The Danube Delta

[Peter Connan]

Sad to hear about the war between the Bee-eaters and the bee-keepers. And also that the report has already come to an end!

 

Magnificent photo to end up on!

[xyz99]

Great, great TR; and thanks for the bee-eaters, truly gorgeous birds. I would love to go back just for them, and my heart sank reading about the horrible treatment they are getting. Unfortunately I don't have much hope that people mentality will change soon enough to save them, if they are in danger.

 

Like you, I am not a true birder, but more a bird photographer. So good to hear that close-up opportunities are there.

 

And what bugs me, I remember going to Lake Techirghiol when I was very young. I don't remember any birds there, let alone bee-eaters. Just very salty water, yuck! But then, I did not care about birds back then. Silly me...

 

Your lunch/food feast made me laugh. Romanians don't eat like that every day, but when they have guests they go overboard. 

 

@xelas, very tempting. Are you really thinking of going? May might be an option but I will not know until later this year. 

[janzin]

Ok what's an ebc-picture??? o

[xelas]

3 hours ago, janzin said:

Ok what's an ebc-picture??? o

 

@janzin you as an accomplished photographer would not know about ebc but some of us, we have them plenty . Every Bird Count ... or simply, whatever you delete in the first browsing through your photos, we might use and post if that would be a new bird for us in the Big Year  birding.

[xelas]

12 hours ago, xyz99 said:

@xelas, very tempting. Are you really thinking of going? May might be an option but I will not know until later this year. 

 

Yes I do!  We have public holidays end of April and 1st & 2nd of May; in 2019 there are 2 options: 20/Apr - 27/Apr or 27/Apr - 4/May. (second week suit us better).

[Alexander33]

@michael-ibk

 

Thanks for posting this report about an area with which I am utterly unfamiliar. It looks like you and @AndMic did quite well, especially given the turn in weather — the bee-eaters, hoopoes, and pelicans were real standouts, but hooray! for the otters and that wild cat. Very cool!  I didn’t know that there even was a European wild cat.  

 

The food sounds good, too. All in all, this serves as a good reminder for us to not forget about the wild places in our own “backyards” — it’s so easy to disregard them as we focus our sights on more exotic locations. 

[lmSA84]

Thanks @michael-ibk - thank you for posting this great report. I hadn't considered the Danube before but certainly will now. Some great photos but my favourites have to be the Wild Cat and the two pelicans taking flight against the grey sky. Great stuff!

[michael-ibk]

23 hours ago, xelas said:

So many close-up photos, @michael-ibk! And the cost is very affordable one. So who is going there next May?! Or even earlier? Is end of October still feasible to find some birds? The weather, of course, would be much worse ...

 

@xelas

 

While I´m sure you could see some interesting stuff in October keep in mind that all the migrants will be gone and it could be very uncomfortable. I really think you should go there when the area is at its best which is certainly spring.

 

23 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

Sad to hear about the war between the Bee-eaters and the bee-keepers. And also that the report has already come to an end!

 

Magnificent photo to end up on!

 

@Peter Connan

 

Thank you. It was disheartening to hear about this, and quite depressing to actually see the bottles stuck in some colonies to kill the fledglings. Thanks for the photo compliment, sometimes this bif stuff works for me but all too often the focus has not been quite "on" in recent times, hope to see some improvement with my new lens.

 

22 hours ago, xyz99 said:

Great, great TR; and thanks for the bee-eaters, truly gorgeous birds. I would love to go back just for them, and my heart sank reading about the horrible treatment they are getting. Unfortunately I don't have much hope that people mentality will change soon enough to save them, if they are in danger.

 

Your lunch/food feast made me laugh. Romanians don't eat like that every day, but when they have guests they go overboard.

 

Thanks, @xyz99, I´m quite convinced that Romanians could not eat like that regularly, otherwise we would not have seen all the relatively fit people there.

 

9 hours ago, xelas said:

 

Yes I do!  We have public holidays end of April and 1st & 2nd of May; in 2019 there are 2 options: 20/Apr - 27/Apr or 27/Apr - 4/May. (second week suit us better).

 

Second week would also give you better chances for Bee-Eaters, they are only arriving early May.

 

3 hours ago, Alexander33 said:

@michael-ibk

 

Thanks for posting this report about an area with which I am utterly unfamiliar. It looks like you and @AndMic did quite well, especially given the turn in weather — the bee-eaters, hoopoes, and pelicans were real standouts, but hooray! for the otters and that wild cat. Very cool!  I didn’t know that there even was a European wild cat.  

 

The food sounds good, too. All in all, this serves as a good reminder for us to not forget about the wild places in our own “backyards” — it’s so easy to disregard them as we focus our sights on more exotic locations. 

 

Thanks, @Alexander33, birding reshifted my focus back to Europe, and there are certainly many places worth exploring here.

