Birdwatching around Sofia

The rainy weather this Sunday put me off from my intentional plan to go out photographing a Red Fox. However, I had already prepared for a trip so didn't really feel like staying at home. That's why I decided to do a road trip around some wetlands around Sofia. Whatever the weather was I safe in the car so it wouldn't be a problem even if it rains. Off I went.

My first stop was at Aldomirovsko marsh where a singing Corn Bunting and a "stone" welcomed me on the road to the marsh. After enjoying the first singing Corn Bunting suggesting the coming spring, I continues along the road. The "stone" turned out to be this Grey Partridge which was sitting still on the road hoping I won't see it.

What a sight it is. I don't think I have seen a Partridge sitting still for this long time. I was only a couple of meters away from it. In a while it sneaked into the grass where another Partridge was pretending it wasn't there as they do always do.

Grey Partirdge © Iordan Hristov

Further along the road a female Hen Harrier was flying low above the fields. Small groups of passerines were loudly announcing the coming spring. Dozens of Yellowhammers, Tree Sparrows, and Corn Bunting were just everywhere. A rather pleasant surprise were at least half of dozen Stonechats that were singing their song. Well this should be suggesting that spring is near. A pair of Ravens were also croaking loudly and flying up and down in full harmony. What a sight this is. I remember the words of a tourist I guided some time ago saying that "Ravens always show how much they like flying". After these bits of excitement, we carried on to the second place.

We arrived at Dragoman marsh where it started raining. Corn Bunting were absolutely everywhere singing their song out. A female Marsh Harrier maneuvered above the reeds chasing the small birds. Another pair of Ravens was displaying further along the road. Another big party of several dozens of Yellowhammers, Corn Buntings and Chaffinches turned up in the rain. The rain became heavier and we decided to go home.

Well this was a rather pleasant Sunday walk or should I say drive.

Here is a list of some of the birds we saw in no order:

1. Raven Corvus corax
2. Grey Partridge Perdix perdix
3. Corn Bunting Miliaria calandra
4. Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella
5. Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus
6. Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus
7. Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs
8. Tree Sparrow Passer montanus
10. Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis
11. Magpie Pica pica
12. Common Buzzard Buteo buteo
13. Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus
14. European Stonechat Saxicola rubicola

Common Buzzard photography in Bulgaria

In the middle of the week I decided to take some time off and use the snow. It's been fairly dry winter which did not offer many opportunities for bird photography. However, the snow is already here and birds are now regularly coming to the feeding sites.

Since the forecast for today suggested snow, I decided to give it a try and go to a hide for Buzzards. At this spot there are also Ravens, Magpies, Red Fox, Golden Jackal and occasionally Golden Eagle. What I wanted most was a Long-legged Buzzard but ...you never know what will turn up. Birds are wild so, let's give it a try.

I set the alarm for 5,30 a.m. The road to the place was about 1,5 hours so I wanted to be there as early as possible. So I did. Everything was according to the forecast. Snow! Well this sounds optimistic. I drove the distance in the dark and arrived just when a fox was hunting in the fields not far from the hide. This could be a good sign. I left the car by the main road and walked for about 20 min along a snowy road to reach the hide.

A Common Buzzard took off from the tree right behind the hide. Hmm, this looks really optimistic. I set up the feeding site and entered into the hide. It wasn't even 10 minutes when a Raven landed about 20m in front of me. Then a second bird arrived. Magpies started coming. One, two, three... At certain point there were ten Eurasian Magpies Pica pica. And finally there goes the Buzzard.

