A two day visit to Poznan for a day’s bird watching and a chance to catch up with friends at Poznan University. I was taken out by Irek, from the biology faculty, to woods and the river valley north of the city. This was my third days birding with him in two years. Very useful to have a local guide as he knows all the routes. Our target bird was the crested tit, a bird I have searched for in vain on several continental visits. After a walk of 2 hours in forests adjacent to the River Warta, Irek pointed to the undergrowth, 
where a crested tit was hurriedly feeding. At last: my first sighting of this species. Brief glimpses confirmed the species but it remained camera shy. I managed one poor “record” shot but had more luck photographing a middle spotted woodpecker, crested lark and tree sparrows. Later on we heard another calling in amongst a group of mixed tits, but they were high in the conifers and difficult to view. A visit to a lake on the outskirts of the city added mallard, coot and great crested grebe along with mute swans. All these were concentrated into a small pocket of free flowing water, with the majority of the huge lake being frozen solid. The temperatures dropped to 10 degrees below zero, so the ice was thick enough for 
people to skate and ice sail.
Photographs shown here:
where a crested tit was hurriedly feeding. At last: my first sighting of this species. Brief glimpses confirmed the species but it remained camera shy. I managed one poor “record” shot but had more luck photographing a middle spotted woodpecker, crested lark and tree sparrows. Later on we heard another calling in amongst a group of mixed tits, but they were high in the conifers and difficult to view. A visit to a lake on the outskirts of the city added mallard, coot and great crested grebe along with mute swans. All these were concentrated into a small pocket of free flowing water, with the majority of the huge lake being frozen solid. The temperatures dropped to 10 degrees below zero, so the ice was thick enough for 
people to skate and ice sail.
Photographs shown here:1. waterfowl concentration on frozen lake
2. River Warta
3. Tree sparrow
4. main road through the forest
5. Middle spotted woodpecker in snow
6. another middle spotted woodpecker
7. crested lark
8. crested tit
9. jay
10.frozen fish ponds
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