Our last full day in bulgaria was spent mainly traveling from the coast of the Black Sea to the Central Balkan Mountains some 150 kilometers from Sofia.
 |
| The dynamic duo - Iordan and myself waiting for a White backed Woodpecker |
We left early and the drive was very pleasant and with not much traffic on the road we made good time. We made 3-4 stops for birding, breakfast, lunch and coffee.
Along the way we saw a few interesting species: Black Storks (20+ in a field), White Storks, Wood Pigeon (our first for the trip), Raven, Lesser Grey Shrike and many other common species.
We made one birding stop somewhere near Provadia about an hour out of Varna where we ate our boxed breakfast. We stopped right near a cliff face where a well known pair of Golden Eagles nest, sure enough we could plainly see a bird on the nest, great result for the group, it was really great that a apir of eagles had chosen such an obliging nest site. At the same time we saw Hawfinch, Red-backed Shrike, Golden Oriole, Spanish Sparrow and Turtle Dove.
At 3pm we arrived at our hotel in the mountains, we quickly dropped off our luggage and got ready for a walk around the hotel grounds. Unfortunately for us it was extremely windy and consequently not many birds showed. We only saw Chaffiunch, Common Redstart, White Wagtail and we heard Robin, Blackcap and we also saw another Wood Pigeon.
We decided to drive up to the peak of the mountains, some 2000 meters above sea level, and again the wind was a major hindrance. We managed to get to the sheltered side of the mountain and found a few species there:A few Linnets flew around us, a Blackcap sang and showed well, a Crossbill sat on a pine tree and stared at us.
 |
| Common Crossbill |
 |
| Water Pipit (washed out by the light - this bird was much more colourful than it looks) |
We then found a Water Pipit and as we followed this bird when it flew up the hillside we found a pair of Whinchats. A Ring Ouzel sang from the scrub whilst a second one was seen by just 3 of the group. We also heard a Dunnock singing.
Lastly we drove back to the hotel and 3 of went down to look for woodpeckers without success, however we did see a Bullfinch right outside the hotel, a lovely bird to finish off our list for the day.
Our total list for the tour amounted to 188 species, a great list with some super birds on it. The group were undecided about a bird of the trip, with Rosy Starling and Wallcreeper coming close. There will be no birding tomorrow as we have to leave very early for the airport and our flight home.
No comments:
Post a Comment