One-day Birding Along the Southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast

One-day Birding Along the Southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast

This birding trip will take you around the Bourgas wetlands: Atanasovsko lake, Vaya Lake and Mandra Lake – a complex of extensive wetlands that form one of Europe’s richest bird areas.

Key species of birds to be seen during the trip:

Pygmy Cormorant, White Pelican, Dalmatian Pelican, Ferruginous Duck, Eurasian Spoonbill, Glossy Ibis, all European herons and egrets, Little Bittern, Ruddy Shelduck, White-tailed Eagle, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Levant Sparrowhawk, Collared Pratincole, Black-winged Stilt, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Slender-billed Gull, Meditteranean Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Whiskered Turn, the Black-headed subspecies of Yellow Wagtail, Spanish Sparrow, Black-headed Bunting, Cetti`s Warbler, Eurasian Penduline Tit, Bearded Tit, and many other breeding, migrating & summering species of waders, gulls, turns, raptors, etc.

The tour starts at 7 a.m. from Burgas or any of the nearby resorts.

On this tour we will explore the lakes around the city of Bourgas: it is a complex of extensive wetlands that form one of Europe’s richest bird areas. The greatest lure of the Bourgas wetlands are the huge flocks of resident White and Dalmatian Pelicans. At the shallow saline lagoons of Atanasovsko and Pomorie lakes traditional saltpans are still functioning. They are of major importance for a big number of birds, including the Black-winged Stilt, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpipers, Marsh Sandpiper, Kentish Plover, Slender-billed Gull, Mediterranean Gulls, Little Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Sandwich Terns and Little Tern.

During migration the numbers of soaring birds following the Black Sea coastal flyway in autumn can rival  those at the Bosphorus or the Gibraltar – endless flocks of thousands of White Storks, Lesser Spotted Eagles, Common Buzzards (both ssp. buteo and ssp. vulpinus) and European Honey Buzzards and incredible numbers of Black Storks, White Pelicans, Ospreys, Booted Eagles, Short-toed  Eagles, Black Kites, Red-footed Falcons, Western Marsh Harriers, Montagu’s Harriers, Pallid Harriers, Levant Sparrowhawks, etc. pass overhead.

For lunch we will stop at a traditional restaurant serving delicious Bulgarian dishes and good local wines.

Best time to take this tour: April - October