Bulgaria (May 2024) - Burgas

May 3

I decided to go off-script this morning. Got up extra early to head south of Burgas to visit a place called Cape Maslen Nos that juts southeastward into the Black Sea and looks like it has viz-mig potential. I had done zero research on this spot, which I had never seen mentioned before, and only had a couple eBird checklists to its name. I soon realized why! The start of the road, which was a rutted muddy mess, looked impassible with my vehicle. Slightly bummed to miss out on the exploration, I had a nearby backup plan: SEMICOLLARED FLYCATCHER. On my way out I did take a first glance at the Black Sea and didn’t see much other than a solid count of 36 ARCTIC LOONS including a few rafts on the water and some flying north.

first glimpse of the Black Sea

I headed to nearby Ropotamo Nature Reserve and spent a couple hours walking the short trail system there. I enjoyed nice views of one singing male SEFL and got my life SHORT-TOED TREECREEPER. A few HAWFINCHES were hanging around and were seen repeatedly. An interesting cat on the path looked like a Wildcat x domestic hybrid, though I can’t be sure. Certainly not the real thing based on distal tail pattern and shape.

eBird Checklist - 3 May 2024 - Ropotamo, Primorsko BG-Burgas 42.30145, 27.72924 - 22 species (+1 other taxa)

From there I worked my way northward, poking in and out of a few coastal spots, not seeing much offshore other than several dozen Arctic Loons. Had nice views of the first CETTI’S WARBLERS of the trip and they proved to be very common up and down the coast. I drove into the charming coastal town of Sozopol for an early lunch.

Eurasian Kestrel

European Goldfinch




Sozopol

After lunch it was back to birding. I checked out Lake Mandrensko and came away rather unimpressed. Not much bird life on the lake itself. However a line of showers moved through midday and downed a flock of migrant marsh terns: White-winged, Whiskered, and Black (mostly the latter). Marsh terns in breeding plumage are tough to beat, so I watched them forage for a while. After the showers cleared I glanced up to find a large flock of Great White Pelicans heading north. This opened the floodgates to a spectacular 90 minutes of viz-mig. Hundreds of raptors, storks, pelicans, swallows and bee-eaters were on the move. Ten raptor species including a pair of LEVANT SPARROWHAWKS migrating together. There was always something in the sky to count. This certainly would have gone on for longer had a large swath of heavy rain not moved in. The birds were moving right up until those first drops fell.

eBird Checklist - 3 May 2024 - 7908, Prisad BG-Burgas 42.38333, 27.39603 - 24 species (+1 other taxa)

migration viewing before more rain

As the rain fell I decided to check out Lake Burgas on the way to my accommodations. I did a quick circumnavigation of the lake in hopes that the rain would let up, but it did not. I did poke my head into one promising spot called Ecopark Vaya at the western edge of Lake Burgas. It was closed due to the weather; there is a small admission fee. It seemed promising in that there looked to be mudflats. I regret not circling back on this place later in the trip, but I never found myself near the west end of Lake Burgas again.

 

May 4

East winds blew and steady rain fell through the night. The first stop this morning would be to check Lake Burgas in hopes the crummy weather had dropped some migrants. First views of the lake revealed exactly that. Several hundred birds were feeding low over the lake, specifically marsh terns, gulls and swallows. The birds were spread out as far as the eye could see across this rather large lake. Getting an accurate count was difficult as birds were moving about the lake but viewing was limited due to the heavy precipitation – I was soaked. I settled for single-sweep estimates from the northeast corner of the lake, knowing that this was just part of the picture. Several hundred terns and certainly over a thousand swallows were involved in the event. I could have stood there for hours picking through the melee or just watching the breeding plumaged terns and LITTLE GULLS do their thing. Around 8am the rain let up, the skies brightened, and most of the terns gained altitude and sailed out to sea.

eBird Checklist - 4 May 2024 - Burgas Lake (Vaya)--North - 26 species

As the weather continued to improve, I drove back south a bit to check the Lake Mandrensko Dam Wall Area. Eurasian Penduline-Tit was a target of mine, and this was known to be a reliable location. While doing so, I would keep an eye to the skies in case another raptor flight developed. The south side of Burgas is probably the best place in Bulgaria to witness spring raptor migration. Looking at a map, you’ll see that birds moving north along the coastal flyway (called the ‘Via Pontica’) are forced to pass through the Burgas area as they would not want to cross directly over the Black Sea. Once they are able to ‘turn the corner’ north of Burgas, they have the opportunity to fan out, thus reducing their concentration. This is what makes that south side of Burgas so great in spring. At the Dam Wall, I would be in prime position to notice another flight if it developed.

