ULTIMA FRONTIERA TARGET SPECIES MONTH BY MONTH FEBRUARY On this month can be very hard arrive to UF: the temperature can fall down to -15 and the Danube can freeze. Urged by the ice, birds are gathered in the few areas with free waters: tens of Smews and Wooper Swans, hundreds of ducks and geese. This is not the best period for nature photography, because birds are pretty shy. Anyway, at the end of the month, the migration is already started: the property hosts big flocks of larks (Woodlark, Calandra Lark, Skylark) and, among hundreds of geese, you can observe some rare Red-breasted Geese. Really cool can be photograph Golden Jackals in the snow with their soft winter coat. Top 10 interesting birds: Dalmatian Pelican, Wooper Swan, Red-breasted Goose, Smew, White-tailed Eagle, Steppe Buzzard, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Skylark, Great Grey Shrike. Mammals: Wildcat, Golden Jackal, Otter MARCH This is probably the best time of year to see the Otters: waters are still cold, so the mustelids can collect very easily numb fishes for cubs. The resident Dalmatian Pelicans are with bright red bill, while the woodpeckers are very noisy and active, searching a partner. White-fronted Geese and Wooper Swans are passing in big numbers and also reedbeds are full of Bearded Reedlings and singing Moustached Warblers. In the sunny days raptors are regularly seen in front of the hides, particularly White-tailed Eagles, Marsh Harriers and Steppe Buzzards. By night, Bitterns and Jackals are howling, while many Little Owls are launching their loud calls in the darkness. In the Musura gulf the Pallas s Gulls are wearing their best breeding plumage, while among Caspian Gulls are not rare Baltic and Common Gulls. Top 10 interesting birds: Dalmatian Pelican, White-tailed Eagle, Marsh Harrier, Steppe Buzzard, Pallas s Gull, Baltic Gull, Black Woodpecker, Moustached Warbler, Long-tailed Tit, Bearded Reedling. Mammals: Wildcat, Golden Jackal, Otter
APRIL The spring is coming quickly, carring several surges of migrants: White Pelicans, Glossy Ibises, Marsh Sandpipers, Little Gulls, etc. This is the best time to take pictures of ducks: Garganeys, Gadwalls, Ferruginous Ducks, Red-crested Pochards, are comonly seen in front of the hides. The Black Woodpecker is digging his hole and making his spring clearing in the nest. The riverine woodland is full of songs of Blue Tits and Common Treecreepers, while the awash steppe gathers big flocks of Spoonbills, Caspian Terns, Black-winged Stilts, Ruffs and other waders. During the humid nights the amphibians are moving to ponds: Common Spadefoots, Fire-bellied Toads and Marsh Frogs are easily seen on the paths end even in the garden of the hotel. Top 10 interesting birds: Glossy Ibis, Garganey, Ferruginous Duck, Marsh Sandpiper, Ruff, Whitetailed Eagle, Black Woodpecker, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Penduline Tit, Bearded Reedling. Mammals: Wildcat, Golden Jackal MAY While birds like woodpeckers are finishing to feed chicks, many others are still looking for a place to breed: nice birds like Cuckoos, Hoopoe, Rollers, Bee-eaters, Wrynecks, Lesser Grey Shrikes are arriving in big numbers during this month. Also the formations of floating leaves of White and Yellow Waterlily of Matita and Merhei lakes are becoming huge colonies of grebes (Black-necked, Red-necked and Great Crested) and terns (Common, Black and Whiskered). Breeding White Pelicans are wearing their best suit, with colourful feathers and naked skin of bill and face: big flocks are gathering in the richer ponds of fishes to start their dance of fishing. Also in the salty plains of Letea the breeding season is beginning for Pied Avocets, Black-winged Stilts, Collared Pratincoles, Little Ringed and Kentish Plovers and Lapwings, while in the last flocks of Curlew Sandpipers, Little Stints and Ruffs are not rare Temminck Stint and Broad-billed Sandpiper. Top 10 interesting birds: Red-necked Grebe, White Pelican, White-tailed Eagle, Black Tern, Cuckoo, Bee-eater, Kingfisher, Black Woodpecker, Penduline Tit, Lesser Grey Shrike. Mammals: Wildcat, Golden Jackal
JUNE All the 4 european coraciiformes are now breeding in large numbers: Roller, Bee-eater, Hoopoe and Kingfisher are filling the property of colours. Also the chicks of Little Owl are coming out from their hole below the roof, starting to explore the world. By night, the calls of young Long-eared Owls and Baillon s Crake are covered by a concert of thousands of Marsh Frogs, Fire-bellied Toads and Tree Frogs, but also during the day reedbeds and scrubs are not silent, with hundreds of songs: Savi s, Sedge, Reed, Paddyfield, Great Reed, Eastern Olivaceous, Melodious, Garden and Barred warblers, as well as Lesser Whitethroat, Bluethroat, Bearded Reedlings, Red-backed Shrikes and many more. Big flocks of Starlings can hold some rare Rosy and in this period the interactions among species are impressive: Marsh Harriers mobbing White-tailed Eagles, Rollers tormenting Wild Cats, White Pelicans trying to steal eggs of Common Terns. Top 10 interesting birds: Black-necked Grebe, White Pelican, Roller, Marsh Harrier, Collared Pratincoles, Little Owl, Hoopoe, Thrush Nightingale, White-tailed Eagle, Paddyfield Warbler. JULY Rollers are hunting from sunrise to sunset, trying to satisfy the hunger of chicks, and many juveniles of woodpeckers are spreading in the woodlands, becoming easily approachable. The floating beds of Fringed Water-lily, Floating Fern and Water Caltrop are still hosting nests of Great Crested Grebe and Whiskered Tern, but also big numbers of Squacco, Night and Purple Heron, Pygmy Cormorant and Glossy Ibis. In the steppe colonies now new lifes are growing: chicks of Shelduck, Black-winged Stilt, Avocet, Lapwing and Collared Pratincole are running among the red saltwort, while first wonderful males of Black-tailed Godwit and Ruff are already coming back from breeding sites in their best suit. Rare dragonflies are flying now like Black Pennants in the sandy dunes of Letea Forest and Dark Spreadwings in the salty marshes, enjoying the warm. Top 10 interesting birds: Great Crested Grebe, Pygmy Cormorant, Night Heron, Glossy Ibis, Blackwinged Stilt, Avocet, Collared Pratincole, White-tailed Eagle, Little Owl, Roller.
