Raptor Fest

Friday September 9

Reluctantly saying goodbye to our very comfortable hotel with excellent food, we set off for Eastern Rhodope, an area of hills, upland pasture and woods. Another lone Black Stork was the only highlight until we'd left industrial Burgos behind.

At 10.00 - Pam checked her watch - Minko called a raptor, thinking it might be a Black Kite. Oh no it wasn't. It was our first Eastern Imperial Eagle of the day. I took some good photos - I checked at the time. BUT all those and subsequent shots I took to-day vanished when I transferred them to my laptop. Words cannot describe my disappointment.

We saw 6 seperate Imperials to-day.  The first a  surprise but not unexpected, the second a total surprise, the next three were two adults and this year's young, soaring near a nesting site. An adult bird perched on a pylon was probably one of the adults previously seen.

Before lunch, from a higher viewpoint near the town of Topolovgrad, overlooking pasture, cultivated fields, a small reservoir and mixed herds of sheep, goats and cows with their attendant shepherds, we saw:

Booted Eagle, pale morph, 4 White-tailed Eagles soaring together, Levant Sparrowhawk, Black Kite, Montagu's and Marsh Harrier and a Kestrel. 

In between times, Pam found a lovely dragonfly of which she has very good photos, probably a female Red-lined Darter,

and remarked on ants at the top of tall plants.  Cue Minko, who had studied this as part of his Biology degree, telling us about a hepatica flatworm species which infests the liver of grazing animals. Their eggs appear in the animal dung, ants are then infected by the eggs. The eggs make them climb to the top of plants which makes them more accessible to munching animals when the cycle starts again. I think I've got the gist of it, will check online sometime.

After an iffy lunch at the Hotel Imperial, we drove a forested area where logging was evident, seeing Peregrine, Sparrowhawk, Tree Pipit, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Spotted Flycatchers are frequent, the inevitable Shrikes and families of common British birds including Blackbird. Again we heard several woodpecker calls but only saw one Green Woodpecker flying up the road in front of us. Another Hawfinch seen gives me an excuse to include other pics from yesterday.

Minko photographing

An as yet unidentified butterfly taken from the car window with my long lens.

Another raptor viewing point very near this morning's brought more raptors, none of them different. It's been great to-day - apart from the photos.
We keep seeing butterflies but seldom have the opportunity to photograph them. A stop roadside this morning when we couldn't get out - too dangerous - brought good enough views of what proved to be Pale Clouded Yellows. Pam's photo.

Our room for the one night in Topolovgrad's Hotel Imperial is spacious, has three beds and air con with free WiFi. The three flights of steep steps up to it are not ideal !  This town is not attractive, it looks poor with verges in need of clearing and strewn with rubbish. Its attraction is the Imperial Eagle nest - its sign says so. Where to to-morrow?