A five-day mini break, this trip combined a couple of days birding the riches of the Durankulak area with excursions to lakes surrounding Bourgas and a short trip into the Western Rhodopes mountains.
To a setting sun, the evening flight of 70,000 White-fronted and Red-breasted Geese was the major highlight of the trip, all the more evocative for the Hen Harriers circling in their midst and the Golden Jackals calling in the background. In weather that far exceeded expectations, other memorable birds included Dalmation Pelicans, Pygmy Cormorants, Syrian Woodpeckers and Sombre Tit. However, for all the birds, it was a mammal that truly stole the show - sunbathing outside a cave, a stunning European Wild Cat, a bonus I really did not expect.
With arrival and departure in Sofia, our itinerary took us approximately 2100 km and included a fair degree of night driving to ensure full use of the days to enjoy the birding.
12 February: flight from Vilnius to Sofia, arriving 3 p.m. local time. 510 km drive to Balchik on the Black Sea coast, stopping for an hour's birding in the village of Brestnica.
13 February: All day in the Durankulak area, visting Durankulak Lake itself, Krapets, Shabla and Cape Kaliakra.
14 February: Most of the day in the Durankulak area, visiting Durankulak Lake and Krapets again. Late afternoon to Lake Varna.
15 February: All day in the Burgas area, visiting in particular Atanasovsko Lake, Poda and Lake Burgas. Evening drive to Trigrad Gorge in the mountains of the Western Rhodopes.
16 February: Morning in Trigrad Gorge. Early afternoon drive to Sofia, arriving just 20 minutes before our 2.40 p.m. departure.
Daily Log
12 February. Journey Eastward.
3.30 p.m. local time, touch down in Sofia. A Common Kestrel hovered alongside the runway, the birding had begun.
After picking up a hire car and traversing the potholes and rutted streets of the capital, soon we were passing through low hills and beginning a 510 km drive that would take us to the northern coasts of the Black Sea. Three hours before dark, notched up the first species of the trip - Common Buzzards widespread, a couple of Rough-legged Buzzards in their midst, then stumbled across a most excellent spot to pass an hour. Passing through the village of Brestnica, a few roadside birds persuaded me a little exploring was in order. Amongst Tree Sparrows and Chaffinch, abundant Hawfinch followed suit, a flock flitting down to feast upon spilt grain in a farmyard. Sent the car spinning up a snow covered track and turned down a dodgy looking path to the left. Fifty metres down, birds galore - in a field of otherwise snow, all feeding on a mound of rich soil and manure, finches and tits aplenty. Parked the car and admired, more Hawfinches dropping in, two Great Spotted Woodpecker on the ground, Great Tits zipping in and out, a splendid male Brambling amongst the Chaffinches. However, the real ace was still to come - ten minutes after we arrived, a chaerrr chearr from the left, in flitted a Sombre Tit. Down onto the ground it hopped, feeding between a Hawfinch and Brambling, a good bird to start the trip. Moments later, all scattered, a Sparrowhawk diving through.
Onward and eastward, darkness fell and the kilometres zipped past. Bumped through more potholes in assorted villages, had two Long-eared Owls flying over in hot pursuit, plus a lone Red Fox some distance further. After navigating a maze of streets in Varna, finally our destination loomed, 10 p.m. and a very friendly host welcomed us to Balchik, base for the next three nights. Bulgarian wine and brandy served as obligatory, a little later it was to sleep, an early start planned for the next morning.
13 February. Durankulak.
Pre-dawn, a lonely lane just north of Durankulak Lake. Hints of daylight, already shapes of Common Buzzards sat like stalks on trees all around, voices of geese filled the air. We waited, soon the morning would bring the birds we had travelled to see, the Red-breasted Geese rising from roost and spilling out onto the meadows to feed. At this point it should be noted, however, I had no actual information as to numbers this year - would the counts be in the tens of thousands or, if they had remained north in Romania, mere dribs and drabs. Much depended on the severity of the winter - the ultra-mild 2007 had seen counts at an all time low, totals struggling to exceed a dozen or so birds, a colder year would bring flocks of between 10,000 to 60,000, numbers that represent the bulk of the world’s population of this exquisite goose. Given 2010 was proving a cold winter across much of Europe, and Bulgaria itself had seen abnormal lows approaching minus 18 C, I had high hopes.
The sun began to break the horizon, a classic day of blue skies in the making, off yonder the melody of goose song began to resound ever louder, the first stragglers began to pass over - a flock of about a thousand White-fronted Geese landing in a meadow behind us, a single Whooper Swan joining them. With the sun rising, more and more geese, the vast bulk White-fronted Geese, mostly landing amongst the earlier flock. Gaggles began to land over a brow, some hundreds at least. A Rough-legged Buzzard hovered over the meadow, a flock of 55 Calandra Larks tumbled past, dropping to feed on a sowed meadow. Then, in an arc across the sky, there they were, the first Red-breasted Geese of the day, a flock of about 60. Round they circled, pondered landing amongst the White-fronts, decided against and returned to whence they came. And then the floodgates began to open - skies full of geese, a few dozen here, a hundred there, alternating flocks of both species, but Red-breasted Geese now in numbers over a thousand, quite splendid. However, almost all began to settle over the brow, annoyingly totally out of view, views on the deck would have to wait. Feeling rather pleased with the spectacle unfolding, a Bulgarian birder arrived and asked about the numbers - good he said, but the meadows to the south of the lake supported even more, totals there amounting to approximately 60,000 White-fronted Geese and 10,000 Red-breasted Geese! A treat awaited us later in the day.
