понеделник, 29 юли 2013 г.

Birding and ... Jazz

Another lovely weekend took me back to the Rhodopes. This time we did both Eastern and Western Rhodopes. We started off early on Friday morning to go back to Madzarovo - the town of Vultures. Not because of the people who live there but because of the birds ;) It was fairly quiet bird wise and we managed to fulfill our tasks so we quickly hit the road to the Western Rhodopes where a Jazz fest was about to start. We saw more birds along the way than in the town itself. Generally nothing exciting. The road was pretty slow and winding with lovely views and regular ice cream stops. A nice Souslik sat by the road to give us full and clear view for a couple of minutes. Further along two Little Grebes sat preening in a small pond just by the road.

Common Buzzard photography in Bulgaria
Common Buzzard photography in Bulgaria
Little Grebe photography in Bulgaria
Little Grebe photography in Bulgaria
the stage



There we are finally in Smolyan - a town in Western Rhodopes surrounded by mountain tops. After a nice evening meal and a chat with some friends we headed up to the place of the Jazz Fest - right above the town at the foot of Perelik peak. Open air concert was about to start. A combination of Jazz, ethno music, electronic and what not. It was superb. Will upload a few videos later on. Here is the first one.

Perelik
The stage of the fest is on a large meadow surrounded by pine forest. This time of year is not the best for birding but we still managed to a get a few birds. Local juvenile Ravens were patrolling the area often joined by a Kestrel or two. The other birds we ticked off are Crossbill, Water Pipit, Black Redstart, Ring Ouzel, Coal Tit, Whinchat, etc. Fairly quiet and time to go again.

On the way to Sofia we pulled to a small village called Kosovo. Mentioned by a few people for its picturesque views and old traditional houses. Indeed the village is situated in a small valley on all the hillsides around. A little chat with people in the local store proves that tourism seem to spoil this place. Perhaps because it is fairly easy to access the village. Some of the houses are so high on the steep hill side that there is no road and only trails lead to the houses. Quite a few abandoned places but the village still looks lively. Probably because of the villas of people from the town nearby.


village Kosovo




вторник, 23 юли 2013 г.

Birdwatching in Bulgaria trip reports May 2013

This spring was a rather busy season. I had a couple of birdwatching groups with guests from Norway, Britain, Poland and Germany. After some time here are the trip reports for two of the groups that I co-lead together with a colleague and a friend of mine.

Birdwatching in Bulgaria Trip report 1 (download the report here) - May 13-21st 2013 images from the trip

Birdwatching in Bulgaria Trip report 2 (download the report here) - May 22-30th 2013 images from the trip: post 1, post 2, post 3

If interested in birdwatching or bird photography opportunities in Bulgaria I am happy to help. Feel free to drop me a line at biomonitoring [.] ltd [@] gmail [.] com

Conservation and recovery of threatened birds in the European Union

A report on the "Conservation and recovery of threatened birds in the European Union" was prepared for the European Commission by BirdLife International.

Here is the content of the report:

Introduction to the Birds Directive
Developing EU Species Action Plans for threatened birds
Taking special conservation measures for threatened birds
How are species selected for an EU species Action Plan
New Action Plans for threatened birds in the EU
Evaluating the implementation of Species Action Plans
Birds of Dry Grasslands
Marine and Island Birds
Vultures, Eagles and Soaring Migrants
General overview of threats to the habitats of threatened birds
Natura 2000 and threatened birds
LIFE for threatened birds
EU-sector policies’ impact and contribution to threatened birds conservation
Sustainable use of birds in the EU
Hunting
Management plans for huntable species in unfavourable conservation status
Annex: Current list of European bird species with recovery plans and their endorsement by EU and international agreements

Download the full report from the EC webpage here.

Eastern Rhodope mountains - Madzarovo

This weekend we wanted to visit some friends and do some birding in the Eastern Rhodope mountains in a small town called Madzarovo. We started from Sofia late on Friday afternoon but arrived just on time in a small village just outside Plovdiv. We were supposed to meet dear friends and their children. This tripi wasn't meant to be a birdwatching trip but a leisurely travel. Perhaps that is why i realised I had forgotten my bins. Can't believe it.

The dinner at our friends' place was lovely in a small house in the countryside. On the next morning we started our way to the Eastern Rhodope mountains. Beautiful weather in a gorgeous location. Volcanic rocks in a crater of a ceased volcano. 


Birding was generally rather quiet because of the late season but there was still a good diversity of birds. I just realised we managed to log nearly 50 bird species without even having a binocular. A Little Owl welcomed us at the beginning of the town. Without making much efforts we ticked the first Griffon Vultures resident here. We got a drink each and went to a place to enjoy looking at a young Griffon Vulture which was making its first efforts to take off from the nest for a first time. A Black Stork flight over the forest and Middle spotted Woodpecker call echoed in it while we were putting up our tents. Hawfinches, Golden Orioles and Red-backed Shrikes were all over the place. A Black-eared Wheatear and a Rock Nuthatch were dashing around the cliffts. A Booted Eagle circled low over some meadows and Golden Orioles were actively calling here and there. Young Hoopoes were also actively flying like trying to make their wings work. A nice evening light conditions with a cool beer made the experience even greater. 

