Poland wildlife and similar wild life where you live.

It is a rather dear deer.

Smart too, probably senses you meant no harm.

White tailed deer. Looks like the ones I saw the other day and took pics. Where were the deer?

Thats exactly the same species as i had in my garden....In the UK we would call it a roe deer...thats a female one you have a great pic of.....I already posted a pic of the one that sits under my window , she is there most mornings , and rests there most of the day untill dusk when she goes in search of food....

On the Chełm mountain in Myślenice (more or less in between Krakow and Zakopane) in the forest in the Beskidy mountain range.
I have deer running around the house here but they are faster than I am at getting my camera.


That is what I thought when I was searching the internet for it but I found this:


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_deer

And wasn't so sure.


All year?
Do you feed her in winter?

Well i do see a deer hanging around in the summer too , but they change their colour a bit in summer , so i can,t be sure its the same one...There are lots of them running around on my land , and in the fields beyond , but two in particular come very close to the house...I am sure i could make friends with them , but as the hunters also come close to here i don,t want to teach them that humans are nice people , as it will lesson their survival chances....I must say it peeves me a bit that hunters can legally come on your land to shoot stuff , mind you , if i see them , i fire up the Harley , a quick blast of thunder through open pipes soon gets rid of any wildlife that might have been a target...

I don,t actively feed them in the winter , but i do throw my excess apples over the fence so that any hungry animals can have a chomp on them..

Roe Deer
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Roe Deer

Male and female Roe Deer
Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Cervidae

Subfamily: Odocoileinae

Genus: Capreolus
Gray, 1821
Species: C. capreolus

Binomial name
Capreolus capreolus
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Range of Capreolus capreolus
The European Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) is a deer species of Europe, Asia Minor, and Caspian coastal regions. There is a separate species known as the Siberian Roe Deer (Capreolus pygargus) that is found from the Ural Mountains to as far east as China and Siberia. The two species meet at the Caucasus Mountains, with the European species occupying the southern flank of the mountain ranges and adjacent Asia Minor and the Siberian species occupying the northern flank of the mountain ranges. Within Europe, the European Roe Deer occurs in most areas, with the exception of northernmost Scandinavia (north of Narvik) and some of the islands, notably Iceland, Ireland, and the Mediterranean Sea islands; in the Mediterranean region it is largely confined to mountainous regions, and is absent or rare at low levels. Scottish roe deer were introduced to the Lissadell Estate in Co. Sligo in the Republic of Ireland around 1870 by Sir Henry Gore-Booth, Bt.[2]. The deer survived in that general area for about 50 years before they died out and there are not believed to be any roe deer currently

This is a curious creature.
It is this time of year that I see this bird, perhaps it migrates south for winter?
But it appears to be a woodpecker by it's markings, does anyone know if my assumption is correct?
This particular one was on the ground eating from the garden, I live near lots of forest.
I do not know if it always eats this way or this just supplements his diet?
Basically I haven't a clue about this bird, so if anyone can point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it.
I will try to take better photos of the wee fella in the future.

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It's green woodpecker.
He stays in Poland whole year. Beautiful bird :)

Thank you very much, that's perfect :)
Yes, beautiful colourful plumage.


(from the wiki link provided above)

So he is around here somewhere.


Plenty of ants in the garden and my neighbour is sickling the grass for storage to feed his rabbits through out the coming winter.
So the ants must be easier to get to with the low grass.

Here is what appears to be a tree nest hole.
As I said before I am a city boy so I am going to make some assumptions and please let me know if I did not get it right.

What strikes me as odd about this nest is how far down the tree it is.
I thought that the whole point about tree nest holes was to make it difficult for predators to get at your young.
I assume it's a nest because of what looks to me, like excrement coming down from the hole.
Perhaps even the original builder of the hole is no longer the occupant but it looks like it was used for some time given the amount of excrement.

Any ideas about the possible occupants would be most appreciated.

