BULGARIA 11 th to 20 th MAY 2015

Transcription

1 SANDWICH BAY BIRD OBSERVATORY BIRDING HOLIDAYS BULGARIA 11 th to 20 th MAY 2015 Trip Participants: Carol Alexander; Sue Bennett ; John Buckingham; Ken Chapman; Helena Daly; Peter Dean; Grant Demar; Keith and Julie Ellis; Andy Keen; John and Liz Pell; Claire Richards; Mary Rudge; Janet Scott ; Glen Sharman; Phil Smith; Gary and Pauline Stewart; John and Tina Warman. Introduction The tour was conceived and organised by John Buckingham, based on five previous commercial birding and botany tours to Bulgaria and took in three major bird areas and important habitats. We covered a lot of ground and visited the lakes and sometimes spectacular limestone scenery and steppe grasslands of the north coast close to Romania, the lakes, marshes and ancient forests of the southern coast on to the Turkish border and lastly the picturesque volcanic uplands, crags, cliffs and gorges of the Eastern Rhodopes along the inland frontier with Greece. John had worked with Neophron Bird Tours from Varna in past years and especially with Dimiter Georgiev, who runs Neophron and was our extremely knowledgeable, helpful and Figure 1 CAPE KALIAKRA John Buckingham experienced guide throughout the holiday. His attention to detail, reliability and organisation was truly effective, considering the very remote parts of this very poor country that we visited. Whilst we concentrated on birds, we also enjoyed some of the flowers, animals, butterflies and other insects, again helped by Dimiter s wide natural history skills. At this point we mustn t forget our coach driver, Petar who was quiet but polite and friendly and who loaded and un-loaded our cases on travelling days, stopped and manoeuvred his coach when asked to do so, (six-point 1

2 turn on narrow mountain road!), and drove us steadily, safely and comfortably throughout the tour from Varna to Sofia. Our group bird list was an excellent 189 species with only a handful of expected Figure 2 MIDDLE-SPOTTED WOODPECKER AT NEST John Buckingham species missing. Winter in Bulgaria had been extraordinarily mild and the smaller than usual numbers of wildfowl and waders had moved towards their northern breeding grounds well before spring had started and resident species such as woodpeckers had begun breeding earlier than usual and were busy feeding young, with less obvious territorial activity than expected. Spring then became cold and wet and the weather improved just as we arrived, giving us the great bonus of experiencing a delayed and interesting passage migration and the arrival of many groups including passerines, especially of warblers and also marsh terns. Later arriving species such as Beeeaters and Rollers were just coming in with the former heard or seen every day, and in all probability Paddyfield Warblers and Little Bitterns were yet to arrive to enjoy the sunshine that followed us throughout the trip. Figure 3 PIED WHEATEAR Cape Kaliakra - John Buckingham ( ), so everyone spent very little money! Everything was very cheap with a large beer at 2 levs (77p), soft drinks at 1 lev and a bottle of very acceptable Bulgarian wine at between 15 and 21 levs Our three hotels on tour were in great locations. Each had a charm and character of its own and all looked after us extremely well. We were mostly in very simple but clean rooms, all en-suite and apart from one night, when the local water company failed to get enough pressure into the hotel, we enjoyed lots of hot water. Meals were extremely good, tasty, varied and plentiful and as we left each day, full after breakfast and expectant of a large three-course dinner to come, the very simple and repetitive packed lunches were just adequate, but often enjoyed in some nice shady 2