A Common Buzzard landed on the perch specifically set for it. Right where I wanted it. What a beauty. It wasn't a minute before it started feeding on the bait. The birds looked pretty calm. Later on a second Buzzard arrived. At certain point i had 2 Ravens, one Common Buzzard and 10 Magpies at the same time. Well, here are some shots: 

Common Buzzard Buteo buteo photography by Iordan Hristov

Common Buzzard Buteo buteo photography by Iordan Hristov

Common Buzzard Buteo buteo photography by Iordan Hristov

Common Buzzard Buteo buteo photography by Iordan Hristov

Magpie Pica pica photography by Iordan Hristov

Magpie Pica pica photography by Iordan Hristov

Magpie Pica pica photography by Iordan Hristov

Raven Corvus corax photography by Iordan Hristov

Raven Corvus corax photography by Iordan Hristov

New guided photography trip commenced yesterday

A group of four keen Polish photographers visit Bulgaria on a guided trip to photograph Bee-eaters and Rollers. Whilst the breeding season makes it a bit difficult they already managed to get their first shots of the target species on the very first day.

"We can already go home" suggested one of them pleased by the results. We keep with our early morning and afternoon sessions to get the best of the light conditions in the 40 degrees Celsius temperatures. We start at 4,20 a.m. come back to the cottage at 11,00 and go back to the hides at 17,00 in the afternoon.

Roller photography

More results should come soon. In addition to the Roller and Bee-eater, our guests also managed to get a few shots of Tree Sparrow, Tawny Pipit and Common Starling without aiming to do so.

Lot of Marsh Warblers and Turtle Doves are feeding around the areas of the Rollers. On the preparation day before our guests have arrived we managed to get decent shots of about 15 bird species including Sombre Tit, Tawny Pipit, Long-legged Buzzard, Isabelling Wheatear, Spanish Sparrow, Stonechat, Lesser-grey Shrike and a few others.

Bee-eater photography

Birding trip 1: May 13-21

Long days in the field make the writing on the blog a challenge. Wonderful landscapes, amazing intimate moments with nature, lots of travelling and bi mileage. That's what exhausts me pleasantly in the last couple of days. We started off from the Western Rhodopes where we were after Wallcreepers and birds of the conifer forests. We than moved into the mediterranean habitats of Eastern Rhodopes. Here we spend a day searching for Blue Rock Thrush, Subalpine Warbler, Eastern Orpean Warbler, Olive Tree Warbler, Sombre Tit, Rock Bunting, Black-headed Bunting, Vultures and Eagles. We saw them all. The only birds that we dipped on were the Rock Nuthatch and Chukar. Hope we'll see them next time.

Looking at a Booted Eagle © Iordan Hristov

Further along we moved into the rolling hills of Sakar mountains searching for Eastern Imperial Eagle. Two pairs of these gorgeous and majestic birds made our day. What can a person want: picnic lunch out in the field and displaying Eastern Imperial Eagles. Along the road Montagu's Harrier will make us to suddenly stop and add up a few other species.

Masked Shrike 

After these mountainous areas we move into the coast: waterfowl. Pelicans, Ibises, Herons. We have got them all. We are short of waders but that's the season time. A raft in a lake by Bourgas had a group of both Dalmatian and White Pelicans. A flock of 700+ White Pelicans made the morning adventure even more exciting. The hot temperatures were rather suitable for a couple of ice cream stops along the  road. Yes, people do need a break now and than.

What a trip...

Weekend trip

Last weekend's trip was more productive than I expected. It was meant to be kind of a family gathering and travel to the Western Rhodope mountains where a place called Bratsigovo is situated. The area itself is great. The habitat is coniferous forest with lovely mountain glades. Whilst the scenery was great birding was a bit quiet. We had a nice Black Woodpecker, some Yellowhammers, White Stork, Black Redstarts and a lovely call of my first for the year Scops Owl. Photography opportunities were not great just because I didn't have the time. However, on the way down from the mountains we had a lovely stop at some hillsides. I didn't realise when a couple of hours just passed. Birds were all around and the nice thing is, the people in the car enjoyed seeing them as well so they didn't mind me taking photos. They got quite excited when I happened to miss a chance to photograph a bird. They become keener than me. Excitement overtook when I suggested we can see a Little Owl breeding in the area. Well here it is:

Little Owl photography in Bulgaria

Corn Bunting photography in Bulgaria by www.NatureTravel.eu

Crested Lark photography in Bulgaria

Tree Sparrow photography in Bulgaria

Whinchat photography in Bulgaria

At the end of the day when I had even packed my camera this lovely Red-footed Falcon turned up. A small group of 5 was preparing for a night roost. The light was pretty miserable but I still managed to get this shot.

