After an overnight flight from Malaga to London and then an early morning flight to Sofia - I had finally arrived in Bulgaria.
It was hot and sunny when I arrived at 11:30am a top temperature of 30C was reached during the afternoon.
I was met by my good friend Iordan Hristov who was to be my guide and companion for the week. We set off heading south eastward from the city and soon we were out in the countryside. As we drove through the suburbs we logged Eurasian Magpie, Jackdaw, House Sparrow and Collared Dove. A couple of stops in open arable fields just south of Pazardzhik produced Lesser grey Shrike, Red-backed Shrike and two of my old favourites Crested Lark and Corn Bunting. A couple of raptors flew over the car as drove deeper into the mountains, these were Common Kestrel and Common Buzzard.
All birdy pictures taken by Iordan Hristov
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| Lesser Grey Shrike |
We entered the valley of the river Vacha where our views became restricted by high sided gorges and forest covered hillsides, we stopped to watch Dipper, Grey Wagtails and a couple of Jays flew across the road in front of us.We also had several sightings of Common Raven.
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| Crested Lark posing nicely |
By the time we reached our destination the beautiful mountain village of Yagodina the temperature had dropped by 10C and the light was just divine. What a fantastic setting this village is situated, there was a wonderful tranquil atmosphere in the most picturesque surroundings. We sat and took coffee on the terrace of the hotel where we saw White Wagtail, Black Redstart, Hooded Crow, a distant Common Kestrel and a Goldfinch.
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| Dipper |
Driving back down the gorge we stopped to look at Dippers , Ravens and Grey Wagtails and also noted Serin. We checked into our hotel for the evening and after a shower and a quick siesta we met on the terrace for a cool beer. A delicious hot chicken and vegetable stew called Kavarna was washed down with a second beer.
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| Two views of the Vacha river behind the dam |
I couldn't believe it when the bill came for the food!! Two courses and two large beers, £5 the lot!!!!!! I think I'm gonna like it here! A Robin called at it began to get dark and quite chilly.
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| further into the narrow gorge |
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