The country’s unspoiled nature is its greatest asset. Bulgaria’s flora (3500 species) and fauna, especially the bird fauna (400 bird species), are amazingly diverse. The most valuable natural sites are preserved in 3 national parks and numerous wildlife and nature reserves.
Birding tours set during the breeding, migration and wintering of the birds are very much in demand.
The main birding seasons are the spring (April-June), late summer and autumn (August – October) and winter (February).
Tours can be combined with botanizing or bear observations. Brown Bears are quite easy to observe, especially in spring when they come out of hibernation and actively search for food. Wolves and Jackals are difficult to see but their tracks can be found most of the year.
Winter tours: These are especially aimed at the keen birdwatchers or photographers. Huge numbers of geese come to spend the winter in the Dobrudja region. Beside the hundreds of thousands of White-fronted Geese up to 80 000 Red-breasted Geese can be observed. During the winter tours one can enjoy also many other interesting species of waterfowl, raptors and passerines.
The Srebyrna Preserve
The lake of Srebarna is situated by the Danube river, 18 km west of the town of Silistra, North-eastern Bulgaria. Its uniqueness is due to the fact that it is a main “station” along what is known as Via Pontica, the most important migration route of the birds of passage, which starts from Northern Europe and reaches Central Africa.
The lake itself and its surrounding land were made a preserve in 1948, the guarded area being 600 hectares plus a buffer zone of 543 hectares. Some rehabilitation work has been carried out in order to restore its broken natural connection with the Danube, which guarantees the maintenance of its water supply.
The depth of Srebarna varies between 1 and 3 metres. The whole lake is overgrown with reed and other water plants. Its flora is represented by 67 species of plants, some of which are rarely found in Europe. In the preserve there are 39 mammals, 21 reptiles and amphibians, and a dozen of fish species, among which pike, goldfish, rudd, etc.
The micro-climate, flora, fauna and other conditions of Sreburna make it a paradise for the feathered creatures. Over 100 bird species nest here – Dalmatian pelican (the only colony in this country), pygmy cormorant, egrets/herons, glossy ibis, spoonbill, mute swan, ruddy shelduck, gray lag goose, ducks, diving ducks, grebes, marsh harrier, terns, red-spotted bluethroat, bearded tit, etc.
n 1975 Srebarna was included in the Ramsar convention for protecting damp zones with international significance. In 1977 it was made a biosphere preserve on UNESCO’s list. In 1983 it was put on UNESCO’s list of monuments of world cultural heritage and nature sights.
Spring tours – Pirin, Rila, Rhodopes and Central Balkan mountains; the Black Sea coast with amazing wetlands and steppes, The Danube river with splended wetlands, etc.
Among them: Cinereous, Griffon & Egyptian Vultures, Imperial Eagle, Red-footed Falcon, Levant Sparrow Hawk, Pygmy Cormorant, White Pelican, Dalmatian Pelicans’ colony, Spoonbills’ colony, Ferruginous Duck, Padyfield Warbler, Pied Weatear, Masked Shrike, etc.
Autumn tours along one of the major bird migration routes in Europe, Via Pontica ;
Watching intensive migration of soaring birds – 70 % of the European Raptors, White & Dalmatian Pelicans, more than 100 000 White Storks, thousands of Black Storks and Cranes;
Splendid views of a great diversity of waders and passerines
Winter tours to the Black Sea coastal wetlands
Impressive views of more than 30 000 Red-breasted Goose in one of the biggest wintering grounds of this bird. Also Lesser White-fronted Goose, hundreds of Pygmy Cormorants, Dalmatian Pelicans and White-headed Duck, Spotted Eagle, White-tailed Eagle, Syrian Woodpecker, Somber Tit. Winter tours to the Black Sea coastal wetlands
