BULGARIA
25th September
to 4th of October 2008
10 days (9 nights)
Description: This
exciting tour to the western coastal zone of the Black Sea features one of the
most pronounced movements of migratory birds occurring in Europe. The famed
passage of raptors and storks over the Bosporus is fed by a concentrated
corridor of birds funnelling along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast (known as the
'Via Pontica' flyway). Some local breeding birds will have departed the area,
but numerous small passerines, waders and waterfowl are moving down from their
northern breeding grounds.
The coastal Dobrudja is one
of the most attractive areas to be visited. The steppe ecosystems in Kaliakra
reserve and the adjacent territories, covering in the past century a big part
of Dobrudja, are a remarkable and unique staging place for Dotterels, Stone
Curlews, Bee-eaters and many small passerines including Red-throated Pipit,
Corn Bunting and Calandra Lark. The two coastal Lakes, Shabla and Durankulak,
diversify the steppe landscape of the region. Located far from the developed
seaports, these lakes are preserved the way nature has shaped them. They lie on
the major migratory route and are the only roosts for the migratory waterfowl
in the northern 150 km stretch of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The Pygmy
Cormorant, Red-footed Falcon, Lesser Grey Shrike, White and Dalmatian Pelicans
and much else can be seen easily at this season.
Our tour catches the migration at its peak, when countless thousands of
raptors, storks, pelicans, waders and small passerines ensure a day-to-day
action-filled experience. Located at the crossroads between east and west the
checklist of species promises to be one of the longest - and most exotic - for
any European tour. An extraordinary migration of
soaring birds includes tens-of-thousands White and Black Storks,
thousands White Pelicans, Lesser-Spotted Eagles, Steppe and Honey
Buzzards and Cranes, hundreds Red-Footed Falcons, Black
Kites, Short-Toed and Booted Eagles mixed with Montagu’s and Marsh
Harriers, Levant and Sparrowhawks, Long-Legged Buzzards
and much else can be seen at Burgas – the most western point of Black Sea in
Europe. The tour produces also Ospreys, Hobby, Peregrine, and, with
luck, Saker Falcon and Imperial Eagle. Greater Spotted and
even Steppe Eagles add to those seen already. Just about anything is possible on the wader front - Marsh and Broad-billed
Sandpipers are regular - and small passerines often pass through in droves,
including Red-breasted Flycatcher. Ruddy Shelduck and Ferruginous
Duck are notable wildfowl.
A background of mixed, several protected sites, Ramsar coastal lakes,
steppe landscape and other interesting
areas from floristic and faunistic point of view. Add to this a remarkable primary alluvial or Longoz
forest famous for its abundance of Quercus pedunculiflora, Ulmus
laevis and Alnus glutinosa. The vegetation of this marshy
wetland includes a white-yellow “carpet” of Nymphaea alba.
The natural reaches
(biodiversity, ornithological important areas, wetlands etc.) are closely
related with very reach historical and cultural heredity.