неделя, 30 юни 2013 г.

Bee-eater and Roller photography guided trip in Bulgaria

Bee-eater and Roller photography guided trip is just over. A group of of four Polish photographers managed to get a few lovely shots of both Rollers and Bee-eaters.

"We are happy to be here", "We are glad to meet the guide Iordan and hope to come back here" This what our guest Piotr Remesz and Dorota wrote in our guest book. Quite a busy schedule with early morning start and late afternoon photography sessions produced a few results that made our guests think about coming back to our lovely 'paradise'.

Our guests managed to fulfill one of their dreams to get a photo with bee-eater and a Roller in the frame.

Here are some of the preliminary images of the guide:

Bee-eater photography
Bee-eater photography
Bee-eater photography
Bee-eater photography
Bee-eater photography
Bee-eater photography
Bee-eater photography
Bee-eater photography
Bee-eater photography
Bee-eater photography
Roller photography
Roller and Bee-eater photography
Roller photography
Roller photography
Roller photography
Roller photography
Roller photography
Roller photography
Starling photography
Starling photography
Woodcock photography
Woodcock photography

вторник, 25 юни 2013 г.

New guided photography trip commenced yesterday

A group of four keen Polish photographers visit Bulgaria on a guided trip to photograph Bee-eaters and Rollers. Whilst the breeding season makes it a bit difficult they already managed to get their first shots of the target species on the very first day.

"We can already go home" suggested one of them pleased by the results. We keep with our early morning and afternoon sessions to get the best of the light conditions in the 40 degrees Celsius temperatures. We start at 4,20 a.m. come back to the cottage at 11,00 and go back to the hides at 17,00 in the afternoon.

Roller photography
More results should come soon. In addition to the Roller and Bee-eater, our guests also managed to get a few shots of Tree Sparrow, Tawny Pipit and Common Starling without aiming to do so.
Lot of Marsh Warblers and Turtle Doves are feeding around the areas of the Rollers. On the preparation day before our guests have arrived we managed to get decent shots of about 15 bird species including Sombre Tit, Tawny Pipit, Long-legged Buzzard, Isabelling Wheatear, Spanish Sparrow, Stonechat, Lesser-grey Shrike and a few others.

Bee-eater photography


понеделник, 17 юни 2013 г.

BirdID training in Bulgaria on mountainous birds

The second training on bird identification is just finished. After the general countryside and common farmland birds, we moved into the mountainous and woodland birds. A group of 11 students joined the activity in the Central Balkan mountains. We spent the last couple of days in the area of Dermenka chalet on the very edge of Steneto Biosphere Reserve. We conducted several morning, afternoon and evening sessions for song birds, woodpeckers and owls. In addition to the field training we also conducted several indoors training with the online training quiz of BirdID here.

Steneto biosphere reserve © Iordan Hristov 2013
Participants were rather positive about the results from the training. "The training is very helpful" suggested one of the participants.

BirdID training 
White backed Woodpecker © Svetoslav Mitkov www.birdslife.net

BirdID training 
owling during the BirdID training 
the group of students and myself behind the camera

© Iordan Hristov 2013
Central Balkan Mountain © Iordan Hristov 2013

Some of the highlights were White-backed Woodpecker, Rufous tailed Rock Thrush, Water Pipit, Honey Buzzard, Rock Bunting, Whinchats and Stonechats. In total we logged 50 bird species. Here is a full list of the species seen in no order:
1. White-backed Woodpecker
2. Rufous tailed Rock Thrush,
3. Water Pipit
4. Honey Buzzard
5. Whinchat
6. Stonechat
7. Whitethroat
8. Lesser Whitethroat
9. Tree Pipit
10. Yellowhammer
11. Kestrel
12. Raven
13. Blackcap
14. Short-toed Eagle
15. Green Sandpiper
16. House Martin
17. Red-Rumped Swallow
18. Common Buzzard
19. Grey Partidge
20. Wood Pigeon
21. Feral Pigeon
22. Common Cuckoo
23. Pallid Swift
24. Common Swift
25. Great Spotted Woodpecker
26. Skylark
27. Woodlark
28. White Wagtail
29. Grey Wagtail
30. Dunnock
31. Robin
32. Black Redstart
33. Northern Wheatear
34. Song Thrush
35. Mistle Thrush
36. Blue Rock Thrush
37. Blackbird
38. Ring Ouzel
39. Chiffchaff
40. Goldcrest
41. Great Tit
42. Blue Tit
43. Wood Nuthatch
44. Treecreeper
45. Red-backed Shrike
46. Jay
47. Chaffinch
48. Linnet
49. Goldfinch
50. Bullfinch
51. Crossbill
52. Corn Bunting
53. Rock Bunting

