Storm Ashley

Storm Ashley came through yesterday and seemed to have shaken things up a little bit round here with an increase in moth migrants and a few interesting bird migrants at Church Norton.

The sea was extremely rough yesterday but despite a few Shearwaters in the morning seen by Bart and Co, Andrew and I didn't have much in a couple of hours in the afternoon off Selsey Bill with just a Red-breasted Merganser, a Sandwich Tern and a few Gannets of note. 

This morning it was completely calm. I covered Church Norton to the First Several and the Spit. Ebird list HERE . Highlights included a Turtle Dove sp that flew over the Horse Field, 2 Dartford Warblers, 1 Firecrest and 1 Tree Pipit. 

The moth trap has been very exciting with my first Flame Brocades and a good selection of migrants and a couple of mystery moths that I'm waiting for the id confirmation on. 

Turtle Dove sp. I almost got a sharp photo but this Mallard photo bombed the pic. Presumably a European Turtle Dove (only the second on the peninsula this year) but this time of year would be good to rule out an Oriental. 

Dartford Warbler- not sure on the age or sex of this. Shirihai and Svensson state that best way to age is on the covert contrast but can't see that in the images I got. First-winter females are the most dull plumage but  adult males are duller in fresh autumn plumage compared to the brighter spring/summer plumage. The white specking on the underparts of this bird is interesting.  

Med and Black-headed Gulls in the surf

Female Red-breasted Merganser

The wintering Whimbrel 

Flame Brocade- only ever seen these at Portland so quite made up to now have them in the garden. Two yesterday. 

Oak Rustic 

Male Gem- two of these

Nettle-tap- two in the trap which was a NFG so maybe migrants or storm dislodged insects. Garden list now on 385 (pending review). 

Mystery moth 1- presumably something obvious but I'm just drawing a blank. Maybe just a grey looking Nutmeg or not very green Brindled Green. 

Mystery moth 2. The only thing that rings a bell is Echium Slender, Dialectica scalariella , which I've had in Bulgaria but presumably not that species as not even in the micro moth book.

Mystery moth 3. Maybe a dark Winter Groundling. I did think of Tuta absulota which is another late autumn gelechid but looks like Winter Groundling. Update- yes confirmed as Winter Groundling (Thanks Stephen Palmer). 

Mystery moth 4. I don't know. Update confirmed as a gelechid but not identifiable to genus or species as too worn. (Thanks Stephen) 

Dartford Warbler and Tree Pipit at Church Norton (and Curlew and Grey Plover in background). Actually still need to double check the pipit to make sure not an OBP as some calls were a bit odd- a bit short and sharp. 

Bulgaria Autumn 2024, Butterflies and moths

Seemingly I didn't pay my electricity bill so we didn't have a connection on the site so sadly we couldn't get the moth trap on as usual. However I managed to run it at the guesthouse nearby and also there was quite a lot of day flying moths and butterflies too before the north wind started.

There were literally thousands of Silver Y's out on the karst, feeding mainly on heather flowers with a few Crimson Speckleds and Rusty-dot Pearls. There were many Hummingbird Hawkmoths and Anton found an adult Convolvolus Hawkmoth on the plot and also a larvae and there were good numbers of Small Cooper, Brown Argus, Holly Blue, Clouded Yellow, Wall Browns, Painted Lady, Red Admirals (migrating), Eastern Bath White, Large White and the odd Adonis Blue, Lang's Short-tailed Blue, Queen of Spain Fritillary, Oberthur's Grizzled Skipper and Mallow Skipper.

The moth trap was a bit dissappointing but did include Scarce Bordered Straw, Olive-tree Pearl, Silver-Y, Rusty-dot Pearls, Devonshire Wainscot, White-speck, Deep-brown Dart, Agrochola nitida, Small Mottled Willow, a gorgeous Cervyna cervago, Lesser Yellow Underwing, Dark Sword Grass, Vestal and what I think were Feathered Brindles.

Project Lep list is now on 321 species: I-NAT PROJECT HERE

Adonis Blue (above and below) . A well overdue lifer. 

Lang's Short-tailed Blue (above and below). Lifer. 

