A tour exploring the diverse birdlife on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea coast with thousands of pelicans, rare birds of prey and passerines and many other eastern delights! Depending on the season, this tour allows you to enjoy the songs and displays of resident breeders or the spectacular annual migration of thousands of birds of prey, pelicans, storks and passerines along the Black Sea Flyway, known as the Via Pontica.
During migration the numbers of soaring birds following the Black Sea coastal flyway in autumn can rival those at the Bosphorus or the Gibraltar – endless flocks of thousands of White Storks, Lesser Spotted Eagles, Common Buzzards (both ssp. buteo and ssp. vulpinus) and European Honey Buzzards and incredible numbers of Black Storks, White Pelicans, Ospreys, Booted Eagles, Short-toed Eagles, Black Kites, Red-footed Falcons, Western Marsh Harriers, Montagu’s Harriers, Pallid Harriers, Levant Sparrowhawks, etc. pass overhead.
Pickup included
This tour starts from the city of Bourgas, or we can pick you up anywhere between Bourgas and the historical town of Nessebar. First we drive to the oak forests the Eastern Balkan Range, where we explore for different forest birds, such as the Grey-headed Woodpecker, Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Black Woodpecker, Semi-collared Flycatcher, Black Stork, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Booted Eagle, Short-toed Eagle and other migrating raptors, storks and passerines.
Next we drive south to the town of Pomorie (if you are based in Nessebar). On the way we visit the antique Thracian beehive tomb situated to the west of Pomorie. The tomb dates back to the 2nd – 3rd century AD. It has served as a heroon (a mausoleum) of a rich Anhialo family, in which religious pagan rituals had been performed. The tomb is the only one of its kind on the Bulgarian Peninsula. As Pomorie is one of the famous wine growing regions of Bulgaria, wine-tasting can be arranged in one of the local wineries at the request of the tour participants.
Finally we will explore the lakes around the city of Bourgas: it is a complex of extensive wetlands that form one of Europe’s richest bird areas. The greatest lure of the Bourgas wetlands are the huge flocks of resident White and Dalmatian Pelicans. At the shallow saline lagoons of Atanasovsko and Pomorie lakes traditional saltpans are still functioning. They are of major importance for a big number of birds, including the Black-winged Stilt, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpipers, Marsh Sandpiper, Kentish Plover, Slender-billed Gull, Mediterranean Gulls, Little Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Sandwich Terns and Little Tern.
Choose to be picked up from a list of locations
Please arrive at the pick up point 15 minutes before departure time.
Please contact the local provider to set a meeting point (your hotel or some other convenient spot) and time for your tour at least a day in advance.