Not a Lot

Wednesday September 14

 We arrived at the Hotel Tulip  on the outskirts of Sofia at 4.00 p.m. after a rather tedious day. The start of a long drive was scenic enough,through pleasant mountain scenery with occasional meadows. It then deteriorated.

A surprise was a young Red Fox enjoying the morning sunshine on the hillside beyond the valley.

We were also able to photograph a genuine Bulgarian Sheepdog - although this one had more black than most and had lost part of its tail.

The track then changed to a long period along a very rough and full of holes ‘road’ hemmed in by thick conifer forest. One short stop produced three Woodlarks and the usual common birds. A new road has been built to join two mountain villages, one has to put up with this one in order to reach it.

So many Hirundines to-day. Crag Martins at first, then large mixed groups of mainly House Martins and Red-rumped Swallows. On passage through the mountain passes I guess.

Minko worked hard trying to find us some birds, to no avail - apart from a Pair of Goldcrests.

Another amazing happening. We had two more views of Hazel Grouse. Unbelievable. I didn't see the second as it flew low across the road in front of the car - and I sit in the back.I photographed the first bird through the windscreen but the pics were rubbish. Pam's, taken through the tinted windscreen,  was much better.

We couldn't find a convenient restaurant for lunch and contented ourselves with a sandwich produced by this morning's hotel. The eating place was interesting. What looked like a narrow cart track off the main road, past an enormous smoking rubbish dump. The undergrowth and bushes brushed the side of the car. At the end, the track rose to a high plateau with a tremendous and extensive view over several valleys and a reservoir. Minko drove onto a rutted and harvested field, setting up the scope to scan our surroundings.  A few Common Buzzards, a Kestrel and a Short-toed Eagle was the reward. No sign of the wanted Long-legged Buzzard.

Just as I was at breaking point from the unwanted attentions of a myriad flies, we called time and drove back. This gave me a chance to photograph a Speckled Wood, basking on a leaf.

The last part of the journey was largely urban, passing through a very large town, one of Bulgaria's largest, quickly reaching Sofia and its two million inhabitants.

Hotel VitoshaTulip is modern, set at the foot of the Vitosha Mountain and only 15 minutes away from the town centre. A lift to our room was very welcome, we're getting tired. Turning down another outing to the mountains, we sent Minko off to see his girlfriend at her parents', where he will stay to-night and to-morrow. 

It was good to have a shower, relax, do our last laundry and use the laptop to carch up with Emails.

Dimiter joined us before a very welcome dinner - we were extremely hungry - leaving us to eat so that he could go into Sofia for business. Minko will pick us up at 8.30 in the morning for our last day's birding.