BirdID trip in Bulgaria 2014: day 6, April 29th

We spent the day around Bourgas wetlands. Out main target were Dalmatian and White Pelicans and we traveled a bit to see them. From the early morning we started ticking off quite a few species. The highlight before breakfast was a River Warbler. Right after the morning meal we had a huge flock of 500+ White Pelicans, and then a couple of Collared Pratincoles, Penduline Tits, quite a few Curlew Sandpipers, Ruff, Little Stint, Whimbrel, Ruddy Shelduck, Spoonbills, pretty much all the ducks, etc. The day was really good for Honey Buzzards which counted about 50 or so.

We thought we had already seen quite a few pelicans when we saw the next flock of about 2000 White Pecalins. At another spot we had another 2000, so pretty good day for them. We checked several sites for the Dalmatian ones but no luck. We drove around all the Bourgas wetlands and couldn’t see any. Anyway we had some other highlights like the Little Gull, White-tailed Eagle, Short-toed Eagle, Collared Pratincole, etc.

At the very last place for the day we ticked off quite a few birds. Finally we managed to get the Dalmatian Pelicans. Three birds were calmly sitting in one of the pools. A few minutes later they just disappeared which was good luck for most of the people who really wanted to see them. Other top species were Gull-billed Tern, Slender-billed Gull, Whimbrel, another Broad-billed Sandpiper and a Kentish Plover.

This was a good end of the day. We now counted a total of 205 species for the trip and we are now at day 6. Hopefully we shall manage to add another 20 or so to beat the record from last year counting for 225 species. See what happens.

Stay tuned…

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

New specially tailored birding trip started yesterday: 8-15. March, day 1 and 2

New birdwatching trip started yesterday when a friend arrived from the Netherlands. His specific interest in 8 particular bird species brought him in Bulgaria. He is after Black Vulture, Saker Falcon, Capercaillie, Rock Partridge, Dalmatian Pelican, Pygmy Owl, White-backed Woodpecker and Three-toed Woodpecker. Not the easiest species to get. Especially at this time of year for species like the Capercaillie. I shall try to do my best. I already checked a few of the sites so from here on it would be pure luck.

My guest arrived in the early afternoon and we darted immediately to the first place where I observed the Rock partridge two days ago (described in my previous post). Unfortunately the bad weather didn't made our attempt successful. The rain, snow and wind would put every bird away. Well things like this happen. I had another place in mind and if doesn't work out we can certainly come back here again.

That's exactly what we did. We traveled to that second place but the snow was just too much. Definitely too deep for a Partridge so we had to come back to the first place. We woke up early in the morning to be able to be the spot in a reasonable time but ... no. Too much snow. Nevertheless, the morning was beautiful. Lovely sunshine made the birds active. Song Thrush and Wood Lark songs were echoing in the small mountainous valleys. Bramblings and Hawfinches were some of our morning highlights. We stopped at a spot for White-backed Woodpecker but no luck.

After this early morning outing we traveled back to the Rock Partridge place from the previous day. The beginning of the track was marked by the call of Sombre tit. One of my favourite birds welcomes us so this might be a good sign. We approached the area slowly with no talking whatsoever. And we did it right. The warming sunshine has made a bird to come out and stay quiet in the roots of a tree right in front of us. This time we did it. We saw it. Yes it took off once it saw us but in flight we could see the typical features of the Rock Partridge. It wasn't the best view but it was definitely a Rock Partridge. We stayed in the area for a little while but the bird didn't call or appear.

Well this could be the first tick for the trip. "-1" my guest said. Still a long way to go though. With this in mind we headed to the nearest town for lunch. Out next target bird is White-backed Woodpecker. There are several sites along the road we hope to see it. The weather is pretty miserable again. Snow and wind don't really help. If I was a woodpecker I definitely wouldn't come out of my tree.

Nevertheless, we stopped at several spots. After that we walked along a short path in a beautiful beech forest which is the preferred habitat type by the White-backed Woodpecker. This time there was some response to our waiting. A lovely Middle-spotted Woodpecker came over. So apparently he doesn't mind the weather. It was already 5 p.m. so we had to go. We had another 100 km to go so we headed south.

Our next targets for tomorrow would be again the White-backed Woodpecker, Dalmatian Pelican and the illusive Saker Falcon. See if we are lucky.

The start for tomorrow is at 6 a.m.

Stay tuned...

Dalmatian and White Pelican photography

This weekend wasn't just as expected. For one of the days I wanted to do some work at home and for the other day I wanted to visit a site for a Rock Partridge and White-backed Woodpecker not far from Sofia. These are two species that a friend from the Netherlands wants to see and I wanted to make sure we increase our chances of seeing the birds. I did the whole preparation for the trip and then a colleague called with a rather tempting suggestion. Pelican photography! Huge temptation. I decided the trip will have some really practical positive sides because I do not go often there and wanted to learn some new sites and accumulate more information about the area. Anyway I wanted to go to this site with my friend too. I decided to take the opportunity and go for this photography trip.

