The past weekend was pretty quiet for most of its part. General domestic things dominated. However on the Sunday afternoon I went out for a walk to a reservoir not far from Sofia. It is called Ognyanovo.
The road to the place was pretty quiet but a nice flock of 60+ Collared Doves, a couple of Buzzards and two Great Grey Shrikes made the trip pretty nice and relaxing. When I reached the reservoir I scanned the water for some waterfowl. Pretty quiet. About 70+ Coots, some 40 Mallards and a couple of Great Cormorants. A nice Black-throated Diver made the things a bit more interesting. Flocks of Linnets, Yellowhammers and Goldfinches made it look a bit more lively. Then came the highlight. Approaching the bank on the southern site a small passerine bird took off right under my feet. Flashes of white on the upper wings made me shout out straight away: Snow Bunting. The bird flied away for some time and circled overhead rising higher up in the sky like a soaring bird. Once it got some height it flied away to SW of the reservoir.
This Snow Bunting is the first I see in Bulgaria. It was a female bird and although I couldn't quite have a proper look at the bird to enjoy it, these flashes of white are pretty typical and identifying it is of no question whatsoever. Unfortunately I couldn't photograph it.
This observation made the trip really productive. I recorded all the observation and will upload it in the database of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds / BirdLife Bulgaria.
The road to the place was pretty quiet but a nice flock of 60+ Collared Doves, a couple of Buzzards and two Great Grey Shrikes made the trip pretty nice and relaxing. When I reached the reservoir I scanned the water for some waterfowl. Pretty quiet. About 70+ Coots, some 40 Mallards and a couple of Great Cormorants. A nice Black-throated Diver made the things a bit more interesting. Flocks of Linnets, Yellowhammers and Goldfinches made it look a bit more lively. Then came the highlight. Approaching the bank on the southern site a small passerine bird took off right under my feet. Flashes of white on the upper wings made me shout out straight away: Snow Bunting. The bird flied away for some time and circled overhead rising higher up in the sky like a soaring bird. Once it got some height it flied away to SW of the reservoir.
This Snow Bunting is the first I see in Bulgaria. It was a female bird and although I couldn't quite have a proper look at the bird to enjoy it, these flashes of white are pretty typical and identifying it is of no question whatsoever. Unfortunately I couldn't photograph it.
This observation made the trip really productive. I recorded all the observation and will upload it in the database of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds / BirdLife Bulgaria.
