Romania Part 2 - the Danube and Dobrogea

Day 5 - 14th June

Leaving the Carpathians, we spent most of today in transit between Bran and Tulcea; it was a long way, not aided by some very questionable signposting (e.g. to the ferry across the Danube), but sightings front the car saw us land a Black Stork and our first Long-legged Buzzard of the week, along with several Rollers and Lesser Grey Shrikes. 

We broke for lunch some way east of Bucharest, at Lake Ianca. This proved to be a good decision, as it produced our only Dalmatian Pelicans of the week, with five in the heat haze, as well as good selection of ducks including a Red-crested Pochard and several Garganey, 4 Spoonbills and lots Black-winged Stilts and Bee-eaters.

4 of 5 Dalmatian Pelicans

Back on the road, having found the ferry, we crossed to Smardan, where Whiskered Terns, Pygmy Cormorants and Glossy Ibises were in evidence on the river beyond, before finally reaching Tulcea, the 'gateway to the Danube', at about 5pm (having left Bran at about 9am). 

Day 6 - 15th June 

Today was our big day – a cruise on the Danube Delta. We were taken out by a local guide, Mihai Baciu, who owns his own boat and used to be a ranger within the Delta, so he knew his stuff and is definitely recommended (see his website here). We travelled about 12km there and 12km back, but barely scratched the surface of this amazing place which, at around 4000 square kilometres, is about twice the size of Nottinghamshire (which is mind blowing); the scale of the habitat is incredible, and whilst we spent most of our time cruising along channels lined by riverine forest, we also came across reedbeds and lakes.

Canal Mila 35

I think this is Lacul cu Cotete

More riverine forest and reed

And the birds? Well, there was an almost constant movement of Squacco Herons and Night-herons overhead throughout the day, and I bagged my first ever White Pelicans (with around 300 during the day including several large squadrons) and also finally caught up with a Grey-headed Woodpecker – in fact we saw around five, with more calling. Add to that Little Bittern, Spoonbill, Pygmy Cormorant, Black Stork, Red-necked and Black-necked Grebe, breeding Goldeneye (a surprise), Garganey, Ferruginous Duck, White-tailed Eagle, Glossy Ibis, Caspian Gull, Whiskered Tern, Cuckoo (very frequent), Roller (frequent), Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Black Woodpecker, dombrowskii Yellow Wagtail, Great Reed Warbler, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Thrush Nightingale, Penduline Tit, Golden Oriole, Red-backed and Lesser Grey Shrikes, and perhaps not surprising that we clocked up 71 species without too much difficulty.

Grey-headed Woodpecker

Pygmy Cormorant

Night-heron

We also jammed into an alleged Wildcat. I say alleged, as I was far from convinced initially; it was sat on the bank and allowed close approach in our boat, shaking it’s head (suggesting it had ear mites) and not looking very lively. More to the point, it wasn’t at all well marked, although it did have the jowly look of a Wildcat. However, it was in the same place on our return, and this time was spooked by another boat, and when it turned, it showed a nice bushy tail with a rounded black tip and no lateral stripe. A bit of research indicates that Wildcats come in ‘forest’ and ‘steppe’ forms, the former being stripy and well marked, and the latter much less so. I don’t know which ones occur in the Delta, but some Googling did bring up images of Wildcats which looked rather like ours - assuming, of course they are correctly labelled. So who knows... It was a long way from civilisation, but there were occasional fishing huts in the area, so I guess it’s not unfeasible that feral cats or hybrids could be at large.

... a Wildcat??

Day 7 – 16^th June

We began today by going to Babadag Forest, to the south of Tulcea. Another large site, it was difficult to know where to begin, but a few forays into the trees produced Hawfinch, Nightingale, Woodlark, Middle and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, Wryneck and Wood Warbler, plus plenty of Red-backed Shrikes in open areas. I was also pleased to pick out a singing Icterine Warbler, and a Lesser Spotted Eagle was our only one of the trip. Butterflies included Assman’s Fritillary, Chestnut Heath and Marbled White.

Babadag Forest

Species-rich grassland within the forest

Marbled White

Heading south towards the coast, a nice Long-legged Buzzard cruised over the road before we reached Istria. This was a productive site, although perhaps better earlier in the spring as there was very little standing water. Best was at least two Paddyfield Warblers (this being a well known spot for them), sitting out in the tops of the reeds in full song. Three Ruddy Shelduck were nice, as were more White Pelicans, Little and Great Bittern, a Black-winged Pratincole with the Collareds, at least 5 Spanish Sparrows, a Savi’s Warbler, both feldegg and dombrowskii Yellow Wags, and a Gull-billed Tern over. A few Sousliks were the first of several we saw today.

