Having the experience of yesterday, today we decided to start earlier and have a late breakfast. We set the alarms for 5.00 am to search for a Masked Shrike and Warblers. I knew a place at the South Western part of the lake so we drove for about half an hour to get there.
The Shrike we were after wasn’t there but we had a nice Lesser Grey Shrike and the first for the trip Grey-headed Woodpecker. We spent some time at the spot but had no results and decided to go to another place at the opposite corner of the lake. It was fairly quiet and we lost a lot of precious time but there was no way around it.
Once we arrived at our next destination birds started to turn up. Red-rumped Swallow was nesting in an old water catchment place and were often coming in and out. The first for the trip Sardinian Warbler turned up, then Subalpine Warbler, then Sombre Tit, then Eleonorae Falcon so finally species started to build up. We were already late for breakfast but that didn’t really matter that much. We had birds to see. On the way back to the car Alan shouted “Masked Shrike sitting on the wire”. It didn’t stay for long though. The highlight of this part of the day was another Bush Robin but only I managed to see it. We tried searching for it with no results. Turtle Doves, Black Headed Buntings and more Sardinian Warblers accompanied us on the way to the car.
After breakfast we decided to have some siesta and skip the hot part of the day. We gather couple of hours later for a light lunch with salad. At about 3 p.m. we left the hotel and headed again to the Western part of the reservoir where I was hoping that a track would give the wanted Eastern Orphean Warbler.
When leaving the hotel, a Honey Buzzard made us stop right in front of it and then a Spoonbill was waiting for us at the improvised “car park” at the beginning of our trail. We put out sun hats and off we went along the track. We had a couple of Olivaceous Warblers, male Sub-alpine Warbler, a few Black-headed Buntings, Black Kite, Sombre Tit and many Nightingales. We found a lovely plant with huge purple flower. Will look it up so if someone knows it, please drop me a line.
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plant ? by Iordan Histov |
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plant ? by Iordan Histov |
After this long walk we stopped at a small port where I expected to see some gulls and terns. Well there was one or two but there were more Squacco Herons. The highlight of the stop was a Purple Heron and the good opportunities for close up Squaccos. A young Great-spotted Woodpecker and some calling Penduling Tits closed up the day. We couldn’t get the Eastern Orphean Warbler, but we shall search for it tomorrow.
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Squacco Heron photography copyright Iordan Hristov |
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Squacco Heron photography copyright Iordan Hristov |
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Squacco Heron photography copyright Iordan Hristov |
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Squacco Heron photography copyright Iordan Hristov |
It would be more of a travelling day since we shall be changing the habitat. We head to the North East to a place where we shall be searching for the Wallcreeper. The highlight of the trip for some of the participants.