30 September | Environmentalists and foreign tourists gathered this weekend near the city of Burgas, on Bulgaria’s southern Black Sea coast, to observe the peak of the autumn migration of various species of migratory birds, national media reported recently.

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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