Our second day in beautiful Bulgaria and another sun blessed day, it reached 32C during the afternoon and the light was fantastic.
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| Chamois watching us eat our breakfast |
We started with an early morning walk from the hotel and quickly found some birds. On the river adjacent to the hotel there were Dippers galore and a couple of Grey Wagtails, Along the lane we logged Chaffinch, Great tit, Blue Tit, Willow Warbler, Cirl Bunting, Rock Bunting, Black Redstart and we heard several Nutcrakers and a single Black Woodpecker, On the way back to the hotel we had sightings of NUTCRACKER and a lovely Chamois sat on cliff ledge some 30 meters above us as we sat eating our breakfast.
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| A record shot of a Nutcraker in a typical pose |
We checked out of the hotel and drove to the famous Tregrad Gorge and 'Devil's Throat' Cave. What a superb place, the scenery was simply stunning, with towering citadels of limestone lining the narrow roads.
Four shots of the Wallcreeper gorge
We searched for WALLCREEPER at a couple of places before we finally caught up with one, what a little stunner, it disappeared before we had chance to photograph it. We also saw Coal Tit, Raven, Marsh Tit, Great Tit and many Crag Martins.
More great scenic views of the Rhodope Mountains as we travel from west to east
Our journey now took us from the Western Rhodopes to the eastern side with dramatic landscapes changing from pine forest mountains to deciduous rolling hills and open fields. Along the way we passed through a couple of large towns and many picturesque villages. We stopped many time to look for or to watch roadside birds, these included: Mistle Thrush, Common Buzzard, Hawfinch, Crossbill, Nutcracker, Jay, Hooded Crow, Common Kestrel, SYRIAN WOODPECKER, Great Spotted Woodpecker and we heard Green Woodpecker a couple of times.
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| Sombre Tit - record shot |
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| Tobacco - didn't realise it was grown in Bulgaria |
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| Typical scenes in western Rhodpoe |
Finally, during the late afternoon, we arrived at Madzarovo which was to be our base for the night, After checking into a rather luxurious hotel in a very squalid looking town, we drove a short distance to a superb birding location. We parked in a roadside pull-in which had a nice table and benches where we sat for until dark and watch the birdies go by. What great couple of hours we had, a flock of some 20 Griffon vultures circled above and eventually came down to roost on the cliff face which towered above us. We also noted many Crag Martins, Raven and Common Kestrel. In the trees and along the river we noted: Grey Heron, Great Cormorant, KIngfisher, Mallard, Spotted Flycatcher, Cirl Bunting, SOMBRE TIT, MIDDLE SPOTTED WOODPECKER, ROCK NUTHATCH (heard only), Alpine Swift, Long tailed Tit and Rock Bunting. We also heard a Green Woodpecker call a couple of times. Our woodpecker tally for the day was 5 species!!
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| Open rolling hills of eastern Rhodope |
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| Can't remember what they call this rock.........oh yes, it's Elephant rock |
As it got dark we decided to leave, we drove back to hotel and sat outside to eat a lovely meal with a nice cold beer.
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| The mountains around Madzarovo |
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