Coastal bird photography and migration in Bulgaria

In the past weekend I had to go to the coast and give a talk on the State of common birds in Bulgaria. I attended a conservation camp where a group of over 80 people gathered to hear and learn more about the conservation activities of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds. Since the presentation took me only about an hour I had enough time to do some birding and photography in the peak time of bird migration.

Early morning and late afternoon was the time for photography and the rest was for observing migration of soaring birds at the watchpoint. Regardless of the late arrival in the camp I managed to hear my alarm going on at 4.00 a.m. Grabbed my camera and gear and off I went to some saltpans nearby. It was steaming with birds but of course they were distance away. We did managed to get a few tamе ones nearby. Here is the first image from that morning:

Little Ringed Plover (juv.) and Lapwing in Bulgaria

Lots of Kentish Plovers, Sandwitch Terns, Meditterranean Gulls, Wood Sandpipers, Green Sandpipers, Pygmy Cormorants and many others. We left this place at about 9.00 when the light wasn't good for photography any more. After a brief breakfast we sat at the watchpoint. Lovely place right in the middle of a bottleneck corridor where soaring birds gather in good numbers. Short-toed Eagle, Lesser spotted Eagle, Osprey, Booted Eagle, 100+ Honey Buzzards, 40+ Black Kites, Montagu's Harriers, Levant Sparrowhawk and ... some 13 000 White Storks in a single flock. What a sight. and it is still the beginning of migration. I think I will be going there again the coming weekend. This time my work will be to travel around and teach Bulgarian students on Bird ID. Looking forward to it.

Stay tuned for more images and birding stories.

"Working" weekend

Weekend was a bit strange. I meant to work but I didn't. I wanted to just go somewhere and have a relaxed weekend in front of the computer. Well see the photos and guess if I did it :)

There was no internet, or at least no proper one. I meant to select to hotel on the basis of the internet connection and I thought I had but... no. The internet connection was total crap. I did do some work on one of the days but the next one was devoted to walking and photography which I miss a lot lately. Well managed to do a few shots that keep me busy post-processing for a little while. 

On Friday afternoon we traveled to a village called Ravnogor. Lovely little place in the middle of Western Rhodope mountains. Open space surrounded by conifer trees. This is what the area is like. So after the first day we did take an afternoon walk which was fairly quiet but produced a nice untypical White Stork standing on top of a conifer tree:

White Stork photography

There we lots of Red-backed Shrikes, a single Crested Tit, a couple of Marsh Tits, Ravens and Great spotted Woodpeckers. 

Before lunch on the next day we walked in the area to a place called "Chervenata skala" (the Red Rock). Fantastic view to a valley overlooking one of the reservoirs in the area called Vacha reservoir. What a view. Totally recommended. Whinchats and juvenile Kestrels were all over the place.

Whinchat photography

Common Kestrel photography

After a nice musaka for lunch we took off to a place where a Demoiselle Crane was seen couple of days ago. This sounds like a bit of a twitch but it was not. Well, we weren't shaking ;) I just wanted to show the bird to my girlfriend who sounded quite excited by the look of it :). The place is in the planes of Plovdiv. Wanted to feel at home, the crane was seen in the local rice fields. Soon we were in the area. We checked a few pools but the bird was not there. It was steeming with birds. Gulls, Waders, Wagtails, Herons but no crane. 

I spend some time photographing the Black-winged Stilts but for now this is the only shot that makes sense.

Black-winged Stilt photography in Bulgaria

Black-winged Stilt photography in Bulgaria

Black-winged Stilt photography in Bulgaria

Dragonflies were more abundant than flies. They were all over the place. What a stunning scene.

Sympetrum fonscolombii female

Sympetrum fonscolombii male

Sympetrum fonscolombii male

Orthetrum albistylum male

The sun was pretty harsh and we had to go. I think we shall come back here in certain time.