Alphabetical list

Eurasian Collar Doves are currently very common, especially in city aglomerations. This bird, from a family of doves, has an amazing red eye. Unluckily, it can only be seen in the close ups and subdued light. Eurasian Collar Dove is an example of an evasive bird species, which, just a century ago, did not appear in Poland. Now, it is popular enough that everyone treat it as something natural, simply native. Weight of an Eurasian Collared Dove does not exceed 200 grams with a wingspan of around 60 centimeters.

It is a water bird of the family Rallidae commonly occurring in Poland. Its body mass is about 1 kilogram, with a wingspan of approximately 70 cm. After the breeding season it is often seen in large flocks, attracting the attention of eagles, whose favorite food, next to fish and carrion, it is. It likes standing waters with reed beds, where it can quickly hide in case of danger.
Last minute news 09/2013

Swallows rock caught up in the mountains in Turkey. Unfortunately, as it is sometimes swallows, their rapid flight and a small silhouette provide technical barrier to the implementation of a satisfactory picture. So I waited, and I made pictures of swallows resting on windowsills window. Photos are documentation and not likely to in the future, it was different. All galleries swallows on my website, so far, is of such nature. Maybe would appear to be time and opportunity to make a deviation from this shameful tradition ...

Or my so far unfulfilled photographer’s dream. The pictures presented here were taken in Norway, quite by chance, and taking good photos of this largest representative of the group of waders in Poland, is my dream. Unfortunately, due to small population of the Eurasian curlew in Poland, this won’t be an easy thing to do. Various sources report that in Poland there are from 600-900 nesting pairs. The bird is huge indeed. Its weight can be up to 1.5 kg, with a wingspan of about one meter.

It took me a long time to have my own photos of the eagle owl. For many years I had no opportunity to watch an eagle owl - the largest owl included in the fauna of Poland. And again, thanks to kindness and selfless help from others  I finally managed to take pictures of an eagle owl. Krzysztof, Halina - thank you very much for the tip, because without your help there still would be a vacancy in the eagle owl gallery on my website. This gallery starts with photographs of young eagle owls.

We stopped at a village and after getting off the car we could hear quite distinctive squeak. Two eurasian hobbies circled above our heads. They were a couple. The difficulty was to obtain clear images. They were moving so quickly,  and their silhouettes were so petite that  this task became as difficult as shooting swallows in flight. Fortunately, there were moments when they approached flying with the smooth easy flight and I managed to take a few photos. The pictures are more of a documentary value, but they are the first pictures of this bird I took.

Eurasian Jay is an agent of a forest police or, if you prefer, belongs to the forest's early warning system. Many times, when I was camouflaged in the woods, it approached me so close that after realising the distance, it started screaming and scared away all the nearby birds. Once, it was really amusing, when it sat about 3 meters from my observation window and for couple of seconds we were looking at each other, while I waited for its final reaction. Jay had an acorn in its beak, which it dropped after finding out I was there, and it started preventive action.

Thanks to its black and white coloring an Eurasian Magpie is a very characteristic bird, which is hard to mistake for any other. It often inhabits urbanized areas. Despite appearances, it is not easy to photograph as it keeps a big distance from people. Like an Eurasian Jay it belongs to the forest's early warning system and screeches loudly when it spots the danger. Magpie is omnivorous. It hunts insects, snails, other bird's chicks, small birds, rodents, carcasses and rests of the food inclusive.

I have a big soft spot for this bird. Often during your photo “hunts” this bird is the only one on which you can count, and you can always find it in forests and parks. It widely occurs all year round, so you can watch it and photograph it almost everywhere and nearly always. Due to its nice, colorful plumage, in proper lighting conditions you can take satisfactory pictures, to which you will gladly go back. In size it is smaller than the sparrow (with a weight of about 20g/ the sparrow: ~30g), with a wingspan of less than 30 centimeters.

It was my first encounter with an otter, quite unexpected and unplanned. It took place while going to the airport, after photographing the northern lights (aurora borealis). Due to tough driving conditions we traveled quite slowly, enough to see the otter lying on the ice on the edge of the fiord and feeding. We managed to take some photos, although after a while the otter took the fish and hid its meal under ice. Because of the ebb between the ice and the shore there was an ice-covered niche, where the otter drew its prey and continued the meal.