Дивото зове

Като всяко начинание, предстоящото ми пътуване в Централен Балкан е доста вълнуващо. От месеци не съм правил походи във високата планина и с огромно желание очаквам идните дни. През последните няколко горещи дни в офиса постоянно гледам снимки от Балкана и неговите господари... Дивото зове...Орли. Мечки. Вълци...Изражението им от снимките ме кара да очаквам пътуването до Балкана с невероятна мотивация. По всяка вероятност няма да видим последните два представителя на фауната, но това не пречи да си мечтая и да се отнасям в най-дивите места на нашата природа.

Предстои ми да обиколя няколко хижи около биосферния резерват Стенето в Централен Балкан. Най-общо планът е следният:

Събота 
Тръгване от гара София до гара Кърнаре. Ранният влак в 6,15 си е предизвикателство, но иначе следващият ще ме заведе до мястото по обяд. От спирка Кърнаре - качване до Беклемето. Най-добре ще е ако успея да хвана стопа нагоре, че иначе ще утрепя доста време, а по билото ме чака доста работа. Предстои ми да си говоря с пастири, хижари и туристи за срещите им с 'едрите' господари на Балкана. Целта ми е да разбера каква е ролята на биосферните резервати в Централен Балкан за опазването на едрите хищници.

Та стигайки до билото се надявам да срещна пастири. Със сигурност има поне един овчарник под заслон Орлово гнездо. Хората от самия заслон също ще знаят доста полезна инфо, та по всяка вероятност ще поспрем там за 'случайно хапване' и приказка с хората. Следваща спирка - х. Дерменка. Нощувка там и се опит да ся говоря с хижарите, та да видим какво ще се получи.

Неделя
х. Дерменка - х. Добрила (3ч). Нагласил съм се за ранно ставане и снимане на първа светлина, но да видим какво ще се получи. Подозирам, че ако се препие предната вечер, ентусиазма ми ще спадне ;) Нощуваме на х. Добрила

Понеделник
х.Добрила - х. Амбарица (3ч). Същата схема като предния ден :)

Вторник
х. Амбарица - с. Черни Осъм - Троян - София. Време е да се пребирам :)

Това е началния план. Ако се налагат промени ще казвам после. Доста ме сърби пръста за натискане на спусъка на фотоапарата. Да видим какво ще се получи. Очаквайте снимки :)

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Saturday photography trip in Bulgaria

Late on Friday evening I felt like I will have a boring weekend. It was about 11 p.m. and I still wasn't feeling quite happy with the coming weekend. Well, things are in my hands. Set the alarm for 4 a.m. put the camera batteries of my DSLR and the small pocket digital camera and quickly packed my staff: batteries, two cameras, binocular, GPS, torch.. what else may I need? Food and water? hm.... No ;)

I was on my way to the Belmeken reservoir after a bird species that I couldn't see so I would rather not mention it at all :) Nevertheless, I had a fantastic time. The morning was extremely difficult. The road was rather busy even at 5 a.m. and the lack of sleep made my driving quite a challenge. Luckily, I had my coffee mug with me which helped a bit. I was aiming to be at the site before first light to make sure I will make the most of the photo trip.

Finally I was there. I young Great Spotted Woodpecker greeted me at the cross road at Youndola pass. I must confess I didn't pay much attention to it. It was still pretty dark for photos so I kept going my way. I was finally at the spot. Nutcrackers and parties of Tits were calling here and there. I managed to get a shot of a Nutcracker but it isn't worth showing. May be next time. However, a Willow Tit came quite close nearby.

A young Coal Tit was also around but the bird looks pretty miserable so I will save it from showing ;) The light was gradually coming in and the first mild sun helped me do this image:

 

The early morning hours are also the best for water reflections. This tree in the middle of Belmeken reservoir looked gorgeous in the first light.

Even at about 6,30 there were already a few people putting up their swimming suits for a swim. The indicator for air temperature in my car was showing 15 degrees Celsius :) I can't think what the water temperature would be like :) Wouldn't feel like swimming but those guys was sportsmen so apparently someone has asked them to go in for a swim. In addition to these swimmers, there were also a few people from the Ukrainian cycling team that were desperately cycling up the hill. Some other people were camping and other were just taking the domestic animals out to the pastures for grazing. Fantastic large meadows and pastures. A bit overgrazed thought which is a bit of a concern. It was quite an interesting contrast between the working people and the sportsmen. They both work but did they choose it? Anyway, the landscape was fantastic. I should go and do some cycling myself at certain point.

The light was pretty miserable at certain point but it was nice for some dramatic landscapes:

 

...And when the Sun came out again, so did the birds, butterflies and ...Sousliks

So that's how I finally managed to make use of my Saturday. It was great fun. A bit exhausting but so pleasant.

Bird photography trip a great success

I recently returned from a trip to our cottage in NE Bulgaria. Had an amazing time. Managed to get a few stunning shots of Golden Oriole, Roller, Bee-eater and a few other lovely birds. Will upload some of my best photos in short terms.