I dipped on the penduline-tit, and it was mostly just the regulars on the ground. The highlight here was a voraciously singing migrant THRUSH NIGHTINGALE that was cooperative enough to pop into the open to see. Towards the end of my walk, a few raptors began to move, including another LEVANT SPARROWHAWK and a few LESSER SPOTTED EAGLES and HONEY-BUZZARDS.

eBird Checklist - 4 May 2024 - Mandrensko Lake--Dam Wall Area - 43 species

The flight was not more than a trickle, so I made my way to nearby uber-hotspot Poda Protected Area, a gated property that is only open roughly during business hours and requires a modest fee to visit. My hope here was to get into some shorebirds, however the water level was quite high and there was precious little real estate for migrant waders. There wasn’t much outside of a SPOTTED REDSHANK, COMMON GREENSHANK and a couple of CURLEW SANDPIPERS. On my way out, I ran into a few birders who were also lamenting the lack of mud. It was mostly cloudy and still spitting rain a bit, but a few more raptors were on the move. Again, no real flight developed. The trip’s first BLACK KITE did move through, a SPOONBILL flew past, and my life LESSER WHITETHROAT was in a bush by the parking area.

eBird Checklist - 4 May 2024 - Poda Protected Area - 47 species

With Lakes Mandrensko and Burgas failing to deliver shorebirds, I was hoping for better from Lake Atanasovsko. The bird hide on the west shore of the lake’s southern section delivered. This was the best single shorebird spot of the whole trip, though the first birds I noticed were the hundreds of GREATER FLAMINGOES scattered through the flats. Shorebird numbers were solid, though variety was limited. The most abundant species were CURLEW SANDPIPER, LITTLE STINT and RUFF. For me, the AVOCETS stole the show. Views of several species were excellent from the blind, as some of the birds were feeding on the shoreline right in front of the hide.

eBird Checklist - 4 May 2024 - Atanasovsko Lake--Bird Hide Viewpoint - 30 species

Next stop was the Tochkata migration viewpoint on the east side of the lake. I was visiting not for viz-mig but to hopefully get a view of more mudflats. There is a parking area at the end of this road, and from there you walk behind the abandoned buildings and up the embankment to the top of the berm. From there, you have elevated views of the impoundments below. I can see how this would make a great viz-mig station. Unfortunately it was disappointing for shorebirds as there was a lot of water. The FLAMIGOES didn’t seem to mind, as there were another 450 of them here.

eBird Checklist - 4 May 2024 - Atanasovsko Lake--Migration Observation Point (Tochkata) - 17 species (+2 other taxa)

Tochkata viewpoint

There are some ag fields northeast of the lake that had been referenced in my research. I checked them out and didn’t find much other than a female MONTAGU’S HARRIER and a couple of flyover DALMATION PELICANS.

Nearby was a spot marked in Gosney’s book that seemed worth a look (page 20, #4). While poking around I ran into the local bird bander, who, despite not speaking any English, I realized was offering to take me for a walk to show me some birds. I took him up on the offer. I was able to piece together that he also works with the Lesser Kestrel reintroduction effort in Levka. Very generous of him to take some of his time to show me around. We didn’t turn up anything worth noting here, but on my walk out I heard a song I that I was not at all familiar with. After maneuvering through some tall grasses and shrubs, I tracked it down…male COLLARED FLYCATCHER.

eBird Checklist - 4 May 2024 - Auto selected 42.57615, 27.49594 - 31 species

Nearing 4pm, it was time to re-assess the weather situation inland. The forecast from earlier in the week had held up, and the mountains were drying out. Tomorrow morning would be the only day of the week with totally clear skies and zero chance of rain. It was time to resume the original itinerary! I drove most of the way to Trigrad Gorge, easily finding a place to stay in the ski resort town of Pamporovo, which would leave me about an hour’s drive in the morning.

 - NB

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