Michael´s Fourth Year

[michael-ibk]

390/E163.) Black Stork (Ciconia nigra) / Schwarzspecht

 

Same time and place. A gorgeous bird which is so much harder to see than its white cousin. Much shier, and they need undisturbed areas for breeding. Fortunately one of those places is here.

 

 

 

This area will not be everybody´s cup of tea. It´s a hunting reserve bordering the lake (mainly for Deer and Wild Boar). But it´s also being used more and more for photography guests, and it seems to work quite nicely. Very good birding, and also nice quantity of mammals, especially Fallow Deer. There are also Wild Boar, many smaller things, and carnivores like Jackals, Wolves and Bears. All very shy though, so a lot of patience would be needed for those.

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

1 hour ago, michael-ibk said:

380/E153.) Black-Headed Bunting (Emberiza melanocephala) / Kappenammer

 

Same time and area. One of my main targets, so I was delighted we found it within minutes. Another mainly Asian species which just about has a few breeding areas in Eastern Europe. A migrant - but one of those who don´t fancy Africa. Most of them travel to India, some birds make it as far as Singapore apparently. Ever seen it there, @Kitsafari?

 

 

 

 

 

@michael-ibk aha I remember this dastardly elusive birdie. It was sighted in a large area filled with very thick thorny tall bushes and that period was during our monsoon rains. which meant the waters were as high as the calves of our legs, and that we had to slowly pick our way through the thick bushes, avoiding the thorns and sudden pitholes filled with muddy water. we tried the first time but gave up as we didn't have boots. we returned with boots twice, but didn't find the birdie. Only a lucky few saw it, but even then, it was in non-breeding colours and the poor birdie showed signs of wear and tear on its tail which the birder experts said were classic signs of a caged bird.   I hope it survived but after a month, it was not seen again.

 

 

edited to add: i;m very much enjoying your latest collection, and hope you are very much recovered. 

Edited July 7, 2019 by Kitsafari

[michael-ibk]

391/E164.) Eastern Bonelli´s aka Balkan Warbler (Phylloscopus orientalis) / Balkanlaubsänger

 

Same time and place. Another pretty drab looking species but another lifer for me! To me it looks exactly like the Western Bonelli´s (which we have in our forests) but who am I to argue with those clever scientists, especially if it gives me the numbers.

 

[michael-ibk]

392/E165.) Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes) / Kernbeißer

 

Same time same place. A large finch with a huge, Grosbeak-like bill. The food is mainly seeds and fruit kernels, especially those of cherries, which it cracks with its powerful mandibles. Another one I never seem to find even though people claim it´s not "too uncommon" in Austria. 

 

[michael-ibk]

393/E166.) Middle-Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocoptes medius) / Mittelspecht

 

Same place, 1/7. Pretty common in the area but it was soon declared "the enemy". Even though we saw several of them all of them played hard to get. Only half an hour before departure did we find a fairly cooperative one. Another lifer for me. Much less extensive black on the head than the other black-red-type Woodpeckers.

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

394/E167.) Semi-Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula semitorquata) / Halbringschnäpper

 

Same place, 1/7. Another lifer for me. Very similar to the Pied (which is regularly breeding in Austria) and the Collared (a very rare breeder) Flycatcher. The adults leave very early for Africa again, so at this time of the year only youngsters are still in Europe.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

395/E168.) Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) / Schmutzgeier

 

Same place, 1/7. All these Vulture photos were taken from a hide.

 

 

This was a pretty frustrating experience which tested my patience to the max. We got up awfully early (04:15) since we had to be at the hide before dawn. Seeing a car there would scare all birds (and possibly carnivores like Wolves or Jackals) off. A carcass was delivered, juicy smelly tasty stuff, supposed to attract especially the Vultures.

 

 

But from 05:00 to 12:30 almost nothing at all happened. Normally Egyptians, Griffons, Ravens, Black Kites appear to feast but this morning was just one of those days where that did not happen. And I´m sure I was just unlucky - it was obvious this Vulture thing is being done very regularly because bones were scattered all over the hillside.

 

 

A Kestrel took mercy on me in the morning light.

 

 

This Lesser Grey Shrike (already in the count from Bots) perched on a bush from time to time.

 

 

And some Deer ambled by from time to time.

 

 

I had always thought Fallow Deer is an Asian species (although they have been introduced to many places in Europe these days) but was told that they used to occur historically in Bulgaria.

 

 

This one fancied an unhealthy diet - a rope lying around.

 

Finally, at 11:30 at least two Egyptians appeared, and even spent some time "bonding". They were off again as soon as they had turned up, so all in all I had two minutes of Vulture time at the Vulture hide. A bit of bad luck, and they gave me a refund because of that even though I did not ask for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

396/E169.) Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) / Gänsegeier

 

Only one soared on top of the hill for a short while, very very distant though. This Vulture is also around in Austria as a summer guest (so far no breeding reports), and who knows, maybe I might see one later in the year. But here they are only seen soaring, specks in the sky, so I decided to just include this picture and move on because realistically I don´t have high hopes for getting a better one.

