On the morning of our second (and last) day of birding in southern Poland, we went back to the area with pygmy owls (Glaucidium passerinum)--success!!

We saw the owl for at least twenty minutes (and heard it calling a good bit longer than that). It perched mainly at the top of tall evergreens (20-25 meters up) at the edge of an extended clearing, but flew at one point to a smaller deciduous tree where I managed this blip--not a great sun angle, but at least clear of the myriad small branches.

The Eurasian Pygmy Owl is Europe's smallest owl, averaging 6-7 inches (15-17 cm) in length. It's distinct from pygmy owls found in North America and from at least two dozen other species in the genus glaucidium found worldwide.

At the end of today our guide dropped us back in Krakow's old town where we'll revert to ordinary tourists until our flight back to Paris on Friday.

I've just backblipped an image for yesterday--a romantic view of the Tatra Mountains