VIP Visitors

A nice surprise this morning our friend Lyuba popped round with some visitors, Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha and his delightful wife Dona Margarita Gomez-Acebo y Cejuela.They couldn't stay long as they had to rush back to Sofia to vote in todays Presidential election but we did have the opportunity to have a talk about our life in Bulgaria and our work here in Srebarna.

Early morning walk

Here are some pictures from yesterdays walk in Vetren along the Danube and the hills to one of the 4 Tumuli that are located around the village.

To our delight we spotted Black Woodpecker, Dryocopus martius, a first for both of us.Unfortunately I did not get a photo this time..it was far too fast!

Autumn visitors continued

Bulgaria's Resident Representative of JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency)visited earlier this week and we had the pleasure of his company over a glass of Hibiscus ,Kapkage tea,here with our colleagues Toshi & Kolyo.

Another group of visitors have arrived today for a short time on their migration path.Pictured here enjoying the sunshine on our neighbour's roof,Black Redstart
Phoenicurus ochrurus gibraltariensis.

A great day picking.....

Most of the crops have been harvested from the garden and so now we are looking further afield for natures free food.

This afternoon we started with Sloe Berries and Rose Hips.
Both of these are widely available and used here especially during the Winter months.

They add the Sloes to make a Sloe Rakia and they make tea with the Rose Hips to ward of a cold.

Autumn is here along with migrating birds and guests

The weather has turned colder and the last few Pelicans have left the area. We are seeing many migrating birds and have had wonderful views of Osprey over the past week. We have had a number of guests from the U.K. including my Father who was here for a week.

He really enjoyed walking on the Reserve. The staff at the Ministry of Environment and Water were kind enough to invite him to visit their offices and he sat on their balcony for some time and watched the birds.
Our friends Fred and Chris also came from London here's a pic of them trying to find the nearest pub;) and we hosted a number of guests from Germany including Uwe from Offenbach (see top pic). We also had a group of 5 bird counters from Finland amongst other visitors. This time of the year is fantastic for walking but the birds are few and far between. Looking forward to the wintering species arrival.