Today at Cape Kaliakra was totally epic but turned out a bit frustrating. I witnessed one of the biggest falls I've ever seen (or never seen) involving nearly 3500 birds and most of them were on the deck. Full list from today HERE. The highlight was a first-winter Rustic Bunting which I saw well but briefly (and despite several hours of searching I failed to refind it or get a photo) but I had the sound recorder on so I might have recorded it calling but not sure I can tell at the distance and amongst all the Song Thrushes calling (see below). Supporting cast was a single Quail, 2 Corncrake and 2 Long-eared Owl flushed, a Long-legged Buzzard, 9 Hobby, single Red-backed Shrike, a fly over Penduline Tit, 4 Woodlark , 30 Crested Larks, at least 200 Chiffchaff, 65 Goldcrest, 85 Wren, 43 Mistle Thrush, over 200 Song Thrush, 150 Blackbird, a whooping 500 Robin (at least- other birders estimated thousands!), 4 Spotted Flycatcher, 17 Red-breasted Fly, 20 Common Redstart, 10 Black Redstart, 1 Whinchat, 8 Stonechat, 6 Tree Pipit, 2 Red-throated Pipit, 20 Brambling, 3 Hawfinch and 1 Serin.
What was frustrasting was not only not getting a photo of the Rustic but also I seemed to have mysteriously lost a lot of the photos from today and particularly some sweet little videos of the bushes dripping with passerines. While I was filming a Robin tried to land on me. Bascially pretty gutted about all that.
I bumped into Steve and Pauline Fisher who had been here since September and said that today was certainly the largest number of migrants and after I let the news out on the Rustic, Pavel joined me and also commented that this was a very big day and we spent the rest of the day combing through the groups of passerines which were still present in the afternoon.
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