Namibia day two

This morning, while I waited for the group to arrive, I did a bit along the promenade and then went to town to buy a battery charger (still no sign of my bag and by the sounds of nobody knows where it is). While I had the taxi driver we did a diversion to the Birds' Paradise wetlands HERE,

Then I had lunch and a rant to the baggage company before meeting the group and we set off for Rooibank for some larking HERE and then it was back to Birds' Paradise wetlands HERE. I had 10 lifers today taking me to 3600 species for the world-HERE. The bird year list is on 979 edging closer to the 1000 in a year target. 

A few photo highlights below:

Gray's Lark

Dune Lark

Red-capped Lark

A couple of classic African plovers- Three-banded (above) and Kittlitz's (below) 

Maccoa Duck 

South African Shelduck

Plain Martin 

(African) Reed Warbler 

Rosy-faced Lovebird

Dune Lark habitat

Namibia day one

After a long overnight flight to Johannesburg and then a short flight to Walvis Bay I arrived in Namibia around mid-day. Unfortunately my bag didn't arrive with me and we are still trying to track it down. Jaffa was sick so couldn't make the trip too so I'm travelling alone at the moment until the group arrives tomorrow so hopefully we're getting the bad luck out of the way.

Fortunately there is a great birding area outside the Flamingo Villas Botique Hotel that I'm staying in so I spent the afternoon checking out the mudflats HERE . Highlights included Chestnut-banded Plover, Cape Cormorant and Rosy-faced Lovebird which were lifers but also had Greater Sand Plover (a local scarcity), White-fronted Plovers, Damara Tern, Cape Sparrow, Cape Wagtail, White-rumped Swifts and a nice selection of waders and both Lesser and Greater Flamingos. 

Fingers crossed my bag arrives tomorrow! 

White-fronted Plover 

Chestnut-banded Plover, immature/non-breeding

Hartlaub's Gull

Kelp Gull

Greater Sand Plover (above and below), a local scarcity 

Greater Flamingo

Cape Sparrow (above) and Cape Wagtail (below) 

North American Landbirds in the Western Palearctic

 

Great to see this book by Ross Ahmed in the flesh. Now available from Birdguides HERE. I had the honour to comment on the drafts and contributed photos and accounts. It really is a fitting tribute to the most sought after of vagrants, the mythical and magical American landbirds. 

Bulgaria, October 2026 round-up

Another great trip to Bulgaria, this was my 27th visit HERE. Highlight was the Yellow-browed Warbler which was the 6th national record. Also a few new project birds and moths with the local bird list now on 193 HERE and the project lep list on 460 HERE.

Also got to up to date with the conservation work at the plot and got the caravan sorted so that we were able to stay in it. Background to this project HERE.

Plans are afoot to arrange a migration camp next year in the area so standby for more on that. 

A few photo highlights in the facebook album below.

A tour of the plot 

Bulgaria, October 2026, Moths and Butterflies update

At the beginning of the year the lepidoptera list for our Bulgaria project at Kamen Bryag was on 427 and following the short summer visit and this week's visit it's now on 460 HERE. My lep list now for the whole of Bulgaria inlcuding wider travelling is 594 HERE. 

A few highlights from this week's trapping below which considering the time of the year and the pretty awful wet weather was not too bad.

Cervyna cervago- after recording this for the first time on the Bulgaria I-Nat moth project we have recorded it nearly every session since. An eastern WP speciality by the looks of it HERE

Good old Merveille du jour- a first for the project 

Double-spot Brocade- a cracking moth and a lifer (above and below) 

Polymixis trisignata- another great looking moth and a lifer (above and below) 

Agrochola nitida- a regular species at the plot 

Ulochlaena hirta- a stunner and a lifer 

Crocallis tusciaria

I recognised this one from last year, probably Dryobotodes carbonis HERE

Depressaria sp?