3 and comfortable bars and cafes where drinks were included. As in other parts of Europe the Bulgarians have never really heard of packed lunches so what? Finally, what could be better than returning after a successful day s birding and relaxing outside in very pleasant surroundings and enjoying a cool beer, gin and tonic or glass of wine before dinner? Great! Monday May 11 th : Sandwich Bay to Sofia Most of the group left the Observatory at 11 a.m. by mini-bus to Heathrow, to arrive in plenty of time for the afternoon flight out to Bulgaria. At Heathrow we met up with John Buckingham and Grant Demar who had made their way there from West Kent. As it happened, the flight departure was delayed and although the flight itself was uneventful, we did not arrive at our hotel in Sofia until after midnight local time. Some of the group went straight to bed, but others stayed up for a beer and a late supper of the meal which the hotel had laid on for us. Tuesday May 12 th : Sofia to Varna on the Black Sea coast: We started our bird list early this morning, with such species as Barn Swallow and Hooded Crow, plus Great Bittern, which was watched from the terminal building at Sofia airport whilst waiting for our short local flight to Varna on the Black Sea coast. Happily the flight was on time and routine except for some exciting side-slipping in turbulence just as we were coming in to land some white knuckles were on view amongst some of the passengers We met our guide Dimiter, who also runs Neophron Tours and coach driver Petar at about 8.30am, anticipating some good birding to come. The weather to-day was sunny with a cool breeze coming in off the Black Sea. Our first real birding stop was on the edge of a limestone plateau area between Varna and Krapets, at a stake-out for Eurasian Eagle Owl. Through the telescopes, the bird could be seen clearly on a cliff, with its head and ear tufts showing inside the hole it Figure 4 SHORT-TOED EAGLE was roosting in. At the same locality we had what turned out to be our only good views of the trip of Short-toed Eagle (Dark-chested 3

4 Snake Eagle). But what good views they were as the bird passed along the cliff line at no great distance! Alpine Swifts were cruising along the cliffs as well, while behind us in the dense scrub the place was alive with the song of Nightingales, Cuckoos and the purring song of Turtle Doves. Not so many years ago, it was like this back in Southern Britain (well, apart from the eagle!). Further along the cliffs, a second stop produced views of our first Long-legged Buzzard on its nest and showing its pale head. Our first Red-backed Shrike and Golden Oriole were also found and these birds were then seen daily throughout the tour, even in semi-urban habitats. The land in this part of Bulgaria used to be limestone steppe grassland but much of it was cleared for agriculture in the mid-20 th century. Nowadays the scenery is of vast open arable fields of wheat, barley and maize, broken up by wind farms, some small vineyards and orchards and the occasional small settlement. There is still plenty of good habitat for birds however. One stop by the roadside in the middle of this area, where builders rubble had been dumped in a scrubby area, produced Crested Larks, Black-headed Buntings, thunbergi Grey-headed Wagtails and Spanish Sparrows, the commonest sparrow throughout much of Bulgaria. A singing male Barred Warbler gave excellent views and there was a pair of the very black-andwhite rubicola race of Stonechat. A couple of Western Marsh Harriers were also seen, (as they were throughout many parts of the country that we visited). We arrived at the very pleasant Hotel Yanitsa, on the shores of the Black Sea, at p.m. and settled into our hotel rooms, finding them, as expected, quite basic, but perfectly clean and comfortable with loads of hot water in the bathroom, and a nice lunch of vegetable soup, cheese omelette and chips was taken overlooking the sea and accompanied by sightings of Yellowlegged Gulls, Great Cormorants, Figure 5 PURPLE HERON - John Buckingham Sandwich Terns and, best of all a Black Tern and about 20 beautiful White-winged Terns flying buoyantly north into the breeze. We had a short break after lunch and were then out again at 2.30 p.m. Our first stop at a wetland area gave us more evocative views of hunting White-winged and Whiskered Terns which were part of a large migration movement. Three Purple Herons got up out of the reeds while most of the ducks that we saw out on the water proved to be paired-up Ferruginous Ducks. We had good views of singing Great Reed Warblers, Black-winged Stilts and a nice male Common Redstart and there were Golden Orioles to be found in a nearby clump of poplars. Some European Bee-eaters were heard and seen overhead, while on some telephone lines it was 4

5 possible to see three species of hirundine all in a line Sand Martin, Barn Swallow and Red-rumped Swallow. We then finished the day by visiting an area of relict steppe grassland and a short walk into this untouched area provided us with a range of species which are typical of this habitat. Amongst the best birds were a number of big, songflighting Calandra Larks showing the diagnostic dark undersides to their wings and white trailing edges, several distinctive Lesser Grey Shrikes, our first Pied Wheatear, (a nice male) and a target for most of our serious birders, then more distantly over some fields, at least four Red-footed Figure 6 BLACK HEADED BUNTING summer visitor from the east John Buckingham Falcons. Other species seen in the area included Black-headed bunting, Hoopoe, Grey Partridge, Corn Buntings and Skylarks. Wednesday May 13 th : Durankulak wetland, Shabla Lakes and Cape Kaliakra: After a good night s sleep, most of the group were up and about before breakfast to explore the scrubby areas near the hotel, where such species as Hawfinch, Redfooted Falcon and Barred Warbler were found and hirundines were moving up the coast to the north in some numbers. Breakfast was a substantial meal of cheese, cold sausage, scrambled egg, salad and toast and jam which most of us did full justice to before it was time to board the coach for our journey north to Durankulak lake, close to the Romanian border. En-route some of the group managed to see a Syrian Woodpecker flying across the road in front of the coach, while other species 5

