About Us
The Red-breasted Goose, Branta ruficollis, is one of the most beautiful birds in the world, and the reason behind the Branta Tours name.
Why Branta Tours
Named for one of the world’s rarest and most striking geese.
Branta ruficollis is one of the rarest, smallest and most attractive species of goose. It is adorned with a striking plumage featuring a spectacular pattern of black, white and rusty red.
88,000wintering Red-breasted Geese recorded up through the year 2000
28,000fewer than this number recorded in recent years on the old page
20%of Branta Tours income allocated to help protect the species from extinction
2-15typical Branta group size, from focused pairs to small groups
This colourful creature breeds in the extreme north of the Russian arctic tundra, migrates thousands of miles, and winters almost entirely at Durankulak Lake and its surrounding farmlands and pastures in Bulgaria.
Numbers of wintering Red-breasted Geese have declined dramatically in the last decade, from as many as 88,000 up through the year 2000 to fewer than 28,000 in recent years. That is why the IUCN now categorizes Branta ruficollis as the world’s most endangered goose.
That is why our company is called Branta Tours. That is why our central headquarters is based in the epicentre of the Red-breasted Goose wintering quarters. That is also why 20% of our incomes are directly allocated to help protect Branta ruficollis from extinction.
Dear customer
Welcome to Branta Tours
We are pleased to welcome you to our Branta Tours birdwatching site and to bring to your attention a variety of birding events on offer in our programme.
Who We Are
Located in Durankulak on the northern Black Sea coast of Bulgaria, Branta Tours is a licensed travel company that specialises in developing and operating Professional Guided Trips and Wildlife Watching Excursions to observe flora and fauna, in particular birdwatching.
The old company page described top birding locations in Bulgaria, Hungary, Belarus, Central Siberia, Ural, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Romania, Scotland and Southern France including Corsica. It also presented new destinations designed to broaden wildlife experience as Branta Tours ventures to the wilder side of the Western Palaearctic and beyond.
Most scheduled tours are tailored for serious birders and photographers, but Branta also offers General Nature Trips and Wildlife Holidays. These focus on birds and mammals, including marine species, together with reptiles and amphibians, butterflies, dragonflies and wild flowers, plus other aspects of the wildlife scene.
Flexible Birding
In terms of your personal birdwatching requirements Branta Tours is very flexible and willingly tailors programmes to suit specific needs. Tour programmes can be adjusted to coincide with your airport of arrival and/or departure.
Different Customised Tours may operate at any time, catering for particular interest or request. Itineraries can also be adapted to focus on the species guests especially wish to see, with flexibility as to tour length.
Some clients seek particular target species but have limited time available, and Branta is ready to oblige. If guests wish to be certain of observing a particular highlight, such as Red-breasted Goose or Paddyfield Warbler, the original page advised watching the website for announcements of their arrivals.
Eastern Europe And Beyond
Branta Tours is well positioned to offer guided trips in some of the most exciting Eastern European countries and Russia. Many of these still possess huge areas of unspoiled nature, with few people aware that such pristine reservoirs of wildlife still exist.
Apart from observing a great variety of birds and other wildlife, guests can enjoy the warmth of Slavic hospitality and delicious traditional cuisine.
The old company text aimed to present a real taste of the actual experience for prospective participants of a Branta Tours holiday, with confidence that eastern Europe, so close yet so enigmatic, will rate among the most alluring and important nature destinations anywhere.
How We Work
- The team consists of experienced naturalists.
- Tours are escorted by knowledgeable local guides who speak English, French, German and Russian.
- Programmes are prepared in collaboration with the scientists of Le Balkan Bulgaria Foundation, with direct access to the advice and knowledge of principal avian ecologists and specialists in long-term monitoring of bird communities.
- Groups comprise 2 to 15 people accommodated from 1 to 15 nights.
- Destinations are selected for a variety of themes: observation of rare and remarkable species, wintering geese and other waterfowl, autumn migration of soaring birds especially raptors, endemic plants and large mammals, and introductory lessons in birdsong.
Branta Tours is equipped with Swarovski Optics to ensure the best possible birding experience for your trip.
Our advantages
Why Travel With Branta
- Small group size and 4WD vehicles facilitate exploration of the most secluded and remote sites.
- Locational content: visits to very special environments, exceedingly comfortable hotels, well-located bird lodges and cosy guesthouses, good food and good company.
