Bulgaria - May 2010 Visit Part One

Finally - am so bad at this (things will change and will have some very exciting news in the next week or so).

This will mostly just be a reel of the pictures that were promised probably 2 months ago!

Black-headed Bunting - one of the species that we thought should have been at the site but weren't on the April visit. A little later in migration that was expected.

An extemely interesting species and very pretty - quite unusual in its song which is not very 'bunting' but more Common Whitethroat - can be quite confusing first time you here it.

One of my favorites - Calandra Lark - huge in flight with such an obvious white trailing edge and song/display flight like a terradactyl - large and very slow in flight. I have seen alot of these on all visits to Bulgaria and having to do BBS surveys for this species has been interesting because where they occur they occur in huge numbers. Also there is no BTO BBS code for Calandra Lark so we had to make one up - XL - quite apt really!

Crested Lark - the ultimate 'hard' lark and never yield to a car until the very last minute - the number of times we had to slam on the brakes on agricultural tracks to avoid the little critters.

One of the best birds in BG - Corn Bunting - they are absolutely everywhere which is amazing when you think of how dramatic the decline in the British population has been over recent years. Agricultural reform has not quite hit BG yet and I really hope it doesn't.

= This needs no introduction!!

Another UK bird that has suffered huge declines but is very widespread and common in BG. They also sing most of the day but it has to be said that they are best first thing in the morning!!