Two-day Birding Trip: The Eastern Rhodopes & Sakar

Two-day Birding Trip: The Eastern Rhodopes & Sakar

A birding tour that will take you to the beautiful Rhodope Mountain in the southern part of Bulgaria to see and enjoy the majestic “European Condors” – Eurasian Griffon and Eurasian Black Vultures – plus many more: Egyptian Vulture, Eastern Imperial Eagle, White-tailed Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard, etc.

Best time: May - September

Day 1: Departure from your hotel at 08:30 a.m.

Drive to the town of Krumovgrad in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains with stops in Sakar Mountain on the way, searching for Eastern Imperial Eagle, Long-legged Buzard, Levant  Sparrowhawk, Masked Shrike (May-July only), Olive-tree Warbler (May-July only), Eastern Orphean Warbler (May-June only), Calandra Lark, Isabeline Wheatear, Sombre Tit, etc.;

Arriving in Krumovgrad in the afternoon (~ 4.00-5.00 p.m.) and birding in the area;

Optional: after dinner – watching Eurasian Scops Owls that usually call in the town parks.

Day 2: In the morning – Visiting one of the vulture feeding sites in the area of Studen Kladenets;

In the afternoon – birding in the area of Studen Kladenets;

At 3.00 – 4.00 p.m. we leave back for the coast (the drive back takes about three and a half hours.)

Key species of birds to be seen in the Eastern Rhodopes:

Eurasian Black Vulture, Eurasian Griffon Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Eastern Imperial Eagle, White-tailed Eagle, Black Kite  all visiting the vulture feeding place; Booted Eagle, Short-toed Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard, Black Stork, Chukar, Syrian Woodpecker, Eurasian Scops Owl, Pallid Swift, Red-rumped Swallow, Eurasian Grag Martin, Woodchat Shrike, Sardinian Warbler, Subalpine Warbler, Barred Warbler, Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler (May-June only), Blue Rock Thrush, Black-eared Wheatear, Rock Nuthatch, Sombre Tit, Lesser Grey Shrike.      

More about the sites we visit: The Eastern part of the Rhodope Mountains is locked between the valleys of the big rivers Arda and Maritsa in southern Bulgaria, near the border with Greece. This area hosts exceptional biodiversity. It is a landscape of jagged peaks, towering cliffs and sparsely vegetated, boulder-strewn slopes, where the most spectacular bird residents are the Griffon Vultures. Black Vultures, Egyptian Vultures, White-tailed Eagles, Eastern Imperial Eagles are also frequent visitors of the feeding tables. We will see many Black Storks nesting on the cliffs. Chukars often stand sentinel on rocky hillsides. The shrill whistles of Western Rock Nuthatches and the song of the Ortolan Bunting can be heard everywhere around.

While we drive to and from the Eastern Rhodopes, we will stop in the Sakar Hills, where we will be looking for the Eastern Imperial Eagle, Levant Sparrowhawk, Masked Shrike, Woodchat Shrike, Olive-tree Warbler and Eastern Orphean Warbler. The Sakar is an area of rounded hills and open valleys, where most of the lowland is step-like grassland with scattered trees, bushes and agricultural plots. The endless chain of wooded crests provide shelter to the Booted Eagle, the Masked Shrike, the Olive-tree Warbler, the Semi-collared Flycatcher,  etc. European Rollers, European Bee-eaters, Hoopoes and Black-headed Buntings are everywhere along the roads.