Speaker: Colin Smith Reporter: Sue Gale For Colin Smith the main attraction of a visit to the Carpathian Mountains in Romania is the chance to see European Brown Bears. And he wasn’t disappointed. From a hide set up by local people no fewer than 8 Brown Bears came to the bait. Colin had wonderful views and photos of the bears, including of one very nervous female with her cubs. A fox that was missing its tail also showed up. The mountains of Romania are also home to Wolves and Lynx, but these were not part of this trip. Colin did see Spotted Nutcrackers in the pines, and Red- backed Shrikes, along with a tiny Yellow-belted Toad. Besides the photos, Colin included short video clips in his talk, and these were very effective in conveying the feel of each area. Especially good were the clips taken from the boats edging their way through the reeds in the Danube delta. This was the second half of the holiday – an
area billed as the best place to see birds in Europe. To explore this enormous watery area – over 4000 square kilometres - Colin stayed in a floating hotel, tugged down the Danube. Not the best place to be when a storm hit! Much of the wildlife is found on the islands which are made up of floating vegetation, some as large as several hectares. In amongst the reeds and watery channels were marsh frogs and grass snakes, and European Pond Turtles, but the stars were the water birds. These included Squacco Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Glossy Ibis and Red- and Black-necked Grebes. Pallas’s Gull nests in the Delta, but my favourite birds were the beautiful Penduline Tits, whose intricate nests used to be used as slippers by the locals. After leaving the floating hotel the group arrived on Letea – an actual land island! Near the Ukrainian border this Unesco World Heritage Site is famous for its wild horses. Here were White Storks and squads of Great White Pelicans. These pelicans, with their 3m wingspan, live in colonies, but they were interspersed with the occasional Dalmatian Pelican, which is a more solitary bird. There were plenty of marsh terns, notably the Whiskered Terns feeding their young on the lily pads, but also Black and White-winged terns. At the other end of the size scale, Caspian terns also nested here. Plenty of Herons, mostly Grey but including Purple Heron and Great White Egret contributed to the 134 species seen. A fascinating area, and thanks are due to Colin for sharing it with us.
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November 2024
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