Tuesday 21st May: Durankulak and Shabla wetlands

 Some great balcony birdwatching this morning - ‘our’ Oriole was again sat on its favourite branch singing when I opened the door, and Turle Doves purred, although couldn’t be seen. House Martins and Swallows filled the air, and we observed the martins using a nest on our balcony. From here, I saw a pair of screeching Jays fly into the conifer and Greenfinches wheezed from the top. We took a walk to the headland, where the highlight was a gathering of House Martin, drinking from a puddle on the ground, their nests lining a derelict building nearby, still providing accommodation for some! 

House Martin

We set off after breakfast for the wetlands, pausing at the roadside when Dimiter heard an Ortolan Bunting. This was soon scoped as it sat on the telephone wire overhead, quite a colourful bird with rusty red breast and yellow moustache contrasting with a greyish head. 

We soon arrived at the Durankulak wetlands and lake, where our target bird was the Paddyfield Warbler. Unfortunately this was a no show, but  a Reed Warbler and Cetti’s Warbler did show well as some compensation. On the beach, a small flock of around ten Little Stints were feeding on the shoreline, and a Little Ringed Plover stood on the shingle, possibly guarding a nest.

Little Ringed Plover

Reaching the lake, beautiful Ferruginous Ducks were glowing like burnished iron in the sunshine, and Bernie picked out a single female Shoveler.

After lunch, we stopped at Shabla Tuzla freshwater lake, where we found a smattering of stilts, initially feeding on the muddy edges, before flying further towards the back of the lake, long, fragile red legs trailing behind. A Garganey swam close by, and a distant Pochard and Shelduck were here too. A pair of Black-headed Gulls were loafing mid-lake and some noisy Lapwings wheeled above us.

We drove just a short distance along the road before setting off on a track through the wood, opening out into an incredible wildflower meadow, bursting with colour, and stuffed full of poppies.

Here we glimpsed a Black Woodpecker fly across the meadow and disappear into the trees. A perched Lesser Grey Shrike scanned the landscape, Spotted Flycatchers twirled and a Whitethroat sang enthusiastically from the top of a bush. We arrived at a reedbed hoping for Savi’s Warber but no joy, just a Reed Warbler clinging to a tall, swaying stem, serenading us with its tuneless song. However, we had some thrilling views of acrobatic Hobbies feeding on the wing above the reeds, and a Short-toed Eagle flew over our heads. 

Lesser Grey Shrike

Our next stop beside a farm at Sveti Nikola, or ‘Sweaty Nicola’ as it affectionately became known, was another ‘dip’, with no sign of the hoped for Laughing Doves, although a rather brown looking Collared Dove caused a bit of debate. Crested Larks, a Black-headed Bunting and both Collared and Turtle Doves kept us entertained while we waited in the hope they would appear, but they didn’t!

Black-headed Bunting

Finally, on the steppe plain we found lovely Calandra Larks, with white-fringed wings, intermingled with common Skylarks, allowing for some good comparative views. 

On our return to the hotel, I discovered another, less pleasing, new species for the day - a tick, which had somehow managed to crawl under my supposedly insect repellent trousers and attached itself to my apparently juicy tummy! Luckily I managed to remove it with some tweezers, and apply some antiseptic cream, and there appears to be no harm done.