View of the Reserve

A picture from today's walk on the lower West side of the Reserve close to the village.

These beautiful small yellow Lilies cover the edge of the Reserve at this time of year.

Hot Hot Hot!!!

Spent a few hours out on the Reserve yesterday, baking in the hot Sun even though it was late afternoon. Surprisingly good birding for both the temperature and time of day.

White-tailed Eagle, Marsh Harrier(being mobbed, first by Whiskered Tern and then by Squacco), Buzzard, Little Owl (very active), Dalmatian Pelican, Mute Swan with juveniles, Pygmy Cormorant, Flock of 120 Cormorant, Mixed Heronry of Purple, Grey, Little and Great Egrets, Spoonbill, Glossy Ibis and Night Heron. Great-crested Grebe, Coot,

Magpie, Golden Oriole, Jay, Starling, Bee-eater, Middle Spotted and Green Woodpecker, Spotted Flycatcher, Nightingale, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Hawfinch, Redstart, Tree Sparrow, Barn Swallow, Sand Martin, House Martin, Whitethroat,

Not many Pelicans to report as most have set off on their journey South but between 15 and 20 Pairs with juveniles remain. These may be late or second breeding birds.

We have a group of visitors arriving on Saturday for 3 nights and I will post the results of our time in the field after the weekend. Only one photo this time used with the kind permission of Lee Gregory a recent guest. I promise more photos next week.

P.S. Did any of our Bulgarian friends catch us on the lunchtime news on Kanal 1 yesterday?

Testudo graeca ibera

A sub species of the Greek Tortoise ,Testudo graeca ibera, is one of 4 European members of the Testudinidea family of tortoises.It's other members of the family include Hermann's tortoise that we all know well.

This 'Eurasian' tortoise is found in Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Romania and of course Bulgaria.It enjoys a very varied habitat dry or moist with dense vegetation...it was well at home in our garden.

In the Garden....

Here are some pictures taken today out in our garden.

The female Praying Mantis, Mantis religiosa, was out on the doorstep this morning..Possibly looking for a room?

The beautiful female Orb-Web Spider, Argiope Bruennichi, was out hiding in the flower bed.Her web with a zig zag band through the middle to strengthen it was small considering her size.

Finally the Red-backed Shrike, sitting happily watching the day go by on our electricity cable.

A trip to the coast

After a hectic month in the Guesthouse we decided to have a few days break away on the coast.

On the drive between Silistra and Dobrich we stopped to photograph a fantastic sight of flocks of 100+ White Storks circling together preparing for migration.

We spent 4 great days in and around Shabla Lake and Lagoon.The Lagoon was looking particularly breathtaking at this time of year.We had some good sightings of:
Black-winged Stilt, Ruddy Shelduck, Bee-eater, Golden Oriole, Hoopoe, Lesser Grey Shrike, Black-headed Gull, Mute Swan, Common Tern and an abundance of Sand Martins feeding low over the Lagoon in the late afternoon.

We did have some time to relax on Krapets beach which Peggy enjoyed immensely!!