We split our trip with three full days in Transylvania in the Carpathian Mountains, staying in Bran near Zarnesti, and three full days based in Tulcea on the Danube Delta, with a day's travelling at either end and a transit day in the middle. It was a pretty good trip, and the Mountain leg went something like this...
Day 1 - 10th June
Having arrived in Bucharest, we spent the afternoon driving north to Bran, the home of Vlad the Impaler's (aka Dracula's) castle. The drive didn't produce much, although our first White Storks were hard to miss, and the only Black Kite of the trip was seen..
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| White Stork |
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| Dracula's Castle |
Arriving in Bran, we walked into the edge of the forest at the top of Bran Poarta, seeing Crested Tit, several Fieldfares, Siskin, Honey Buzzard, and the ubiquitous Grey Wagtails and Black Redstarts, as well as a couple of Red Squirrels. A gentle start.
Day 2 - 11th June
The main focus of today was the Zarnesti Gorge, on the edge of the Piatra Craiului National Park. We'd barely pulled onto the entrance track when I heard a familiar and unmistakable song - a Common Rosefinch. It was a brown 1st summer bird, seemingly a bit out of range. Parking up a bit further on, a Red-breasted Flycatcher was singing (one I'd brushed up on during the flight over), and I had a glimpse of a male Collared Flycatcher, whilst a couple of Wood Warblers were also in song.
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| The Zarnesti Gorge |
Best was yet to come though, as just before the entrance to the gorge the shout came up of 'what's this moving through the trees?!'; expecting a woodpecker (Grey-headed and White-backed both being potential ticks for me), I was gobsmacked to see a Brown Bear! Clearly not a full grown adult, it eyed us up for a moment, before lolloping off through the trees. I grabbed a record shot, but this brief sighting only left me wanting more...
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| It's not going to win any awards, but that's a Brown Bear! |
The gorge itself failed to deliver Wallcreeper, but we did get Alpine Swift, a few more Honey Buzzards, a Peregrine and a couple of Ravens. Non-avian interest came in the form of several Bird's-nest Orchids, a Duke of Burgundy, Queen of Spain and Pearl-bordered Fritillaries, and a Yellow-bellied Toad..
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| Queen of Spain |
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| Bird's-nest Orchid |
The afternoon was spent in a village called Magura above the gorge, where the hay meadows were rather lovely and we found our first Bug Orchids of the trip, but not much was seen on the bird front.
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| Bug Orchid |
Day 3 - 12th June
Today we headed to Bucegi National Park, taking the cable car up to the summit of the mountains from Busteni. At the top, as well as lots of interesting alpine plants, plenty of Water Pipits were in song, as was a Shore Lark and a couple of Wheatears.
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| The plateau at the top of Bucegi National Park |
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| Shore Lark - ok, it was quite distant |
Beginning our long, and at times quite arduous descent, we picked up a couple of Alpine Accentors on the crags above us, but better was a female Wallcreeper, dust bathing on the path below us, barely 30 metres away - it stayed put for maybe five minutes before swooping off. Quite amazing!
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| Wallcreeper... |
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| ...and again |
A little further on, a break for lunch scored us a Chamois dropping down from above us and crossing the path, again only 30 or 40 metres away. Reaching the tree line, we managed to find a couple of Firecrests, but not much else. Likewise, the butterflies were a little disappointing, with only Painted Ladies at the top (too early I guess for any alpine ringlets), but a few Mountain Green-veined Whites were nice on the way down.
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| Chamois |
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| Looking down towards Busteni with Iris sibirica in the foreground |
Day 4 - 13th June
Our last day in the mountains, so we headed back to Piatra Craiului National Park, this time skirting the east and north of the mountain range. Things got off to a good start with a Marsh Warbler singing from a crop just outside the national park centre.
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| Marsh Warbler |
Stopping to look at some fairly fantastic hay meadows, an owl, almost certainly a Ural (a needed species!) called unseen a couple of times from the wooded hillside above.
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| A super little hay meadow |
Further on, we took a track up from Cabana Plaiul Foii, seeing Goshawk, a couple of Nutcrackers and Dippers, and hearing, rather frustratingly, a Grey-headed Woodpecker. Butterflies included a Woodland Brown and several Clouded Apollos; the hay meadows held more Bug Orchids as well as lots of other botanical treats; and the streams and pools hid Yellow-bellied Toads.
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| Nutcracker. Also quite distant. |
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| Yellow-bellied Toad |
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| Woodland Brown - I don't think its name does it justice |
Our third night-time expedition for owls actually produced some this time - not the hoped-for Ural Owl, but Long-eared, Little and Tawny.
And that was it for the mountains - we finished on 75 bird species including Wallcreeper, Nutcracker, Alpine Accentor, Shore Lark, Common Rosefinch, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Collared Flycatcher, Goshawk, Dipper and Marsh Warbler. Mid June obviously isn't the best time for owls and woodpeckers, but adding Brown Bear and Chamois into the mix, along with some nice butterflies and plants, and some of the best mountain scenery I've had the pleasure of visiting in Europe, and it was a great start to the trip.
And so on to the Danube Delta...
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