Oberthur's Grizzled Skipper. Lifer. 

Mallow Skipper

Eastern Bath White- first for our project. 

Devonshire Wainscot

Deep-brown Dart

Feathered Brindle? Yes the Bulgaria I-NAT moth team agree with the identification. This is the first record for the project. 

Agrochola nitida

Convolvolus Hawkmoth 

Wolf spider sp with young riding on it's back 

Bulgaria, Autumn 2024, Day Five

Unfortunately today was our last day here. A last minute short trip dictated by finally being able to get a water connection and the pond liner to the site and having to be back for work commitments. Looks like I didn't pay my electricity bill too as we now have water but the electicity was cut off meaning we couldn't do the moth trapping. Also the strimmer packed up working so we didn't get the meadow management done. We are already planning (better planning!) a Spring trip in April to sort everything out. 

The brisk cold north wind was blowing again so we stayed around Kamen Bryag and birded the sheltered parts of the oak wood and gardens. Ebird list HERE . We then went on a twitch to the neighbouring village of Sveti Nikola. Laughing Doves bred in the communal farm buildings this year and the family was still around last week. However we somehow managed to dip these. Come to think of it, this trip was a bit of a disaster- topped off by the car hire company trying to scam us of 400 euro, which we needed the fraud department of our bank and the local police to resolve. All good fun! 

Trip Report HERE. We had no rarity finds (201024 update- we had a rare moth, Feathered Brindle- the first for the Bulgaria I-Nat recording scheme) although Grey-headed Woodpecker might have been a bit of a local mega as Pavel has only seen one in 45 years in the vicinity but there are several Ebird records HERE in the Dobrich region. Takes the project Ebird hotspot bird list to 169 HERE. The bird of the trip was the locustella that got away and only 121 species recorded overall. In short, not that great but a good crack nonetheless.  Probably best to concentrate on that good planning for the Spring trip!  

A bit of back ground to this project HERE. 

A cracking Black Stork over the oak wood

Another gorgeous Red-breasted Fly. Our ebird tally was 16 of these (although Ebird can double count birds on the same site on different times) but what with birds moving through, in this instance probably not far off that. 

Lots of Jays in the village collecting acorns from the oak wood 

Green toad at the guesthouse 

We spent the afternoon getting on with the pond. Managed to build up a bank and get it filled up. The liner we could get loally was only 8 x 12 meters (the excavation was 14 x 12 meters). We got a quote for shipping a 14 x 12 meter from the UK but the difference was £3500 plus import costs etc and no time frame for delivery or £700 for the smaller local one so we settled for a smaller pond then planned but still happy with it considering all the constraints. In the Spring will need to order some cobbles to place around the edges and then trim off the excess liner. Will be interesting to see how it settles over the winter. Dragonflies were already using it and there were already water beetles colonising.  

Bulgaria, Autumn 2024, Day Four

We started the day off at Cape Kaliakra. There had been a sudden change in the weather with a moderate north wind blowing and temperatures plummeting overnight. It more or less put the knackers on vis-mig with only 52 species HERE and not many highlights. Black Stork was new for trip and the Sardinian Warblers (we've had up to 5 on the peninsula) were showing again. 

In the afternoon we met up with Pavel at Lake Durankulak and had the usual fun 4 x 4 safari across the reserve. A more respectful 68 species HERE with some nice highlights including Dalmation Pelican, Pygmy Cormorants, Merlin, Purple Herons and a frustrating locustella warbler on the beach that flew out of shin-high vegetation into the reeds at dusk. Pavel had seen the same bird a few days before and it was so close to him feeding on the ground that he couldn't focus his camera on it. Either a Grasshopper Warbler or one of it's more exciting eastern counterparts. The bird of the trip either way as Gropper is a vagrant to the region too. 

Ebird trip report HERE

Male Sardinian Warbler- I've not recorded these on previous Spring and Autumn trips in this area. There are several records in the late autumn from the Cape on Ebird and the Birds of the World distribution map show this area as the northern limits of it's range in this region.

Firecrest- a few Goldcrests and a couple of Firecrests 

A rather drab Chiffchaff, presumably something along the trisits cline. Didn't hear it call.

