Little Hadham Birding: To Hel and Back

Monday 23rd Feb found me heading towards Gdansk and then, via train and bus, to Jastarnia for a 50 mile walk along the Hel peninsula. My plans went awry to begin with as I didn't arrive at Wladyslawowo with enough time to start the walk, so I carried on to Jastarnia by train.
After a large meal and a couple of Polish beers, I returned to my super accommodation before an early start the following morning. I planned to walk the road to Hel and back to begin with, some 20 miles via footpaths, beach and cycle tracks. Most of the way was through conifer forests, so crested tit, siskins, crossbills, great spotted woodpeckers were all noted. However, the highlights were on Gdansk Bay where 100's of goldeneye, goosanders, red breasted mergansers, mute swans, mallards and huge numbers of long tailed duck. All in superb plumage.

2 male long tailed ducks

3 drake and 1 duck red breatsted mergansers

diving long tailed duck

Bewick swans

The last mile to Hel

Jastarnia harbour and long tailed duck

Great spotted woodpecker

A couple of pints in Hel and then a walk back along the Baltic side of the peninsula. The weather remained overcast for most of the day, but not too cold, just above freezing. That evening, another good meal and another early night.
I awoke before first light and headed off to check the harbour. The sun was rising brightly and it looked like being a much better day, light wise. I then set off for Chalupy and back, the middle part of the walk. Again, same habitats, with added interest in a few open areas holding large numbers of skylarks. Overhead, there was a regular passage of both tundra and taiga bean geese along with a common buzzard and plenty of siskins and crossbills. A nuthatch made the list but no hoped for crested tits showing well for a photo. The sun was bright for most of the day, so better photography but not so many birds. Out on the Baltic, more long tailed duck, herring and black headed gulls, common and velvet scoter along with an occasional great crested and black necked grebe.

sunrise over Jastarnia

mute swan movement

common buzzard

herring gull

early morning black headed and common gull

3 bean geese migrating north east

flyby greylag goose

Distant velvet scoter

grey herons

crossbill

I eventually returned via Kusnica to my room. I had time to pop around to the local woodland and reed beds I had birded successfully last April. All very quiet but ticked chiffchaff, willow tit, fieldfare and more bean geese over. Another evening visit to the same restaurant as it was the only one open! Being a holiday destination, all bars and pizzerias etc were boarded up, so off to the shop for a few bottles of beer and back to my room.

WW2 gun implacement. Plenty of military history left in the woods

chiffchaff

acorn eating jay

hooded crow

pair of goosanders

white wagtail

The final morning dawned and I planned a train trip to the end of the peninsula for 2 reasons: 1. to walk to Chalupy and back to complete the 50 mile return journey and also to get into the docks and see if I could find the black scoter. Typically, the coldest and foggiest day but after 20 minutes of scoping the sea from the port breakwater, a scoter with no white and a bright yellow bill, more so than the reasonably regular velvets. My first black scoter. I shot off endless photos, through the fog but none were of any value. This poor shot of a velvet, half the distance away gives an indication of how poor they were.

Not a lot of use, but at least you can make out what it is, just!

Disappointingly, I deleted the lot otherwise I would have been tempted to save them for no apparent reason as not one gave enough for a positive i.d. Peeved, I set off for the final walk. I arrived back at Wladyslawowo ready for a coffee and the train back to pick up my rucksack. I had not, apart from the rare black scoter, added any new birds, so headed off once more in search of black woodpecker and crested tit. No joy, so off to Gdansk for my flight home at 16.20hrs. I arrived at a very foggy airport at 7, checked in and the flight was eventually cancelled at midnight. 6 hours queueing to get rebooked, on a flight from Wroclaw, some 310 miles south on the Sunday.
I did eventually make it but travelling took so long, no more birding was possible, apart from a few hours in parks around Wroclaw.
A super trip and, although the weather conspired against my photography, a list of 54 species is certainly not bad for this area in February. I now intend to return in autumn for the migrant passage, maybe early September. Lovely part of the world.