Days 1 & 2 :- After the flight into to Krakow, where you will be met by our local guide - Felix Felgar. We start this short break in the city park for woodpeckers which are very active, preparing their nestholes. Felix knows the best areas in the park and will hope to find Black, Grey-headed, Syrian, Middle & Lesser, Spotted Woodpeckers and possibly Wryneck if they've arrived from their wintering grounds. The other interesting species, which we will be looking for include Collared Flycatchers, Short-toed Treecreeper and Hawfinch and Red Squirrels. Later we will embark on a short sightseeing trip into Krakow's beautiful Old Town where we will show you an active Tawny Owl's in the heart of the city. Late afternoon we will take a short drive to the Niepolomicka Forest for Ural Owl. These magnificent birds are very aggressive around their nest sites so special care will be taken when trying to observe them at dusk. We will then go to our rural hotel in the Niepołomicka Forest, for the evening meal and a good night's sleep.

Days 3 & 4 :- After breakfast, we head south to the Pieniny Mountains, where we will be staying in wonderful rural pension. Around the grounds we could be lucky to find White-backed, Three-toed, Grey-headed & Black Woodpeckers. During the day we will be making walks through the primary forest in hope of finding the enigmatic Hazel Hen. It is an excellent time of the year to attract this secretive grouse with a special whistle made of goose bone.

Closer to the dusk we will concentrate on finding owls, starting with Pygmy Owl, which is a diurnal species with the optimum time being late evening or early morning. As it gets darker we will be looking for Tengmalm’s Owl, as there's always a possibility of see them close to their nesthole. The next evening we will walk out to see europe's largest owl – Eagle Owl. The karst limestone rock formations hold a good population of these night-time predators, in fact it's the highest density in Poland. The forest holds many other highlights with breeding Black Storks, Lesser Spotted & Golden Eagles, Peregrine, Nutcracker, Collared Flycatcher, Marsh & Crested Tits. The other wildlife possibilities to find include Red Deer and Wild Boar, and there's always a chance of Brown Bear, Wolf and Lynx - you never know your luck as 2011 we actually found a Gray Wolf!

Lots of flora can be found within the Carpathians such as endemic species like Dentaria glandulosa and Symphytum cordatum, which will be in full bloom. Camperbell Beautys will be on the wing along with Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell. The streams and ponds are excellent breeding grounds for the endemic Carpathian Newt, Yellow bellied Toad and Fire Salamander, a mid-size black and orange amphibian, which was the primitive symbol of alchemy.

Felix knows all the best areas to maximise our chances of success.

Day 5 & 6 :- We might make a pre-breakfast jaunt hoping to find any species we might have missed the previous day. After breakfast we shall make the 1.5 hour journey back towards Krackow where we shall visit the 700 year old Zator fishponds. These wetlands near Auschwitz will have the Spring migration in full flow as migrant and resident waterbirds visit and breed here.

We will be hoping to find Temminck's Stint, Marsh Sandpiper amongst the flocks of Ruff, Spotted Redshank, Green & Wood Sandpiper, Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper, Little Ringed & Ringed Plovers. The ponds are fringed with reeds that are home to a good numbers of herons, egrets and storks. We might also see Penduline Tits building their nests along with Bearded Tits which should be feeding their young. Birds of prey will be patrolling the area with White-tailed Eagle, Marsh Harrier and Sparrowhawk with possibly a migrant Osprey.

The following day, if time allows return to the fishponds, then at the appropriate time we will make the 30Km transfer to the airport to catch our flight back to Britain.