The evening walk in the city park was not less exciting. Scops and Little Owl were actively calling. Young Little Owls were making some funny calls similar to the call of the Barn Owl. It was quite an experience.

Yes, it was quiet. Imagine what the spring is like.

beer time made us switch from watching Griffons to watching the Moon and the first bats
Bird checklist:
1. Grey Heron
2. White Stork
3. Black Stork
4. Griffon Vulture
5. Egyptian Vulture
6. Short toed Eagle
7. Booted Eagle - pale
8. Common Buzzard
9. Sparrowhawk
10. Common Kestrel
11. Wood Pigeon
12. Collared Dove
13. Turtle Dove
14. Little Owl
15. Scops Owl
16. Common Swift
17. Alpine Swift
18. Hoopoe
19. Bee-eater
20. European Roller
21. Green Woodpecker
22. Middle spotted Woodpecker
23. Barn Swallow
24. Red-rumped Swallow
25. House Martin
26. Crag Martin
27. White Wagtail
28. Yellow Wagtail
29. Robin
30. Black-eared Wheatear
31. Blackbird
32. Long-tailed Tit
33. Rock Nuthatch
34. Short-toed Treecreeper
35. Red-backed Shrike
36. Jay
37. Hooded Crow
38. Raven
39. Golden Oriole
40. House Sparrow
41. Spanish Sparrow
42. Goldfinch
43. Greenfinch
44. Chiffchaf
45. Hawfinch
46. Cirl Bunting

вторник, 16 юли 2013 г.

Bird photography trip results

Here are some of my first images from the last photography trip I had in North East Bulgaria. There are loads of images so I will be slowly going through. Please be patient.

Enjoy :)

Lesser Whitethroat photography
Lesser Whitethroat photography

Long-legged Buzzard photography in Bulgaria
Long-legged Buzzard photography in Bulgaria

Roller photography in Bulgaria
Roller photography in Bulgaria
Roller photography in Bulgaria
Roller photography in Bulgaria
Lesser grey Shrike photography in Bulgaria
Lesser grey Shrike photography in Bulgaria
Long legged Buzzard photography
Long legged Buzzard photography

Lesser grey Shrike photography in Bulgaria
Lesser grey Shrike photography in Bulgaria
Starling hide photography
Starling hide photography
Red-backed Shrike photography in Bulgaria
Red-backed Shrike photography in Bulgaria
Crested Lark photography in Bulgaria
Crested Lark photography in Bulgaria
Great spotted Woodpecker photography in Bulgaria
Great spotted Woodpecker photography in Bulgaria
hide photography
Blackbird photography in Bulgaria
Balkan Green Lizzard photography
Balkan Green Lizzard photography

понеделник, 15 юли 2013 г.

Kayaking weekend: Yakoruda - Golyam Beglik

Fantastic weekend in one of the most beautiful area in the country: Western Rhodopes. The trip developed not quite as planned but never mind. The adventure was superb. As a start, we couldn't find a place to stay for the first night. We intended to camp but it was pouring rain so this wasn't very smart. Looked around and no opportunities existed in the area of Youndola where we first wanted to stay. Then my girlfriend realised that there is a splendid hotel about 25 km away next to the town Yakoruda. It was a bit aside of our way but the distance was not great and it was getting late so I decided that we try it.

We struggled a bit finding the hotel but then we saw a big sign on the main road saying HOTEL HELIER. The road to the place is a bit dodgy but once you are there, you realised what it is all about. I am quite confident putting the whole name of the hotel because I deeply recommend the place. It is at bottom of a lovely valley on one of the hill sides there. The owners are producing a great deal of the food themselves. Mmmm the food. Gosh! I really loved the food. As my girlfriend said, "I do not remember the last time when I last ate this delicious food" Superb home made blueberry jam, lovely mushrooms (Penny bun Boletus edulis), trout, eggy bread and what not. Everything was fantastic. It even has a small pool with mineral water and a sauna which we couldn't try but look great. The rooms were a bit old but the owners have started renovating the place. They have changed great deal of the furniture and do the rooms one by one. The owner is quite a warm hearted cheerful person. You will really like him. Here is a link to the hotel website: http://www.helierhotel.com/

After this lovely place we had to depart. Asking for local products, we had to stop at Yakoruda. It was THE market day. All the people not only from the town but also from the area have gathered to meet, chat and ... eat :) Traditions looked quite interesting. Mеn were sitting around a table with a board in the middle full with all kinds of meat and some spices on the side of it :) Women were nicely dressed. It was a bit of a travelling to the past. We struggled finding place in any of the local caffees especially the ones on the square.

