Warta Mouth Wetlands

Where the Warta runs into the Oder the land was left as it is: a wide floodplain that is allowed to flood, with meadows, shallow pools, willow scrub and reed. That makes it one of the few places in this part of Europe where a river still behaves seasonally, and the birds respond accordingly. In spring the water spreads across thousands of hectares and waders and ducks arrive to breed; in autumn tens of thousands of geese use it as a stopover and the noise at dusk carries for kilometres. The national park, created in 2001 over about eighty square kilometres, is the youngest in Poland, and its Slonsk core has been a Ramsar site since 1984; in the southern part the water level can change by four metres in a year. Visiting means driving the dyke roads, walking the marked routes and climbing the observation towers with binoculars.

What you'll find

• The autumn goose roost - very large flocks arriving at dusk, the single most impressive thing here.
• The observation towers - wooden platforms above the dykes giving a view over the flooded meadows.
• The spring flood - shallow sheet water covering the polder, with breeding waders working the margins.
• The dyke roads - gravel tracks along the embankments that double as the main walking and cycling routes.

When to go

The two migration windows are the point: March to May and again from September to November, with October usually the peak for geese. Dawn and the hour before dark are when the birds move. Midsummer is quiet and hot with tall vegetation, and the flooding varies year to year, so water levels are worth checking before a long drive.

Practical notes

Without binoculars or a scope there is very little to see, and the birds keep their distance. Access roads are gravel and become poor in wet weather, and some routes close when the water is high. Facilities amount to car parks and towers, there is almost no shelter from wind or rain, and mosquitoes in the warmer months are heavy.

Nearby

Kostrzyn sits at the confluence itself, and Gorzow Wielkopolski is about forty minutes north east.

Key facts