These photos were taken today:

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Could be an area where there are no natural predators for the birds?

I have seen long-tailed Weasel (Wiki), Anguis fragilis (slow worms) Wiki, snakes and I would imagine there are definitely badgers.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasel
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anguis_fragilis

Maybe one of these guys occupied the nest after gobbling up the builder?

It is rather curious why a big would nest at such a low level. Can we be sure it a bird?

Good question, is there another animal which makes such holes?
Perhaps such an animal would not even have to make it but if the tree were rotten enough, it might have been able to 'push' it's way in?

But you can get lost if you think I am going to stick my hand in to check for rot hahahaha

Im not sure, though the excrement on the edge of the hole would suggest it was a bird. Did you notice any wildlife around the tree?

Well it is the forest in the Beskidy mountains, which contain most, if not all, of the animals on this thread. It does look like a bird stuck its rear end out of the hole though, rather than a weasel or something.

I also cant help thinking that the green woodpecker (wiki),
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Woodpecker
the one just a few posts up from this might have a part to play for two reasons

A). It's a woodpecker and can make this type of thing
B). It eats off the ground, kind of a more ground ant eating bird than any other I know.

But I might be just connecting the dots because I have just recently discovered that particular type of bird and what I would consider, strange habits.

Here is the fella again

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I think you might have solved it. As I cant see any other animal making those holes and by the looks of it making a nest. I've had woodpeckers in the garden before, and never noticed them nesting in the nest boxes, which I kept up high thinking cats ect could get them.

Perhaps its just a bird thats afraid of heights,,,its possible...?

EUREKA!


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Woodpecker#Breeding
Well it is certainly a good possibility :)


It would certainly seen the species as a whole, would like to return to the ground alright :)

Were you pretty close up or is it a decent zoom lens sean?

I think you have it done and dusted.Well done!!!!

Canon S5 IS and the later models have a fantastic zoom on them.
Also that was taken through my dusty bedroom window and I was shaking too much but when I opened the window to support myself on it, the bird took off.

It is the same camera I use for the youtube videos.

A good pic nonetheless.


It has good reviews.

I recently used a newer model, much better.
The two main problems with mine are, it doesn't 'zoom out' enough, so taking a photo indoors is awkward and the lens cap keeps falling off.

But the video, 'zoom in' and all the rest of the features like the programs that came free with it are all great and easy to use.

What animals made these tracks?

This is my first attempt at posting tracks, perhaps next time I will put a coin or something beide the track to give you an indicator to the size and also I could photo the pattern of the tracks, to make this easier and better.

The last two photos are of the same tracks.

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Track one..is a deer Track two i think is a badger....i think the last two are Polish forest elves....?

For me this is the best of Poland - Brda river and Bory Tucholskie. For some reason wild animals doesn't care about the river, so if you are quiet you are able to see a lot more.

I recommend this river to anyone, who loves wildlife.

The first one is a sarna. The second looks like a lis

Sarna is a



I think it definitely looks like a deer, although I have no knowledge of which particular dear, which sex or how old it is.
These are questions I would like to find out, so if anyone could help me with that one it'd be great.


It is a pity with this one that I did not put something beside it because it was very big and wide and although I initially thought it was a badger too, I think it may be a very big dog because it has only four fingers.

Badger tracks have five fingers:




I think the last one is also a little dog.

I will get more tracks over the coming months.
They are very easy to see in the snow.
I will give an indication of size and of walking pattern, so as we may be better informed next time, as to which animal they may be.

Another thing that interests me, which I have very little idea about, are actual bird songs and distinguishing various birds by their song.
If anyone has any links to a website that plays the birdsong along with the name of the bird, I would be most grateful.

I heard this wee fella banging away at the tree, which must have been tough as it was minus 12 today when I took this. So the woodpecker must be double hard to knock away at a frozen tree.

Any information on this bird would be much appreciated. Sorry for the bad camera shots, in my defence it was minus 12 and this guy was way up the tree.

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