AUGUST In this month some species are becoming very common and easily seen: Pygmy Cormorants, Purple Herons and Whiskered Terns in the fishponds, but also Grey-headed Woodpeckers, Red-backed Shrikes and Golden Orioles in woodlands. This is also probably the best time to see Large Copper, Large Chequered Skipper and many other butterflies. The lagoon of Periprava is invaded by hundreds of Teals, Garganeys, Black-tailed Godwits, Spotted Redshanks, Ruffs, Gull-billed and Caspian Terns, and, in the burning sunsets, can be huge to photograph the silhouette of tens of White Pelicans resting in the red light. The identification of migrants is a true challenge for birders, because of variety of passerines that are passing in reedbeds and scrublands generally silent and with winter or juvenile plumages. Top 10 interesting birds: Pygmy Cormorant, Squacco Heron, Purple Heron, Kingfisher, Collared Pratincole, Whiskered Tern, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Gull-billed Tern, White-tailed Eagle, Roller. SEPTEMBER Huge migrations are going and the weather can affect the number of birds in the property: after perturbations are not rare thousands of White Wagtails and Swallows, but also tens of Bee-eaters, Redstarts, Willow Warblers and Spotted Flycatchers. Particularly common are the nice Red-breasted Flycatcher, adult males included. A lot of Caspian Terns rest in the naked mudflats, while flocks of Curlews are common in the steppe. The last Rollers and Hoopoe are leaving and also some rarities, like Levant Sparrowawk and Black stork, can occur. In the reedbeds are moving the last Reed Warblers, replaced gradually by groups of chatting Bearded Reedlings. Also White Pelicans are migrating south and can be really exiting watch White-tailed Eagles mixing with flocks of hundreds of them in big thermals. Top 10 interesting birds: Pygmy Cormorant, Dalmatian Pelican, White-tailed Eagle, Caspian Tern, Whiskered Tern, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Gull-billed tern, Spotted Flycatcher, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Bearded Reedling.
OCTOBER The cold season is coming with strong cool winds and Golden Jackals are wearing again their best coat. Reedbeds are overrun by hundreds of Bearded Tits while the lagoon of Periprava is still hosting Little Stints, Spotted Redshanks and Caspian Terns. This is the best time to take great pictures in the Letea Forest: the impressive variety of colours of leaves, beside the sandy dunes, can be really breathtaking. White-tailed Eagles, Marsh Harriers and Steppe Buzzards are coming regularly in front of the hides, while the only pelicans left in the lakes are now Dalmatians. Passerines like Long-tailed Tits, Great Grey Shrikes and Hawfinches are coming in the Danube delta to winter, while the last Hobbies, Red-backed Shrikes and Bee-eaters are living gradually the property. Top 10 interesting birds: Pygmy Cormorant, Dalmatian Pelican, White-tailed Eagle, Marsh Harrier, Steppe Buzzard, Caspian Tern, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Long-tailed Tit, Bearded Reedling, Great Grey Shrike. NOVEMBER Winter is coming quickly with the flocks of Greylag and White-fronted Geese. The lagoon of Periprava is now full of ducks: Teals, Wigeons, Gadwalls and Shovelers. Raptors like Rough-legged Buzzard and Merlin are not uncommon and the hunting scenes of White-tailed Eagles against the flocks of waterfowls can be very exiting. First rare Wooper Swans and Red-breasted Geese are passing, while the woodpeckers are particularly easy to seen because all the leaves are gone: the four breeding species are often exploring the trees in front of the hotel and the reed roofs, looking for larvae of wasps. Top 10 interesting birds: Wooper Swan, Red-breasted Goose, White-tailed Eagle, Marsh Harrier, Rough-legged Buzzard, Steppe Buzzard, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Great Grey Shrike., Wildcat Credits: M. Biasioli, P. Deudionne, T. D Arcangelo, M. Valentini, L. Boscain