After the Mid-winter count we decided to stay in a small family run hotel right in the vicinity of an Eagle Owl territory about 500 m from the hotel. I had an inquiry from Living Nature – the tour operator of Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds who had a client willing to see Eagle Owl and some other target species. To make sure I can provide a good quality service I wanted to check a few sites for an Eagle Owl.
We arrived in the village a couple of minutes before the sun has set and went straight to the site. A superb view over small valley with a small cliff made the view rather spectacular. We spend a couple of minutes and all of us went quiet. The Eagle Owl called. Then again and again. We kept scanning the cliffs but there was no result. Although the cliff was small it was difficult to find the bird. It got dark and we gave up. Will try again tomorrow morning.
The sunrise saw us again at the spot. It was a beautiful morning. The Sun has light up the tops of the mountains nearby.
Sunrise
This time we decided to approach the cliff a bit more. We spend about 3 hours but the bird didn’t turn up. Once we were about the leave it called once but that was about it. We missed it again. Well it was time for some coffee and breakfast.
There is one more site in the area which I wanted us to check for the Eagle Owl. The place is a bit difficult to access. The cliffs were along a valley where there is no road. The walk along the trail was only about 20 min long but it was pretty icy and dangerous. The only birds that are worth noting were a couple of Sombre Tits and a Raven. We scanned the cliffs for some time but there was no result so we gave up and headed home. Anyway it was important to check this site to get proper understanding about the situation at the moment.