Wednesday November 8th - Sunday November 12th Leader: Roy Beddard Group size: 8 with 1 leader Birds: 100 – 120 species Serbia and Montenegro today form a Federation that is all that remains of the former Yugoslavia. Its capital is Belgrade which is a vibrant modern western style city. The Pannonian Plain is an ancient inland sea that drained to form huge areas of steppe cut through by riverine flood plains. Through it flows the mighty Danube and its equally massive tributary, the Tisa. Our late autumn/early winter tour is planned to coincide with an influx of wildfowl, raptors and cranes. We cover a variety of these habitats, enormous shallow fish ponds, the deep Danube up to 3-5 km wide in places, steppes with saline lakes and wet woodland where many of Europe’s woodpeckers can be seen. Everywhere there could be raptors including White-tailed Eagle, Common and Rough-legged Buzzards, Hen and Marsh Harrier, Goshawk, Peregrine, Merlin and, possibly, Saker. These are attracted by the large flocks of wildfowl, wintering waders and the passerines to be found in the area. Roy Beddard has visited Serbia on an inspection trip in 2005. This is the first Birdwatching Breaks tour to Serbia.

Itinerary:

Day 1: Our flight from Heathrow takes us to the capital Belgrade where we are met by our Serbian guide. A transfer by bus will bring us to our overnight stay which is in the small and attractive city of Novi Sad.

Day 2: After breakfast, a morning visit to Becej Fish Farm where a range of waterfowl and other water birds may be seen. Many species of heron and wader are present in late autumn/early winter. A short visit to an area of reclaimed land called Pearl Island is planned, for woodpeckers, Great Grey Shrike and migrating raptors. In recent years, Slano Kopovo has been the site for a large influx of Common Cranes which are often numbered in thousands and in milder years have stayed the whole winter. This site also has ducks, geese (often including Red-breasted and Lesser White-fronted Goose), waders and raptors. Our overnight stop is at a small hotel next to one of Europe’s largest fish farm and wetland complexes, Carska Bara.

Day 3: After an early breakfast, we spend the first part of the day exploring the wet woodland, reed-beds, waterways and fishponds of Carska Bara. Here, there should be harriers quartering the reeds and perhaps waders if there are drained fish-ponds. On the drier areas we look for Great Grey Shrike and wintering passerines and, in the wet woodland, Syrian and Middle-spotted Woodpeckers and Short-toed Treecreepers. On the fish ponds still holding water there will be large numbers of wildfowl giving further chances to search out the scarcer species. Later in the day, we transfer to Belgrade and visit Veliko Ratno Ostrvo (Great War Island) for waterfowl and a nearby Pygmy Cormorant roost. Two-night stay in Belgrade.

Day 4: Today we take to the water and weather permitting we go by boat on the Danube near the famous Iron Gates Gorge which forms the border with Romania. Here, the winter gathering of wildfowl can be really enormous with a range of duck, goose and water bird species to be seen. This is the largest inland roosting area for wildfowl in this part of Europe with sometimes in excess of 50,000 birds.

Day 5: Transfer to the airport for our flight home to Britain.

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Tour Price: £945..... Single room occupancy: £90 Deposit: £100 Not included: drinks, insurance and items of a personal nature. This holiday is fully inclusive of flights, accommodation and meals, transport, permit fees, guidance, tips and taxes. Flights are available from London and Manchester. Accommodation in hotels, with en-suite facilities. Basic but clean at Carska Bara. Packed lunches provided. Transport by minibus. Short to medium walks along tracks and paths. Stout footwear and warm waterproof clothing recommended. Book this Tour >>