6 seen from the moving vehicle included Common Buzzard, Roller, Common Kestrel and European Jay. The roadsides were lined with flowering shrubs and trees including Tamarisk, Laburnum, Spanish Broom, Lilac and the purple-flowered Judas Tree. As we approached Durankulak, a group of 25 or so fine Squacco Herons got up out of a roadside marsh and returned to feed on frogs as we waited, and here too we found many Great Reed Warblers in song. We spent most of the morning walking along the dunes overlooking the main Figure 67 SQUACCO HERON - John Buckingham wetland and managed to build up quite an impressive list, though we did not unfortunately find Paddyfield Warbler, and it is possible that these birds are now in decline in Bulgaria, so close to the extent of their breeding range. Birds that we did see included a few Glossy Ibis, one or two Pygmy Cormorants, Bearded Reedlings, Garganey, White-winged and Whiskered Terns and both Grey and Purple Herons. There were a few waders about Little Ringed Plover were breeding on the upper beach area and migrant Curlew Sandpiper, Ruff and Little Stint were added to our list. We also found an example of the local race of Reed Bunting, with its conspicuously larger bill. Local plants of sand dunes and Clouded Yellow butterflies added to the interest. After welcome refreshments at the beach-front café, we boarded the coach for our next destination at Cape Kaliakra, an exposed area of spectacular limestone cliffs. A few birds were found here including breeding Pied Wheatears in some numbers, Alpine Swifts and Shags, while such species as Red-breasted and Semi-collared Flycatcher and a Coal Tit were passage migrants. A feature of the site was the number of wildflowers that were in bloom, amongst huge drifts of Yellow Ashphodel. Heading back towards our hotel, we again stopped to take a short walk over some steppe grassland habitat, where, amongst other species, we caught up with more Calandra Larks showing well along with Tawny Pipit, Skylarks and two pairs of Stone Curlews. The best sighting here, however, was a mammal an impressive European Wild Cat which had clearly just emerged from its day-time resting place and was on its way out to start an evening hunt. Our final stop of the day was just near to the hotel to see whether European Bee-eaters had arrived at a colony on the low cliffs there. They hadn t, but we saw and heard some flying over high to the 6

7 north. Offshore were two interesting records pale-phase Arctic Skua and a whitelooking bird which turned out to be a winter-plumage Red-throated Diver. The day ended with a fine meal a salad of roasted red peppers and tomatoes to start, followed by a large pork steak with mushrooms. Some of us also tried the Bulgarian custom of drinking the locally-made fruit brandy, called rakia, with the meal. Ideally, you should drink it with your starter, as a sort of aperitif, but we ended up drinking it throughout! Figure 8 BARRED WARBLER was singing and song-flighting - John Buckingham Thursday May 14 th : South to Kavarna, Pomorie, Bourgas and Sozopol: Golden Orioles were singing and showing well near the hotel before breakfast, along with Redbacked Shrike, Syrian Woodpecker, Spanish Sparrow, Barred Warbler and others. Our road to-day was towards the south. Near the town of Kavarna, a steppe area produced our first Isabelline Wheatears, large pale birds compared to our familiar Northern Wheatears, and several Greater Short-toed Larks. Three Rollers were seen on wires and in flight at some distance away, with a back-drop of one of the massive wind-farms which have been built along the Black Sea coast here. As we moved further south the flatness of the coastal steppe-lands began to give way to areas of low hills with broad valleys and scattered forested areas. We stopped at one of these forests at Goritska for a coffee break, where we had fantastic views of Semi-collared Flycatcher using nest-boxes in the grounds of a Figure 9 SEMI-COLLARED FLYCARCHER male - John Buckingham restaurant there, before we took a walk through the nearby forest itself. Here, closeplanted Hungarian Oak woodland held Wood Warblers which were heard and eventually seen well despite the fact that they were not moving much in the canopy as the heat of the day increased. We also had brief views of Icterine Warbler and more Semi-collared Flycatchers. Several glimpses through the 7

