Journey
Owls, Raptors & Pannonian Wetlands
Six private winter days of birding in Vojvodina with a specialist guide: the long-eared owls of Kikinda, cranes and geese at Slano Kopovo, the marshes of Carska bara and Zasavica, and eagles over the Danube below Deliblato Sands
- No payment now
- Private, on your dates
- Planned by our own team
- Length
- 6 days · 5 nights
- Travel style
- Private
- Pace
- Classic
- Stays
- Classic
- Starts and ends
- Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (BEG)
- Guiding
- EnglishAll languages on request
- Group
- 2–8 guests
- Price
- On requestWritten offer first, no payment now
What you’ll see
Highlights along the way
Route & days
Day by day
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Day 1 Arrive: Zasavica
Meet your guide and driver at Belgrade airport and drive west into the Srem plain to the Zasavica Special Nature Reserve, a slow river bordered by reeds, wet meadows and woods. If you land by about midday, a first walk on the reserve trails before dusk, looking for herons, woodpeckers and wintering ducks, and for signs of the beavers reintroduced here in 2004. Night in a guesthouse nearby.
- Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (BEG)
- Zasavica Special Nature Reserve
Included: Private arrival transfer; specialist bird guide; reserve entrance; dinner.
Planning time for a minibus. Flat trails and dykes; can be muddy.
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Day 2 Zasavica to Carska bara
A dawn walk at Zasavica, then across Srem and over the Danube into Banat. In the afternoon, the Stari Begej–Carska bara reserve near Zrenjanin: walk the trail through reeds and old willows to the observation points, watching for pygmy cormorants, herons, hen harriers and the white-tailed eagles that winter here. Night near the reserve.
- Zasavica Special Nature Reserve
- Carska bara Special Nature Reserve
Included: Specialist bird guide; reserve entrances; picnic lunch; dinner.
Planning time for a minibus. Two walks on flat trails and boardwalks, about 7 km in all.
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Day 3 Fishponds and the owls of Kikinda
Early morning at the fishponds on the edge of Carska bara, where ducks, grebes and gulls gather on the open water while it is not frozen. Drive north to Kikinda. In the afternoon, walk to the main square, where long-eared owls spend the winter day in the trees; their numbers change from year to year, from about 150 in a mild early winter to a record of more than 700 in 2009. Stay until dusk, when they leave to hunt over the fields.
- Carska bara Special Nature Reserve
- Kikinda
Included: Specialist bird guide; lunch; dinner.
Planning time for a minibus. Fishpond dykes, then easy town walking.
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Day 4 Slano Kopovo and the Banat plain
Back to the owls in the morning light for photographs, with a look at the pellets under the trees. Then drive to Slano Kopovo near Novi Bečej, a salt marsh on an old meander of the Tisa that fills with water from late autumn. From the paths and observation points by the lake, look for cranes (mainly in November), flocks of wild geese and swans, and on the open fields hen harriers and great grey shrikes. Return to Kikinda for the night.
- Kikinda
- Slano Kopovo Nature Reserve
Included: Specialist bird guide; reserve entrance (visit announced to the reserve in advance); picnic lunch; dinner.
Planning time for a minibus. Flat paths by the lake; boots recommended.
Easier or optional: The mammoth skeleton in the National Museum of Kikinda.
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Day 5 South to Deliblato Sands
Leave early and drive south through Banat, with a break in Zrenjanin, to Deliblato Sands, a reserve of about 300 square kilometres of dunes, steppe grassland and forest, considered one of the largest sand areas in Europe. An afternoon walk on the grasslands and forest edges with your guide, watching for birds of prey over the open steppe and for woodpeckers and finches in the woods. Night in a guesthouse on the edge of the sands.
- Kikinda
- Deliblato Sands
Included: Specialist bird guide; reserve fee; lunch; dinner.
About 4½ hours of planning time for a minibus, with a break in Zrenjanin; an early start brings you to the sands by early afternoon. Sandy tracks and forest paths, mostly flat.
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Day 6 The Danube at Labudovo okno, then departure
A last morning on the Danube. From the dyke and the river bank at Dubovac, inside the Labudovo okno wetland, scan the water for wild geese, smew, goosanders and pygmy cormorants, and the sky for white-tailed eagles, with the chance of a rare greater spotted eagle in winter. Transfer to Belgrade airport, about 2¼ hours away, for an evening flight (from about 18:00).
- Deliblato Sands
- Dubovac & the Dubovac Marshes
- Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (BEG)
Included: Specialist bird guide; private transfer to Belgrade airport.
About 3 hours of planning time for a minibus in all. Flat dykes and river banks; dirt tracks can be muddy.
Driving times are approximate and don’t include stops. Every day can be adjusted: tell us what you’d change when you enquire.
