Description

New for 2024! A leisurely week in Bulgaria’s richest ornithological area, exploring  various habitats, which also host rare and endemic species of butterflies, dragonflies and plants!

We welcome you to explore with us the Southeastern part of Bulgaria with its very diverse habitats and rich flora and fauna. We’ll do it in a slow pace, which will give time to everyone to observe and photograph the wildlife of the area or just enjoy the beautiful sceneries.

The Bourgas Region occupies the most southeastern corner of Bulgaria and holds big variety of habitats, flora and fauna that attracts thousands of nature-lovers each year. Encompassed between the Black Sea to the east, Balkan Mountain to the north, the Thracian Valley to the west and Strandzha Mountain to the south, the regions rewards its visitors with unspoiled habitats, rich biodiversity and lovely sceneries.

Southeastern Bulgaria is one of the prime birding areas in Europe. Its big and shallow lakes are very rich on food and attracts thousands of waterfowl and waders. But what attract birders here are some of the SE Europe’s specialties like Eastern Imperial Eagle, Levant Sparrowhawk, Masked Shrike, Isabelline Wheatear, Olive-tree Warbler, Semi-collared Flycatcher, Sombre Tit, Black-headed Bunting. Nice and colorful species like European Bee-eater, European Roller, Eurasian Hoopoe and Golden Oriole are also very common here. We won’t miss to see the Great White and Dalmatian Pelicans too.

June is excellent period to see and photograph butterflies and dragonflies in the area. The riverside meadows of Strandzha Nature Park are home to some rare species like Eastern Festoon, Grecian Copper, Freyer’s Purple Emperor, Assmann’s Fritillary and Russian Heath. In the oak forests we will look for Lattice Browns and if we get a bit lucky Large Chequered Skipper.

The big wetlands in the area guarantee that the dragonflies will be very numerous, especially Dark Spreadwing, Lesser Emperor, Norfolk Hawker, White-tailed and Southern Skimmer and Scarlet Darter. But again Strandzha mountain is where most of the rare and most wanted species are: Bulgarian and Balkan Emerald, Turkish and Blue-eyed Goldenring, Eastern Spectre and Odalisque.

The diversity of flora on this trip is guaranteed by the area’s geographical location. The combination of a coastal area with sand dunes and coastal lagoons and various types of forests in the mountains makes the botanical part of this holiday very special.

Our only hotel during this trip will be situated in the ancient seaside town of Sozopol. The town was founded in the 7th century BC by Greek colonists and developed as one of the largest trade and naval Ancient Greek colonies in the Black Sea area. Nowadays the town is a major tourist area and has a well preserved old town, which we will visit in one of the afternoons of this trip. The Alepu and Arkutino marshes and Ropotamo Riverine Forest are situated not far from Sozopol, which are all protected areas and we will explore them during our pre-breakfast morning walks.

This promises to be a fantastic and very popular tour – we recommend booking early to avoid disappointment!