8 canopy were also obtained of various birds of prey Long-legged and Common Buzzards, Hobby and European Sparrowhawk. We also met up with a researcher from Sweden who was doing work on the breeding biology of the Semi-collared Flycatchers. Our next stop was in a very different habitat as we approached the city of Bourgas with its huge area of holiday development. At Pomorie we looked round some salt-pans and found some good groups of waders, especially Curlew Sandpipers and Ruff, while there was a Little Stint also present along with Pied Avocets, and Figure 10 BLACK-WINGED STILT - John Buckingham Black-winged Stilts. As we by-passed Bourgas on the way to our hotel, we also got our first glimpses of a Black-crowned Night Heron flying alongside the coach, while on some rafts out on a lake, the large shapes of our first Dalmatian Pelicans could be made out. Our hotel for the next three nights was overlooking the old port town of Sozopol, giving us fine views across the bay. Hotel Kalithea proved to be extremely comfortable, friendly and well-appointed. During our stay the balcony proved to be a popular spot for a beer after our days birding and also, for the more enthusiastic, as a good place to see birds in the scrub below first thing in the morning. Dinner on our first night included the usual salad, followed by chicken in a very white sauce, with candied figs in yoghurt to finish it all up. A Eurasian Scops Owl was calling from the scrub below the hotel balcony as we finished the meal and some members of the group were fortunate to see the bird in the lights from the hotel as it flew by. Friday May 15 th : Woodlands south of Sozopol: The hotel balcony before breakfast produced a pleasing range of birds, most of which were passage migrants, part of a fall as we discovered later, and included singing Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Red-backed Shrikes, Blackcap, Nightingale, Cirl Bunting and Eastern Orphean Warbler. One of our group had a balcony list of some 28 species by the end of our stay here! During the main part of the day we explored an area to the south of Sozopol, down towards the Turkish border. Here there was an attractive patchwork of forests and farmland set in low hill country. Open areas produced such species as Blackheaded Bunting, Woodlark, Woodchat Shrike and Ortolan Bunting. We had excellent views of several Honey Buzzards at different sites and our lunch stop in 8

9 Figure 7 RHODODENDRON PONTICUM native in these forests - John Buckingham the village of Kosti produced Golden Eagle, Black Stork and Long-legged Buzzard, all of them quite high, and in the buildings around the bar masses of House Martin nests were built one on top of the other like blocks of flats. We also explored some woodland areas but these proved to be quite hard work. We did get very good views of Middle-spotted Woodpecker, Semi-collared Flycatcher, several Shorttoed Tree Creepers, Marsh tit and Eurasian Nuthatch, however. Spring flowers in the woodlands were lovely and especially exciting was a colony of Birds-nest orchids. Beautiful Rhododendron ponticum, eradicated as a pest at home is native here. One of the main aims of the visit was to pin down Olivetree Warbler. We had heard it singing at one site in the morning so we re-visited the place in the mid-afternoon. The birds proved elusive for all but two members of the group, (Ken and Keith), but they had very close views of the bird quite close to where the coach had been parked up. The remainder of the group chose to have some exercise and enjoyed a fabulous walk through open woodland on a grassy slope in late afternoon sunshine with Ortolan Bunting, Woodchat Shrike, Grey-headed Woodpecker, plus two orchid species, a Tongue Orchid (Serapia sp.) and a Pink Butterfly Orchid, a large Spur-thighed Tortoise and a beautiful and harmless Aescotapian Snake. Dinner back at Sozopol started with a delicious cream of spinach soup and ended with baklava, running with honey. Saturday May 16 th : Bourgas wetlands: A grey, cloudy start to the day but calm and warm. Apart from three members of the group who decided to have a sight-seeing day around Sozopol, the rest of us visited various wetlands in the Bourgas area. 9

