Birding in the Danube Delta during springtime is one of the most spectacular events and always produces a long list of specialties. On our way to the Delta we will make a long stop in the Babadag Forests, looking for various forests birds, such as the Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Wood Warbler, Sombre Tit, Hawfinch.
Then we will spend the afternoon in the riverine forests and reedbeds in the vicinity of Tulcea, looking for Black Woodpecker, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Bearded Reedling, Eurasian Penduline Tit, Icterine Warbler, as well as in the wetlands and steppes to the east of the town. In the shallow-water lakes we will find breeding colonies of Caspian Gull, plus Black-winged Stilts and other waders and shore-birds.
On the next morning we will start our birding in the Delta by boat. Using our boat, we have three full days to experience a selection of the best locations within the Danube Delta, seeing birds and places that are simply impossible to reach any other way. The pristine sites in the core of the Delta hold a big variety of birds, including Dalmatian Pelican, Great White Pelican, Pygmy Cormorant, Ferruginous Duck, Red-necked, Black-necked and Great Crested Grebes, White-tailed Eagle, Red-footed Falcon, Eurasian Spoonbill, Glossy Ibis, Little Bittern, Purple Heron, Squacco Heron, Great Egret, Black-crowned Night Heron, Pallas’s Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Slender-billed Gull, Whiskered Tern, Eurasian Penduline Tit, Great Reed Warbler, Savi’s Warbler, Common Reed Bunting and many others. Our accommodation for the next two nights will be in the core of the Danube Delta, the village of Mila 23 – an isolated rural and traditional settlement of the 18th century.
Back from our boat trip, we will visit the Macin Mountain National Park to the west of Tulcea. This volcanic mountain is the oldest in Romania and owing to its habitat diversity it has some of the richest and most interesting fauna and flora, including numerous endemic plants and insects. The key species of birds here will include the Long-legged Buzzard, Short-toed Eagle, Levant Sparrowhawk, Eurasian Hoopoe, European Roller, Isabelline Wheatear, Pied Wheatear, Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, Rose-colored Starling, Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush, Ortolan Bunting, Woodchat Shrike, Lesser Grey Shrike.
During the final part of our tour we will be exploring the alpine zone and conifer and beech forests in the Southern Carpathians – the highest part of this huge mountain chain, spreading across Romania. In the mountain rivers and streams we expect to find White-throated Dippers and Grey Wagtails. There will be a good variety of forest birds, including the White-backed, Black and Grey-headed woodpeckers, Willow Tit, Crested Tit, Bullfinch, Red Crossbills, Spotted Nutcracker, Fieldfare, Wood Warbler, Wood Lark. In the alpine areas we will have very good chances for Alpine Accentor, Black Redstart, Water Pipit, Crag Martin. Here we can also see, enjoy and photograph one of the most beautiful and sougth-after birds in the world – the Wallcreeper.
