Peak of Birds’ Migration over Bulgaria’s Black Sea Coast Attracts Bird Watchers
On Sunday, the observers witnessed the flight of several thousands of lesser spotted eagles and common buzzards, along with black storks, booted eagles, marsh harriers, Eurasian sparrowhawks, snake eagles and Dalmatian pelicans.
The city of Burgas is located along the Via Pontica, Europe’s second largest migratory route. Each year, birds travel thousands of kilometres along the route to go between the regions in the southern hemisphere where they spend the winter and the places where they nest to the north. Along the way, they pass all along Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast.
The centre for nature preservation Poda, where this weekend’s bird-watching took place, is one of the best places along Bulgaria’s coast from which to observe birds, according to media reports. Every year, over 50,000 people visit it in order to watch the spring and autumn migration of birds from its terraces.
As BalkanTravellers.com reported earlier this month, the rare Dalmatian Pelican species’ migration from the Srebarna natural reserve in north-eastern Bulgaria, which usually takes place in mid-August was postponed by about a month by the unusually warm weather and the favourable feeding conditions.
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Street without a Name: Childhood and Other Misadventures in Bulgaria (2008) | By Kapka Kassabova
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Text by Nicholas Lezard for The Guardian*
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Photogalleries
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A Perfect Shot
Koprivshtitsa Fair, Bulgara. Photographs by Neva Micheva
In Homo Urbanus Europeanus, exhibited May 9-24 in front of the National Theatre in Sofia, Jean-Marc Caracci presents his photographs of people in the urban environment of European capitals.
RED&WHITE SOFIA. On the 1st of March Bulgarians say goodbye to the winter. They buy each other red&white threads to carry around until they see a stork and spring can begin. Photography by Lode Desmet
BULGARIA D'OR: The Bulgarian countryside, patinated with the noble golden dust of the autumn. Photographs by Lode Desmet
360 degrees Bulgaria, an exhibition by photographer Alexandar Ivanov, is on display at the Sea Garden in Varna until August 28. It will be shown at Plovdiv’s Central Square from Sept 5.
The exhibition Photographs of a Trip Through Bulgaria by Hungarian photographer András Balla can be seen in Sofia's Hungarian Cultural Institute, at Aksakov 16 Street, until August 22
Instant Spring in Sofia | Photographs by Lode Desmet
Off-the-season Beauty of Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast | Photographs by Adelina Iliev
Bulgaria's Northern Black Sea Coast
Photographs by Albena Shkodrova
excellent smugs
