Destinations
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Bulgaria 3 – 12 June 2010
The Rhodope Mountains
are in southern Bulgaria, close to the border with Greece. The mountain’s rounded, pineclad hills are occasionally cut by streams and rivers winding through deep gorges. The magnificent Trigrad Gorge is one: limestone cliffs known for their wallcreepers. This beautiful bird can be seen constantly flicking its crimson-and-black wings while investigating rocky nooks for food.
We can enjoy birds like peregrine, alpine swift, crag martin, red-rumped swallow, dipper, red-backed shrike and rock bunting on the crags and around mountain meadows. Elsewhere in the Western Rhodopes we search for pallid swift and nutcracker. There are many endemic plants such as Haberlea rhodopensis, a bellflower Campanula orphanidea, and the saxifrage Saxifraga stribrnyi. Butterflies include many Balkan species: blues, graylings, fritillaries and more.
On route to the southern Black Sea coast, the Sakar Mountains are an area of hills, valleys and steppe-like grassland, a stronghold for imperial eagles in Bulgaria. Other birds of prey include short-toed and lesser spotted eagles and long-legged buzzard, plus olive-tree warbler and calandra lark.
Trigrad Gorge (Dimiter Georgiev)
Photos on this page are all by our Bulgarian hosts and friends from Neophron
Wallcreeper (Assen Ignatov)
Haberlea rhodopensis (Mihaela Yordanova)
Nutcracker (Assen Ignatov)
Rosettes of Saxifraga stribrnyi, endemic to the Rhodope Mountains.
