Poland-Reptiles & Amphibians

The sandy landscape in many of the wooded clearings were ideal habitat for reptiles , with both Grass Snake & Adder easily found basking in the warmth, along with a few Sand Lizards.Also the marshes and ponds held a variety of Frog & Toad species, ( the noise they made was something else,an experiance in itself).Great stuff.

Adder ,Vipera berus,basking in the late afternoon sun.

Grass Snake, Natrix natrix,

Grass Snake close up.

Mating Grass Snakes.

Grass Snake

Grass Snake

Grass Snake.

Moor Frogs, Rana arvalis. Also called the Blue Frog, the males develop a bright blue colouration for a few days in the breeding season.

Fire Bellied Toad, Bombina bombina.Quite beautiful for a Toad.

Fire Bellied Toad.

Common Spadefoot Toad ,Pelobates fuscus. Also known as the Garlic Toad as when alarmed can release a noxious secretion that has a garlic odour.

Marsh Frog.  Pelophylax ridibundus.

Sand Lizard.  Lacerta agilis. A male in mating season colours.

European Tree frog. Hyla arborea

European Tree Frog.

Poland- Some macro shots.

Four photos of some of the smaller animals  chanced upon while wandering around in the Polish countryside.

Firebugs -Pyrrhocoris apteris

Mating Camberwell Beauty's-Nymphalis antiopa.

Raft Spider.Dolomedes fimriatus.

European Red Wood Ant-Formica rufa.

Poland-White Storks.

We made a couple of visits to Pentowo, where from a tower, we had brilliant views of the White Storks on thier nesting platforms . After a few days we started to take the Storks for granted but I still found them to be great birds to watch and photograph.

On nest

Coming in to land

Yikes!

Catching a Diving Beetle

Frog lunch

Bill clapping greeting

Mating

More mating

Bringing in more sticks

More photos on my website www.adriandaveybirdphotography.co.uk

Poland- Penduline Tits.

Male Penduline Tit at nest

Male Penduline Tit nest building

Male Penduline Tit

We found a couple of Penduline Tits in the process of building thier nest ,which are a skillfully constructed, pouched shaped affair attached to the outer end of a twig usually hanging over the water, and made mostly of bulrush down, a joy to see.

Two more Polish Peckers

Woodpeckers were often encountered in Poland and although the Grey Headed eluded my lens, nice views were had of both Lesser Spotted  and Wryneck..

Female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

A very confiding Wryneck

A trip to Poland-Black Woodpecker.

Male Black Woodpecker

Male Black woodpecker

Female Black Woodpecker

Just got back from nine days in and around the Biebrza National Park in Poland, in the company of five other members of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Photo Group, for the annual IFWP  congress.A good time was had along with the chance to see and photograph a range of species rarely seen or not found at home.
This Black Woodpecker at its nest hole was photographed from a hide in the forest,one of the highlights of the trip.