Romania - The Wildlife of Transylvania Naturetrek Tour Report 12 - 19 June 2018 Brown Bear by Colin Dixon Cortisol matthioli by Freda Line Devils’ Fingers by Colin Dixon Morning view from the Mosorel guesthouse, Madura by Freda Line Fire Salamander by Colin Dixon Report compiled by Richard Lansdown Images courtesy of Freda Line & Colin Dixon Naturetrek Mingledown Barn Wolf's Lane Chawton Alton Hampshire GU34 3HJ UK T: +44 (0)1962 733051 E: [email protected] W: www.naturetrek.co.uk Tour Report Romania - The Wildlife of Transylvania Tour participants: Richard Lansdown (leader) with 13 Naturetrek clients Summary The quality of this tour was characterised by the remarkable wildlife around the guesthouse in Magura, with Chamois on the cliffs opposite throughout the day and often in the field below the guesthouse most mornings, together with Roe Deer in the fields around the village and a wide range of birds including Black Woodpeckers, Red-backed Shrike, White Wagtail and Peregrine. It was also exceptional for the food with buffet breakfasts, wonderful lunches and three-course evening meals, combined with stunning views and species-rich meadows. Day 1 Tuesday 12th June We arrived at Bucharest Airport after an uneventful flight from Heathrow, however the baggage handlers apparently had difficulties getting some of the bags out of the plane and so we were delayed by more than an hour at the carousel. Once we all had our bags we headed across the car park to be met by our driver for the week, Costi with a minibus towing a trailer for our luggage. We set off immediately, northward toward Zărneşti and then Magura to the Mosorel Guesthouse, which was to be our home for the week. The drive was uneventful and as it was late we saw few birds, although we did see Kestrel, Jackdaw and Common Swift when we stopped at a service station for a break. Whilst there, Colin spotted a singing Field Cricket at the entrance to its burrow and many members of the group admired fairly species-rich vegetation on a bank with some familiar species such as Quaking-grass, Cock’s-foot, Field Horsetail, Great Horsetail, Hemp- agrimony and Common Comfrey, with others which were less so including Melancholy Thistle, Cabbage Thistle, Bardassi and Whorled Clary. On the way to Zărneşti we saw occasional Buzzards and a single Little Owl before it became too dark to see. We arrived at Magura at 9.30pm, immediately had dinner and then headed to bed. Day 2 Wednesday 13th June The morning dawned bright and sunny. We didn’t have an organised pre-breakfast walk, just exploring a bit to find the best areas, as well as taking the opportunity to watch the Chamois grazing on the cliffs opposite the guesthouse, the single Chamois in the field below the guesthouse and the Red-backed Shrike hunting in the same field. After breakfast, Costi collected us and we drove down to Zărneşti to pick up our guide for the day, Dana and then to the wetlands and fish ponds at Dumbrâvitna, where Costi dropped us at the western end. We wandered slowly eastwards between the ponds, watching a range of wetland birds including Night and Grey Herons, White-winged and Whiskered Terns, Marsh Harrier and Black-headed Gulls flying over the site, while we flushed Coot, Mallard and Pochard from the ponds. Marsh Warblers sang from patches of vegetation and a single Lesser Spotted Eagle flew over high up. The vegetation around the ponds was characterised by ruderals with occasional highlights such as Tuberous Pea and Birthwort. In a small marsh were Willows and Meadowsweet as well as a stand of the remarkable White False Helleborine. © Naturetrek October 18 1 Romania - The Wildlife of Transylvania Tour Report As we walked the skies began to darken and Dana showed a mass of ants frantically busy on one of the paths. She said that it is believed that when the ants are so active it is a sign that it is going to rain, but the dark clouds passed and we had to conclude that the ants were no better at forecasting then us! The ditches and one muddy tank were full of Edible Frogs, while when we rounded the corner to head toward our picnic spot, there was a White Stork on the road ahead, slowly despatching and eating a snake. Simona and Elena met us with a wonderful lunch in the shade of some willows where Purple Emperors danced in the canopy, a Whitethroat ferried food to its young, and Lesser Whitethroats sang above our heads. After lunch we headed to the lake at Rotbav, surrounded by a fringe of reeds and dominated by a colony of Great Cormorants in a tall tree and a large, noisy colony of Black-headed Gulls in reeds toward the southern end. The lake supported large numbers of