The day started at 4 a.m. About 5 hours later we were at the site. The weather was pretty miserable with some mist but at least it wasn't cold. Rather quiet as a start. Then some Mute Swans swam past followed by quite a few Gadwall, then Pygmy Cormorants, Great Cormorant, Wigeon, Little Grebe, Great Heron and Great White Egret. A gorgeous male Red-crested Pochard has passed by my colleagues but too far for a good photo. Most of the birds were pretty distant for a picture. We stayed birdwatching for a bit and off we went to a spot where we knew was good for Dalmatian Pelicans.

Mute Swan and Gadwall © Iordan Hristov

A large silhouette projected its shade on the track. We quickly jumped off the car from either side. It was a Great-spotted Eagle! Rather obligingly it circled overhead a couple of times to show its glory. It filled up our frames nicely.

Great spotted Eagle © Iordan Hristov 2014

Great spotted Eagle © Iordan Hristov 2014

Great spotted Eagle © Iordan Hristov 2014

Further on  a dozen Bewick Swans was calmly feeding in the shallow water of the lake. Then we spotted a White-tailed Eagle and a flock of several hundred Great White fronted Geese. On the other side of the road above the fields a young Peregrine was streaming towards a group of Mallards. It tried a surprise but it was too obvious. Did not seem quite skillful. Mallards survived this time. A couple of Kestrels and loads of Collared Doves made our way to the Pelican site rather pleasant and we managed to relax after the bits of exciting birding.

Then...there they are. Dalmatian Pelicans in fully adult and breeding plumage. What a bird. Couple of them were waiting by the local fishermen to give them some fish. I don't know about the fishermen buy we shall certainly give them.

We quickly got a basket of fish and started feeding the Pelicans. The birds were not afraid afraid. The bravest were coming up to about 1 m from our cameras. We had to use wide-angle lenses. The light was just right. Lovely soft light was nicely lighting the birds to give this highly desired shine in the eye.

Dalmatian Pelican photography © Iordan Hristov

Dalmatian Pelican photography © Iordan Hristov

Dalmatian Pelican photography © Iordan Hristov

Dalmatian Pelican photography © Iordan Hristov

Dalmatian Pelican photography © Iordan Hristov

Dalmatian Pelican photography © Iordan Hristov

Dalmatian Pelican photography © Iordan Hristov

With the Dalmatians there was one different bird. A White Pelican. Actually it was pink :) strange name for this bird. The White (Pink) Pelican looked so unreal. It was soook pink. I have never seen such a bird this close. The Dalmatians didn't like him very much and he often stayed hungry somewhere behind the crested Dalmatians.

White Pelican photography © Iordan Hristov

White Pelican photography © Iordan Hristov

White and Dalmatian Pelican photography © Iordan Hristov

We gave all our fish and the light wasn't good for photography any more so we decided to go.

Well this was a lovely weekend. Although I couldn't make most of the Saturday and had to start early on Sunday I hope the images will make it worth it.

Here is a checklist of all the birds we saw for the day in a systematic order without really putting much effort. have in mind this was meant to be a photography trip:

1. Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis
2. Great crested Grebe
3. White Pelican
4. Dalmatian Pelican
5. Cormorant
6. Pygmy Cormorant
7. Great White Egret
8. Grey Heron
9. Black Stork
10. Flamingo
11. Mute Swan
12. Whooper Swan
13. Bewick's Swan
14. White-fronted Goose
15. Greylag Goose
16. Shelduck
17. Mallard
18. Gadwall
19. Wigeon
20. Teal
21. Pochard
22. Red-crested Pochard
23. White-tailed Eagle
24. Great-spotted Eagle
25. Hen Harrier
26. Common Buzzard
27. Sparrowhawk
28. Common Kestrel
29. Peregrine
30. Coot
31. Lapwing
32. Green Sandpiper
33. Common Snipe
34. Black-headed Gull
35. Yellow-legged Gull
36. Feral Pigeon
37. Collared Dove
38. Little Owl
39. Kingfisher
40. Green Woodpecker
41. Grey-headed Woodpecker
42. Skylark
43. Crested Lark
44. White Wagtail
45. Grey Wagtail
46. Robin
47. Blackbird
48. Cetti's Warbler
49. Great Tit
50. Blue Tit
51. Nuthatch
52. Magpie
53. Jay
54. Hooded Crow
55. Common Starling
56. House Sparrow
57. Tree Sparrow
58. Chaffinch
59. Goldfinch
60. Corn Bunting

Dalmatian Pelicans photography

Well, here am I finally back from the trip for photographying Dalmatian Pelicans. The weather was not the best but still managed to do a couple of thousand shots ;) I just started selecting the images from the trip and couldn't resist posting a few. Well here are the first ones:

