CENTRAL BALKAN MOUNTAINS TO SOFIA
It was an early start with no time for birding before we left for Sofia, we left at 6:30am, it was dull, overcast with a little rain. We drove up through the pass and down into the central plain, as we climbed through the pines we saw Ring Ouzel (3), Chaffinch, Jay and a woodpecker sp.
Our only noteworthy sighting from the bus to the the airport was a flock of 10 Rosy Starlings they flew parallel to the bus for a few hundred meters.
Well, that was that, we all arrived safely at the airport in good time for the noon flight back to the UK. Everyone had had a great trip, well pleased with the birding. We amassed a creditable list of 193 species and on two indivIdual day tallies topped the 100 mark. Bulgaria is a superb birding venue, great habitats and lots of it, it is country 4 times the size of WaleS with a population barely reaching 7 million people. Birds are everywhere and in good numbers too! Highlights include the flock of 700+ White Pelicans migrating over Bourgas Lake, likewise a flock of 150+ White Storks. What was truly amazing was the incredible number of birds in song wherever we went, at one site there must have been 20-30 birds singing in just one small area, it was almost impossible to separate one song from the rest of them, incredible.
I stayed on at the airport to meet a few of the next group. Steve, Roz and Jim arrived on separate flights from London and we were all united by 2pm at our hotel in central Sofia. At 3pm we went out for a walk to a local park- well it wasn't a park but a dense woodland in central Sofia, amazing. Anyway, we saw and heard several species: mainly Blackbirds, Robins, Jays, Magpies, Great Spotted Woodpeckers and Wood Nuthatches. But we did hear Grey headed Woodpecker, Blackcap, Wren and Chaffinch.
We ate dinner at 7pm and retired by 9pm in readiness for the beginning of the tour, can't wait!
Red-throated Bee-eater
join us for a fantastic tour of The Gambia this November
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