WESTERN TO EASTERN RHODOPES WITH STOPS AT TRIGRAD GORGE, KARZHALI AND THE PARK IN CENTRAL KRUMOVGRAD
What a fantastic day, great birds all day and despite four hours of travelling we saw a lot of species. The weather was kind to us we had only one light shower when we were in the Trigrad Gorge.
Our 7am walk took us along the track from the hotel, this was a different way than usual because I wanted to pass a telegraph pole where I saw Sombre Tit flying into and out of last night. Sure enough the birds were there and we all got great views of them, in the meantime we saw Black Redstart, Bullfinch, Jay, Common Cuckoo and many common garden birds. A Lesser Whitethroat was a good find and it showed very well for most of the group.
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| Sombre Tit |
We left Yagodina at 7am and drove straight to the Trigrad Gorge hoping to see the Wallcreeper, along the way we saw several Dipper and Grey Wagtails along the river. The Gorge was very quiet, no Martins, no Ravens at their nest and no creeper. We were getting a little worried after 30 minutes of searching when Dancho spotted one down the valley towards the road tunnel, we quickly walked down there but the bird had gone, however it could be heard singing and Dancho led us through the tunnel to the nest site. To our utter amazement the bird was sitting on a ledge next to a crevice just 3 meters above the road, click, click went the cameras, what luck.
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| Wallcreeper - taken by Dancho (Iordan Hristov) |
Back on the bus everyone passed around their cameras with superb images of the Wallcreeper, except for me, the bird was too close to digi-scope.
Our next stop was in the high pass just above Smoylen where open patches of grass lay between pine forests and tracks. As we pulled up we noticed two Ring Ouzels feeding on the grass and a Mistle Thrush joined them. After that excitement we had incredible experience with a Firecrest the bird was singing from a small pine tree and came really close to us, it even displayed its crest, it was truly an incredible performance.
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| Firecest - another Dancho picture |
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| Fiercest taken by me |
After taking lunch in Smoylen (we had to sit inside as it was too cold for the terrace) we drove directly to Kardzahli where we stopped at a petrol station for a quick coffee, whilst there we logged Black Stork, Great Cormorant, Pygmy Cormorant, Yellow-legged Gull and Jackdaws.
A stop in the hills just before Krumovgrad produced several good species, we spent 45 minutes searching open scrub and quiet tracks. Birds encountered included: Turtle Dove, Hawfinch, Orphean Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Cirl Bunting, Red-backed Shrike, Golden Oriole and we also heard Common Nightingale and Barred Warbler.
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| Red-backed Shrike |
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| Orphean Warbler |
We checked in at our hotel in Krumovgrad at 6pm and by 6:15pm we were out again taking a short walk to the local park. Last week had been quite productive so it was worth a shot. What a great decision too, we quickly found the nest hole of a pair of Lesser-spotted Woodpeckers which was well attended by both the birds, smashing. Then we did the same with a Syrian Woodpecker, the male was in attendance and drummed many times whilst we watched him perform. A Green Woodpecker also showed really well on the grass lawns and we noted a Hobby and two Honey Buzzards flying over.
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| Lesser Spotted Woodpecker - a male near the nest hole |
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| Scops Owl |
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| Syrian Woodpecker |
It was now getting dark so we played the call of the Scops Owl and got an answer almost immediately, the call came from a side street next to the park some 100 meters away. We found the bird within minutes and again the cameras went clicking away.
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| the group at dinner last night at Yagodina |
It was a superb ending to a long day, everyone was very happy with the sightings and the improving weather, at dinner the room buzzing!
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| GREEN WOODPECKER |
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| RING OUZEL |
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| CHAOS AT THE SCOPS SITE |
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| COMMON SPOTTED ORCHID AT YAGODINA |
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