August, Romania
Eagle-eyed readers may have got a sneak preview of this trip from
Cristian's account of our morning's birding with him around Bucharest. However, most of the trip had seen us further north, in the Carpathian mountains.
We arrived in Bucharest on the Thursday afternoon and drove to our accommodation in Zarnesti. Friday and Saturday saw us wandering casually around the local hills and meadows allowing ourselves to be distracted by whatever wildlife crossed our path. To a large extent this involved butterflies rather than birds, although the latter did include
Alpine Swift,
Honey Buzzard,
Nutcracker and
Crested Tit amongst others. The main event, however, was on Saturday night when, together with a French tour group, we were taken to a hide on stilts overlooking a clearing in the forest. After about an hour in those cramped conditions, our quarry showed itself: a
European Brown Bear. After feeding from the various baited sites around the clearing, it ambled off into the forest. The same individual reappeared again an hour later, but by that time it was too dark for photos, so shortly after then we returned to the minibus and went back to our accommodation.
With the main target of the trip safely under our belts, we were able to relax and do a bit of birding. Sunday morning we headed a little further north to Dumbravita fish ponds. The actual fish ponds were not accessible, and while the nearby reservoir held a lot of birds, they were a little too distant for easy birding. All was not lost, as the local oak wood proved to be very productive. Initially, it did not look particularly inspiring, not least, because various car were parked under the edge of the canopy, where people were picnicking. Closer investigation proved worthwhile however, as in quick succession we found a pair of
Middle-spotted Woodpeckers, a pair of
Grey-headed Woodpeckers and a single
White-backed Woodpecker. Wandering back in after lunch, we again found
Middle-spotted and
Grey-headed Woodys, this time followed by a cracking pair of
Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. Other birds included
Wood Warbler, and a flycatcher which I didn't see well, but on the basis of probability and the few features I did see, is going on this list as
Collared Flycatcher.
Later that afternoon we drove back to Bucharest on a shiny new motorway, booked into our hotel, then met-up with Cristian to discuss the following day's birding, which of course, has already been well-documented.
Our short, enjoyable and productive trip produced a total of 101 species of bird. We only managed two species of mammal, but one of those was Brown Bear!
