Birdwatching in Bulgaria, tailored trip 8-15 March, recap

In the period March 8-15 a friend and i did a tailored birdwatching trip in Bulgaria and Greece. You can see previous day to day posts but here I shall try to recap all the information with some figures.

My friend came over with the aim to see 8 target species: Dalmatian Pelican, Saker Falcon, Capercaillie, Three-toed Woodpecker, White-backed Woodpecker, Pygmy Owl, Rock Partridge and Black Vulture. From all these 8 species we managed to see half of them: Dalmatian Pelican, Pygmy Owl, Rock Partridge and Black Vulture.

We knew in advance that the chance for observing the Saker Falcon was really low and we were aware of it so we were hoping for pure luck. Because of the heavy snow that fell in the last week we couldn't reach the sites for Three-toed Woodpecker. We did try but it was totally impossible. For the Capercaillie it was still early. We know its active lekking is after April 20th but still wanted to try. We visited two lekking sites but there was still no activity there. For the White-backed we were trying every day at several location but had no luck. The birds were not active yet. Moreover at some of  the sites it was snowing. Nevertheless we had fantastic views of the Pygmy Owl, the Dalmatian Pelicans and 7 Black Vultures. The Rock Partridge we only saw in flight.

Having in mind that our target were specific birds we still managed to do a pretty good list of birds counting a total of 126 bird species and 5 species of mammals for 7 day period (see the full checklist at the end of the material). Some of the highlights are the species I mentioned and Bewick's Swan, several Great-spotted Eagles, Sardinian Warbler, Sombre Tit. During the trip the migration had started so we enjoyed over 50 Black Kites, over 100 Common Buzzards, several hundred White Stork, dozens of Black Storks, Eurasian Sparrowhawks, a dozen of Ferruginous Ducks and Garganeys.

In total we have driven 2002 km for this 7 day period. This is more than preliminary planned but it was important to visit all the possible sites to ensure success of the trip. And I think we did it.

Here are a few photos from the trip:

Black Stork © Iordan Hristov

Black Vulture © Iordan Hristov

Black Vulture © Iordan Hristov

Coal Tit © Iordan Hristov

Golden Eagle © Iordan Hristov

Ponor mountains, Bulgaria © Iordan Hristov

Black Kite migration © Iordan Hristov

More photos are available on my day to day posts. See links below:
day 3: Greater-spotted Eagle photo
day 4: Pygmy Owl photo
day 5: Golden Eagle photos
day 7: Black Vulture photos

