Thursday 29 June 2017

Bulgaria, June 2017 Part 2 Bulgaria on the cheep!

I have taken a few European holidays in June/July time and for the most part the birding has been very poor so I wasn't too hopeful of what I'd find in Bulgaria either but I had decided to pack my 500mm lens just in case. Our baggage allowance was pretty miserable so no room for a tripod but I could hand hold the 500. Claire had suggested I take the 100-400 but I was adamant, the 500 it was!
A decision I might come to regret later perhaps but one I thought worth risking. To save weight I left my heavy 1D camera at home and took the much lighter 7D2 and a back up 5D3 which also meant I could use the same batteries and charger too. No space for my laptop but I had plenty of camera cards for storage space.
All set then!
I bade goodbye to Claire up on the roof top terrace ( where I took this shot)
Sinemoretz beach , SE Bulgaria
and headed along to dirt road behind the beach which soon led to some open semi ploughed fields.
Red-backed Shrike,Starling and Corn Bunting were all seen but the photo opportunities were not good.
A pair of Turtle Doves were the best spot
Turtle Dove   Streptopelia turtur
but that was about it. I returned to the hotel only to wait for the heat to lessen before returning for another look.
My Shrike shots were not worth sharing but I was delighted when the usually elusive Nightingale came out in to the open for a brief moment or two.
Nightingale  Luscinia megarhynchos, Bulgaria.
I have only ever seen two or three in the past so I was happy with that one, I also heard and spotted distant Golden Oriole. Things were looking interesting. If I just managed one decent subject a day I'd be happy, anything else was a bonus.
Photo's weren't exactly coming thick and fast though so to make life more interesting I decided to diversify!
Emperor Dragonfly
Dragonflies in flight are as frustrating as swallows and the like but it's fun trying, well for a while anyway. If you continue too long you might be tempted to chuck your gear in the stream they were flying over.
Butterflies in flight are probably even worse as they are so unpredictable, far easier to catch them sitting on a plant!
649A7944
I still haven't figured what that one is yet, there's a whole world of new species to discover.
Once you diversify though there's no bounds to what Mother Nature has to offer, some make splendid subjects too.
European Common Frog   Rana temporaria
No, I decided I was going to be happy here for the next 10 days, well 9 full ones actually.
TBC

No comments:

Post a Comment