- Choice of birding locations: tours combine visits to the top bird-rich locations, where guides remain constantly alert to unexpected sightings. Thus the maximum number of species is achieved, often exceeding the most ambitious expectations.
- Flexibility: at your request, dates within the programme can be modified to operate at any time.
- Quality of observations: Branta’s approach is to produce high quality birdwatching with regard to duration of observation, close proximity to subjects and consideration of light direction. Viewing of species is readily repeated if they occur in different situations, reflecting behavioural aspects, sex, age and plumage.
- A network of collaborators: Branta works with local rangers and experts who keep the team constantly up-dated on current situations on the bird scene, saving valuable time in the search for rarities.
- Exchange of information: during trips the team exchanges information with other birdwatchers at every encounter.
- Professional guide-ornithologist: Pavel Simeonov personally leads most of the tours. As full-time escort and driver, his sharp-eyed vigilance ensures that not a single item is missed, augmenting the final checklist tally.
In addition, Branta Tours was recommended by Birdwatch readers as a top-ranked tour company offering a high standard of service and holiday to its customers (cf. Birdwatch Magazine, February 2010, Issue 212).
For further information please contact us at info@branta-tours.com or download our free printed brochure.
Nature Conservation
Nature conservation is the second field of Branta Tours activity, the internationally prestigious company Swarovski Optik being one of the essential sponsors supporting the flourishing of the Dalmatian Pelican breeding colony in Bulgaria. This project became a successful example of international partnership for nature conservation. It shows that with the right partners, appropriate management, and targeted financial sponsorship there is still room for this large and beautiful waterbird to not only survive but prosper on this planet we all share.
The year 2012 was noted as the 15th anniversary of the successful long-term partnership between Branta Tours, Swarovski Optik and Le Balkan Bulgaria Foundation, with further details of celebrations to follow in due course.
Branta Tours is also involved in another significant project: the First successful satellite tracking of Red-breasted Geese within the framework of joint activities between the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW) and Le Balkan Bulgaria Foundation. To learn more about the plight of this critically endangered species and its urgent conservation needs, see www.redbreastedgoose.org.
About tours to Bulgaria
Seasonal Highlights
Spring Birdwatching
Spring Birdwatching: extremely high bird tally. One tour is in late April/early May, one in the middle of May and the other is in late May/early June. Bird list can be the longest for any European tour.
In spring you can see and admire Dalmatian and White Pelicans, Pygmy Cormorant, Ruddy Shelduck, the desmaresti sub-species of Shag, Glossy Ibis, Purple and Squacco Herons, Little Bittern, Bee-eaters, Rollers, Masked and Lesser Grey Shrikes, Penduline and Bearded Tits, Wallcreeper, Rock Nuthatch, Balkan Wagtail, Tawny Pipit, Calandra and Short-toed Larks.
Birds of prey include Red-footed Falcon, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard, Levant Sparrowhawk, Booted and Short-toed Eagles and three species of vulture (Neophron percnopterus, Aegypius monachus and Gyps fulvus). The page also listed Paddyfield, Moustached, Olive-tree, Olivaceous, Icterine, Barred, Orphean, Sub-alpine and Eastern Bonelli’s Warblers, Eastern Semi-collared Flycatcher, Rose-coloured Starling, Pied, Isabelline and Black-eared Wheatears, Ortolan, Black-headed and Rock Buntings, thousands of waders including Collared Pratincole, Kentish Plover, Marsh, Curlew and Broad-billed Sandpipers, Temminck's Stint, Gull-billed Tern, Slender-billed and Mediterranean Gulls, Yelkouan Shearwater, etc. 200+ expected for a 7-day tour.
Autumn Migration
Autumn Migration: 25 raptors, pelicans, waders and passerines. September is the best time to see the maximum number of birds and species.
On the autumn migration tour Branta focuses on huge numbers of raptors, storks and pelicans. The original page cited over 250,000 White and 10,000 Black Storks, 20,000 White Pelicans, many Short-toed and Booted Eagles and over 10,000 Lesser-Spotted Eagles recorded on the Via Pontica Flyway, plus many Red-footed Falcons, Levant Sparrowhawks, the rufous eastern race of Buzzard - vulpinus - and, with luck, Saker Falcon, Eastern Imperial Eagle or Steppe Eagle.
