Meetings with the inhabitants of the villages of Pisklaki and Szostaki.

On 23 January this year the first meeting with the farmers carried out within the framework of the project "Protection of rare zonal birds in selected areas of Natura 2000 in the Lublin region" took place. A hard frost in the evening and a full moon were encouraging, to be sure, to go into the forest in search of Eurasian eagle owl, but we managed no to succumb to this temptation. The last section of the road to the village of Pisklaki could successfully be driven on a sleigh, but we managed to arrive on time in this beautifully located village in the vicinity of the Solska Forest. We easily found the fire station, located by the river Tanwia, where the hosts were waiting for us in the already prepared hall. Immediately after crossing the threshold of the fire station we felt the friendly atmosphere and the warmth emanating not only from the fireplace.

As the hour of starting our meeting was approaching, we became more and more anxious about whether anyone would come. After all, the biting cold was not encouraging to leave warm houses. Fortunately, our concerns proved to be totally unsupported. The inhabitants of the villages of Pisklaki and Szostaki proved to be reliable, willing to start working with us. From the beginning of our presentation, the hall was full of people, from very young children to the representatives of the oldest generation. In total, more than 50 people came. Even the local parish priest and the representatives of the Council of Łuków Gmina graced us with their presence. We hope that everyone attentively listened to the information concerning zonal birds and activities that are carried out in order to provide protection for them. Apart from the presentation of individual species and methods of their protection, we were also encouraging the farmers to cooperate in various activities carried out within the framework of the project, including in leasing meadows, which is designed to recreate favourable feeding conditions for lesser spotted eagle. We also discussed the aspect of poisoning of foxes, as a consequence of which rare bird species are dying as well, including white-tailed eagles, sometimes in large numbers. The story of Posejdon - a nestling of lesser spotted eagle, which was saved by the ornithologists this year and "adopted" by another, stranger pair of lesser spotted eagles, aroused great interest.

As a form of gratitude for them coming, all the participants of the meeting received our promotional T-shirts with drawings of zonal birds. After the presentation, the hosts invited everyone for a snack prepared by the inhabitants of Pisklaki and Szostaki. At the end of the Saturday meeting we were strongly impressed with the local inhabitants, their organization, thrift and openness to new activities, such as the participation in our project. We cordially thank all the participants of the meeting, who decided to dedicate their free time, both for the preparation of the meeting and listening to us. We would like to especially thank Basia (she was the village leader for Szostaki) and Janusz (he was the village leader for Pisklaki) for their help in organizing the meeting. We hope that we will have the opportunity to visit the beautifully located villages by the Tanwia again, more than once.