сряда, 12 юни 2013 г.

Birdwatching and bird photography in Bulgaria - Rupite

An observer reported that Red-footed Falcons has started breeding in an Important Bird Area to the south of Sofia some 3 hours driving. Since the species is a rare breeder now and colleagues put a lot of efforts in finding the species, I had to check this observation.

The place is called Rupite (bg, engl). Absolutely lovely place. Unique for its habitat, climate, birds, flowers, butterflies, culture, geology to name but a few.

So here we are. My girlfriend and I decided to spend some time in the area and have a check of this record. We spend about an hour each of the two days we were in the area. On the first day a flock of 26 Eleonora's Falcons met us upon arrival. Calls of Black-headed Buntings, Golden Orioles and Great Reed Warblers were all around the place. Rollers were dashing over the arable fields and Rock Nuthatch calls were thrilling from the cliffs. What a place.

No Red-foots though. On the first day we had these Eleonora's Falcons and on the second, we had a single Hobby which might have confused the observer who has reported the Red-foots. Well he did confess it might have been the Eleonora's. Every year at the end of may groups of them will spend some time in the area. In 2012 a group of 50 was here. Lovely birds.

Breeding Red-rumped Swallows were rather obliging allowing me to approach them so close that I could focus with my 400 mm lens. The birds were less than 3m from me. Here is one of them:
Red-rumped Swallow photography
Red-rumped Swallow photography, copyright Iordan Hristov
Lesser grey Shrikes were also in the area:
Lesser grey Shrike photography
Lesser grey Shrike photography, copyright Iordan Hristov
Here is brief checklist of some of the birds seen for both of the days in no order:
1. Common Buzzard
2. Golden Oriole
3. Roller
4. Bee-eater
5. Red-rumped Swallow
6. Spoonbills
7. Great Cormorant
8. White Stork
9. Eleonora's Falcon
10. Hobby
11. Scops Owl (h)
12. Great-reed Warbler
13. Little Egret
14. Lesser-grey Shrike
15. Cetti's Warbler

and many others.

вторник, 11 юни 2013 г.

Breeding birds survey in Bulgaria

I just realised that the deadline for conducting the breeding birds survey in my local patches approaches rather soon. I plan to be away in the coming days for more birding stories and the forecast for the coming days is not promising either, so I decided to just go and do the survey. 

Waking up was rather difficult. After a couple of days in a row getting up at 4.30 a.m. was a bit of a pain. Nevertheless I managed to start just on time and 6.20 I was already at the field. Lovely. Now I do not regretting getting up this early. Lovely meadows rich in birds and butterflies. All wet though :) My wellington boots couldn't cope with this. Water started coming in because the grass were pretty high. The rain from last night didn't help either but anyway. This is the only chance to do my survey. I kept on walking through the fields. 
copyright Iordan Hristov
Since today was the only time I had before the rain and my other duties, I had to count the birds in both of my survey plots. Never done that before and I probably shouldn't but never mind. I managed to do it before 10.30 a.m. which is a good time.