Paddyfield Warbler

Either a flava Yellow Wag or a dombrowskii  - this bird was not as obvious as one seen in the Delta

feldegg Yellow Wag, singing

Souslik (very cute indeed)

On to Vadu, we spent several hours birding the fantastic wetlands here. The lagoons overlooked by a derelict (and in fact, never functioning) industrial complex held Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, and a flock of c.150 Little Gulls, whilst the marshes further on produced Spotted Redshank, Collared Pratincole, Purple Heron, Great Bittern, three Savi’s Warblers, and a huge Common Tern colony inside a raised tank, with Black, Whiskered and Little Tern and Med Gull also loafing there.

Wetlands at Vadu

Part of the tern colony

After some off-roading we reached the Black Sea, where a small party of waders on the strandline included Redshank, Greenshank, Sanderling, Kentish Plover and Sandwich Tern – but no Pallas’s Gulls unfortunately. A Stone-curlew was further up the beach, and up to 10 superb Red-footed Falcons were hawking over the dunes behind, which also held some 'superciliaris'-type Yellow Wags (feldeggs with a yellowish supercilium), whilst in the sea itself was a small family party of dolphins feeding close inshore. Back towards the main road, we encountered the amazing sight of thousands, perhaps millions, of dragonflies over an area of arable crop – seemingly all Southern Migrant Hawkers.

A 'superciliaris'-type Yellow Wag

The Black Sea

Lots, and lots, of dragonflies

Day 8 – 17^th June

So here it was, the last day’s birding of our trip. We began at Celic-Dere Monastery, located in a large woodland area west of Tulcea, seeing Middle Spotted Woodpecker well along with singing Icterine Warbler, Wood Warbler and Red-breasted Flycatcher, several Hawfinches, plus the ‘usual’ stuff (Red-backed Shrike, Golden Oriole, Corn Bunting, etc.). Best though was a Sombre Tit in an old orchard – a species I’d not had much hope of seeing, so particularly pleasing.

Sombre Tit

Nearby, we found the first of four Booted Eagles for the day, as well as singing Ortolan Bunting. Taking a road (which rapidly deteriorated into a track) south from Niculitel via Valea Teilor, we encountered circling White Pelicans, another Icterine Warbler, more Woodlarks and a Tawny Pipit, plus a few Silver-washed and around 20 Marbled Fritillaries, along with a Sloe Hairstreak.

White Pelicans

Sloe Hairstreak

Marbled Fritillary

Finally reaching the main road again, we stopped midway between Cerna and Greci, then taking a path east from the road across some steppe habitat to view a rocky hillside (seemingly called Priopsea Hill). This random stop produced Woodchat Shrike, Tawny Pipit, Ortolan Bunting, several Northern and a pair of Pied Wheatears. There were lots of Graylings sheltering from the wind, as well as a couple of Great Banded and Woodland Graylings.

Steppe habitat

Heading back towards Tulcea, another random stop to view another hillside four Long-legged Buzzards and our only Stonechats of the week, and we rounded things off by viewing an area of reedbed just east of Tulcea, which in the space of 5 minutes produced 2 Little Bitterns, a Purple Heron, 3 Pygmy Cormorants, a Savi’s Warbler, a Med Gull, several Whiskered Terns, Black-winged Stilts and Great Reed Warblers, and a Bee-eater colony.

Day 9 – 18^th June

Today we were homeward bound. Random sightings from the car included Roller (by this time a species that didn't even get remarked upon anymore...), White Stork, Whiskered Tern, Glossy Ibis, Squacco Heron and Night-heron. And then it was back home, to swap these for Wood Pigeons, although a Red Kite near Peterborough was one species absent in Romania!

My final tally for the week was 173 species (145 alone in the Delta/Dobrogea), of which 5 were new for me (Dalmatian and Great White Pelicans, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Paddyfield Warbler and Sombre Tit); other possibilities which eluded me were Ural Owl, White-backed Woodpecker, Pallas’s Gull, and most disappointingly, Levant Sparrowhawk. Another day or two in Dobrogea would’ve been good to do some more steppe-based birding (e.g. for wheatears and larks), track down Levant Sprawk, and to do some more wetland birding (and maybe looking for Pallas’s Gull on the Danube upriver of Tulcea...). Raptors were strangely thin on the ground whilst based in Tulcea, but it was abnormally cool (low to mid 20s) and rainy at times, which I guess didn't help.

Mountain scenery

I cannot emphasise enough what a great birding destination Romania is. Spain has always been my favourite European birding destination for sheer diversity of species and habitats, but I think Romanian may just have knocked it into second spot... So if you’re reading this and thinking of going, do it, and if you've never considered Romania, then I hope this has given you some food for thought!