 

Edited July 7, 2019 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

397/E170.) Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator) / Rotkopfwürger

 

Same place, 1/7. There are four Shrikes in the area, Red-Backed (abundant), Lesser Grey (fairly common) and this one which we had two sightings of. They used to breed in Middle Europe but their populations were shrinking and shrinking until they finally went extinct.

 

 

398/E171.) Masked Shrike (Lanius nubicus) / Maskenwürger

 

Same area, 30/6. First time I´ve seen this species in Europe but I did have a sighting in Chad last year where we had some ID discussions about it with our guide @Doug Macdonald.  Not a very well researched bird their range is still pretty unclear, especially in the East.

 

 

A juvenile:

 

 

[michael-ibk]

399/E172.) Eurasian Scops Owl (Otus scopus) / Zwergohreule

 

Same place, 30/6. One of my favourite birds of the trips. We looked for them after dinner and found three individuals. They readily respond to calls so it was not too difficult to locate them. We just had a small spotlight but since we managed to get pretty close it was sufficient - ISO 16,000 though, and that with a shutter speed of 50.

 

 

 

Returning "to base" we had a lovely sighting of a Hedgehog. I love these little animals, but unfortunately I only seem them on the road - quashed!

 

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

400/E173.) Wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria) / Mauerläufer

 

Moving back to the Western Rhodopian Mountains for this one, 29/6. One of Europe´s "Holy Grails" of birding. I have seen them in Austria, but due to their inaccessible habitats it´s awfully difficult to find them.

 

 

Fortunately Neophron Tours, the company I´ve used knew of an active breeding site. And btw, I can really recommend them, very professional and on point, and I enjoyed the company of guide Simeon Gigov. Very knowledgeable, bright and hard-working.

 

 

The Trigrad gorge (mobile picture). It used to be a bit easier to get a picture but this year they have established their nest on the opposite side of the gorge. Just a bit too far to get really good pictures with my camera. Last year they had their nest just a few metres away from the road. Thankfully at one time the female landed on our side and ventured fairly close.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the opposite side again (heavy crops), always busy collecting food for their brood.

 

 

 

The nest was just behind the rock on the left of the picture:

 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2019 by michael-ibk

[pedro maia]

400, that’s a lot of birds and there is still half a year to build on that count, and a beatiful bird to celebrate that number.

[Peter Connan]

Congratulations on the 400, and an amazing bird and photos to get there on!

 

Really loved the Egyptian Vulture series too. I do hope your hide experience is not a pre-cursor for mine...

[xelas]

Now you are entering MBC (="Michael's Birding Count") territory! That was one very successful business trip, and Bulgaria is a fine birding destination. Congratulations, especially on the Walcreeper sequence.

[michael-ibk]

Many thanks guys. Drakensbergs, @Peter Connan?

[Peter Connan]

No Michael, Magaliesberg

[TonyQ]

A wonderful way to reach 400.

Sorry you have not been able to be as active as you would like (that must explain such a shockingly low score ). I hope your health is improving.

 

Some excellent additions here from a great business trip.

[Tdgraves]

Congrats on 400 - only 6 months down and I fear you are unassailable.....

[PeterHG]

What a bird for your #400 ! (what, 400 already....??). A truly impressive collection fro your Bulgary visit and equally impressive photos of Vultures, Black Woodpecker in flight etc. Another country that I have wanted to visit for some time, but somehow....

[lmSA84]

What a collection! Congrats on the 400. 

[Zim Girl]

Well done on getting to 400, Michael.  The Bulgaria trip certainly gave you plenty of good birds.

Our sightings of the Dipper and the Black Woodpecker were indeed excellent, just a shame i couldn't get a picture of the latter, glad you found another one!!

[Galana]

Congratulations on the 400. That is some going for only just over half the current year and with 'injury time' too.

Hope all is well with that problem now.

[Kitsafari]

congrats on 400! another 200 perhaps from the next trip? 

 

Love that amazing wallcreeper.

[Soukous]

400!! 

 

You're so far ahead I can't even see your dust.

[Galana]

On 7/7/2019 at 9:41 AM, michael-ibk said:

The term isabelline refers to the parchment-like colouration.

FWIW

The parchment yellow colour is said to be a reference to Infanta Isabella of Spain when co -ruler of Spanish Netherlands. The Lady was so frustrated by the ongoing war in 1601 that she vowed not to change her underwear until the Siege of Ostende was broken and the city over run. Sadly for her (and no doubt her dresser) the Siege continued for another three years ending in 1604. She had kept her vow and since that time the colour 'Isabelline' is associated with the result of her vow. I will spare further blushes by refraining from too accurate a description.

[Dave Williams]

Cracking score and what a way to bring it up! The Wallcreeper is still at the top of my all time favourite sightings and that was the same place you saw them. A recent survey also had Bulgaria as the best value holiday destination in Europe. I love the place as long as you stay clear of Sunny Beach!