The wind had picked up overnight and had changed direction to a northerly which caused a drop in the temperature. Cape Kaliakra had fewer of the regular species migrating but there were a noticeable increase in migrating Sparrowhawk.
Alpine Swift were flocking together much lower over the cape which gave opportunities to take some photograghs!
A Black Stork was a notable sighting for the time of year. The bird negotiated the edge of the cliffs parallel to the roadside.
We made our way over to Durankulak mid morning to meet up with our good friend Pavel Simeonov who runs Branta Bird Lodge Tours and is a founder of Bed and Birding which offers accommodation to birders in a variety of countries.
We took a drive down through the lakes and fishponds recording a couple of Whiskered Tern one of which was a juvenile bird. The edges of the reed-beds were searched for passerines with Chiffchaff the most numerous. Penduline Tit and Water Rail were heard within these areas.
A Ferruginous Duck was a pleasant addition on the lake.
A flock of Eurasian Spoonbill were also noted in flight over the lake.
During our search I finally caught up with Pygmy Cormorants which were flying low into the reeds!
A species that I missed in 2017 and was very high on my Bulgarian wish list was Dalmation Pelican a single bird drifting in across the lake. This was my second life bird of the day!
Late afternoon we moved down to the beach where there was a steady procession of gulls including Yellow Legged, Mediterranean and a couple of Black Headed on the sea. A Caspian Gull was also observed as it flew close to the shoreline.
Several flocks of duck including Pintail and Pochard were noted traversing the Black sea. A small flock of Greater Flamingos were also seen in transit.
On the beach Ringed and Little Ringed Plover along with Sanderling and a Dunlin were noted.
After having disturbed what appeared to be a Locustella type warbler along scrub at the top of the beach we drove down to the ringing camp where three juvenile Purple Heron were noted at dusk. These birds were very vocal and looked like they may have been preparing to migrate!
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