Whitby is a quaint fishing port on the Yorkshire coast. I lived close by with my household within the early nineties – my youngest son was born a Yorkshireman. In response to Bram Stoker, it’s in Whitby that Rely Dracula landed in England. That’s the start of the tip of that story, however I used to be standing at first of the start. I used to be in Comana, Romania – a city based by Vlad Tepes often known as Vlad the Impaler, Rely Dracul himself (1431 – 1476).
I had travelled to Romania for a convention on sustainability. After my keynote speech had been delivered – some say to a standing ovation, others had been much less impressed – I had a day to discover the Romanian birdlife. The Danube Delta was too distant, however the Neajlov Delta (often known as Comana Pond) was proper across the nook. Touring by street in Romania isn’t superfast so the 50 km from Bucharest took about an hour. Nonetheless, small worth to pay for what is seemingly the second-largest delta within the nation. And that’s the place the story started.
Impaling just isn’t solely achieved by Romanian medieval princes. There are six species of shrike in Romania. Isabelline Shrike, Masked Shrike, Woodchat Shrike, Nice Grey Shrike, Crimson-backed Shrike, and Lesser Grey Shrike. Of those, solely the latter three are widespread. Wouldn’t it’s implausible to see a shrike in Vlad’s nature reserve? That was my hope, however I additionally deliberate for at the least one lifer – Pygmy Cormorant. With these two objectives I’d be both very glad, half glad or doubly upset. I appreciated my odds.
With me had been my Romanian hosts Gabriela, Lacramioara and Daniel. None of them are birders which was clearly evidenced by their proposal to choose me up at 10:00. Remarking simply as soon as that “the afternoon begins at 10:00” and seeing their appalled expressions I accepted my destiny and my hosts’ exceptional hospitality. Would you’re taking somebody with some bizarre pastime out for an entire day? Beginning lengthy earlier than daybreak to go and see cash or stamps? I wouldn’t.
The Comana Pond space has a restaurant with a view of a boating lake, ziplines and different leisure. The lake could also be synthetic, however it had a coming and going of Pygmy Cormorants. Lifer within the bag effectively earlier than lunch. I used to be half glad! My Romanian hosts had been rapidly entering into chook images – a discipline I don’t excel in. Early within the stroll that meant taking photos of calmly posing Mallard.
A Nice Egret was a nice shock as eBird claimed it was uncommon within the space. Numerous oohs and aahs and I began to essentially recognize my firm’s enthusiasm. These birds weren’t particular to me, however they had been very particular to them. Appreciation is like laughter, contagious. A great feeling.
Eurasian Tree Sparrows, Chiffchaff and Sedge Warblers had been good finds, however the spotlight of the stroll got here with a turquoise-blue flash: Frequent Kingfisher. Whoever determined to place the phrase “widespread” within the identify of this flying jewel deserves to be handed over to Vlad for abstract punishment. What a tremendous chook it’s. Regardless of what number of instances you see them, it continues to be considered one of Europe’s most lovely creatures. Everybody had good views of the chook. It posed on a rush stem, it plunged within the water fishing, and it flew by a number of instances. Smartphones had been used for filming with fairly respectable outcomes.
We celebrated with a hearty Romanian lunch within the Comana restaurant. We solely walked the paths within the backyard and a bit into the wilder areas of the park. There are additionally rougher paths and bicycle tracks into the swamp itself. I’ve not been in a position to discover these paths however possibly subsequent time. If you already know extra, please remark. What I did see was the consequences of final summer time’s drought. Mudflats had been nonetheless uncovered and baked dry. Water has returned because the summer time however not fully, and it appeared to me that there was fairly some harm to the vegetation. Nevertheless, the drought might even have served as a “reset” and issues could return greener and lusher in spring. In all probability worthwhile to test it out in March-April. Who is aware of?
After all, we by no means noticed shrikes. I checked the eBird species record for the realm afterwards and it turned out that just one Crimson-backed Shrike had been noticed in the complete yr, again in July. With every part that we did see, the enthusiastic firm and the Kingfisher I’m not even half glad. No, I’m very glad, in spite of everything, impaling is overrated…
Pictures credit: Woodchat Shrike by my buddy José Leal, Kingfisher by Prasan Shrestha at Wikimedia Commons.
