.
Visiting the same area regularly does not mean that you will only encounter the same species. One year is not the next turns out every time. Species of which you have not found a single specimen for years, suddenly appears everywhere. It may well be possible to explain what underlies this, but I do not have that information available for the time being. I don’t think it is due to a change in the landscape, because hardly anything happens with it. Weather conditions may play a role, but as with many other animals, species occasionally have a year in which they occur in significantly larger numbers. For some species, this is also referred to as a “mast year”. With a next news item I will try to find out this info.
For some of the caterpillars, breeding to a butterfly only provides complete certainty about the species. For example, the caterpillar of the Pine Carpet, Pennithera firmata, was about to pupate. A search for comparable recordings of this stage turned up nothing. Fortunately, about two weeks later the butterfly emerged from the pupa and the species was known. With the “gathering” of caterpillars is also an important factor on which plant you find the species. Often the host plant is also directly the food plant. The species mentioned earlier is a good example of this. The caterpillar was therefore not photographed on the correct plant. During the “tapping” of caterpillars, one will have to pay very close attention to where it came from. In other words, check the moment you switch to another tree species or shrub.