Red-footed Falcon photography

BirdID training

The first bird ID training in Bulgaria is already a fact. It commenced in  the area of Plovdiv in Bulgaria. The training consisted of field classes on bird identification. It was for two days: 1) along Maritsa river, and 2) in Bessapari hills. All the participants who were 12 were rather impressed by the variety of birds. Amongst the highlights were Pygmy Cormorants, Collared Flycatcher, Semi-collared Flycatcher, Subalpine Warbler, Great spotted Cuckoo, Lesser spotted Eagle and many others. In total we had 65 species on the first day and 45 on the second.

The great variety of habitat and great enthusiasm of the people were evident. We were lucky to see and hear the first for the year Nightingales, Cuckoos, Whitethroats, etc.

Every participant in the training can get a certificate at the end of it if a test is passed.

Short-toed Eagle photography, copyright Iordan Hristov

Crested Lark, copyright: Iordan Hristov

Corn Bunting photography by Iordan Hristov

copyright Iordan Hristov 2013

More images are coming soon...

Checklist of birds seen during the training:
Day 1, Maritsa river

1.Little grebe
2.Great Cormorant
3.Pygmy Cormorant
4.Night Heron
5.Grey Heron
6.White Stork
7.Mallard
8.Lesser spotted Eagle
9.Short-toed Eagle
10.Common Buzzard
11.Kestrel
12.Grey Partridge
13.Moorhen
14.Little ringed Plover
15.Green Sandpiper
16.Common Sandpiper
17.Snipe
18.Yellow-legged Gull
19.Wood pigeon
20.Stock Dove
21.Feral Pigeon
22.Collared Dove
23.Turtle Dove
24.Cuckoo
25.Common Swift
26.Alpine Swift
27.Hoopoe
28.Black Woodpecker
29.Green Woodpecker
30.Great-spotted Woodpecker
31.Syrian Woodpecker
32.Lesser-spotted Woodpecker
33.Skylark
34.Crested Lark
35.Barn Swallow
36.House Martin
37.Red-rumped Swallow
38.White Wagtail
39.Winter Wren
40.Robin
41.Nightingale
42.Song Thrush
43.Blackbird
44.Blackcap
45.Lesser Whitethroat
46.Chiffchaff
47.Willow Warbler
48.Wood Warbler
49.Collared Flycatcher
50.Pied Flycatcher
51.Great Tit
52.Blue Tit
53.Penduline Tit
54.Wood Nuthatch
55.Magpie
56.Jay
57.Jackdaw
58.Hooded Crow
59.Common Starling
60.House Sparrow
61.Tree Sparrow
62.Chaffinch
63.Golfinch
64.Greenfinch
65.Corn Bunting

Day 2, Bessapari Hills: Biaga - Isperihovo
1.White Stork
2.Lesser Spotted Eagle
3.Short-toed Eagle
4.Common Buzzard
5.Long-legged Buzzard
6.Marsh Harrier
7.Kestrel
8.Sparrowhawk
9.Collared Dove
10.Cuckoo
11.Great spotted Cuckoo
12.Common Swift
13.Alpine Swift
14.Hoopoe
15.Syrian Woodpecker
16.Skylark
17.Crested Lark
18.Calandra Lark
19.Barn Swallow
20.House Martin
21.Nightingale
22.Blackbird
23.Isabelline Wheatear
24.Blackcap
25.Lesser Whitethroat
26.Common Whitethroat
27.Willow Warbler
28.Chiffchaff
29.Semi-collared Flycatcher
30.Great Tit
31.Magpie
32.Jay
33.Hooded Crow
34.Raven
35.Common Starling
36.House Sparrow
37.Tree Sparrow
38.Spanish Sparrow
39.Chaffinch
40.Goldfinch
41.Greenfinch
42.Corn Bunting
43.Cirl Bunting