TRIGRAD GORGE - TRANSFER TO KRUMOVGRAD VIA SMOYLEN AND KARDZALI WITH STOPS AT PREVALA SKI RESORT AND EADOWS ABOVE GORNA KULA
WEATHER: overcast to start, then broken sunshine. Temp rose from 1C to 19C
One of the biggest targets of the trip was on the menu today, and we were in the right place to look for it, but that comes later, after breakfast. Before breakfast we spent an hour or so walking along the lane outside the hotel at Teshel, overlooking the Trigradska River.
We quickly found a family party of Dippers, Grey Wagtails feeding young and a Blackcap singing from the scrub. A Balkan Chamois came down to the river bed to feed and not much else happened. We walked to the open area near the big dam and found very little else, we could here Black Redstart singing and another Grey Wagtail did the same.
a juvenile Dipper, taken by Dancho
a Balkan Chamois, taken by Dancho
After breakfast we got into the buses with excitement and anticipation, we were off to look for the Wallcreeper at trigrad Gorge. It took 15 minutes to get there another fifteen minutes to find the WALLCREEPER! We saw two of them, a pair, they were visiting a nest site opposite us across the gorge, they were about 50 meters away from us. Everyone had good views of them, but it was short lived, the birds disappeared very quickly, one flew off up the gorge and the other one went behind a rock to their presumed nest site.
Wallcreeper taken by Rosemay Aitken
We waited nearly an hour, but the birds did not return, so we packed back into our buses and drove back down the valley the way we had come. We saw Dippers and Grey Wagtails along the river and not much else as we made our way eastward through the Rhodope Mountains.
We climbed up to the Ski Resort at Prevala and noted Ring Ouzels on the grass verges and as we climbed higher the whole area was covered in a layer of snow! The pine tress and the verges looked very christmas-card picturesque and surprisingly we saw quite a few birds. At the top of the mountains we stopped next to a large visitor's centre and got out in warm sunshine, it felt surreal to be in snow in the middle of May in bright sunshine.
Prevala area
Ring Ouzels, singing in the snow
We had hoped to see Water Pipit up there but instead we watched Crossbills, Siskins, Chaffinches, Ring Ouzels, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush and Blackbirds. We found two or three Firecrests and to our great delight a Spotted Nutcracker appeared, wowza!
male Ring Ouzel
a great Ring Ouzel shot by Dancho
the male Ring Ouzel gave up his worm to his partner and put on a bit of a display
On the way back down we stopped to watch very close-up Ring Ouzels and Mistle Thrushes, we got out of the bus and had a very similar experience with Firecrests.What a great visit we had had.
A Spotted Nutcracker - it was quite far away
We drove down the other side of the mountains, stopping to pick up lunch supplies, we noted Crag Martins, Red-rumped Swallows, Common Buzzards, a Honey Buzzard, Ravens and Jackdaws. We ate our lunch in a small restaurant in Smolyan and continued our journey to Kardzhali. It took nearly two hours to reach Kardzhali, it was a long and winding road, but it was in good condition.
We stopped for ice-cream at a garage in Kardhzali, where we saw Grey Heron, Great and Pygmy Cormortants, Black Stork and a Booted Eagle, it was now 19C and a few butterflies were on the wing too.
Red-backed Shrike
After a further drive we stopped for our last birding of the day, it was now approaching 5pm and we were not far from our destination, Krumovgrad. Grass meadows and dense scrub covered the landscape, we hoped to see a few srub-warblers but did not find any. We saw Woodlark, Red-backed Shrike, a Marsh Harrier flew over and Dancho found a pair of Sombre Tits, a lifer for some of the group.
Woodlark
Whilst watching the Sombre Tits a beautiful Lady Orchid was discovered. Nightingales sang out and the Woodlark song is one of my favourites, a distant Cuckoo was heard and swallows and martins flew over us.
Lady Orchid, taken by Dancho
We finished our journey as we dropped down into Krumovgrad where our hotel was situated. After a quick and efficient dinner service we went back out to look for Scops Owl in the local park, we heard several owls but failed to see one. on the way back to the hotel another Scops Owl was calling and some of us did see that one.