What’s included
Included and not included
Included
- 5 nights in guesthouses and small hotels near the reserves (Zasavica 1, Carska bara 1, Kikinda 2, Deliblato 1), breakfast daily
- 4 picnic or country lunches and 5 dinners
- A specialist bird guide (ornithologist) throughout, with a spotting scope
- Private car or minivan with driver from and back to Belgrade airport
- Nature reserve entrances (Zasavica, Carska bara, Slano Kopovo, Deliblato Sands)
- Travel2Serbia support throughout
Guiding in all languages available on request, subject to availability.
Not included
- Flights
- Travel insurance
- Binoculars (please bring your own)
- Drinks
- Tourist taxes paid locally
- Tips
Why this journey
Why you’ll love it
- Long-eared owls roosting in the trees of Kikinda's main square, in cold winters by the hundred
- Cranes and wild geese at the salt marsh of Slano Kopovo (cranes mainly in November)
- Pygmy cormorants, herons and wintering ducks at Carska bara
- The quiet river and wet meadows of Zasavica, where beavers were brought back in 2004
- White-tailed eagles and large flocks of waterbirds on the Danube at Labudovo okno
- The dunes, steppe and forest of Deliblato Sands
Signature moments
Owls above the pavement
In Kikinda the owls spend the winter day in the trees of the main square, a few metres above passers-by, and leave at dusk to hunt over the fields.
Cranes over the salt flats
In November thousands of common cranes can stop at Slano Kopovo on their way south; their calls carry far across the plain at dusk.
Eagles over the winter river
Below the sands of Deliblato, white-tailed eagles patrol the Danube, where ducks and geese gather in their thousands.
Where you’ll stay
Your stays · 5 nights
5 nights in guesthouses and small hotels near the reserves (Zasavica 1, Carska bara 1, Kikinda 2, Deliblato 1), breakfast daily
Night 1
Classic comfort, chosen for your dates
- Classic comfort
Upgrade: Guesthouse near Zasavica
Night 2
Classic comfort, chosen for your dates
- Classic comfort
Upgrade: Guesthouse or small hotel near Carska bara
Nights 3–4
Classic comfort, chosen for your dates
- Classic comfort
Upgrade: Small hotel in Kikinda
Night 5
Classic comfort, chosen for your dates
- Classic comfort
Upgrade: Guesthouse on the edge of Deliblato Sands
We name each stay, with its photos, in your written offer once availability is confirmed.
Before you choose
Is this journey for you?
A good fit if
Birdwatchers and wildlife photographers who want a quiet winter trip, naturalists curious about the Pannonian plain, and birders who know the classic western European sites and want something new.
Maybe not if
Travellers who want a guaranteed list of rarities; anyone who dislikes cold, early starts and muddy tracks; and visitors in spring or summer (ask us about a spring or Uvac variant).
Pace and effort
Classic, at a birding pace. Early starts and short winter days (dusk around four in the afternoon in December), with walks of 2–4 hours a day on flat dykes, tracks and boardwalks, often in cold, damp or foggy weather. Drives of about 1½–3¼ hours between the sites, and about 4½ hours on day 5 from Kikinda to Deliblato. The route is a starting point: your guide adjusts it to the weather, frozen water and the latest sightings.
Tailor-made
Make it your own
The griffon vultures of the Uvac gorge as a separate variant, April–October (about three more days, with a boat on the Uvac lake) · A spring version, April–May, for heron colonies, bee-eaters and rollers instead of owls · An extra day at the fishponds of Banat · The mammoth skeleton in the National Museum of Kikinda.
Customise this journeyHow booking and payment work
From enquiry to voucher
We never ask for card details by email or on this website. Bank details are only sent in your personal offer or invoice.
- 1 You send an enquiry Free, with no obligation.
- 2 We send a written offer Availability and your final price, confirmed.
- 3 You accept the offer
- 4 You pay securely Card payment link (Visa, Mastercard, Maestro) or bank transfer.
- 5 We confirm your payment
- 6 You receive your confirmation and voucher
Booking terms for this journey: Price on request. This is a private programme, arranged on request for your dates; there are no fixed departures. The final offer, price and availability depend on confirmation of the services (accommodation, guides, transport and activities) after your enquiry. Nothing is booked and no payment is taken until you accept the written offer.
Owls, Raptors & Pannonian Wetlands
Tell us when you’d like to come
We’ll check availability for your dates with our local partners and guides, then send you a written offer with the confirmed price. Asking is free.
- WhatsApp us
- office@love2travel.rs
- +381 60 40 80 510
- We send your first proposal within 2 working days.
Request a quote
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Individual services
Need something else?
For travellers who don’t need the complete journey, Travel2Serbia can also arrange individual services.
Tell us what you need- Airport & private transfers
- Hotels & accommodation
- Private guides
- Day trips & excursions
- Chauffeur / car with driver
- Activities & experiences