All "Birding stories" from the current blog are now moved to a new address www.NatureMonitoring.com: Birdwatching and photography trip around Bulgaria and Greece: 24.05-2.06, day 3

вторник, 27 май 2014 г.

Birdwatching and photography trip around Bulgaria and Greece: 24.05-2.06, day 3

Today was the day of the waterbirds. We started at 6,30 and an hour later we were already watching our first Dalmatian Pelicans. We took a walk in the North Eastern site of the lake. Lovely Squacco Herons were nicely lit by the soft morning sunlight. Later on in the day we realized these birds were everywhere. Soon we had the first Night Herons and Little Egrets flying around. Other than them there were quite a few dragonflies and butterflies. We spent some time photographing the Night Herons in flight and carried on.

Night Heron photography copyright Iordan Hristov

Little Egret photography copyright Iordan Hristov

An interesting looking bird with a rufous tail cocked up 90 degrees landed on the side of the track where we were driving. My initial reaction was Nightingale but no, it was a Rufous-tailed Bush Robin. I haven’t seen one for ages.

documentary shot of Rufous-tailed Bush Robin

The early afternoon was fairly quiet. The heat chased the birds away but after some showers the second half was a bit more exciting. We took a boat trip into the lake and entered into the breeding colony of Cormorants, Night Herons, Spoonbills, Little Egrets and what not. Along the canals were sitting Dalmatian Pelicans that were calmly preening. Their White brothers were also around but didn’t let us to approach them. Glossy Ibises were moving in groups of 5-15 birds presenting superb opportunities. It was quite an experience to row around the birds so close without them being disturbed. Superb views of Night Herons.

I will let the images talk but have in mind they are not post processed. Will do that later on perhaps after the field season.