3 to 5 days Birding Specials

Bulgarian Black Sea coast has extraordinary birdlife all year including up to 30,000 Red-breasted Geese in winter, most exciting spring and autumn migration and numerous East-European breeding specialities.

Lake Durankulak holds enormous variation throughout the year, as popular with birds as cheap hotels are with tourists. Good number of herons, cormorants, ducks, bitterns, crakes and passerines breed here, and several of them can be found all year round, including Moustached Warbler, Bearded Tit, Marsh Harrier and Pygmy Cormorant.

White-tailed and Spotted Eagles, Merlin, Long-legged and Ruff-legged Buzzards, four species of Harrier, White and Dalmatian Pelicans, Crane, Glossy Ibis, Squacco, Purple and other herons, Bittern and Little Bittern, Ferruginous Duck, Red-crested Pochard and Ruddy Shelducks, are all found in the Lake.

Waders feature Marsh, Curlew and Broad-billed Sandpipers, Temminck’s Stint, Kentish Plover, Red-necked Phalarope, Black-winged Stilt, Collared Pratincole, Gull-billed, Caspian, Little, Sandwich and the three species of Marsh Terns, Mediterranean, Yellow-legged, Pontic, Little, Common and Slender-billed Gulls can be spotted.

RED-BREASTED GEESE

Branta Birding Lodge offers you the unique opportunity to visit the world wintering site of the stunning and very endangered Red-breasted Goose.

Large concentrations of White-fronted Geese plus a few of the exceedingly rare Lesser White-fronted Goose also feature in the programme, plus a large array of waterfowl including divers, grebes and ducks. There is good chance of an Eagle Owl and outside possibility of Greater Black-headed Gull. Little and Pontic Gulls, desmaresti sub-species of Shag, Syrian Woodpecker, Calandra Lark and Bearded Tit are also on the agenda. Raptors are well represented too including White-tailed, and Spotted Eagles, Rough-legged and Long-legged Buzzards, Marsh and Hen Harriers, Merlin, Peregrine, and, with a good luck, Saker Falcon.

The best time of year to see Red-breasted Geese is during the month of February.

PADDYFIELD WARBLER

The only chance to view in Europe this long distance migrant from Asia, coming to nest at the westernmost limit of its breeding range. The lake Durankulak is the breeding home to around 120 pairs of this delightful eastern melodious mimic.

In May you can also see, Pygmy Cormorant, the desmaresti sub-species of Shag, Glossy Ibis, Purple and Squacco Herons, Little Bittern, Ferruginous Duck, Bee-eater, Roller, Hoopoe, Red-backed and Lesser Grey Shrikes, Penduline and Bearded Tits, Balkan Wagtail, Tawny Pipit, Calandra and Short-toed Larks, Red-footed Falcon, Long-legged and Honey Buzzards, Levant Sparrowhawk, Booted and Lesser Spotted Eagles, Little Crake, Moustached, Marsh, Savi’s, Olive-tree, Olivaceous and Barred Warblers, Red-Rumped Swallow, Alpine Swift, Syrian Woodpecker and other unusual passerines like Rose-coloured Starling, Pied, Isabelline and Black-eared Wheatears, Ortolan, Blackheaded and Corn Buntings, thousands of waders including Collared Pratincole, Stone Curlew, Black-winged Stilt, Kentish Plover, Marsh, Curlew and Broad-billed Sandpipers, Temminck’s Stint, Gull-billed, Caspian, Little, Sandwich and the three species of Marsh Terns, Pontic and Mediterranean Gulls, Yelkouan Shearwater etc.

Cost:

• Three-night stay, for only € 345 (not including flights) – Base: 2 Pax

• Four-night stay, for only € 415 (not including flights) – Base: 2 Pax

• Five-night stay, for only € 495 (not including flights) – Base: 2 Pax

Single person supplement: € 55

Price includes:

• Full-board staying at Branta Birding Lodge.

• Packed lunches except for days 1 and last.

• Transport from and to Varna or Constantza airports.

• Full day trips from our base to major top birding locations including one-day excursion to Romanian wetlands.

• Your knowledgeable guide who speaks fluent English and French.

We provide comfortable and affordable accommodation at Branta Birding Lodge overlooking Durankulak Lake and Black Sea in Bulgaria. Programme may be adapted to your schedule.

For more information mail us at info@branta-tours.com