The last day of the trip was devoted mainly to travelling. We woke up just on time for a lovely breakfast and early morning sunshine. Some of the group had already had an early morning walk in the village where we stayed and had seen Dipper and juvenile Grey Wagtails. “This is what a village should look like” he said when leaving the place.
Soon it became rather misty and wet again. I wanted us to stop but the weather didn’t really allow it. Moreover our guests had already packed their gear so we just drove to Sofia. We arrived at the airport a little bit earlier but had enough time to say goodbye with wishes for new adventures in the future. It was a great pleasure and honour meeting you guys.
So that was it. It is over. I think the trip was rather successful. Indeed we didn’t have many photography opportunities but it wasn’t meant to be a photography trip. The checklist of bird species seen counts a total 160 species and quite a few photos to go through but i shall post them once I finish post processing them. In addition to the birds, we also saw some other wildlife. Here are the relevant checklists:
Other wildlife:
1. Balkan Chamois
2. Red Fox
3. Hedgehog
4. Herman’s tortoise
5. Roe Deer
6. Wild Boar
7. Souslik
8. Brown Hare
Bird checklist
1 | Graylag Goose | Anser anser |
2 | Mute Swan | Cygnus olor |
3 | Common Shelduck | Tadorna tadorna |
4 | Gadwall | Anas strepera |
5 | Mallard | Anas platyrhynchos |
6 | Garganey | Anas querquedula |
7 | Common Quail | Coturnix coturnix |
8 | Little Grebe | Tachybaptus ruficollis |
9 | Great Crested Grebe | Podiceps cristatus |
10 | Black Stork | Ciconia nigra |
11 | White Stork | Ciconia ciconia |
12 | Great Cormorant | Phalacrocorax carbo |
13 | Pygmy Cormorant | Phalacrocorax pygmaeus |
14 | Great White Pelican | Pelecanus onocrotalus |
15 | Dalmatian Pelican | Pelecanus crispus |
16 | Cattle Egret | Bubulcus ibis |
17 | Grey Heron | Ardea cinerea |
18 | Purple Heron | Ardea purpurea |
19 | Little Egret | Egretta garzetta |
20 | Squacco Heron | Ardeola ralloides |
21 | Black-crowned Night-Heron | Nycticorax nycticorax |
22 | Glossy Ibis | Plegadis falcinellus |
23 | Eurasian Spoonbill | Platalea leucorodia |
24 | European Honey-buzzard | Pernis apivorus |
25 | Eurasian Griffon | Gyps fulvus |
26 | Short-toed Eagle | Circaetus gallicus |
27 | Booted Eagle | Hieraaetus pennatus |
28 | Imperial Eagle | Aquila heliaca |
29 | Golden Eagle | Aquila chrysaetos |
30 | Eurasian Marsh-Harrier | Circus aeruginosus |
31 | Montagu’s Harrier | Circus pygargus |
32 | Eurasian Sparrowhawk | Accipiter nisus |
33 | Black Kite | Milvus migrans |
34 | Common Buzzard | Buteo buteo |
35 | Steppe Buzzard | Buteo buteo vulpinus |
36 | Long-legged Buzzard | Buteo rufinus |
37 | Eurasian Moorhen | Gallinula chloropus |
38 | Eurasian Coot | Fulica atra |
39 | Northern Lapwing | Vanellus vanellus |
40 | Little Ringed Plover | Charadrius dubius |
41 | Black-headed Gull | Chroicocephalus ridibundus |
42 | Yellow-legged Gull | Larus michahellis |
43 | Caspian Gull | Larus cachinnans |
44 | Whiskered Tern | Chlidonias hybrida |
45 | Common Tern | Sterna hirundo |
46 | Feral Pigeon | Columba livia |
47 | Common Wood-Pigeon | Columba palumbus |
48 | European Turtle-Dove | Streptopelia turtur |
49 | Eurasian Collared-Dove | Streptopelia decaocto |
50 | Common Cuckoo | Cuculus canorus |
51 | European Scops-Owl | Otus scops |
52 | Little Owl | Athene noctua |
53 | Pallid Swift | Apus pallidus |
54 | Common Swift | Apus apus |
55 | Common Kingfisher | Alcedo atthis |
56 | European Bee-eater | Merops apiaster |
57 | European Roller | Coracias garrulus |
58 | Eurasian Hoopoe | Upupa epops |
59 | Lesser Spotted Woodpecker | Dendrocopos minor |
60 | Middle Spotted Woodpecker | Dendrocopos medius |
61 | Great Spotted Woodpecker | Dendrocopos major |
62 | Syrian Woodpecker | Dendrocopos syriacus |
63 | BlackWoodpecker | Dryocopus martius |
64 | GreenWoodpecker | Picus viridis |
65 | Grey-headed Woodpecker | Picus canus |
66 | Eurasian Kestrel | Falco tinnunculus |
67 | Eurasian Hobby | Falco subbuteo |
