Morning birding in Sofia

The end of autumn shows lovely colors not just in the mountains but also in city parks. The nice sunshine today made me walk to work rather than driving. So I got my bins and started a bit earlier than usual. It was great. Just walking and looking at the tree tops was really pleasant. The birds were pretty active. Although there weren't many species it was still rather pleasant. Great Tit, Nuthatch, and Great Spotted Woodpecker were the few species I registered.

Sofia city park

Hope I will continue doing this and perhaps get more work for my company www.NatureMonitoring.com

Bear watching in Bulgaria, Belitsa

The past weekend was rather exciting. This time the trip was to an area where I have only driven through but never had the time to really wander around. The area is in between three of the major mountains in the country Rila, Pirin and Rhodopes. We visited friends of ours in a village called Belitsa.

Wildlife watching and trekking is super in the area too. The village of Belitsa is situated at the foot of Rila mountains. Thus the area presents superb opportunities for walking, trekking, photography or just leisure. You wake up and enjoy the nearly three thousand peaks of Pirin mouintains.

We arrived late on Friday evening. The plan for the next day was to do some trekking in Rila mountains. So we did. Since it was a weekend, we decided to make a walk rather than a serious hike. We left the house at about 12 and soon we were at our starting point in Semkovo resort. A place which people want to promote and convert into a ski resort. Quite a strange idea having in mind the slopes have southern orientation and the infrastructure there is not quite right. Moreover one of the biggest resorts in the country is just next door and this place doesn't even have basic grounds for comparison.

From Semkovo, we started our trip to Macedonia chalet. Lovely little place on the top of the mountain situated at about 2200 m above the sea level. This height presents opportunities for open view to the valley of Blagoevgrad. The area to the north of the chalet is quite wild with spots for Hazel Grouse and Brown Bears.

Landscape photography, Macedonia chalet

The trail to the chalet goes along a small river with a few small waterfalls. Right next to the chalet is one of the best biosphere reserves in the country called "Parangalitsa". The reserve has the biggest populations of the endemic plant called Primula deorum. Unfortunately some poachers were cutting the trees in the National Park. The most ridiculous thing is that a guard from the Park Administration was at the place.

Waterfall photography in Bulgaria

Loads of Nutcrackers everywhere along the way. Apparently the juveniles are quite noise but pretty shy to stay for a nice shot. A few Crested Tit, Siskin and a single Black Redstart. I was aiming for a Pygmy Owl but were not successful.

On the Sunday we went to a sanctuary for bears. The place become known for its funding from the well known Brigitte Bardot and its international charity foundation "Four paws". The bears are just so fantastic. I wish I see them more often in their wild environment. Most of the animals were not feeling well but a few of them had pretty glossy fur. They seem to be getting ready for winter.

Bear watching in Bulgaria

All of these sightings and landscapes were along the autumn colors of old growth beach forest. It really is a place to be.

I did this trip as a part of the activities of my company. See more information about its acitivities on my website here: www.NatureMonitoring.com See more of my photos in the gallery here.

Weekend walk in Plana, Sofia, Bulgaria

Weather in the last couple of days stays still warm before the coming winter. This made me go out for a walk to a village not far from our capital Sofia. Didn't quite know where to go. What I knew was that I want to explore new areas I hadn't visited before. A few arrangements and here we are on the road to the Eastern Part of Vitosha mountain just next to Sofia.

Lovely autumn colors. Even managed to do some birding in an area with conifer trees. The highlights were Black Woodpecker, Crossbill, Nutcracker, Crested Tit, Marsh Tit, Woodlark and that's about it. But it was great. A lovely and relaxed Sunday. On the way back to the car we had a great end of the day with this marvelous sunsets over the landscape. Hope I have managed to show at least a fraction of the beautiful scene.

Autumn in Eastern Rhodopes in Bulgaria

The past weekend was a marvelous autumn experience for landscape photography ... Enjoy.

On Friday afternoon we made our way to the Eastern Rhodopes to establish a bird photography hide. We arrived late in the afternoon and met some friends who suggested there is carrion in front of one of the vulture feeding sites and place for photographing them. Excitement took over and we quickly made the arrangement to go into the hide. Recent news suggested there was opportunity to photograph wild wolves so I didn't want to miss this chance. After a few drinks with our friends we decided to go into the hide during the night and spend it there. This is expected to increase our chances for photographing wolves and vultures.

We arrived shortly after 1.00 am and a pack of not wolves but dogs met us at the site. We entered in full excitement and quickly went to bed. The cozy bunks and our sleeping bags made the night quite warm and pleasant. We woke up at about 6,30. It was still pretty dark but a fox was feeding on the carcass. What a place. It would be great if it stays until its bright sun. Unfortunately it disappeared with the coming sunlight. A raven turned up presenting nice opportunities for some art photography shots. Here it is:

Raven photography in Bulgaria

After a few hours in the hide we ended up with nothing but this raven. We observed about 25 species but no photos. Amongst the birds observed are a young Goshawk chasing the birds around, a young and an adult Golden Eagle which we wanted to land but no luck, also Cirl Bunting, Wood Lark, Peregrine Falcon, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, etc.

The sun broke through the mist and wonderful landscapes tempted us to leave and spend our time for landscape photography. Here are some of the results:

We had wonderful time in photographing the autumn landscapes of Eastern Rhodopes. Totally recommended to everyone who wishes to do it. 

Waders photography in Bulgaria

This time I happened to be on the coast in the right time. I really needed to spend some time off from work,  photographing birds and get some break from the daily activities. For a couple of days I had to conduct a course on bird id with local students. After that was my time. I had two days to spend waiting for my girlfriend to come and there I go. For these two days I only managed to get three photography sessions but I am quite pleased with the results. Lots of waders around and finally managed to get a few shots of Redshank, Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint, Wood Sandpiper, Greenshank, Little-ringed and Ringed Plovers to name but a few. One of the rarest birds I managed to photograph is the Broad-billed Sandpiper but my favourite of all are the photos of Common Snipe. These lovely birds were really tame pretending I was not there. They landed only about 1,5 m from me and stayed there for a couple of minutes. What a superb little creature. I had never had such an experience. Wanted to absorb and memorize every single feather of their plumage. Really stunning.

Here I will start with a few images. More are coming soon but it will take me some time to go over the 50 GB of photos.

Common Snipe photography

Common Snipe photography

Curlew Sandpiper photography

Little Ringed Plover photography

Redshank photography in Bulgaria

Dunlin photography in Bulgaria

The sunset in the protected area is just fantastic. The pylons are not very natural but birds love them for nesting.

Poda Nature Reserve © Iordan Hristov

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.