10 Figure 8 EASTERN FESTOON - John Buckingham Our first stop produced a scattered group of some 25 Dalmatian Pelicans non-breeding birds on a fresh-water lake and here too there were Grey Herons and Black-crowned Night Herons. Later we saw a kettle of at least 60 White Pelicans high up and drifting away from us. White Storks began to be seen in rather higher numbers, including birds occupying nests in many of the villages. Great Reed Warblers were numerous, obvious and noisy in the reed-beds. A little further on we took a walk across a scrubby hillside, with a nice mosaic of woodland and water habitats to be seen around the area too. This proved to be a good spot, with probably two different Lesser Spotted Eagles seen soaring over the forest and first distant, but then much closer, flight views of a superb adult White-tailed Eagle. An Accipiter which came over high was identified as a female Levant Sparrowhawk. In the trees, a breeding Sombre Tit showed well and we had several good views of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, which was obviously nesting in a clump of trees near the road. Out on the scrubby hillside such birds as Woodchat and Red-backed Shrikes, Corn Bunting, River, Olivaceous and Olive-tree Warblers and Blackheaded Bunting all added to the interest. At this site, as everywhere we went in Bulgaria, there was a lot of interest in the butterflies, especially an Eastern Festoon and a Scarce Swallowtail, that were to be seen amongst a wealth of wild flowers. North of the village of Dimchevo we spent some time looking across an extensive area of flooded fields, a result of the heavier than usual spring rain. Three Collared Pratincoles were some of the first birds picked out and there was a variety of other waders present, though none of them in large numbers Northern Lapwing, Little Ringed Plover, Greenshank, a Wood Sandpiper and slightly larger groups of Curlew Sandpiper and Ruff. We looked carefully through the assembled gulls that were out on a sandbank but could only find Blackheaded and a few Yellowlegged, plus a few Sandwich and Common Terns. White-winged and Black Terns were also present. We had lunch in the village café before moving on to the Bourgas Salinas and Antononovkso Lake. Here we added a couple of Eurasian Spoonbills to our list, along with further views of some waders and ducks, while another short walk took us a little later to a site where Dimiter knew that Penduline Tits were nesting. We duly found the birds and got excellent and prolonged views of the male Figure 9 Male PENDULINE TIT - John Buckingham 10

11 expertly weaving grasses to make the early stages of its nest and the photographers enjoyed a field day. Lovely close views of Collared Pratincoles hawking for insects above our heads were enjoyed by all. Our last visit of the day was to Vaya Lake where the target bird was Little Bittern but by now the wind had got up a bit and also the light was now against us, so we were unsuccessful in finding any. Sunday May 17 th : Bourgas to Madzharovo in The Rhodope Hills: A calm warm early morning where the early watchers from the hotel balcony had another good session. European Bee-eaters were passing constantly to the north. After breakfast we left for the last stage of our trip, driving back into Bourgas past the suburban apartment blocks left over from the communist past. The way Figure 14 EASTERN RHODOPES John Buckingham these were constructed, set up out in the countryside in many cases, was interesting. Nothing much to look at but at least, by building upwards, they take up less valuable farmland. We again stopped at a couple of the wetlands which encircle Bourgas and again saw the familiar cast of herons, egrets and terns, before turning off south-westwards and inland on a road that began to rise up through extensive cereal fields. Several Montagu s Harriers enlivened our journey and we had views at one point of a Black Stork in flight and also of Lesser Spotted Eagle. In places the road was good and, it being Sunday, not too busy, but in other places the potholed surface was a real bone-shaking experience. At the town of Elhovo we stopped at a petrol-station for our lunch of fried-egg sandwich and cold drinks before heading out again towards Topolovgrad. We went to a site on an extensive area of dry limestone heathland where special measures are in place to protect one of Bulgaria s 25 breeding pairs of Eastern Imperial Eagle. We were very lucky because within minutes of arriving a bird flew in front of us at no great distance Figure 15 MADZHAROVO - John Buckingham and we later saw it again on a return flight. A big, dramatic bird showing the 11