Checklist for the trip
Dates: March 8-15, 2014

1	Little Grebe	Tachybaptus ruficollis
2	Great Crested Grebe	Podiceps cristatus
3	Dalmatian Pelican	Pelecanus crispus
4	Cormorant	Phalacrocorax carbo
5	Pygmy Cormorant	Phalacrocorax pygmeus
6	Grey Heron	Ardea cinerea
7	Great White Egret	Egretta alba
8	Little Egret	Egretta garzetta
9	Black Stork	Ciconia nigra
10	White Stork	Ciconia ciconia
11	Spoonbill	Platalea leucorodia
12	Flamingo	Phoenicopterus ruber
13	Mute Swan	Cygnus olor
14	Whooper Swan	Cygnus cygnus
15	Bewick's Swan	Cygnus columbianus bewickii
16	White-fronted Goose	Anser albifrons
17	Greylag Goose	Anser anser
18	Shelduck	Tadorna tadorna
19	Wigeon	Anas penelope
20	Gadwall	Anas strepera
21	Teal	Anas crecca
22	Mallard	Anas platyrhynchos
23	Pintail	Anas acuta
24	Garganey	Anas querquedula
25	Shoveler	Anas clypeata
26	Red-crested Pochard	Netta rufina
27	Pochard	Aythya ferina
28	Ferruginous Duck	Aythya nyroca
29	Tufted Duck	Aythya fuligula
30	Black Vulture	Aegypius monachus
31	Black Kite	Milvus migrans
32	White-tailed Eagle	Haliaeetus albicilla
33	Hen Harrier	Circus cyaneus
34	Marsh Harrier	Circus aeruginosus
35	Sparrowhawk	Accipiter nisus
36	Goshawk	Accipiter gentilis
37	Buzzard	Buteo buteo incl. buteo and vulpinus
38	Long-legged Buzzard	Buteo rufinus
39	Greater Spotted Eagle	Aquila clanga
40	Imperial Eagle	Aquila heliaca
41	Golden Eagle	Aquila chrysaetos
42	Kestrel	Falco tinnunculus
43	Peregrine	Falco peregrinus
44	Rock Partridge	Alectoris graeca
45	Water Rail	Rallus aquaticus
46	Moorhen	Gallinula chloropus
47	Coot	Fulica atra
48	Avocet	Recurvirostra avosetta
49	Lapwing	Vanellus vanellus
50	Green Sandpiper	Tringa ochropus
51	Black-headed Gull	Larus ridibundus
52	Yellow-legged Gull	Larus  michahellis
53	Caspian Gull	Larus  cachinnans
54	Feral Pigeon	Columba livia domestica
55	Stock Dove	Columba oenas
56	Wood Pigeon	Columba palumbus
57	Collared Dove	Streptopelia decaocto
58	Little Owl	Athene noctua
59	Pygmy Owl	Glaucidium passerinum
60	Kingfisher	Alcedo atthis
61	Lesser Spotted Woodpecker	Dendrocopos minor
62	Middle Spotted Woodpecker	Dendrocopos medius
63	Syrian Woodpecker	Dendrocopos syriacus
64	Great Spotted Woodpecker	Dendrocopos major
65	Black Woodpecker	Dryocopus martius
66	Green Woodpecker	Picus viridis
67	Grey-headed Woodpecker	Picus canus
68	Calandra Lark	Melanocorypha calandra
69	Crested Lark	Galerida cristata
70	Woodlark	Lullula arborea
71	Skylark	Alauda arvensis
72	Crag Martin	Hirundo rupestris
73	House Martin	Delichon urbica
74	Grey Wagtail	Motacilla cinerea
75	Meadow Pipit	Anthus pratensis
76	White Wagtail	Motacilla alba
77	Great Grey Shrike	Lanius excubitor
78	Dipper	Cinclus cinclus
79	Wren	Troglodytes troglodytes
80	Dunnock	Prunella modularis
81	Robin	Erithacus rubecula
82	Black Redstart	Phoenicurus ochruros
83	Stonechat	Saxicola rubicola
84	Blackbird	Turdus merula
85	Fieldfare	Turdus pilaris
86	Song Thrush	Turdus philomelos
87	Mistle Thrush	Turdus viscivorus
88	Cetti's Warbler	Cettia cetti
89	Willow Warbler	Phylloscopus trochilus
90	Chiffchaff	Phylloscopus collybita
91	Sardinian Warbler	Sylvia melanocephala
92	Goldcrest	Regulus regulus
93	Long-tailed Tit	Aegithalos caudatus
94	Marsh Tit	Parus palustris
95	Sombre Tit	Parus lugubris
96	Willow Tit	Parus montanus
97	Coal Tit	Parus ater
98	Great Tit	Parus major
99	Blue Tit	Parus caeruleus
100	Nuthatch	Sitta europaea
101	Treecreeper	Certhia familiaris
102	Short-toed Treecreeper	Certhia brachydactyla
103	Corn Bunting	Miliaria calandra
104	Yellowhammer	Emberiza citrinella
105	Rock Bunting	Emberiza cia
106	Cirl Bunting	Emberiza cirlus
107	Chaffinch	Fringilla coelebs
108	Brambling	Fringilla montifringilla
109	Serin	Serinus serinus
110	Greenfinch	Carduelis chloris
111	Siskin	Carduelis spinus
112	Goldfinch	Carduelis carduelis
113	Linnet	Carduelis cannabina
114	Crossbill	Loxia curvirostra
115	Bullfinch	Pyrrhula pyrrhula
116	Hawfinch	Coccothraustes coccothraustes
117	House Sparrow	Passer domesticus
118	Spanish Sparrow	Passer hispaniolensis
119	Tree Sparrow	Passer montanus
120	Starling	Sturnus vulgaris
121	Jay	Garrulus glandarius
122	Magpie	Pica pica
123	Jackdaw	Corvus monedula
124	Rook	Corvus frugilegus
125	Raven	Corvus corax
126	Hooded Crow	Corvus cornix

Mammals seen:
1. Wild Hare Lepus europaeus
2. Balkan Chamois Rupicapra rupicapra balcanica
3. Red Fox Vulpes vulpes
4. Roe Deer Capreolus capreolus
5. Red Deer Cervus elaphus