wildfowl, mainly Coot and Pochard, while Swallows and White-winged Terns hunted over the water. However the star attraction was the Little Bitterns which were everywhere around the margins and flying out over the lake. We saw at least ten different birds but they were sufficiently confiding that we were able to watch them fishing, and one particularly obliging bird fished from a patch of reeds only twenty metres from us. We visited the site where Penduline Tits had been seen establishing a territory earlier in the year but sadly they appeared to have deserted the site. We were lucky enough to be able to watch a very active Great Reed Warbler which was singing from a patch of reed mace. When we had nearly completed our tour of the lake we found three pairs of Black-headed Wagtails nesting near the restaurant, where Costi collected us to take us home for dinner and the log. Day 3 Thursday 14th June The day again dawned bright and sunny. The Chamois were on the cliffs again, and our lone individual in the field below the guesthouse had been joined by a Roe Deer with small fawns. Before breakfast, a small group of us headed west along the track from the guesthouse, while Caroline decided to follow a different route, meeting us back at the guesthouse for breakfast. We walked between fields filled with flowers and saw a range of familiar birds such as Fieldfare, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Redstart and the almost ubiquitous Red-backed Shrike, as well as hearing Black Woodpecker at the furthest end of our walk, which Caroline had seen as she came up a different way. After breakfast we were met by Ionuţ, the biologist of the Piatra Craiuliu National Park, and we walked initially through the hay meadows full of flowers, then down through mixed forest to the bottom of the valley below the guesthouse, to walk along the valley through the gorge. The meadows held many highlights, particularly Spreading, Peach-leaved and Clustered Bellflowers, Dianthus carthusianorum, Spring and Autumn Gentians, Fragrant Orchid, Whorled Clary, Scabiosa ochroleuca, Thesium alpinum and Hungarian Clover, as well as the striking Yellow Thistle and abundant leaves of Autumn Crocus. We met Simona and Elena again at the entrance to the gorge and ate another wonderful lunch. Then we headed into the gorge, which was spectacular with species such as the endemic Campanula carpatica, with Dianthus spiculifolius, Gypsophila petraea, Saxifraga corymbosa, S. exalata subsp. moschata and S. paniculata on the walls, as well as Clematis alpina, Leontopodium alpinum, Pedicularis comosa subsp. campestre and Symphytum cordatum on the floor. Grey Wagtails led us along the path, while Fire Salamanders lounged in the stream and a Peregrine was seen briefly overhead. 2 © Naturetrek October 18 Romania - The Wildlife of Transylvania Tour Report We returned to the gorge entrance where Costi collected us and took us to Zărneşti for an early tea, before setting off for the bear hide. On the way along the valley to the hide we were lucky to have excellent views of a Lesser Spotted Eagle in a dead tree, and glimpses of fields full of Gladioli and White False Helleborines, which we would return to see better in a few days. As we approached the hide, the ranger told us that Bears were already there and to be very quiet. Sure enough, as we reached the bottom of the steps we could see that there were already three Bears feeding on biscuits from holes and hollows in logs. We shared the hide with another group and it was quite packed, but all of us managed to find places which gave us good views of the clearing. For a while there were occasional changes as one Bear left or another arrived, and entertainment as a Fox came into the clearing and stole biscuits from the Bears. Then a mother Bear arrived with two very small cubs which stayed for quite a while. After a while we started to hear thunder in the distance. Apparently the noise of rain and thunder makes the Bears very nervous and sure enough, all of the Bears in the clearing suddenly ran off under the trees, and then the rain arrived. A large male Bear ran into the clearing, but he was obviously very nervous and didn’t stop. Then other Bears started to return, mainly females as well as a smaller male, which stayed for a long time and was very friendly with one young female. It seems that young Bears will often form these partnerships, where one will keep an eye out for danger while the other feeds. These “friendships” break up as the Bears get older and become sexually active. By this stage it was getting dark and the rain threatened to make the track to the hide impassable, so we left.