12 white shoulder-straps on its back. A Northern Goshawk twisted and turned as it hunted in front of us and there were Montagu s Harriers and Long-legged Buzzards present. Smaller birds were also well-represented with Isabelline Wheatears, Woodlarks, Black-headed Bunting and Woodchat Shrike, amongst others. Several Susliks were also seen, appearing from their burrows looking like small pale ground squirrels standing up high looking out for predators. They are one of the main prey items of the Imperial eagles and the Isabelline Wheatears nest in their burrows, with vertical entrances giving us great views of the birds, hovering like small Kestrels before dropping inside. Resuming our journey we then made a pleasant stop about an hour further on. The heat was beginning to go out of the day and there was some cloud cover. We stopped at a valley straddling the road where we immediately saw Cirl Bunting and lots of singing Figure 10 Male MASKED SHRIKE a very rare breeding bird for Bulgaria - John Buckingham Nightingales. The reason for the visit was that this would be the only site on our tour for Masked Shrike, very much a species of Greece and Turkey with a very limited distribution elsewhere, with a mere 25 or so pairs in Bulgaria, and of course a target bird for the trip. Three pairs were apparently holding territory here and quite soon our patience was rewarded by the sight of a fabulous male, perched for some time in the open. This is the smallest of the European shrikes with colours peach, black and white! Despite this beautiful rare bird, Olive-tree Warblers were still the order of the day and excellent views enabled members of the group who hadn t already seen them to add them to their list. The final part of our journey took us into increasingly remote country, climbing up on narrow roads through forest and eventually craggy hillsides before we came to Madzharovo. This is a former gold and copper mining town/village and the spoil heaps from the disused mines could be seen around the hill slopes. The town itself apparently used to house 6,000 people but it is now decayed and depressing, with only about 500 people living there. The few people we did see on the streets all seemed forlorn and disconsolate reminded Ken a bit of an up-market version of Aylesham., but we never forgot the horror of the oppression that Bulgarian people have suffered over many years. The hotel itself is surprisingly very good, everything was spotless and shiny, though the polished, tile-lined corridors were a bit like those 12

13 in The Shining. Ken kept expecting to see two little girls standing at the end of one of them staring back at me, or Jack Nicholson wielding his axe Here s Johnny! The two people who were in charge of the place were also interesting the man had that typical Eastern European grimness of expression which would curdle milk, though he could on occasion be seen to smile, but only if you were very quick. What sort of life did he have to endure under the poverty of a communist regime? No-one had to wait long for a drink however, and everyone was keen to gather before dinner and enjoy their beer, wine or gin and tonic on the tree lined veranda in the warm evening air. The meal was good, with a huge tomato salad, chicken and peas and sweetcorn and a rather nice chocolate cream cake as a pud. Figure 11 Male HAWFINCH sunning early morning - John Buckingham Monday May 18 th : Madzharavo area: Before breakfast we took a walk up behind the hotel and into a very productive area of scrubby oak forest. Nightingales, Turtle Doves, Golden Orioles and Cuckoos were singing in abundance and we found about 20 species here, including a Northern Goshawk which knocked a pigeon off a roof right in front of us, several Hawfinches enjoying the early sunshine on the tops of trees, Woodlarks singing continuously, Sombre Tit feeding young, Middlespotted and Syrian Woodpeckers and an excellent view of our first Subalpine Warbler of the trip, in exactly the right habitat. After breakfast we went off to explore the spectacular crags and cliffs of the area and at our first stop saw both Chukar Partridge and two Rock Nuthatches, albeit both of the species were quite distant. The Rock Nuthatches were visiting their domed, mud nest and here too were Crag Martins and Eurasian Griffon Vultures doing fly-bys. A second stop produced even more Griffons and also one or two Egyptian Vultures and Longlegged Buzzard. Both Rock and Ortolan Buntings were found and several Black Storks were in the area. Several very beautiful and distinctive local plants adorned the roadside under the cliffs. One grew from splits in the rock, a very distinctive deep 13

14 pink valerian, two very delicate but very different pale yellow verbascums and perhaps the nicest of all, a beautiful trailing, nodding purple honeysuckle, which one or two recognised from Sue Buckingham s very comprehensive plant list as one that is sometimes cultivated here at home. By mid-morning it was getting very warm indeed, with the sun bouncing off the dark basalt rocks of the cliffs, so it was a relief to get back to the hotel for a 1 p.m. lunch on the shady, cool veranda and a substantial affair of thick chicken soup followed by deep-fried, cheese-stuffed sweet peppers and chips! After this meal, (or perhaps because of it), some of the group did not venture out in the afternoon, or chose to explore the wooded slopes and birds around Madzharovo. The rest of us set off at 2.30 p.m. to try to find Olive-tree Warbler, which we eventually did, and also adequate views of an Eastern race Black-eared Wheatear perched up on a crag. A Blue Rock Thrush was also seen at the same site while a walk into a still, hot oak woodland did produce Eastern Bonelli s Warbler for those members of the group who chose to keep up with the guide. The evening meal was another very tasty and interesting experience. There was the usual huge, tasty salad but then the main course was a pork and rice stew served flambéed in a ceramic replica of a Viking ship. The Vikings certainly came down the rivers of Russia into the Black Sea was this dish a throwback to the traditional method of a Viking funeral, when the warrior chiefs were put into their boats which were then set alight and pushed off out to sea? head-torch couldn t be better! Tuesday May 19 th : Madzharavo to the Studens Kladenets area: After dinner a short excursion along the road found us surrounded in delightful, dancing fire-flies and very soon Dimiter had called up a Scops Owl, singing from a tree right in front of us and perfectly lit by his powerful Our last full day of the holiday took us on a 50 kilometre drive across remote farming areas, taking us back almost a century in time and through crumbling villages of the Rhodopes to the Studens Kladenets area. A large proportion of the people here are part of quite a large Muslim population which had crossed the border with Turkey some way to the Figure 12 EGYPTIAN VULTURE - John Buckingham 14

