Today (4th May) was the last day of our herping trip with Dylan and Anton. We spent the morning in a quarry that Anton camped at and then back to Poda where I got a bit distracted by the raptor migration going on.
After dropping the boys off at the train station, I popped into Atanosovsko Lake to twitch the Long-billed Dowitchers (two birds that arrived over the winter- a first for Bulgaria) and then headed back to the North East for the final few days. My sat nav took me the coastal route back and across some farm tracks where I stumbled across a field of feeding passerines which was a fortunate de-tour.
Honey Buzzards overhead at Poda
Booted (above) and Lesser Spotted Eagle (below)
Long-billed Dowitcher (far left)- what a bird to get on my Bulgaria list! By the looks of it the range of Long-billed Dowitcher could extend from the Nearctic as far as the Lena River in Russia. The Cornell Birds of the World range map shows a wide vagrancy distribution with records in Mongolia and other Central European countries down to Israel and scattered across the Mediterranean.
Over 300 Curlew Sandpipers at the Lake
Red-throated Pipit - one of four to five birds feeding on a roadside field that had been recently cut. Also about 30 Black-headed Wagtails and a few Blue-headed and Grey-headed Wagtails and about five Ortolans too.
'Blue-headed' Wagtail. As pointed out by Phil Barnett (thanks Phil) the possibility of 'dombrowskii' (an intergrade between Black-headed and Blue-headed Wagtails) should be considered, something suggested by the rather dark ear coverts. The Collins guide refers to this form as in nearby Romania so presumably on the radar here too. In a vagrant context these birds are similar looking to Eastern Yellow Wagtail adult males tschutschensis with the same dark contrasting ear coverts. Presumably Eastern Yellow Wagtail is one to keep eyes and ears open for in Bulgaria. There was also more typical looking flava Blue-headed and also Grey-headed Wagtails in same field.
Black-headed Wagtail (`Superciliaris`). Another intergrade between Black-headed and Blue-headed Wagtails. The yellow tint in the supercilium could suggest the more unusual 'xanthophrys' form which is an intergrade with lutea.
Ortolan
Blotched Snake at Poda. Also had Dice Snake there.
Caspian Whipsnake (above and below) from the quarry
Anton doing a bit of public engagement
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