26th of April 2022 and the Driver called me just after 7 o'clock. He is not supposed to be here until 10 o'clock and I don't understand what he wanted. He could not speak English but one of the girls in the reception translated. The driver was already in the receptionand he asked if I wanted to go. No problem to wait until 10 he said.
I said that I would be down in 30 minutes. I paid my bill and we were soon on hour way to Verada Tour Guest House in Somova. We expect it to take around 4 hours to reach Somova. We drove east on the highway to Constanta and we crosses Danube two times. We left the highway in Cernavoda and started to drive towards north.
Leaving the hotel
On the highway
Fields for long as I can see
Fields for long as I can see
Forest
We reach Somova after about 4 hours and we stop at a Supermarket that was close to Verada Tour Guest House to buy some supplies. It was two minutes from the Supermarket, well, more like a MINI MART, to the Guest House.
The eBird hotspot: Lake Somova is just behind the guest house.
I liked the room, but I could not find any kettle and I asked the owner. She brought me a pot with boiling water. Not what I had expected, but good for now. But what about 4 o'clock in the morning? Or in the evening?
Tea water
My room
My room
My room
Bathroom
Bathroom
The garden
The garden
There is a dirt track next to the hotel leading down to Lake Somova. The first birds I see is the Collared Dove, a pair sitting together. I decided to take a picture even though I didn't bother with the dove. I report it in eBird and it turned out that the Collared Dove is a RARE bird.
I take a couple of steps forward and I see one Eurasian Hoopoe struggling to eat a big insect. The bird was in the shadow so not easy to take pictures. I came closer and the bird stepped out in the light, but it took off when I lifted my camera.
Hundreds of white birds on the lake, but too far away for ID
Walking down the hill and I was at sea level. Hundreds of white birds was seen through an opening in the reeds, but the bird was too far away for any ID. I passed a guy that were busy collecting honey from beehives. I turned right walking towards the south and I spotted a beautiful Eurasian Golden Oriole flying by and there was yet another Hoopoe.
There were a big group of Coots in the reed and I don’t know what flushed them, but they took off with a terrible noise.
There were many frogs and I also spotted one Common Sandpiper, I managed to get a picture before the Sandpiper disappeared. Another pair of Collared Doves and I spotted two White Wagtails playing around. Flirting?
Strange, last week I listened to a nature program on the radio. One listener had sent a video of Jackdaws picking fur from the back of a couple of deer’s that had come in to the garden.
I have never heard about this before and the “expert” said that the Jackdaws was collecting fur for the nest.
And the deer enjoyed it as they are changing from winter to summer fur and they are grateful for the help to get rid of the old fur. And today, I was walking past two cows and there was a Jackdaw pulling fur from one of the cows. And the cow looked to enjoy it.
So I was really happy to have experienced this, and just a couple of days after having heard it on the radio.
It is a beautiful area, just a shame the view of lake is covered by reed
It is a beautiful area, just a shame the view of lake is covered by reed
Feral Pigeon 5
Collared Dove (Eurasian) 4 Photo taken
Eurasian Coot 15
Common Sandpiper 1 Picture taken
Eurasian Hoopoe 3
Eurasian Golden Oriole 1
Common Magpie 8
Eurasian Jackdaw 1 From the back of a cow. Picture taken
Hooded Crow 3
House Sparrow 6
Eurasian Tree Sparrow 2
White Wagtail (alba) 2
Well, I will leave around 7 o'clock tomorrow morning, we will drive to Tulcea a few kilometres away and from there we will take the boat to explore Danube Delta.
And I am excited, I was supposed to be here last year but they closed the border a few days before due to the Wuhan virus. I have planned to come here for a couple of years but never been free to travel in April / May.
But now finally, I am here and click HERE to find out what we will see from the boat.
OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.
Jiffy (also jiff)
noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.
ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.
So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.
So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!
Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas
Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!
Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!
Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra
Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!