We left Bialowieza this morning at 9 a.m. after breakfast. There wasn’t a pre-breakfast walk, so we could sleep in a bit. The weather was solidly overcast but not raining. We drove north for about 90 minutes before reaching the city of Bialystok, the largest city in the region. We drove to some fish ponds on the edge of the city to birdwatch. At the ponds, we mostly saw ducks and various raptors doing some hunting, including a Goshawk that nearly caught a duck and a White-tailed Eagle that successfully caught a fish.
Next, we drove out into the country to a small farming village. The place for lunch was a farm house with a pension built on the back, including a dining room. It’s a place that Wild Poland has been visiting for a few years. We had a nice lunch that included breads, cold meats, cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, crepes with farm-made cottage cheese inside that were quite delicious, and some pickled pears that were also very good. And there was a warm currant juice that was great.
In the same village, there was a viewing platform over a river, which we climbed and birdwatched from for a while. There were also some cute goats and traditional Polish cows in fields near the platform.
We then drove into the Biebrza National Park to a viewing platform, looking for elk and birds. Here’s the view over a part of the marsh.
Our lodging for the next few days, called Dwor Dobarz, is inside the park. The rooms here are larger and nicer than in our previous pension.
Tonight after our 6:30 dinner, we’ll take a nighttime boat ride on the nearby river to look for beavers. I’ll write about that adventure tomorrow.
Lori's Travels 