A true backyard nature sounds album — I realized it has been a while since I wrote a story here, but the work made it a bit harder to write about birds. Thankfully, the musical side of me still posts new things, and today is one of the days when you can listen to my newest work…

The great tits, and why they are important to ornithologists — If you live in Europe, North Africa, or Asia, you’ve most likely seen this guy. Or at least you’ve seen a very similar one, as there are 15 recognized sub-species of great tits. Great tits aren’t great in terms of size. They measure up to 14 centimeters in length and…

Nature sound recording walk — I had the pleasure of spending last weekend near Warta Mouth National Park. It was 2 weeks too late to see ruffs coming here for breeding, but the visit was fruitful (birdful?) nonetheless. We stayed at…

Finally spotting the Eurasian wryneck, one of the two wryneck species — A year ago, when I was kayaking with my family, I heard a sound described by ornithologists as quee-quee-quee-quee. The water level was low and kayaking was too much on the sports side than nature side than I would have liked, so I was quite sad that I didn’t have…

Long-range migratory bird is back in Europe after winter break — Swifts are birds that are considered highly aerial, meaning that they spend a lot of time in the air for someone who’s affected by gravity after all. They are the fastest of birds in level flight, and they are endurance flyers as well, who can cover even 200 000 km…

Mobile app-supported walk in nature — After spotting the majority of birds that could be spotted within walking distance of the city (although new ones do appear), there was a bit of stagnation in my life when it comes to learning about new species. But after some time, I’ve discovered that there aren’t only apps supporting…

Wood warbler, one of the few birds expanding its area in human-centric times — It seemed impossible to see a new bird species within walking distance from home without going to the zoo, but here we are. This weekend I’ve decided to revisit Dębina Park where I saw small goldeneyes leaving their nest. Goldeneyes were nowhere to be found, but someone else was…

Oocyte retrieval is the surgery that allows access to eggs from ovaries for later use in fertility treatments such as IVF. The reason to do it varies from troubles with conceiving naturally, to preventative retrieval before undergoing treatments that could destroy those cells, like chemotherapy. The process consists of preparation…

Is it worth paying attention to common birds? — The word common in scientific names is sometimes making me sad. Apart from the fact that those who named them thought that common meant that this animal was widely distributed where they lived (mainly in Europe), I feel this world doesn’t do them justice. And as someone who records birds…