Trigrad-Mursalitsa IBA (Bulgaria Rhodope Mountains) (1 Viewer)

[balkantrek]

Just joined the forum earlier today and thought I would now tell you a little about my Bulgarian "Local Patch", in other words where I live and work most of the year. The region in question is the "Trigrad-Mursalitsa" Important Bird Area (IBA) which is found in southern Bulgaria in the heart of the Rhodope Mountains. Probably some of you who know about birdwatching in Bulgaria have heard of the Trigrad Gorge and its Wallcreepers, well that site lies within this territory.

Its a mountainous region, the highest peak being Mt. Golyam Perelik (2191m), and is covered mainly in coniferous forests, but with a wonderful patchwork of flower-filled meadows and rough pastures. A large part of the region is limestone karst, and is cut up by stunning gorges with high cliffs and rugged rock outcrops.

The "Trigrad-Mursalitsa" region has over 140 species of breeding bird, and is one of the most important places in Bulgaria for Golden Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Saker Falcon, Lesser Kestrel, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Black Woodpecker, Capercaillie, Hazel Grouse and of course the above mentioned Wallcreeper.

That's just a taste of the region's birdlife. In future postings I will tell you more about the other birds as well as about the typical flora and fauna in the region. I will also try to keep you updated on what I see whilst guiding my groups, and also some of the birds and animals that are found in and around my garden.

 

[michaelmacey]

Sounds good to me. Whats the weather like over your way? Certainly a fair few birds to see by the sounds of it. Look forward to reading the updates, iv started a stodmarsh thread that i hope to update when i go, and when a new reserve near Deal, kent opens in may, i shall be there a couple of times a week, so i should have 2 on the go. Mick

 

[balkantrek]

Its been the warmest winter on record in Bulgaria this year. The first White Storks returned to the Struma Valley in south-west Bulgaria several weeks ago! I managed to find my recent snowshoeing groups (http://www.balkantrek.com/eng/holidays/Bulgaria-Snowshoeing-Rhodope.html) a couple of good full day's snowshoeing in higher parts of the region, but the rest of the time it felt more like ordinary spring walking, and frequently I just wore a T-shirt!

Its hard to look for birds when your leading a snowshoe trip. Snowshoe walking tends to be quite laborious and noisy, and is therefore not ideally suited to birdwatching. I came across a lot wonderful mammal prints: red squirrel, red fox, brown hare, badger, wild cat, and numerous wolf. In fact I have never seen so many wolf prints as I did this winter.

As for the birds themselves, I did have one interesting sighting, two "Balkan" Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris balcanica) on a stony mountain pasture at just over 1400m. I have seen them many times before in Bulgaria's other mountain ranges, but despite searching through all the Bulgarian sources and literature I think this may be the first record of the species in the Bulgarian part of the Rhodope Mountains. It is written that the species do not normally migrate far from their breeding sites and are typically vertical migrants usually simply descending as low as necessary to avoid deep snow. I am wondering therefore if the species does in fact actually breed somewhere in the highest parts of the Rhodope Mountains, and will be looking out for it more carefully in the future.