Day 6: May 29th
Route: around Burgas wetlands
It was a very wet day! Rain until lunch time and luckily, it cleared up in the afternoon and we managed to see 92 different birds. Not bad for a rainy day!
We started the day after breakfast with a visit to a Penduline nesting site! It was rather wet and the rain was getting heavier and heavier. I knew the site very well from last week so it didn’t take us long to locate the birds. At the same area and usual spot we saw three Night Herons one of which was a grown up chick.
Night Heron, image: Iordan Hristov
Penduline Tit on a nest, image: Iordan Hristov
Although the rain was not stopping I decided to go to another area nearby to look for Collared Pratincoles and Stone Curlew. This fantastic grassland is extremely rich in food resources and birds find enough nesting habitat. The Pratincoles welcomed us upon arrival. We first saw one, then two, three in the sky and several on the ground. There were Black-headed Yellow Wagtails, Corn Buntings, dozens of Lapwins, and finally our first Glossy Ibis. Two pairs of Ruddy Shelduck cheered us up in this dull weather. The Stone Curlew never turned up but we still had great time and enjoyed the birds regardless of the weather.
Glossy Ibis, image: Iordan Hristov
Next I wanted us to visit another grassland area to the North-West of Burgas but the rain got heavy and we decided to go to a restaurant for a long lunch. By the time we finished it, rain stopped and we had a fabulous afternoon.
We visited Poda reserve where we spent most of the afternoon. We started quietly but then we had some fantastic moments. There were several Little Eagles, Night Herons and many Pochards. We added Common Reed Warbler to our lists which was still missing from them. After some scanning of the see we managed to find a Black-necked Grebe. Further down the path some of us saw a Ferruginous duck but the highlight was at the end of the path by a small freshwater lake at the reserve. A pair of Red-necked Grebes had stayed for over a month and were building a nest. This is the first confirmation for nesting birds for many years. It was so emotional that the made to the title “Bird of the day”.
Little Egret, image: Iordan Hristov
Red-necked Grebe, image: Iordan Hristov
After Poda we visited the saltpans at Burgas. This time three Marsh Sandpipers had come quite close to the shore to our delight. They were not here yesterday and it is the first time we see them for the trip. We noted several distant Dalmatian Pelicans, one Spoonbill and about a dozen Curlews.
It was 18.00 and we called it a day. It felt tiring for some reason although we didn’t do much travelling. We added a few new birds to our trip list which now counts at 185 species for the past 6 days. Pretty good, isn’t it?