Dalmatian Pelican photography, author: Iordan Hristov © 2013

Dalmatian Pelican photography, author: Iordan Hristov © 2013

Dalmatian Pelican photography, author: Iordan Hristov © 2013

Dalmatian Pelican photography, author: Iordan Hristov © 2013

Dalmatian Pelican photography, author: Iordan Hristov © 2013

Dalmatian Pelican photography, author: Iordan Hristov © 2013

Dalmatian Pelican photography, author: Iordan Hristov © 2013

Dalmatian Pelican photography, author: Iordan Hristov © 2013

Dalmatian Pelican photography, author: Iordan Hristov © 2013

Dalmatian Pelican photography, author: Iordan Hristov © 2013

Dalmatian Pelican photography, author: Iordan Hristov © 2013

Dalmatian Pelican photography, author: Iordan Hristov © 2013

Dalmatian Pelican photography, author: Iordan Hristov © 2013


Black Tern photography, author: Iordan Hristov © 2013

Black headed Gull photography, author: Iordan Hristov © 2013

author: Iordan Hristov © 2013

author: Iordan Hristov © 2013

Stay tuned

Weekend retreat

Sunday evening is the time when people get ready for the coming week. It is also the time, when people get home after a fantastic weekend out of town to their favourite places. It was the same for me. Initially, I wasn't going to travel at all and just stay at home and relax. However, some family appointments took me to my home town: Petritch, South West Bulgaria. It's one of my most favourite areas in the country. The area where I have grown up and have to a large extent built up my personality.

To make use of the trip I decided to go to lake Kerkini, not far from my grandparents place. So on Saturday morning I woke up, helped my grandparents with some domestic work and off I went. The weather was superb. Sunny. About 10 degrees. In the afternoon it reached 20 degrees so enjoying the worm weather I walked around with a t-shirt only.

Reaching the lake was a bit of a hassle. Although I've been there twice, I still wasn't sure how to get to some of the places. So driving around was a bit of a labyrinth job but I enjoyed it. When I reached the place I wanted to reach I felt like I have reached a target. However, the pleasant emotions were just starting. The fantastic weather, the snowy peaks of Belasitsa mountain and the water were rather promising. The good weather has triggered the bird migration and the lake was full with gulls and ducks. The majority of the gulls were Black-headed Gulls but there were also a few Caspian and quite interesting, there was also one Little Gull. It was a very nice surprise. This cute and elegant bird is always nice to see. It was a nice adult with black underwings. Walking along was pleasant and i was taking my time. Then, suddenly a familiar call attracted my attention. Common Cranes. I had never heard this call in live before but I have watched a good number of natural history programmes with the Cranes in subject. The birds took off from the shallows of the lake and gradually raised as high as the mountain peaks. This was the scene that again reminded me of the Siberian Cranes crossing the Himalayas. Fantastic moment. I wish I had a proper camera to capture this moment. The birds soared for a while and landed back in the shallows of the lake. There was a strong NW wind which prevailed them from crossing the mountains.

Further along the trail, a flock of Greater White-fronted Geese called and flied right above my head. I thought, "another fantastic moment".

Suddenly all the birds started flying around. Something has caused some panic. Looked up in the sky. An large raptor was approaching. From a distance I saw a huge bill and flashing white tail. The powerful talons of an adult White-tailed Eagle were suddenly hold out and the raptor grabbed a Coot. What a sighting!

After this spectacular moment of Nature's intimate moments I carried on further along the trail. In the distance another mass of birds was flushed. This time it was two Greater Spotted Eagles. However, several Hooded Crows started mobbing them and the raptors couldn't have their catch. This time though...

After a few hours at the spot I decided I should carry on to have a look at some other areas. I knew there is a spot where Dalmatian Pelicans often stay and wanted to have a closer look at them. Took my car and off I went round the lake. There they were. Some 50 Dalmatian Pelicans were struggling with the wind and the current on the lake but were faithfully waiting by the bank for a fish that local fishermen or photographers some time give them. I didn't have any with me so I was only making photos from a distance.

Luckily the birds were tame enough to allow me do some photos even with my small digital camera. The light wasn't too bad so I will leave you enjoy some of the photos.

Carried on further along and stopped at some more places. However it was nearly the end of the day and I decided to start heading home. I was a fantastic day indeed. My main purpose wasn't exactly piling up a number of species seen but I still had over 40 species for the day. Some of the ones I saw are here (not in any order):

White-tailed Eagle - 1
Greater Spotted Eagle - 2
Common Buzzard - 2
Long-legged Buzzard - 1
Marsh Harrier - 1
Hen Harrier - 1 m
Eurasian Sparrowhawk - 1 m
Common Kestrel - 1
Wigeon - plenty
Gadwall - 4
Teal - plenty
Shoveler - plenty
Great White Egret - 12
Greater White fronted geese - 100
Common Cranes - 18
Redshank - 5
Common Sandpiper - 1
Green Sandpiper - 2
Little Gull - 1
Caspian Gull - 2
Black-headed Gull - plenty 200+
Dalmatian Pelicans - 50 +
Grey Wagtail - 1
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Green Woodpecker - 1
Greater Spotted Woodpecker - 1
Middle spotted Woodpecker - 1
Hawfinch - 1
Chaffinch - plenty
Fieldfare - 20
Blackbird - 5
Cetti's Warbler - 1
Chiffchaff - 2

This trip was a part of a project planned and implemented by www.naturemonitoring.com and www.naturetravel.eu