 

2 hours ago, lmSA84 said:

Thanks @michael-ibk - thank you for posting this great report. I hadn't considered the Danube before but certainly will now. Some great photos but my favourites have to be the Wild Cat and the two pelicans taking flight against the grey sky. Great stuff!

 

Thanks, @lmSA84, glad to hear I could raise some interest for the area, it certainly deserves it. Happy to hear you like the shot with the two Pelicans, it was one of the most beautiful scenes we witnessed.

[Kitsafari]

what a beautiful place this was, which you and @AndMiccaptured so well not only in the bird photos but also the landscape, the dainty lovely butterflies and the orchids. Too far away for me, so I have to enjoy it through your TR and photos.

 

very heartbreaking to hear about how the Beautiful Bee-eaters (they seriously deserve that name) are being punished by the bee-keepers based on nothing but hearsay. why won't the government do something about it? 

 

 

[screentraveller]

Love the Avocet approaching the water and then being caught in the act of drinking. 

[michael-ibk]

10 hours ago, Kitsafari said:

why won't the government do something about it? 

 

@Kitsafari

 

As I understood, by law it is of course illegal to kill them, but there´s no political commitment behind these laws, and the authorities don´t enforce them even when notified.

[TonyQ]

A great report of a beautiful place. Very productive for birds in particular and superbly photographed. Some great mammal sightings also.

Did you put on as much weight in this trip as you did in South Africa? 

 

Thank you for a really enjoyable report, it seemed like the trip lived up to your hopes.

[elefromoz]

@michael-ibk, thanks for posting another great mini-report, I really enjoy seeing these less-visited places, you really are spoilt for choice in your part of the world. You saw it all, terrific Birds, rare Mammals and Orchids...the trifecta for any Nature loving traveller.

[Towlersonsafari]

lovely photos in an area i have read about and wondered what it would be like to visit- @michael-ibk this is probably an unfair question-do you think veggies would enjoy the wonderful food?

[offshorebirder]

Thanks for this excellent TR @michael-ibk.   I have seen the Danube Delta on nature documentaries and your TR added extra dimensions. 

[michael-ibk]

On 6/12/2018 at 11:45 PM, TonyQ said:

Did you put on as much weight in this trip as you did in South Africa? 

 

@TonyQ Psssssst...

 

On 7/2/2018 at 12:39 PM, elefromoz said:

@michael-ibk,  you really are spoilt for choice in your part of the world.

 

Thanks, @elefromoz, the grass always seems to be greener on the other side, I would say the same about Australia.

 

On 7/2/2018 at 2:19 PM, Towlersonsafari said:

lovely photos in an area i have read about and wondered what it would be like to visit- @michael-ibk this is probably an unfair question-do you think veggies would enjoy the wonderful food?

 

@Towlersonsafari

 

Not quite sure. Everything is about fish in the Delta. Vegetable sides were ok, but they are certainly not the main focus of the cooks, everything boilt and steamed to death. You probably have to really like Polenta and Potatoes. But obviously we never asked for vegetarian dishes, and since they are very used to international tourists I am convinced catering for "veggies" would not be a problem at all.

 

On 7/2/2018 at 4:34 PM, offshorebirder said:

Thanks for this excellent TR @michael-ibk.   I have seen the Danube Delta on nature documentaries and your TR added extra dimensions. 

 

Thanks, @offshorebirder, glad you enjoyed it.

[Towlersonsafari]

Potatoes? Jane cannot go a day without potatoes in some fom or other! thanks very much for you reply-and your report @michael-ibk

[Kitsafari]

On 6/13/2018 at 12:46 AM, michael-ibk said:

 

@Kitsafari

 

As I understood, by law it is of course illegal to kill them, but there´s no political commitment behind these laws, and the authorities don´t enforce them even when notified.

 

that sounds so familiar in our part of the world. 

[The_Norwegian]

awesome tripreport, awesome pictures! I was to go here last year, but had to cancel due to illness.. But it`s never to late :-) BTW, if you want to photograph more white tailed sea eagle, i can point you in the right direction :-) 

[PeterHG]

An interesting read and great photos, @michael-ibk ! Undoubtedly a terrific birding destination, albeit a threatened one, as I gather from your stories. Even in the rather poor conditions you had, you still managed to see a lot of very good species.

[michael-ibk]

Many thanks, @The_Norwegian and @PeterHG!

[Atravelynn]

A trip report and a travel company all in one!  What a bevy of birds and you wasted no time finding that Hoopoe.  That was a nice surprise with the sneaky Red-Necked Phalarope.  The European wildcat is more exotic looking than the African one.  That sighting was pretty amazing.  Right up there with those feral horses!

 

Sad about the beekeepers and the bee-eaters. It's yet another threat to these lovely creatures.

 

You must have added lots of species to your big year!

[michael-ibk]

I know you love your horses, @Atravelynn. Thanks! :-)