WINTER Birdwatching in Dobrudja: Spotting Red-breasted Geese

South-East Romania, Dobrudja is an wonderful land if you know when to visit it. Winter is one of the special seasons in Dobrudja, here we can see a lot of geese, including the famous Red-breasted, White-fronted or Lesser White-fronted Goose, Whooper Swans and many raptors and passerines. Winter is an exceptional season for birders and photographers in Dobrudja.

It is an winter tour, a combination of photography and birdwatching tour. We have with us both, cameras and binoculars / scopes. If we can’t get close enough to the birds for (photo) shooting, we just enjoy their presence and see them through binoculars or scopes.

Dobrudja is a fantastic place, especially in winter. Thousands of geese are wintering here, sleeping at night on the lakes and swamps of the Danube Delta and grazing on day light on fields cultivated with cereals. Besides, a lot of other birds can be seen here in winter. We are constantly looking to see and Buzzard of all kinds, Long-eared Owl, Nutcrackers, White Tailed Eagle, Spotted Eagle, Trumpeter Swans, Tits, Goldcrest, Bramblings and plenty of other forest birds. Now with the leafless forest, birds are very easy to see.

Our tours can take from 4days/3nights to 7days/6nights.

You have included: guide, car, accommodation and breakfast;

The guide

Our main activity in Dobrudja and the Danube Delta is GUIDING birders and photographers and we have the best professional guides for this activities. All our guides are members of APGDD (Association of Professional Guides in the Danube Delta).

Itinerary (example of 4 days/3 nights tour)

Day 1 – We meet at Tulcea in the afternoon and you check in to a 3 *** hotel. In the evening we have a technical meeting and talk about the program for the next day.

Days 2 – 3 – At 6:00 A.M. we depart on field to see birds, our route will be established based on our updated information on the field, you’ll travel by our minibus (8 places). We scan fields for geese, especially Red Breasted Geese and other winter birds. We will search for feeding, preening or sleeping spots.

For longer tours (more days), all days will have the same program, different will be only the route. Of course, we will search every day for other species of birds.

Day 4 – After breakfast we finish our tour.

Day tours

Are between 6 A.M. until sunset. We drive on roads or not, the decision to cross a field belongs exclusively to the driver and will be taken depending on weather and road conditions (mud, ice, snow etc.).

Usually we go on the fields, scan for flocks of geese and then we find a good spot with the sun in the back and watch what happens. Is it possible to travel on foot, over relatively short distances to access a place where we can not reach by car.

If the weather gets worse (heavy snow or fog), guide and/or driver can interrupt the tour. Customer safety is first, we always want to make sure that we can get back to town without problems.

For lunch you order food to go from the hotel or you can buy some food from the supermarket near the hotel. For dinner, you’ll be at the hotel and you can choose between the hotel restaurant or another restaurant in Tulcea.