BULGARIA (2) - 9 DAY TOUR - DAY 5 - MAY 19TH 2014

BURGAS AREA ALL DAY WITH VISITS TO BURGAS VAYA LAKE, PODA NATURE RESERVE, THE SALT PANS AND THE NORTHERN MARSHES

It was great not to have to pack and loaded  the bus with our luggage today and breakfast was a leisurely affair,  everyone seemed more relaxed having not gone out for an early morning birding session and stayed in bed for an extra hour or so.

Travel time in the bus was kept to a minimum so our birding time was at a maximum and this paid off with a great list of species today. Our first stop was in the far northern salt-pans some 2-3km inland, it was a site of grassland with small reed-fringed pools and lots of small willow bushes. We saw Common Cuckoo, Roller, Red-rumped Swallow and Golden Orioles as soon as we got out of the bus.

But our prized find was the nest of a Penduline Tit, the adult birds were feeding young and came back and forth with food to the nest, wonderful. We also saw large flocks of White Pelicans as they lifted from the hill side on the thermals, they were migrating north to their breeding grounds it was an awesome site.

Lake Vaya from the roadside

As we got back to bus a number of butterflies were on the wing with a huge number of Black-veined Whites, above us Collared Pratincoles whizzed around hawking insects. We drove back into Burgas  to view Lake Vaya which was like a mill pond, the light was extremely good too, however the number of species of birds was quite low, none of the 'marsh' terns were present whereas huge numbers of these birds were seen last week.

We did find good numbers of Dalmatian Pelicans, Great Crested Grebes, Common Coot, Common Pochard and a few Little Gulls, Common and Little Terns.



Large Copper

Brown Argus

Whilst we stood on the shore line a couple of Little Bittern dashed by as did Night Herons and Little Egrets. We had the same experience a little further south when we stopped to look at a smaller lake by the side of the busy main road. Very few ducks were present but none of the 'marsh terns', we found only one Garganey and only one Ferruginous Duck, we also added Great White Egret, Purple Heron, Eurasian Spoonbill, Pygmy Cormorant, Marsh Harrier and Common Moorhen to the list.

For lunch we bought some picnic supplies and drove inland to another lake, we parked on a causeway with water on both sides of the road, the left hand side had much more reed cover and held more species, so that is where went walked to first. Many Great Reed Warblers sang from the tops of the reeds and a group of Pygmy Cormorants sat on a dead tree. A few Purple Herons were seen with Grey Herons fishing in the pools, overhead we saw a couple of Hobbys and as we crossed the causeway we found a superb White-tailed Eagle circling over the hillside. More migrating White Pelicans appeared and a small group of Honey Buzzards joined them. Whilst eating our picnic lunch we watched Squacco Herons and a few Passerines were found in the scrub, Common Nightingale, Penduline Tit, Blackcap, Golden Oriole and Hawfinch.

Dancho at the ready with some of the group at Lake Vaya

The afternoon was the highlight for me, especially the visit to Poda Nature Reserve which was excellent, the light was extremely good, we had beautiful sunshine with a lovely cool breeze. The downside was grass pollen and my battery-life ran out in my camera and guess where my spare was? Yes, some dipstick had left it at the hotel!I missed  a great opportunity to photograph a number of key species during the rest of the day.

At first we walked passed a few pools which on last week's tour held hundreds of terns, this week there were only the breeding Common Terns and no waders. However out in the bay  a rocky spit held hundreds of birds which included Sandwich, Common, Little and Caspian Terns, also Little and Mediterranean Gulls and Great and Pygmy Cormorants. Our walk along the shoreline took a couple of hours as everyone wanted 'action' pictures from the terns, we also found Oystercatcher, Little ringed Plovers, Ruddy Turnstone and Curlew Sandpiper all of which were photographed from close quarters.


record shot of Great Reed Warbler

Another open pool was found to have a lot more species of duck, we saw Common and Red-crested Pochard, Garganey, Ferruginous Duck, Mallard and Gadwall. A Little Bittern posed well, so did a Yellow Wagtail and both Night Heron and Pygmy Cormorants provided excellent flight views. We also found a group of Bearded Tits, these delightful little chaps came very close and posed perfectly for the cameras, except mine of course!

Our last visit was to the Salt Pans further north, near the airport, last week they were covered in waders, this week there just a few dotted about. We had to walk a fair distance to get reasonable views of them. There was;  Grey Plover, Whimbrel, Curlew Sandpiper, Ruff, Spotted Redshank, Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Ringed Plover and Kentish Plover. Also lots of Common Shelduck, Gadwall, a single Garganey, many Spoonbills and dozens of Dalmatian Pelicans.

Another Penduline Tit was photographed at close quarters before we finally called it a day, we had had a superb day in great weather and we finished it with a cold beer on the terrace before going off to get ready for dinner.