Pentowo - European Stork Village


There are almost 160 thousand of stork couples living all over the world and ca. 44 thousands of them have their nests in Poland. The white storks are seen as bringing good fortune, and their arrival in late March heralds the onset of spring (read more: Storks). In the 90s, the European Natural Heritage Fund nature (EuroNatur) came up with the title of “European Stork Village” to those municipalities that besides having a strong presence had made significant efforts to white stork protection and conservation of the breeding areas. Since then, each year EuroNatur honours the contribution of a different village. According to the foundation regulations, such a title may wear only one place in each country. The first location was awarded Cigoc, Croatia, in 1994. In 2001 Pentowo in Poland was honoured with a prestigious title of the European Village of Storks. 

Pentowo is a settlement situated near Tykocin between the Narew and the Biebrza National Parks in Eastern Poland. The vicinity of the village has outstanding nesting conditions, particularly since the extensive fields and pastures surrounding it provide feeding grounds for the storks. Surrounding meadows in the Narew river valley are rich in insects and frogs.


The amazing story of storks in Pentowo began in 1992 when a hurricane occurred there. Storks began to build their nests on the top of broken trees but also in all available places such as roofs and electricity posts. Thanks to the actions of the farm owner collaborating with the PTOP (Polish Society for the Protection of Birds) with some help of local people they managed to construct over 30 nests. Currently on a single farm is home to the largest colony of white storks in Poland. Yearly in Pentowo is about 30-40 stork couples. They usually appear at the end of March and they stay until Autumn.


In the old farm in Pentowo are the visitor information centre and observation towers. From stork-viewing towers, visitors can look down into nests used year after year. In the year 2000, Polish horses were also introduced in the farm. They stay in the meadows all day long and only in the winter time they spend nights in stables. Another attraction of the farm is Polish red cattle. Near the Pentowo is the small village of Kiermusy where is European Bison Conservation Center located.


Nearby is the Tykocin - former royal town with its magnificent Baroque synagogue (see next post).

You can read articles about Podlasie region: 

Labels:
Location: Pentowo, Poland

Comments

  1. Bob Bushell4/5/16 8:21 pm

    Beautiful images of the Stork, well photographed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Suza4/5/16 9:28 pm

    so fantastic

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ramon Roura4/5/16 10:55 pm

    Beautiful. I like the third one!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ramon Roura4/5/16 10:55 pm

    ... the second too!

    ReplyDelete
  5. NCSue5/5/16 1:20 am

    Well - very cool! We don't see storks here.
    Thanks so much for sharing at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2016/05/snorkeling-on-saint-thomas.html

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gunn5/5/16 8:51 am

    Superb images!

    ReplyDelete
  7. FotowizjaWeroniki5/5/16 10:42 am

    Jakie wspaniałe bociany, pięknie pokazane :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ania5/5/16 3:31 pm

    Tekstów nie rozumiem, ale zdjęcia są piękne - będę tu częściej zaglądać.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lady Fi5/5/16 10:01 pm

    Wow - fabulous place and fabulous shots.

    ReplyDelete
  10. eileeninmd5/5/16 10:18 pm

    Hello, I love the storks and the nest. Very cool sighting. Happy Thursday, enjoy your day and weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ignacio Santana5/5/16 11:40 pm

    Hola, amigo!!!...muchas gracias por visitar mi blog, es un gran honor para mí, y por darme la oportunidad de ver tus trabajos...muy buenas fotografías!!!

    Un gran abrazo!!! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Liz6/5/16 5:24 am

    What fabulous birds! I love the nests.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Impulsive Artistry6/5/16 6:02 pm

    Amazing photos - what a neat collection of images! Well done! Greetings from Raleigh, North Carolina.
    —Charles

    ReplyDelete
  14. Electra6/5/16 6:56 pm

    These images are stunning!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Gemma Wiseman8/5/16 1:24 pm

    These storks certainly like a solid nest perched high. Grand collection of photos.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Bear and Cardigan8/5/16 1:39 pm

    Thankyou for sharing I hadn't heard of the Stork Village of any of these towns and villages. I look forward to photo's of the bison, horses and cattle :-) #MySundayPhoto

    ReplyDelete
  17. Brewtiful Fiction8/5/16 10:17 pm

    some fantastic photographs there and lovely write up to go along with them, very interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous10/5/16 11:30 am

    Amazing photos and they look so gorgeous in their natural habitat! #mysundayphoto

    ReplyDelete
  19. Intelliblog10/5/16 7:18 pm

    Beautiful storks!
    Thanks for joining the Travel Tuesday meme! Look forward to your next contribution.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous11/5/16 2:45 am

    Many thanks for being a part of SEASONS! Season runs each week, so hope to "see" you back next week:) Amazing photography and great captures!
    (Holland,my country of origin) Dutch children used to believe that babies were brought by the storks to their mommy and daddy:) The close-up from the stork is amazing! Three stork nests on one roof - unheard of here (California)!

    ReplyDelete
  21. sherry from sherrys pickings11/5/16 9:49 am

    aren't they wonderful? so big and beautiful. We saw a nest when we were in Hungary years ago. such marvellous birds. love your photos.

    ReplyDelete
  22. MelodyK18/5/16 8:19 am

    wow...amazing.... truly wonderful, photo's are gorgious, like the birds ofcourse... my favorite kind of animals besides dogd and cats

    Have a nice ABC-Wednes-day / – week
    ♫ M e l ☺ d y ♫ (abc-w-team)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Lea18/5/16 12:11 pm

    Interesting information, and beautiful photos!
    I enjoyed this very much!
    You should link to Paying Ready Attention for Wild Bird Wednesday
    http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  24. Joy18/5/16 8:00 pm

    Sounds like a wonderful area. Superb photos.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Leslie:20/5/16 12:32 am

    What a special place! Would love to visit.
    Leslie
    abcw team

    ReplyDelete
  26. Roger Owen Green21/5/16 8:31 am

    A village of storks. That'd be a nice collective noun!

    ROG, ABCW

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous3/6/16 1:33 pm

    Wonderful! I am happy the storks are back in my country (Sweden) too after being extinct for many years! Happy weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Prunella Pepperpot3/6/16 5:48 pm

    What wonderful photos of Storks you have shared, thank you.
    Have a wonderful weekend :)

    ReplyDelete
  29. betty-NZ4/6/16 7:35 am

    What beautiful birds! I don't think I have ever seen one for myself and your photos are so good. I'm glad that they have been helped along with the nests. That speaks highly of the people of Poland.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Arija6/6/16 12:02 pm

    How wonderful that the Storks have still a safe place to breed without Monsanto herbicides poisoning their habitat.

    ReplyDelete
  31. DeniseinVA9/6/16 7:36 pm

    These photos are incredible. The Storks are amazing birds and I love the one of them sitting on their nests on the roof. Thank you so much for sharing with Today's Flowers, and I wish you a very happy day :)

    ReplyDelete

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