Amphipyra livida- a distinctive sooty coloured moth with an orange thorax behind the head and a diffuse orange underwing HERE

Brown-spot Pinion

Agrochola laevis

Flounced Chestnut- a highlight of the week 

Conistra veronicae

Bulgaria, October 2026, Days six and seven

It's been great living in the caravan for the last couple of days, literally walk out of the door into the action with plenty of vis-mig in the mornings. The first bird I saw yesterday morning as I opened the door was a Goshawk, a huge female, another local patch tick and it appeared later on in the day too. Highlights on the plot and a walk to the steppe HERE included two cracking Hen Harriers quartering the steppe,  8 Black Redstart, Tree Pipit, Red-throated Pipits, Wood Lark and a first-winter Northern Wheatear (that gave me the run around before I confirmed it wasn't something more interesting). The rest of the day yesterday was spent exploring some of the tourist spots for family stuff to do when we return next year with a visit to Albena and lunch at Balchik. 

Today was sadly our last day here and we had to pack up and head to Varna for an overnight at Campus 90 before a early flight tomorrow. The wind had swung round to the west more and despite the rain there was good vis-mig this morning HERE with 61 Rook, 1 Wood Lark, 20 Skylark, 153 (!) Mistle Thrush, 47 Song Thrush, 50 Redwing, 18 Blackbird, 14 Fieldfare, 4 Red-throated Pipit, 189 Chaffinch, 8 Brambling, 18 Hawfinch, 66 Siskin, 10 Yellowhammer, 14 Corn Bunting and a Serin (a patch tick) all moving south in the first couple of hours of the day. 

A great trip, we got loads done. Sadly I didn't get a chance to go to Cape Kaliakra and the rain was quite a challenge but the site is now ready to more or less live on. We celebrated another great family trip with a night out at the Happy in Varna and Jacob experienced his first sushi coma. 

Hen Harrier (above and below) 

I couldn't turn this into anything other than a first-winter Northern Wheatear

It's very difficult to capture vis-mig. Here a flock of Mistle Thrush. 

European Tree Frog- very vocal locally this trip. This one was found by Jacob at Albena.

There are voles everywhere and this Fox was fixated chasing them allowing a close approach

The moth trapping was good again last night, despite the rain, following a couple of lean cold nights. Will update seperately on the moths but here's a couple of lifers from last night. 

Thanks to Holly we now have running water, full electics and gas and toilet working in the caravan so are now officially 'living' there and even cooked our first meal. Holly and Isaac finally braved it and left the guesthouse yesterday for our first family night in our holiday 'home'. The whole plot is lit up at night by the moth traps. Good times. 

A real contrast was an overnight in the Campus 90 hotel in Varna- back in the smoke 

Bulgaria, October 2026, Days four and five

On Monday I did a bit of plot birding HERE with the highlight being a long overdue Yellow-browed Warbler for the project which was in Georgi's garden. I picked it up on call and then managed to tape it in and secure a few record shots. There was also a bit of vis-mig with good numbers of Yellowhammers, Hawfinches, Siskins, Bramblings and Chaffinches going over and also 8 Red-throated Pipits. The rest of the day we spent in Varna dropping Dylan off and dining at the Happy. 

Tuesday was a rain day, so we decided to sort out a few things in the caravan. In the afternoon we went to Durankulak to visit Pavel and he took us on beach safari at dusk to see the harrier roost HERE. The roost was increbible with an estimated 120 Marsh Harriers, 33 Hen Harrier and a male Pallid Harrier. There was also a Bittern, Ferruginous Ducks, Pygmy Cormorants and we flushed a Short-eared Owl off the track on the way back. 

Yellow-browed Warbler (above and below), Kamen Bryag. My 307th bird for Bulgaria HERE. Not showing yet on the local Ebird hotspot HERE but looks like the 193rd species for the site. Heard calling several times. Only the 6th record for Bulgaria. 

Male Pallid Harrier at dusk, Durankulak

Incredible scenes at the harrier roost at Durankulak with 154 birds counted. I was at this roost last year in mid-October and we didn't see too many harriers and there were still a massive roost of Barn Swallows of which we didn't see any this year. Seems like a couple of weeks round here makes a very big difference. Considering it's not even peak time of year for this roost (in fact it is very early) it would be very interesting to know what the peak count here is this winter. 

Male Hen Harrier