Hagieni forest - several of the species that are said to be here have either gone or were never here in the first place. But I still found lots of really good birds.

Albesti steppe - a ‘new’ site, found by accident but with a range of steppe species including raptors

Lake Techirghiol - a fantastic site, especially for passage birds, but you need to know where the best parts of the lake are

Lake Tasaul - a terrific site for waterbirds such as pelicans and pratincoles and with Pied Wheatears nearby

Cheia - famous as a site for Pied Wheatears but some species previously listed for this area are unlikely to be found. I still had great birds in this area, even though  didn’t find the Great Spotted Cuckoos nearby

Vadu - an essential part of any Romanian birding itinerary - not to be missed

Istria - not as exciting as it used to be but I still found some really good birds here

Sinoie - my descriptions will give you a much more realistic idea of what to expect here

Lake Ceamurlia - how to reach the best part of the lake and what to expect when you get there

Jurilovca - a site with much potential, barely mentioned elsewhere

Enisala - no longer the ‘hotspot’ that it was but still with some good birds nearby

Around Murighiol - some wetlands here have ‘gone’ but others are still great for birds

The Danube Delta - best visited by boat to see all the wetland species, including Pallas’s Gull, as well as Red-footed Falcon, White-tailed Eagle, Collared Flycatcher, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler and several woodpeckers

Somovo wetlands - are these marshes still as good as they were 20 years ago?

Niculitel forests - exceptional numbers of Icterine Warblers and Red-breasted Flycatchers in some places, plus raptors, Black Stork and woodpeckers in others

Macin hills and Greci - both Rock Thrush and Pied Wheatear are possible here but which of the many claimed raptors are actually likely?

Babadag forests - more woodpeckers, Icterine Warblers and Red-breasted Flycatchers and, surprisingly, River Warbler at two sites too

Around Harsova - a bird-filled lake, some of the best steppe areas in Romania, the easiest Red-footed Falcon site and one of the best, yet previously undescribed, wetlands in the country

Ciocanesti fishponds - a beautiful place to go birding where pelicans and Little Bitterns should be easy to find

Calarasi - another system of lakes and pools with lots of birds

Canyons of Fetii - some species have now gone from here but it’s still great for raptors, woodpeckers etc

Lake Oltina - no Pied Wheatears any more but there are several wetland sites in the area which can be exceptional for waders, ibis, pelicans, Ruddy Shelduck etc

Poiana Brasov and the Rasnov gorge - don’t believe half of what you’ve previously read about these sites but there are still some good birds to be found

Piatra Craiului - access is a problem here but it still has one of the best Wallcreeper sites in Europe

Bucegi National Park - easy access to mountain areas where species such as Horned Lark, Three-toed Woodpecker, Red-breasted Flycatcher are all possible. If you miss Wallcreeper at Piatra Craiului there’s another site here that is possibly even easier

Transfagarasan pass - the easiest place to find Alpine Accentor and I also had a couple of surprise finds in the woodland lower down

The river at Carta - another ‘accidental find’ - this turned out to be a great place for species such as Marsh Warbler, Little Bittern and Lesser Spotted Eagle

Buy now

The following sites are all included in my book Finding Birds in South-east Romania.

Click here for a sample of one of my books

In the book, each of these sites is described in detail with maps and gps co-ordinates showing you exactly where to go to find the birds you want.

This book replaces Finding Birds in Romania, updating all the sites and adding many ‘new’ ones.