Ancient forest of the north European plain

In the far north-east of Poland, extending over the border into Belarus, is the vast Bialowieza Forest, containing some of the largest surviving fragments of the primeval forest of the north European Plain. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve and parts of it in both countries are National Parks. Although certain areas of the forest are strictly protected, much of the Polish part is still managed for commercial forestry interests. Yet it remains probably the best example of ancient woodland in the north European lowlands and ‘constitutes a critical reference point for studies of woodland ecology’.

The forest lies in a transitional zone between the more temperate nemoral and the colder boreal, with a mix of broad-leaved and coniferous woodlands, varying with the topography and the wetness of the ground. It owes its rich ecology to around 500 years of protection - until the 20th century as a prestigious hunting reserve of Polish kings, then of Russian tsars. You can see the Russian influence in the architecture of the older houses in this area, including the tsars’ old hunting lodge.

The forest is also a special place in terms of its acoustic ecology, offering some of the most spacious and varied avian soundscapes of European woodland. The arboreal space enhances the symphonic diversity of interlaced themes within the acoustic architecture of a cathedral. There’s a pervasive timeless quality: this may be as close as we can get to the soundscapes that greeted the first human settlers to central and northern Europe after the last ice age.

The forest area is low-lying and fairly flat, crossed by several slow-flowing rivers. Along some sections of these rivers there are quite wide corridors of more open habitat, with marshes, pools, sedge meadows and reed-beds, all interspersed with patches of shrubbery. Often where the ground is boggy, the edge of the forest is alder swamp and this type of wood seems to have its own community, usually with icterine warbler and golden oriole: thrush nightingales and river warblers are common wherever there’s a mix of cover and open ground.

These intergrading riverine habitats have an interesting mix of forest and wetland birds and remain lush with song for much of the day and into the night. The dampness and warmth in spring give rise to frequent overnight mists and heavy dews: mosquitoes thrive here, providing an abundant source of food for the insectivorous birds, but a challenge for any human visitor wanting to sit still for longer periods.

This album features a selection of scenes that have stuck with me: in the 10 years that have elapsed since my visits there, I keep returning to them and still find them enthralling. Tracks 1 to 4, then 9 and 10, are all taken around the same clearing on the Narewka river just beyond the outskirts of Bialowieza village; tracks 5 to 8 are from further out along the riversides. The scenes take us through the course of a morning; then the final track is the evening chorus, roughly back where we began. All the tracks except the last (evening) are segued together, reflecting the continuity of locations, times and community.

For further information on the birds of the forest: 
The avifauna of Bialowieza Forest: a window into the past.
Ludwik Tomiałojć and Tomasz Wesołowski 
British Birds Vol 98: 4 April 2005