Birds were not as active as I expected. Do not know if it was from the rain last night or from the late season. Generally they should be pretty vocal although it is the beginning of June. A pair of Roe Deer showed right at the beginning of my first survey plot.

copyright Iordan Hristov
Some of the birds seen include:

1. Honey Buzzard - the highlight of the survey. Never seen it in either of the plot before. 
2. Golden Oriole
3. Skylark
4. Tree Pipit
5. Cuckoos - loads
6. Wryneck
7. Barred Warbler
8. Lesser spotted Woodpecker
9. Yellow Wagtail
10. Mistle Thrush
11. Hawfinch
12. Red-backed Shrike
13. Bee-eater
14. Ortolan Bunting
15. Hawfinch
16. Chaffinch
17. Nightingale
18. Chiffchaff
19. Wood Pigeon
20. Jay
21. Corn Bunting
22. Blackbird
23. Song Thrush
24. Great Tit
25. Blue Tit
26. Wood Nuthatch
27. Blackcap
28. Yellowhammer
29. Raven
30. Quail (heard only)
31. Common Buzzard
32. Barn Swallow
33. House Martin
34. Greenfinch
35. Kestrel
36. Common Starling
37. Great-spotted Woodpecker
38. Syrian Woodpecker
39. Alpine Swift
40. Common Swift
41. Robin
42. Tree Sparrow
43. House Sparrow
44. Woodlark
45. Long-tailed Tit
46. Common Whitethroat
47. Goldfinch

.. and a few more..
not too bad for a common birds survey. In just of the plots I had 40 species for about 1,5 hours. In total it would be about 50 species for a couple of hours birding from 6 to 10 a.m. That is what the general countryside of Bulgaria is like. I love it :)

Unfortunately, the trends of some bird species are negative and birds are rapidly decreasing. Some of them with over 60 % for the last 7 years...

понеделник, 10 юни 2013 г.

New survey on breeding birds in two Important Bird Areas in Bulgaria

New survey for distribution and abundance of breeding birds started couple of days ago in two Important Bird Areas (IBA) in Western Bulgaria. The areas are called Meshtitsa and Kocherinovo. Some of the species used for nominating the areas as IBAs are Corncrake, Red-backed Shrike and White Stork.
wildlife photography
copyright Iordan Hristov
For three days in a row we had to survey the whole territory of the IBAs. I was hired to mainly take part in surveying the birds of Meshtitsa. What a scenery. Early morning start was rewarded by an suite of bird calls: Black-headed Buntings, Ortolan Buntings, Hoopoes, Golden Orioles, a single Lesser-spotted Eagle and lots of Whinchats, hundreds of Skylarks and Yellow wagtails. Absolutely superb meadows and pastures rich with wild flowers.
wildlife photography in Bulgaria
copyright Iordan Hristov

wildlife photography in Bulgaria
copyright Iordan Hristov


mountain meadows at Meshtitsa IBA, Bulgaria
The most rewarding bit weer the observation of rather intimate moments of nature: displaying Whinchat was actively moving its cocked tail from side to side with a head raised upright. The other superb observation was of a young Common Cuckoo which was fed by Yellow Wagtail. Never seen that before :) Unprecedented mimicking calls of loads of Marsh Warbler which were displaying with calls of Linnet, Goldfinch, Corn Bunting, Nightingale and what not. It was worth getting up at 4 a.m ;)

hillsides at Meshtitsa
Whereas my main responsibilities for Meshtitsa were to conduct a survey of all the breeding birds, I was also asked to survey the Corncrakes of Kocherinovo. Last night I managed to find 8 displaying males. If you haven't been in the field in the middle of the night, believe me there is a reason for you to experience this adventure at least once.

