Settled within the eastern part of the Deliblato Sands, the largest sand dune system in Europe, Kastel Mariette offers unparalleled birding opportunities.
The DELIBLATO SANDS Important Bird Area comprises an elongated elliptical tract of sand, spreading from the Danube north towards Susara, Vladimirovac and Banatski Karlovac villages. It covers grazing-pasture, steppic habitats, woodland, scrub, conifer plantations, vineyards and agricultural land. Nature reserve since 2002.
180 bird species recorded, among them European Nightjar, Honey Buzzard, Long-legged Buzzard, Booted Eagle, Montagu's Harrier, European Bee-eater, Scops Owl, Ural Owl (winter), Hoopoe, Eurasian Wryneck, Green Woodpecker, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Red-backed Shrike, Lesser Grey Shrike, Crested Lark, Woodlark, Tawny Pipit, Barred Warbler, Golden Oriole, Common Nightingale, Hawfinch.
LABUDOVO OKNO Ramsar Site and an Important Bird Area represents a section of the Danube flood-plain, situated south of the Deliblato Sands (about 45 km/40 min from Kastel Mariette) and includes the flow of the Danube and the floodplains along the Danube's banks, including the flooded mouths of the rivers Karaš (with its upstream meanders) and Nera, swamps of Dubovački rit, plains of Stevanove ravnice and the islands of Žilava, Čibuklija and Zavojska ada. Natural Oak, Willow and Poplar forests as well as poplar plantations, wet meadows, marshes, dry grasslands are present. It is an important stopover site and wintering area that attracts the largest congregations of waterbirds anywhere in the country. Nature reserve since 2002.
250 bird species recorded, among them Greater White-fronted Goose, Ferruginous Duck, Common Goldeneye, Smew, Goosander, Squacco Heron, Purple Heron, Glossy Ibis, Pygmy Cormorant, Great Spotted Eagle, White-tailed Eagle, Osprey (migration only), Caspian Gull (winter), Whiskered Tern, European Turtle Dove, European bee-eater, Sand Martin.
The VRSAC MOUNTAINS Important Bird Area, a hilly area on the boundary between the Pannonian lowlands and the Carpathian massif, lies about 40 km/30 min east of Kastel Mariette. Extensive plains comprising steppic habitats, agricultural land and vineyards surround forests of oak Quercus, beech Fagus, hornbeam Carpinus, lime Tilia, ash Fraxinus and maple Acer. Nature reserve since 2005.
150 bird species recorded (if we include the adjoining Mali rit marsh in the northern foothills, that figure goes to 220): Honey Buzzard, Short-toed Eagle, Short-toed snake eagle, Levant Sparrowhawk, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Corncrake, Scops Owl, Tawny Owl, Ural Owl, Woodcock, Grey-heade Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Black Woodpecker, Syrian Woodpecker, Collared Flycatcher, Rock Bunting.
Other wildlife of Deliblato Sands and Labudovo okno:
Butterflies:
Zerynthia polyxena, Parnassius mnemosyne, Colias myrmidone, Lycaena dispar, Glaucopsyche alexis.
Dragonflies:
Calopteryx splendens, Sympecma fusca, Lestes viridis, Lestes barbarus, L. virens, L. dryas, L. sponsa, Platycnemis pennipes, Ischnura elegans, I. pumilio, Erythromma viridulum, Gomphus flavipes.
"Be like a bird on a short break in flight, feel the thin twigs beneath it, and continue singing, knowing it has wings."
Victor Hugo
