Red-breasted Geese holiday

After you are picked up from the Bucharest airport we travel towards Constanta. This is a 300km journey but taking the new highway it will be a pleasant drive. We will cross the great flat Romanian Plain and arrive at the Danube then cross the Dobrogea plateau to arrive in Constanta on the Black Sea coast. We will be based in Mamaia a tourist resort just near the town. Our hotel is located on the beach and birds can be observed from your room. Dinner will be served in a restaurant near our hotel.

Early in the morning we will board the bus and cross the town of Constanta heading towards the Bulgarian border situated about 60km from Mamaia. A few kilometers after we enter Bulgarian territory we will arrive at Lake Durankulac. Here we will look for the Red-breast geese that arrive at that spot for roosting and for drinking after feeding on the wheat fields in the Dobrogea area. From Durankulak we will go towards the South and arrive at the Cape Caliakra reserve. Here we will enjoy the shore of the Black Sea with a superb landscape. Other bird species possible to spot during this trip are: Great Black-headed Gulls, Mediterranean Gulls, Black-necked Grebes etc. In the evening we will return to our hotel in Mamaia.

Today we will travel in the morning to the south of Constanta to Lake Techirghiol. This is a special lake with a reserve status, famous for the large number of wintering White-headed Ducks. Also found on the lake are hundreds of Black-necked Grebes and Smew. The lake became a reserve a few years ago and it is managed by BirdLife International Romania. Red-breasted geese are also a possibility here around midday. On the fields around the lake Calandra Larks can be spotted in flocks sometimes. In the afternoon we will move towards the north and we will stop at Histria for a quick exploration where sometimes Dalmatian Pelicans are wintering and other species like Bittern, Pigmy Cormorant, Montagu’s Harrier and Mediterranean Gull. Our journey will end in the city of Tulcea where we will board the four star floating hotel moored in the harbor. Night will be spent in Tulcea.

The next few days of our holiday will be spent on board the floating hotel exploring the central part of the Danube Delta. From the floating hotel we will take some short trips (depending on weather) to see some lakes where wintering birds concentrate in large numbers. Species like Red-crested Pochard, White-tailed Eagle, Spotted Eagle and other water birds will be observed. This is a unique experience since the Delta is not visited during the winter by many tourist and even the locals avoid it at this time of the year. Our hotel will be moored in a different place every night with spectacular scenery around it.

From the floating hotel we will board the bus again and travel East of Tulcea towards the village of Murighiol. On the way we will be able to watch the incredible panorama over the delta, the Dobrogea plateau being a great vantage point. After a walk on the Bestepe Hills we will arrive at the Lake Saraturi, a strictly protected area where sometimes large numbers of birds gather specifically because this lake has brackish water. White-fronted, Red-breasted and Greylag Geese use the lake for resting or drinking during the day. From here we will continue the trip towards Enisala trying to find more flocks of geese. We will finish our Red-breasted goose chase for the day in Tulcea where we will be accommodated in the Ibis Tours hotel.

This will be the day when we will try to search again for the large flocks of Red-breasted Geese in case the other days were unsuccessful due to bad weather or bad luck. We will explore the Babadag forest on the way and try to find some birds like Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Syrian Woodpecker and Sombre Tit. The day will finish at the Black Sea shore in Vadu, a spectacular place renowned for its wild look. We will return in Tulcea for the final night and enjoy a traditional dinner with music and drinks.

After breakfast we will depart from Tulcea towards the Bucharest airport. The transfer should take us about 5 hours.