We bought a few vegies and and off we go the our initially intended stop: Beglig reservoir. This diversion of the road was rather romantic and fully recommendable with no doubts.

We finally arrived to the reservoirs in a couple of hours joyable drive along the scenic roads of Western Rhodopes with stops here and there. The place was just as expected. Quite a few people have started their weekend quite early. Actually people do come here for fishing or canoeing for more than a weekend. A camper or a caravan would make your holiday quite comfortable. We didn't miss the comfort though. My girlfriend has thought about everything. A tent with a nice and soft duvet with sheets... :) don't what to say. it was quite comfy :)

We had a little drive by the time we find our place to put up a tent but we finally succeeded. A lovely location by water with a few flat spots to choose for the tent. The forest there was about 80 years old. One of my favourite type of habitats. Superb for Pygmy Owls. Couldn't find any though. Will have to come back again. Lots of dead wood which I hope the people camping here will not collect.

The evening fire was a must. After a brief chat it was was time to retreat and enjoy the cool mountain air from the soft duvet ;)


The morning was a bit difficult.. but an early morning wake up at about 5.00 am showed superb evaporation mist above the water. What a scene! The camera was somewhere away, so no photos. Sorry :))) We got up at 12.00 :) and then the water was ours. Finally kayaking time.

It was a long time ago when I last got on a kayak. The contact with the water is something that can make your day. The sun was a bit strong but we couldn't miss this experience. We only had a few hours. A slow and synchronous rowing took us along the bays and around the islands of the reservoir. It was really calm. You only hear the sounds from the waves. I had the feeling it was somewhere in a Scandinavian country with all these 'fjords' and bays. The time spent on the water raises some philosophical questions which everyone can have. Well, it was time to go back. Slowly though :)


We dried up the kayak and off we went. We made use of the whole day and left the place pretty much at the end of the day. It was really quiet. All the people were gone. We leave with the idea to come again for more than a weekend. Perhaps next time we shall also take our bikes. 

петък, 12 юли 2013 г.

New trip coming up: Yundola, Belmeken, Beglika

After the long trips for work it is time to make some personal trips. This time it would be mostly family travelling exploring the Western Rhodope mountains. At this stage we mean to travel towards Yundola, perhaps spend the night somewhere there. On the next day travel to Beglika and spend the weekend camping around the lake. It offers fantastic opportunities for canoeing and owling. Of course birdwatching is an important part of it. See what happens. Looking forward to it.

Beglika is known for its festivals and wild berries :)

You can see a few images from the area from the link here.



Shiroka poliana

понеделник, 8 юли 2013 г.

Photography trip preliminary results

After two weeks in the field, here I come with some of my first images. Last two weeks I guided two groups of wildlife photographers who visited Bulgaria to photograph our lovely birds. The first tour was mainly for Rollers and Bee-eaters and the second was for specifically targeted bird species.

The photography sessions were in the area of Suha reka in North East Bulgaria: an area with incredible diversity of wildlife. Birds were not the only focus. We also had the privilege to see a family of Badgers, a Fox, a Hare, a Pine Marten and a Wild Boar.

Exciting and intimate moments with Nature and the contacts with professional photographers brought new experience to the guiding service of wildlife photography. Professionalism! That's all about it. The time ahead will be an interesting time full with lots of challenges and more moments in Nature.

More images and the story behind making them is coming soon.

Bee-eater photography in Bulgaria
Bee-eater photography in Bulgaria

Bee-eater photography in Bulgaria
Bee-eater photography in Bulgaria

Bee-eater photography in Bulgaria
Bee-eater photography in Bulgaria

Bee-eater photography in Bulgaria
Bee-eater photography in Bulgaria

Black headed Bunting photography
Black headed Bunting photography

Great Spotted photography in Bulgaria
Great Spotted photography in Bulgaria

Hoopoe photography
Hoopoe photography

Isabelline Wheatear photography in Bulgaria
Isabelline Wheatear photography in Bulgaria

Lesser Grey Shrike photography in Bulgaria
Lesser Grey Shrike photography in Bulgaria

Lesser Grey Shrike photography in Bulgaria
Lesser Grey Shrike photography in Bulgaria

Northern Wheatear photography in Bulgaria
Northern Wheatear photography in Bulgaria

Northern Wheatear photography in Bulgaria
Northern Wheatear photography in Bulgaria

Roller photography in Bulgaria
Roller photography in Bulgaria

Roller photography in Bulgaria
Roller photography in Bulgaria

bird hide photography in Bulgaria
Starling

Tawny pipit photography in Bulgaria
Tawny pipit photography in Bulgaria