copyright Iordan Hristov

Here is a list of the birds seen or heard during the survey:
1. White Stork
2. Lesser-spotted Eagle
3. Marsh Harrier
4. Common Buzzard
5. Eurasian Sparrowhawk
6. Kestrel
7. Quail
8. Corncrake
9. Feral Pigeon
10. Wood Pigeon
11. Collared Dove
12. Turtle Dove
13. Cuckoo
14. Little Owl
15. Common Swift
16. Hoopoe
17. Bee-eater
18. Green Woodpecker
19. Great Spotted Woodpecker
20. Syrian Woodpecker
21. Middle Spotted Woodpecker
22. Skylark
23. Woodlark
24. Crested Lark
25. Barn Swallow
26. Red-rumped Swallow
27. House Martin
28. White Wagtail
29. Yellow Wagtail
30. Robin
31. Nightingale
32. Whinchat
33. Song Thrush
34. Black Bird
35. Barred Warbler
36. Black cap
37. Whitethroat
38. Lesser Whitethroat
39. Marsh Warbler
40. Great Reed Warbler
41. Great Tit
42. Blue Tit
43. Sombre Tit
44. Red-backed Shrike
45. Woodchat Shrike
46. Lesser Grey Shrike
47. Magpie
48. Jay
49. Jackdow
50. Hooded Crow
51. Raven
52. Starling
53. Golden Oriole
54. House Sparrow
55. Spanish Sparrow
56. Tree Sparrow
57. Chaffinch
58. Goldfinch
59. Greenfinch
60. Hawfinch
61. Ortolan Bunting
62. Yellowhammer
63. Black-headed Bunting
64. Corn Bunting


неделя, 2 юни 2013 г.

New trip to Western Boarder areas: Radomir- Lobosh reservoir

After three exhausting birdwatching trips for the whole of May it was time to finally spend some time with friends. We decided to do a trip to the Western Boarder area of Bulgaria not far from Sofia. I have wanted to do this trip many times and here it is. We took the early morning train at 8.00 a.m. and in about an hour we were already enjoying the beauties of our lovely countryside.

landscape photography in Bulgaria
© Iordan Hristov
I was tempted to take my DSLR camera but after the month of carrying the heavy staff, I decided to only take my pocket camera for documentary shots. I didn't quite know where exactly I was going so didn't want to carry too much staff since it was a hiking trip :)

So we started off from a town called Radomir, walked past Priboy, Potsyrnenci and reached a village called Kalishte. Gorgeous mountain meadows were full with butterflies. Birds were actively singing.

Black-veined White © Iordan Hristov
Around the train station in Radomir we found a few interesting birds including Marsh Warbler, Barred Warbler, a colony of Sand Martins, a pair of Black Redstart and many others. Other interesting birds during the trip were a single Short-toed Eagle, a couple of Bee-eaters and Great Reed Warbler. Although the trip wasn't planned as a purely birdwatching trip, the rich and diverse countryside resulted in nearly 60 bird species seen or heard.

Here is a full list of birds seen during the trip:
1. Mallard
2. Common Quail
3. White Stork
4. Short-toed Eagle
5. Common Buzzard
6. Kestrel
7. Yellow-legged Gull
8. Feral Pigeon
9. Collared Dove
10. Turtle Dove
11. Common Cuckoo
12. Little Owl
13. Common Swift
14. Alpine Swift
15. European Bee-eater
16. Great-spotted Woodpecker
17. Syrian Woodpecker
18. Wryneck
19. Skylark
20. Woodlark
21. Sand Martin
22. Barn Swallow
23. Red-rumped Swallow
24. House Martin
25. White Wagtail
26. Yellow Wagtail (black-headed)
27. Robin
28. Nightingale
29. Black Redstart
30. Whinchat
31. Stonechat
32. Song Thrush
33. Blackbird
34. Barred Warbler
35. Blackcap
36. Whitethroat
37. Lesser Whitethroat
38. Great Reed Warbler
39. Marsh Warbler
40. Great Tit
41. Sombre Tit
42. Long-tailed Tit
43. Wood Nuthatch
44. Red-backed Shrike
45. Woodchat Shrike
46. Magpie
47. Jay
48. Raven
49. Starling
50. Golden Oriole
51. House Sparrow
52. Tree Sparrow
53. Spanish Sparrow
54. Linnet
55. Goldfinch
56. Greenfinch
57. Ortolan Bunting
58. Black-headed Bunting
59. Corn Bunting