Piatra Șoimilor

The natural reserve is located West from the Băile Tușnad town, on 1.5 ha. It is located on the Southern part of the Harghita mountains, on the Eastern slope of the Pilisca Mare volcanic cone. One of the most visited attractions is the Piatra Șoimilor andesitic pillar, which offers a remarkable view on the whole region.

It was declared a reserve due to the presence of a single yellow flower, the Hieracium telekianum, this is the only place on Earth, where this little flower still exists. Then the St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum), the Cytisus hirsutus or the Telekia speciosa in the early summer months along the creeck of the reserve have to be mentioned.

Besides a series of plants and trees, the bird population of the reserve should be discussed also, this being very valuable as well. Here we can see the Ural owl (Strix uralensis), the Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo), the Eurasian nuthatch (Sitta europaea), the great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major), the black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius), the Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes), and the blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus).

This region is home to more than 35 brown bears, so visiting the reserve after sunset is not recommended.

Text and photo source: http://www.greenharghita.ro/