вторник, 26 юни 2012 г.

New photography trip coming

New photography trip is coming in the next days. They are expected to be rather exciting. I am off to the NE part of the country for a photography trip. The cottage of Nature Travel offers some exciting opportunities to every photographer to photograph Golden Oriole, Black-headed Bunting, Hoopoe, Bee-eater and Roller. These would be my main targets in the coming days.

You can view the gallery with images from the area and hides.

I will upload my images in short terms.

Keep tuned for more news for my bird photography in Bulgaria.

Hobby and Peregrine aerial display

The images here don't quite have a photography value but present a unique interaction between a Hobby and a Peregrine Falcon. The aerial manoeuvrings of either bird were spectacular. They were flying up and down. Attacking each other to present a memorable Saturday morning. Enjoy:




неделя, 24 юни 2012 г.

Bird photography in Bulgaria


















Art photography

Satuday. A day when most people will go somewhere or will devote their time to shopping, cleaning, or whatever has to be done and some free time is needed. Well, I decided to go out and make some photos. My main idea was to photograph birds, but since I am not quite pleased with the results, I decided to first post process the images of plants.

An early start on Saturday morning. The alarm went on at 4,30 a.m. I had about an hour to reach the place where I wanted to photograph some birds. Will upload some bird photos later on. Since birds weren't very cooperative, I was occasionally paying more attention to plants :) Here is the result:









четвъртък, 21 юни 2012 г.

Lesser-spotted Eagle webcam

An installed webcam presents amazing opportunity to everyone willing to peak into the intimate life of Lesser spotted Eagle. The camera is installed in a nest in Latvia.

Click on the image below to load the stream from the webcam:


Alternatively click on the website here and choose the webcam image.

The goal of the project is to obtain detailed information about the feeding of Lesser spotted eagle in Latvia.

The main reasons for the species' population decrease in Latvia is the intense harvesting of old forests especially during the breeding season. This results in both disturbance and decrease of the main feeding habitat areas (grassland).

Bulgaria
In Bulgaria there are about 350-400 pairs left. It is one of the most abundant eagles. However, its population is very sensitive due to the species' dependence on meteorological conditions.

Romania
Online website here features the migratory routes of several birds tagged with satellite transmitters.

The species is one of the first to be tagged with satellite transmitters and the most studied one. Prof. Meyburg has conducted several studies described in several publications here:
  • Migration and Wintering of the Lesser Spotted Eagle Aquila pomarina: A Study by Means of Satellite Telemetry (pdf);
  • Migration, wintering and breeding of a lesser spotted eagle (Aquila pomarina) from Slovakia tracked by satellite (pdf);
  • Satellite tracking of two Lesser Spotted Eagles, Aquila pomarina, migrating from Namibia (pdf)

вторник, 19 юни 2012 г.

Birding in Bulgaria: 4 days guided trip

I was recently asked to guide a group of British birdwatchers on a trip targeting 15 bird species typical for Bulgaria. The group was organised by David Bradnum.


We had fantastic time and amazing birds but I will leave you to read their personal impressions on their blogs:
 
Jonathan Lethbridge's blog and website on bird photos where you can purchase his photos including the one of the Lesser-spotted Eagle on the right:


"The best place I have ever been bird watching both in terms of species density and specialist rarities, good it was bloody brilliant." said Dave Morisson  in his trip report - another chap from the group. Read his full report here: Bulgaria trip report.

The third person that has posted a few images from the trip is maintained by David Bradnum. He wrote a couple of stories about:

Anyway, it was an amazing trip, for only 4 days we had 172 bird species. Some of the highlights being this Lesser spotted Eagle on the image here (Copyright Jonathan Lethbridge), Broad-billed Sandpiper, Masked Shrike, Olive-tree Warbler, Levant Sparrowhawk, Eastern Imperial Eagle and many others. "It was both the quality and quantity" says Jonathan in his report.

Thank you guys for the nice words you have said about my work. I really enjoyed our trip. It was great fun. You are very welcome again for the autumn migration or for a photography trip.

понеделник, 18 юни 2012 г.

Sunday photo trip

It is Sunday. Time for relaxing. I couldn't stop myself from doing a couple of things in the morning but once lunch time came, I felt like I should spend at least the afternoon in something more pleasant then sitting at home. So I did. I grabbed my camera and off I went to the southern part of the Vitosha Mountain. I colleague suggested there were quite a few Whinchats there and I decided to go and photograph them.

Well enjoy the results down here. The weather was great and I enjoyed the fantastic evening light drawing shades.


Whinchat photography in Bulgaria

Whinchat photography in Bulgaria
Whinchat photography in Bulgaria

Whinchat photography in Bulgaria

Whinchat photography in Bulgaria

Corn Bunting photography in BulgariaWhinchat photography in Bulgaria

Yellow Wagtail photography in Bulgaria
Red-backed shrike photography in Bulgaria

неделя, 17 юни 2012 г.

NatureMonitoring.com

Biodiversity surveys

Nature Monitoring provides consultation services, biodiversity surveys, training and wildlife tours guiding


Services include:
  • Preparation and implementation of biodiversity surveys;
  • Training on bird identification;
  • Research on biodiversity policy and practice;
  • Environmental education activities and campaigns;
  • Consultations to PR companies in campaigns and media events planning;
  • Preparation of information materials on environmental topics;
  • Wildlife tours guiding;
  • Assistance in biodiversity projects preparation.

събота, 16 юни 2012 г.

Evening drive to Melnik sand pyramids

Evening light is one of the best for photography. Both wildlife and nature photography benefit from the warm light of the rising and setting sun. In one such occasion I happened to be in Melnik. The smallest town in the country. An area known for its wine production and... its sand pyramids. Being one of my favourite areas, I couldn't stop myself from taking a few photos. Hope you will feel at least a bit of the atmosphere there.




Birds seen in the area for about an hour include Short toed Eagle, Sombre Tit, Red-backed Shrike, Subalpine Warlbler, Rock Bunting, Golden Oriole, Corn Bunting, etc.