Birdwatching trip in Bulgaria 2023: day 10 of 10

Day 10: June 2^nd

Route: Tuylenovo – Sofia

This is our last day of the trip and we have to travel to Sofia. One participant needed to leave earlier because of her flight so Stan kindly agreed to drive her to the bus leaving from Varna. All the rest left the hotel at 6.30 am. This early start gave us enough time during the day to stop at several sites.

About an hour after we left the hotel, we stopped for coffee and breakfast. An hour later we met with the second van that had started earlier and we continued our journey. The travel was smooth and we managed to cross the mountain pass well on time.

At 10.30 we were already in South Bulgaria where active migration was going on. I pull out quickly and we started counting raptors: Imperial Eagle, Lesser-spotted Eagle, Marsh Harrier, Montagu’s Harrier, Long-legged Buzzard, Common Buzzard, and the star birds, a late Greater Spotted Eagle. Wow, that is 7 raptors for 5 minutes! How about that? I just love bird migration! This was not even our planned stop.

Further down the road, we stopped for a few minutes to stretch our legs and enjoy a cup of coffee with ice cream. It was getting hot and we needed it.

Our planned stop was on the top of some hills with a great view of 360 degrees. The pasture here is a great place for birds of prey. It didn’t take long before the first raptor appeared: a juvenile Eastern Imperial Eagle. Then we saw a Lesser-spotted Eagle, Red-footed Falcon, Long-legged Buzzard, and a Montagu’s Harrier. We managed to see about 10 raptors for an hour. A great spot this is!

We continued our journey and managed to arrive in Sofia by 5 pm. It’s been a long and exhausting journey for all of us and everyone wanted to have a rest.

This was the end of the trip. We managed to see 210 species in the past 10 days. I think it was a very successful trip. Some of the participants ended up with 25+ new birds. But of course, it is not only about the numbers: we found a nesting pair of Red-necked Grebe in a new part of the country and the first documented Booted Warbler for Bulgaria!

I am extremely delighted and happy with the outcome of this trip.

Here is a checklist of the birds seen:

1 Black-throated Diver
2 Little Grebe
3 Great Crested Grebe
4 Black necked Grebe
5 Red necked Grebe
6 Greater Flamingo
7 White Pelican
8 Dalmatian Pelican
9 Cormorant
10 Shag
11 Pygmy Cormorant
12 Grey Heron
13 Purple Heron
14 Great White Egret
15 Little Egret
16 Squacco Heron
17 Night Heron
18 Little Bittern
19 Black Stork
20 White Stork
21 Glossy Ibis
22 Spoonbill
23 Mute Swan
24 Ruddy Shelduck
25 Shelduck
26 Gadwall
27 Mallard
28 Garganey
29 Shoveler
30 Pintail
31 Pochard
32 Ferruginous Duck
33 Honey Buzzard
34 Black Kite
35 Griffon Vulture
36 Egyptian Vulture
37 Short-toed Eagle
38 Montagu’s Harrier
39 Marsh Harrier
40 Levant Sparrowhawk
41 Goshawk
42 Buzzard
43 Long-legged Buzzard
44 Lesser Spotted Eagle
45 Imperial Eagle
46 Booted Eagle
47 Kestrel
48 Red-footed Falcon
49 Hobby
50 Eleonora’s Falcon
51 Peregrine
52 Chukar
53 Grey Partridge
54 Quail
55 Pheasant
56 Water Rail
57 Moorhen
58 Coot
59 Oystercatcher
60 Black-winged Stilt
61 Avocet
62 Stone Curlew
63 Collared Pratincole
64 Lapwing
65 Grey Plover
66 Ringed Plover
67 Little Ringed Plover
68 Kentish Plover
69 Black-tailed Godwit
70 Curlew
71 Redshank
72 Marsh Sandpiper
73 Greenshank
74 Little Stint
75 Dunlin
76 Curlew Sandpiper
77 Ruff
78 Mediterranean Gull
79 Black-headed Gull
80 Slender-billed Gull
81 Whiskered Tern
82 Black Tern
83 Gull-billed Tern
84 Caspian Tern
85 Common Tern
86 Little Tern
87 Sandwich Tern
88 Yellow-legged Gull
89 Caspian Gull
90 Arctic skua
91 Feral Pigeon
92 Wood Pigeon
93 Turtle Dove
94 Collared Dove
95 Cuckoo
96 Scops Owl
97 Eagle Owl
98 Little Owl
99 Long-eared Owl
100 Alpine Swift
101 Pallid Swift
102 Swift
103 Kingfisher
104 Bee-eater
105 Roller
106 Hoopoe
107 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
108 Middle Spotted Woodpecker
109 Syrian Woodpecker
110 Great Spotted Woodpecker
111 Black Woodpecker
112 Green Woodpecker
113 Calandra Lark
114 Short-toed Lark
115 Crested Lark
116 Woodlark
117 Skylark
118 Sand Martin
119 Crag Martin
120 Barn Swallow
121 Red-rumped Swallow
122 House Martin
123 Yellow Wagtail
124 Grey Wagtail
125 Tawny Pipit
126 Tree Pipit
127 White Wagtail
128 Red-backed Shrike
129 Lesser Grey Shrike
130 Woodchat Shrike
131 Masked Shrike
132 Dipper
133 Wren
134 Dunnock
135 Robin
136 Nightingale
137 Black Redstart
138 Redstart
139 Stonechat
140 Northern Wheatear
141 Pied Wheatear
142 Black-eared Wheatear
143 Isabelline Wheatear
144 Blue Rock Thrush
145 Ring Ouzel
146 Blackbird
147 Song Thrush
148 Mistle Thrush
149 Cetti’s Warbler
150 Savi’s Warbler
151 Sedge Warbler
152 Reed Warbler
153 Marsh Warbler
154 Great Reed Warbler
155 Eastern Olivaceous Warbler
156 Olive-tree Warbler
157 Icterine Warbler
158 Chiffchaff
159 Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler
160 Wood Warbler
161 Blackcap
162 Whitethroat
163 Lesser Whitethroat
164 Barred Warbler
165 Eastern Orphean Warbler
166 Sardinian Warbler
167 Firecrest
168 Spotted Flycatcher
169 Semi-collared Flycatcher
170 Bearded Tit
171 Long-tailed Tit
172 Penduline Tit
173 Sombre Tit
174 Willow Tit
175 Coal Tit
176 Great Tit
177 Blue Tit
178 Nuthatch
179 Rock Nuthatch
180 Wallcreeper
181 Short-toed Treecreeper
182 Corn Bunting
183 Rock Bunting
184 Ortolan Bunting
185 Cirl Bunting
186 Black-headed Bunting
187 Chaffinch
188 Greenfinch
189 Goldfinch
190 Linnet
191 Serin
192 Crossbill
193 Siskin
194 Bullfinch
195 Hawfinch
196 House Sparrow
197 Spanish Sparrow
198 Tree Sparrow
199 Starling
200 Golden Oriole
201 Jay
202 Magpie
203 Nutcracker
204 Jackdaw
205 Rook
206 Hooded Crow
207 Raven
208 Rose-coloured Starling
209 Booted Warbler: first documented record for Bulgaria
210 Greater spotted Eagle