A standard Chiffchaff- there were good numbers of these, according to our Ebird trip report we had 128 in total, but despite intensive searching and checking we couldn't find a Yellow-browed. Was hoping sprites might be under-recorded in this region (a Pallas's was caught at Chituc to the north this week and a Dusky was caught at Agigea too while a Radde's was found in Cyrpus) but apart from the one Pavel found and we dipped it really doesn't look like they are numerous on the Black Sea coast from our small soiree. Maybe they really do go further north across the Taiga belt towards north west Europe and Britain and are genuinally rare in Eastern Europe despite the logical presumption. 

There were still a few Willow Warblers around. We certainly picked up the tail of the earlier autumn migration with Alpine Swifts (below), Red-backed Shrike, Red-breasted Flys, Common Redstarts, Hoopoe, Nightjar, White and Black Storks, Osprey, Honey Buzzard, Black Kite, Barn Swallows, Tree and Red-throated Pipits amongst the hoards of Chaffinches and late autumn migrants

We had several groups of Alpine Swifts which were always at considerable height implying they were migrating and not feeding 

Sparrowhawks were on the move with up to 20 birds 

Pygmy Cormorant- as usual they were pretty numerous in the reeds around Durankulak

Ferruginous Duck- the only one we had

Dalmation Pelican- not a bad one to get in this area but they breed on the Danube to the north and winter at Burgas to the south 

Quite a bit of wildfowl migration going on offshore with hundreds of Pintail and Shoveler - surpisingly we didn't see any evidence of this off Cape Kaliakra but it was a constant feature from Shabla north implying birds were moving further off shore

Little Rings and Dunlin- was quite surprised to find these plovers presumably wintering birds 

Bulgaria, Autumn 2024, Day Three

As usual we started the day at Cape Kaliakra at dawn. It was a lot slower today in a southerly warm wind. Seems like the northwesterly of the previous two days was much better for visible migration. Only 52 species in the usual four hours, Ebird list HERE . There was basically less of all overhead passage apart from Corn Buntings with an increase today. Highlights included 5 Sardinian Wabler including a female, 2 Woodlark, Serin, Yellowhammer and 5 Red-breasted Flycatchers. 

At lunchtine, Kojak and I went to Kavarna to do a bit of shopping and also put the strimmer in for a service as it broke down yesterday meaning we didn't finish the meadow hay cut. Will need to return in early spring to get that done- I told the mechanic I'll be back in April to pick up the strimmer which he seemed okay with (he acted like six months was about the usual waiting time anyway in these parts).

In the afternoon we did Shabla Tuzla- highlights there included 68 Greater Flamingo, Black-necked Grebes and there were three Black-throated Divers off shore. Ebird list HERE. We got a call from Pavel half way through, he had found a Yellow-browed in a nearby wood so we set off over to there to dip it.

Will be meeting up with Pavel again tomorrow to have a look around Durankulak. 

Red-breasted Flycatcher- five of these at the Cape this morning

Can't get enoough of these stunning male Black Redstarts. Just look at the shades of black and grey with the dark mask with the silver grey top edging, the darker silver grey mantle, the dark breast and silver grey underparts, blazing white secondary panel and of course the wonderfully contrasting orange-red undertail coverts and 'start'. An absolute stunner. Only about 7 left now on the Cape after a peak of 30 or so on Sunday.

Nice to see a few Hooded Crows (and a single Rook) migrating this morning- here chasing a Sparrowhawk

Greater Flamingo

Another stunning black and grey bird today- this summer plumage Black-throated Diver, here with a winter plumage bird 

Winter Black-throated Diver 

There was a bit of waterfowl passage today at Shabla with these Pochards flying over, about 55 Tufted Ducks migrating offshore and 30 Pintail and Teal on Shabla Tuzla

Had the moth trap out last night at the guesthouse. A few familiar faces such as Rusty-dot Pearl, Dark Sword Grass, Olive-tree Pearl, Small Mottled Willows, White-speck and Deep-brown Dart and what I think is Feathered Brindle (below) and Cervyna cervago (above). Will do a seperate post on the moths and butterflies and sort out the ids then.