15 south, some centuries before. It was a day of quite hard work for the birds that we saw as temperatures had risen unusually high for this time of year. Our initial visit was to a vulture-feeding station but after we had walked up the trail in the warm mid-morning sun to find the site overlooking the feeding station, there were no vultures on the latest carcass to be put out a few days before. There was only a White Stork on the ground and the vultures weren t even using the area to roost and lounge around as they usually do. We were unlucky, as Dimiter heard from one of his many local contacts that the birds that attend the site, mostly coming across from nearby Greece, were feeding that morning on a fresh natural carcass on the border. We waited for quite a while and Egyptian Vultures, White Storks, Griffon Vultures, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Northern Goshawk, Golden Figure 13 GRIFFON VULTURES were in the sky most of the time - John Buckingham Eagle, Common and Honey Buzzard gave us sometimes great close views overhead. European Bee-eaters were migrating constantly, often quite low above us and by now most of the group had learned their lovely pru-it pruit flight calls they must surely be quite horse once they have arrived at their final destinations! Golden Oriole, Cirl Bunting, Cuckoo and Woodlark were seen well and many enjoyed the very different flowers and butterflies over the grassy slopes. Overall, this was not a Bulgarian equivalent of Gigrin Farm, but then nobody expected it would be. We had our lunch back in the nearby village of Pochochinistra, taking over the cool, shady café from the residents and enjoyed local cake with Turkish-Delight filling, then started the one hour drive back towards Madzharavo, most of the group sleeping for most of the journey. We had a short time to re-visit the same crags as yesterday and this proved an excellent finish to our last full day, as we enjoyed amazingly close views of the previously elusive Rock Bunting as it sang against the backdrop of the Ardas River deep in the gorge and the finale was a displaying pair of equally elusive Blue Rock Thrushes on a nearby crag in the evening sunshine. Back at the hotel, we enjoyed welcome drinks on the cool veranda as usual and had a good meal, with paper flags from around the world on our main course and sparklers on the ice-cream puddings (our host was smiling!). We then said our good- 15

16 byes to Dimiter after calling the final bird list, as he was leaving to meet his next tour group about 50 kilometres down the valley. What a great and very generous job he had done for us we would not have found all of those 189 species or seen them so well without him, our thanks finally underlined by a substantial and very generous tip collected and presented by Claire on behalf of the group to both he and Petar, our driver. Wednesday May 21 st : Madzharavo to Sofia and back to the U.K. : A straightforward end to the holiday. We left Madzharavo quite early and drove initially on (literally) a rotten road through the forest, some people lucky enough to glimpse a Black Woodpecker, until quite soon we picked up better roads in the lowlands. This diversion took us within one and a half Figure 20 Hawking BEE-EATER - John Buckingham hours to a European Bee-eater colony in a sand quarry where birds had arrived for the breeding season and were perching and displaying well. This was our first welcome break in our journey and after another one and a half hours, a pleasant comfort stop for coffee and loos, then on to Sofia for our flight back to the U.K. and as we passed nearby snow-capped peaks, time to contemplate a highly successful and enjoyable tour to this lovely and varied country. We said goodbye to our excellent driver Petar and Daniel, one of Dimiter s colleagues who accompanied us on the journey and eventually landed five minutes ahead of time at Heathrow. Lists and some photographs will be circulated soon. John Buckingham & Ken Chapman May

17 Figure 21 Male RED-BACKED SHRIKE one of the most common birds - John Buckingham Comment [J1]: 17