Saturday 25th May: Sofia area

 Our last birding day of the holiday, and we set out to explore some local marshes. At the first, we wandered along a track out through the reed bed, stopping at a bank with views across the water. A distant warbler could be seen on the reeds, probably Reed Warbler, but too distant to be sure. Bernie then spotted a Bearded Reedling as it sped past to land out of sight in the nearby reeds. We moved a little further along the track, where a Water Rail could be heard calling. A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was seen briefly, however, we spied a hole in the tree from where it had flown, and as we passed some chirruping birds could be heard inside. A couple of Bearded Tits then appeared in the reeds very close, allowing us all excellent views. A Hobby passed low overhead, and as we returned to the bus the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker showed again, giving much better views.

After a short drive, we paused at a gentle slope beside the road, to look for Sombre Tit. Initially there was no sign, and there was a strong focus on the wonderful variety of brightly coloured wild flowers and butterflies. Some raptors could be seen over the hillside in the distance, and as Bernie and I stood chatting, we spotted a Hawfinch which whizzed past in a flash of black and white, and landed briefly in a bush, where we could see it’s huge bill, but sadly it didn’t stay long enough for most of the group to see. Suddenly, the group’s attention was focused again when a pair of Sombre Tit flew in, chasing around the bushes, and giving several clear views. 

Next we stopped at another marshland, adjacent to some agricultural fields, unfortunately being sprayed with pesticides as we were stood on the track! The highlights here were a showy Great Reed Warbler, and Purple Heron which flew over and dropped into the reeds. Marsh Harriers quartered the far reed beds, and on the water a few Coots with young could be seen. In the bushes beside the track, Stonechat showed well, as did a lovely Lesser Grey Shrike.

Great Reed Warbler

After lunch, we drove up into the pine clad mountains, where we again found Nutcracker and Ring Ouzel, together with a lovely showy Firecrest.But despite Dimiter’s best efforts we still couldn’t locate a Grey-headed Woodpecker! 

Firecrest

We arrived at our hotel in Sofia around five o’clock, and said our sad farewells to Dimiter, who had been a great guide, hard working, good-humoured and extremely patient! We had managed to find over 200 birds over the fortnight (including four new species for me), had learnt a lot, and explored a range of different habitats across this beautiful country.