Little Crake, Red-necked Grebe, Caspian Tern, Bittern and Little Bittern are also seen along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Time is also spent observing huge numbers of waders and passerines, including unusual and mythical species like Sombre Tit and Red-breasted Flycatcher.
Winter Tour
Winter Tour: Red-breasted Geese. This usually takes place in mid February, after the hunting season when the birds are easier to approach and before their return migration.
On winter tours there are hundreds of thousands of wintering geese, including almost all of the world population of Red-breasted Goose (Branta ruficollis), and often two or three Lesser White-fronted Geese are seen in the large mixed flocks of White-fronted and Greylag Geese.
White-headed Duck, Bewick’s Swan, Red-crested Pochard, Smew, Great Black-headed Gull, Dalmatian Pelican and sometimes White Pelican can be seen. Winter raptors include Merlin, Spotted and White-tailed Eagle, Pallid Harrier, Long-legged and Rough-legged Buzzards.
Large Mammals And Birds
Large Mammals and Birds: Brown Bear. This newly designed spring event contains one of the most attractive and extensive wildlife packages Branta Tours has offered. The trip gives high importance to finding mammals, with Brown Bear viewed from a hide at a private reserve, Balkan Chamois, Jackal, Steppe and Marbled Polecats, European Souslik and three species of dolphins in support.
Reptiles and amphibians include Stripe-necked Terrapin, European Glass Lizard and Green Toads. Bird list includes Dalmatian and White Pelicans, Pygmy Cormorant, Ruddy Shelduck, Ferruginous Duck, Chukar, 20 raptor species, 5 wheatear species, Roller, Bee-eater, Citrine Wagtail, Wallcreeper, Rock Nuthatch, Sombre Tit, Semi-collared Flycatcher and Nutcracker, with over 200 species expected.
Spring Botany And Birds
Spring Botany and Birds: The Bulgarian Black Sea coast is one of the most interesting areas from a floristic and faunistic point of view. The vegetation is formed under different migrational flows. There are sands and dunes which are still not so damaged by human impact.
The natural riches, including biodiversity, ornithological important areas and wetlands, are closely related with very rich historical and cultural heritage. Coastal Dobrudja is one of the most attractive areas to be visited. The steppe ecosystems in Kaliakra reserve and adjacent territories, which covered a large part of the region in the past century, are rich in wildlife as well as plants, and are one of the best sites in Europe to see more than 600 plant species including Broad-leaved Peony.
Natural History Tour
Natural History Tour: This tour is aimed at people with a general interest in wildlife and could be suitable for birdwatchers and their non-birding partners. It combines archaeology, history and shopping with interesting bird and wildlife identification.
This is an excellent time to visit a scenic and nature-rich country, when wonderful wild flowers, including endemic orchids, dazzle at every turn. Fresh spring foliage is unfurling, rare dragonflies feature and bird song fills the air. Warm temperatures stimulate reptiles, amphibians and butterflies.
Mediterranean-like locations present South-Eastern specialities including Rock Partridge, Rock Nuthatch, Rock Sparrow, Olive-tree Warbler, Isabelline Wheatear, Black-headed Bunting and Sombre Tit. Wallcreeper, Nutcracker and Alpine Accentor are other upper-altitude highlights. Mammals feature with a Brown Bear watch, Balkan Chamois, European Souslik and predators including Jackal, and very possibly Marbled and Steppe Polecats. By way of cultural diversion the route visits one of the oldest Bulgarian monasteries.
Extra Trips And Spectacles
The above-mentioned species are not a full list by any means. Please ask for detailed checklists.
Branta also offers two day overnight trips staying at the exclusive lakeside accommodation at Branta Birding Lodge, or day-trips for people staying at neighbouring Bulgarian or Romanian resorts. In addition to the ecological approach, there are many important archaeological sites on both sides of the border. On the Bulgarian side, the “Big Island” on Durankulak Lake is just 300 metres from Branta Birding Lodge, and contains the first known stone buildings in Europe.
- In Bulgaria, Branta guests have witnessed the departure of the globally threatened and beautiful Red-breasted Geese for their Siberian breeding grounds, an ultimate event for birders.
- In Bulgaria, Branta guests have witnessed the unforgettable massed gathering of Red-footed Falcons in readiness for their autumn migration, a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle.
Wouldn't you like to have the chance to witness one of these or similar spectacles?