Red-breasted Goose Winter Tour

Description: The spectacle of many thousands of overwintering Red-breasted Geese is the central theme to this exclusive winter tour to the western coastal zone of the Black Sea. Large concentrations of White-fronts plus a few of the exceedingly rare Lesser White-fronted Geese are present, plus a large array of waterfowl including divers, grebes and ducks (Shelduck, White-headed Duck, Ferruginous Duck and Smew). If your appetite isn’t already wetted how about a follow up cast that includes Pygmy Cormorant and Bittern plus several notable raptors: White-tailed, and Spotted Eagles, Merlin, Rough-legged and Long-legged Buzzards. If the weather permits, we shall also travel up to the Srebarna Biosphere reserve (UNESCO site) by the Danube, for close views of Dalmatian Pelicans in breeding plumage. There is good chance of an Eagle Owl and outside possibility of Greater Black-headed Gull.

Woodpeckers are well represented (White-backed, Grey-headed, Black, Syrian and Middle Spotted), other passerines including Sombre Tit, Crested and Calandra Larks, Great Grey Shrike and, with luck, Lapland and Pine Buntings.
For a winter tour the overall bird list is outstanding. Romanian brackish lagoons Sinoe, Zmeica, Histria and Vadu, in the southern part of the Danube Delta, will be the major hot spots to be explored along the Romanian Black Sea coast. Bulgarian coastal Lakes Durankulak and Shabla in the north, and Vaya (Bourgas lake) and Atanasovsko in the south are principal wetlands visited, with the steppes of Cape Kaliakra and riparian forests of Kamchia broadening the habitat theme.
Mammals (including three species of Dolphins)are also on the agenda, searched for after dark aided by powerful spotlight. Jackal, Raccoon Dog, Marbled and Steppe Polecats are our main targets, all being relatively common.