Shorebirder

May 8 It was back to Burgas to settle some scores before I would head north up the coast. First up this morning was yet another search for Eurasian Penduline-Tit. I was back at the Mandrensko Lake Dam Wall. After trying and failing again in the spot I had checked before, I walked the dirt track a bit to the northeast and soon heard a PENDULINE-TIT calling to my left. I walked into the tall grass towards the bird and eventually saw the thing (42.43377, 27.44765). Really crisp-looking bird that I enjoyed for a couple minutes before it moved on. Back by the road a MARSH WARBLER was singing, as was a THRUSH NIGHTINGALE. eBird Checklist - 8 May 2024 - Mandrensko Lake--Dam Wall Area - 35 species Following that fantastic hour and a half of raptor migration I enjoyed here a few days prior, I was hoping for a repeat performance. The weather was fine for flying birds so I set up shop from a field near the lake. There was a bit moving, especially early, but that fizzled. Still, a large floc...

May 5 My initial plan of pre-dawn owling were curbed due to the URI I was fighting. It would have been great to try for Boreal Owl near Pamporovo but I really needed some rest. I did have one map pin I wanted to hit en route to Trigrad. Turns out there is a site for breeding CORN CRAKE between Teshel and Borino. I arrived around 6:30am and was immediately greeted by calling Corn Crakes upon stepping out of the vehicle. At least five birds could be heard “singing” from this one spot, including a couple quite near the road. I had previously seen Corn Crake quite well a few years ago when a vagrant turned up on Long Island, NY. USA. But I had never heard one, and that’s what I was going for here. Hearing this iconic sound as sunlight spilled into the valley made for quite the idyllic scene. Singing ORTOLAN BUNTING was a nice surprise as well, and had another look at HAWFINCH here. I soaked it up for a while before pulling myself away to get to the day’s main task: Wallcreeper. eBird Check...

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 ...