Whilst not a Western Palearctic list-building trip, a few
days spent in central Bulgaria proved fairly productive and certainly very enjoyable
from a birding perspective. I was pleased to get two lifers, in the shape of Syrian Woodpecker and Sombre Tit, and there was a supporting
cast of decent eastern bits, such as Black-headed
Buntings, Barred and Eastern Bonelli's Warblers, Isabelline Wheatears and Lesser Grey Shrikes. Throw in plentiful
numbers of farmland species seemingly in rapid decline in the west, and a very
respectable list of 81 birds was attained.
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| Lesser Grey Shrike, Sokolitsa, 7/6/2017 |
We stayed in the proud town of Kalofer, at the foot of Mount Botev, and birds around the town and hotel included Golden Orioles, Nightingales
and, best of all, a couple of Syrian Woodpeckers. The focal point of the trip
was to climb Botev, 2,476 metres tall and the highest mountain in the
Central Balkan range. This was achieved (extremely tough!), and birds in
the treeline and adjacent scrubby plateaus included Sombre Tits and Barred and Eastern Bonelli's Warblers, as well as large numbers of Red-backed
Shrikes, Wood Warblers, Hawfinches, Woodlarks and Rock Buntings.
There was only a small amount of time for birding, but a
couple of hours in the scrubland and farms surrounding the village of Sokolitsa
was excellent, not just for the quality of the species but also
the densities. Tree Sparrows, Corn Buntings, feldegg Yellow Wagtails,
Red-backed Shrikes, Hoopoes and both
Calandra and Crested Larks were numerous, with Quails audible and a couple of Black
Storks overhead. The grassy plains to the west of the village held a large
number of Isabelline Wheatears, including recently fledged young, as well as European
Ground Squirrels. A pair of Lesser Grey Shrikes showed well in the hedgerow at
the south of the village, and a couple of Black-headed Buntings were
surprisingly elusive in the crop fields to the east. Presumably, singing had
largely ceased for this species by now.
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| Black-headed Bunting, Sokolitsa, 7/6/2017 |
With the great help of Dimiter from Neophron Tours,
we were given gen for an Eastern Imperial Eagle site. Unfortunately, limited
time and a lack of ‘scope put pay to the chances of finding this would-be
lifer, but a sub-adult Golden Eagle
here was some compensation. During the course of the other days, a few farmland
areas were checked out, most of them bursting with the commoner of the
aforementioned species as well as Turtles
Doves and Grey Partridges.
This part of the world is obviously one of the economically
less-off in Europe, but the people were very friendly, and tolerant of our
limited/largely non-existent Bulgarian. As for the prices, a pint cost around
70p, a coffee 65p and most meals (2 courses) were around £5. The hotel cost £11
a night, each. With the quality of the birding inland this good, I’m sure the
Black Sea is as good as its reputation suggests, and I’ll definitely be back to
check it out one day.