68 | Red-backed Shrike | Lanius collurio |
69 | Lesser Gray Shrike | Lanius minor |
70 | Woodchat Shrike | Lanius senator |
71 | Masked Shrike | Lanius nubicus |
72 | Eurasian Golden Oriole | Oriolus oriolus |
73 | Eurasian Jay | Garrulus glandarius |
74 | Eurasian Magpie | Pica pica |
75 | Eurasian Jackdaw | Corvus monedula |
76 | Hooded Crow | Corvus cornix |
77 | Common Raven | Corvus corax |
78 | Calandra lark | Melanocorypha calandra |
79 | Greater Short-toed Lark | Calandrella brachydactyla |
80 | Crested Lark | Galerida cristata |
81 | Skylark | Alauda arvensis |
82 | Wood Lark | Lullula arborea |
83 | Sand Martin | Riparia riparia |
84 | Eurasian Crag Martin | Ptyonoprogne rupestris |
85 | Barn Swallow | Hirundo rustica |
86 | Red-rumped Swallow | Cecropis daurica |
87 | Common House Martin | Delichon Urbicum |
88 | Sombre Tit | Poecile lugubris |
89 | Crested Tit | Lophophanes cristatus |
90 | Marsh Tit | Poecile palustris |
91 | Willow Tit | Poecile montanus |
92 | Coal Tit | Periparus ater |
93 | Great Tit | Parus major |
94 | Blue Tit | Cyanistes caeruleus |
95 | Eurasian Penduline-Tit | Remiz pendulinus |
96 | Long-tailed Tit | Aegithalos caudatus |
97 | Eurasian Nuthatch | Sitta europaea |
98 | Rock Nuthatch | Sitta neumayer |
99 | Wallcreeper | Tichodroma muraria |
100 | Common Treecreeper | Certhia familiaris |
101 | Eurasian Wren | Troglodytes troglodytes |
102 | Dipper | Cinclus cinclus |
103 | Goldcrest | Regulus regulus |
104 | Firecrest | Regulus ignicapilla |
105 | Cetti’s Warbler | Cettia cetti |
106 | Common Chiffchaff | Phylloscopus collybita |
107 | Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler | Phylloscopus orientalis |
108 | Olivaceous Warbler | Iduna pallida |
109 | Olive-tree Warbler | Hippolais olivetorum |
110 | Marsh Warbler | Acrocephalus palustris |
111 | Eurasian Reed-Warbler | Acrocephalus scirpaceus |
112 | Great Reed-Warbler | Acrocephalus arundinaceus |
113 | Blackcap | Sylvia atricapilla |
114 | Barred Warbler | Sylvia nisoria |
115 | Lesser Whitethroat | Sylvia curruca |
116 | Sardinian Warbler | Sylvia melanocephala |
117 | Subalpine Warbler | Sylvia cantillans |
118 | Greater Whitethroat | Sylvia communis |
119 | Spotted Flycatcher | Muscicapa striata |
120 | European Robin | Erithacus rubecula |
121 | Common Nightingale | Luscinia megarhynchos |
122 | Rufous Bush Robin | Cercotrichas galactotes |
123 | Semicollared Flycatcher | Ficedula semitorquata |
124 | Common Redstart | Phoenicurus phoenicurus |
125 | Black Redstart | Phoenicurus ochruros |
126 | Blue Rock-Thrush | Monticola solitarius |
127 | Rufous -tailed Rock Thrush | Monticola saxatilis |
128 | Whinchat | Saxicola rubetra |
129 | Northern Wheatear | Oenanthe oenanthe |
130 | Isabelline Wheatear | Oenanthe isabellina |
131 | Ring Ouzel | Turdus torquatus |
132 | Eurasian Blackbird | Turdus merula |
133 | Song Thrush | Turdus philomelos |
134 | Mistle Thrush | Turdus viscivorus |
135 | European Starling | Sturnus vulgaris |
136 | Rose-coloured Starling | Sturnus roseus |
137 | Dunnock | Prunella modularis |
138 | Black-headed Yellow Wagtail | Motacilla flava feldegg |
139 | Grey Wagtail | Motacilla cinerea |
140 | White Wagtail | Motacilla alba |
141 | Tawny Pipit | Anthus campestris |
142 | Tree Pipit | Anthus trivialis |
143 | Yellowhammer | Emberiza citrinella |
144 | Cirl Bunting | Emberiza cirlus |
145 | Rock Bunting | Emberiza cia |
146 | Ortolan Bunting | Emberiza hortulana |
147 | Black-headed Bunting | Emberiza melanocephala |
148 | Corn Bunting | Emberiza calandra |
149 | Common Chaffinch | Fringilla coelebs |
150 | Eurasian Bullfinch | Pyrrhula pyrrhula |
151 | European Greenfinch | Chloris chloris |
152 | European Goldfinch | Carduelis carduelis |
153 | Eurasian Linnet | Carduelis cannabina |
154 | European Serin | Serinus serinus |
155 | Siskin | Carduelis spinus |
156 | Hawfinch | Coccothraustes coccothraustes |
157 | Common Crossbill | Loxia curvirostra |
158 | House Sparrow | Passer domesticus |
159 | Spanish Sparrow | Passer hispaniolensis |
160 | Eurasian Tree Sparrow | Passer montanus |