In the meantime, we turned our attention of the sea, driving the couple of kilometres down to the Durankulak campsite. Immediately adjacent, some 25 Black-necked Grebes bobbed in the surf, Great Crested Grebes even more abundant and, just beyond, three Smew in the wake. Also Coots and Tufted Ducks on the sea, plus dozens of Yellow-legged and Common Gulls. Scan as much I might, no Pallas’s Gull to add to the collection. In the camp grounds behind, Tree Sparrows chattered and, in tall trees a little further, the first Syrian Woodpecker of the trip.
Pleasant though the beach was, now basking in a warm sun, the lure of the goose flocks beckoned, we drove to the north of Durankulak village and scanned. A meadow some kilometres distant was dark with geese, umpteen thousand straddled across an entire hillside. The hunt was on, to find a track that might offer a vantage point. After several false turns, some ending up in boggy quagmires, others in snow lingering from the week before, we turned down towards the seaside village of Krapets. Still no geese in sight, but I supposed they were now directly north of us and meandered off that way, finding a sandy track along the seafront that took us on a cross-country rally through pools and soft sand. Stopped many a time to scan the sea, a few more Black-necked Grebes in the process, then came to an abrupt stop where the track turned into a slippery muck patch that threatened to snare the car, not an attractive proposal so far from a main road. To the one side the blue sea, to the other a plantation of conifers. Suddenly, from our enforced stop point, a mass of geese rose, circled and dropped - we had stumbled across the mass flock, the were feeding just the other side of the conifers. Through the trees we sneaked, a feast for the eyes beyond - thousands upon thousands of geese grazing, the full collection of White-fronted and Red-breasted Geese laid out before us, a few Greylags thrown in for variety. Quite splendid, occasionally spooked into the air by a passing raptor, the birds looked most majestic in the sunshine, the trip’s goal achieved. Quietly retracted ourselves and rallied back down the beach track to ponder actions for the rest of the day.
Briefly stopped in at Shabla, but with waters still frozen from the week before, little of note there, so decided to continue southward to Kaliakra Cape, a limestone headland famed for its migration potential and small concentrations of cliff-nesting seabirds. On route, small flocks of geese in meadows, abundant Common Buzzards, occasional Common Kestrels. However, abject depression began to set in as Kaliakra approached - in the single worst example of environmental vandalism I have yet to witness, the entire area from Shabla to Kaliakra is now a sea of wind turbines, an absolute disgrace in this locality, holding as it does significant populations of raptors, globally important concentrations of Red-breasted Geese and, most critically, one of the most intense migrations of raptors, pelicans and storks in all Europe. Right on Cape Kaliakra itself, built on the vital steppe lands that abuts the headland, a high density wind farm sits waiting to greet the spring concentrations of broad-winged birds that will arrive, flocks that on a good day can number thousands. This development must surely have violated European laws and is simply a slur on the Bulgarian nation that it was allowed to occur.
Little pleasure birding here, watching Common Buzzards and Hen Harrier at the edge of the turbine fields, imagining the consequences that might befall them. Off Cape Kaliakra, the seas were as rich as ever, populations of Cormorant and Shag sat upon the waters, gulls milled around. Heading into the deep gorge just north of the cape, a protected reserve, you could almost forget the turbines, bar the two that stood right at the head of the gorge, threatening to down any raptor making a mistake to head that way. The gorge itself though was superb, a most picturesque limestone gully that must surely buzz in migration times. Yet more Black-necked Grebes bobbed in the small harbour at its base and the possibility of Eagle Owl got me scanning the hanging cliffs and their caves and nooks. No Eagle Owl, but, in an amazing turn of luck, outside one small cave sat a European Wild Cat, a new species for me! There are no bird species in Bulgaria, in winter nor summer, that I have not seen before, so I had no expectations of any new species on this trip. Little could I have hoped to bump into one of Europe’s most elusive mammals, quite sensational indeed. Enjoying the sun, there it sat, viewing the world in the valley below. Distant for photographs, but views through the telescope quite superb, eventually the animal left his vantage point and retired to a grassy patch adjacent, curling up and licking his paws. I was rather chuffed at this point and left Kaliakra in a rather better mood that when I had arrived.
T’was now mid-afternoon, back to Durankulak we went, the sun at a much better angle for watching the sea. A flock of 20 Little Gulls flitted in the surf, dancing above the Black-necked Grebes. I made the critical mistake of deciding some close photography would be a good idea - crouched by the sea, intent on the gulls, I had little warning …suddenly slapped in the face, I was bowled backwards by a big wave, an eye-opener if ever there was one! More of a problem though, it had also slammed straight into my camera, which promptly decided to respond by displaying a mayday ‘error 99’ message, before giving up the ghost and shutting down. Oops, I thought!
Returned to the car, mopped it up as best I could, then left camera and lens beneath the full blast of the car’s heaters, went birding. Returned some time later to find a resurgent camera, all working again, phew!
Evening was approaching, I decided to walk north along the beach, viewing over the reeds all the way. Clouds of Starlings circled in, a roost of some thousands congregating, Magpies too gathered, a few dozen choosing bushes at the reeds’ edge. However, the spectacle of the evening, arguably of the day, the return of the geese - to a setting sun, the skies vibrant orange, tens of thousands of geese spiralling in, dropping onto Durankulak Lake, an impressive end to an impressive day. Marsh and Hen Harriers quartered, a Golden Jackal howled in the distance, back to the car I wandered, darkness falling before I arrived.
Interesting stuff Jos (apart from the Kaliakra windfarm); a trip i've had at the back of my mind for a while.
Excellent Jos.what a find with the wild cat,the Golden Jackals are one of my favourites,have you seen any on previous trips anywhere .