Breakfast was a simple affair of bread, cheese and salad. Paul came to pick us up from the bar at 10am to drive us back into the field for a second day of raptor surveying. On the way we noticed so many stray dogs just roaming the countryside on their own. It was such an odd site to us (since we're more used to seeing roaming foxes) yet it seems like a common occurrence in Romania.

Our first stop was a field where we saw a group of storks circling over the hill in the distance. We also saw a few buzzards close by. We stayed in this field for a little while, observing the birds through our binoculars, before Laszlo joined us after having driven all the way from Odorheiu that morning.

We headed over to Vargyas town. On the way there we stopped at a spring to get some delicious, fresh, still spring water. It didn't taste of petrol! Laszlo and Paul needed to speak to the Vargyas mayor about the surveying, in particular about the locations of the surveys and the roads that we're able to drive down (some are more accessible than others).

After that, we drove to our second site which was located on a hilltop, with fantastic views of Meresti and sheep fields. Getting to this site required a lot of off-roading across fields, which were apparently legitimate roads! On the other side of the plateau was a small gorge with a flowing river. The perfect habitat for a colony of Bee-eater nests on the escarpment, which is exactly what we saw flying above! A beautiful bird, with colourful wings that glistened in the sun and a playful flight. We even saw one trying to catch an insect midflight and fail!

Lunch took place under an oak tree, with the usual selection of fresh picnic food in the hamper.

On we drove and found ourselves in a quarry as Paul and Laszlo had taken a wrong turning. It was an impressive sight as the road we were on wound all the way down into the quarry itself, which was huge. Laszlo promptly turned around and drove back up to find Paul's car. More severe off-roading followed, into a woodland. We stopped by a pretty river where there were loads of frogs chirping. They were basking on the river margin and successively hopped into the water as we walked along the edge!

It turned out that Paul and Laszlo were lost. We continued driving and got stuck behind a some horses and carts absolutely loaded with logs. We eventually managed to squeeze past and ended up in a Roma gypsy town, which we turned into to gain access to a National Park. Rally-style driving up steep, sharp cornered slopes to the Park. This was a national park as it contained Basaltic lava columns in the Carpathian rock which were created between 0.65 and 2 million years ago. I really wanted a tour of the place but everyone else was too hot and tired!

Finally we stopped at St. Paul's lakes to bird watch and look at the amphibians. We didn't see any frogs or toads this time round but we certainly heard them loud and clear! I went off on my own little walk along the lake and got absolutely covered in spider web. This was also the day when we all saw the shy Cuckoo for the first time!

After this we drove back to Meresti just in time for me and Kate to watch the cows come home and milk them. Such a cool experience. Everyday all the cows in the village are taken out to graze the fields. Then at 7.30pm the cows walk home with a couple of shepherds down the village roads. All the cows know exactly which houses to turn into on their own accord! They all slowly walk at a rhythm and our two family cows turned in and trotted through the gate. Such a spectacle to watch them walk up the driveway, past the house and into the barn! Kate and I sat on a stool and milked the udders. I was tentative at first in fear of hurting her, then realised that the calf would be far more brutal when suckling! I managed to fill a quarter of a pale. While I was doing that, the pigs were munching on their food, the young (unfriendly) farm cat was constantly meowing and waiting for her fresh milk, the calf was feeding from the younger cow and the swallows were darting to and from their barn nest. A very busy barn! We couldn't milk for long as it was very tiring so the task was taken over by the milking pipeline machine. Absolutely loved it though.

Soon after it was time for dinner. Tonight we had scrambled egg and green vegetable soup (delicious) with a warm rice salad and flat pork in egg batter.

BIRD SPECIES SPOTTED:
Buzzard x 4
White and Black Storks x 23
Kestrel x 1
Bee-eater x 4