SmartBirds
Photos: Ian Francis and Nicky Penford
“We were very impressed with the richness of the birds in Bulgaria and very much enjoyed our time helping with the Breeding Bird Atlas.”
During 7 – 25 June, the volunteers Ian Francis and Nicky Penford from Scotland visited 39 10×10 atlas squares and in 10 of these carried out 1x1km square 1-hour timed surveys along with a more detailed investigation of different habitats. They generated 1,366 bird records of 115 species and focused on looking for stronger evidence of breeding, as well as simply presence in potential breeding habitat.
Approximate route
“We use Smartbirds for all data collection. We found it easy to use and thought it was a very useful and impressive app.
Every day, in our surveys everywhere, we would usually find (within one hour, in one small 1×1 km square), many sightings and auditory records of Turtle Dove, Bee-eater, Hoopoe, Woodlark, Red-rumped Swallow, Common Nightingale, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Golden Oriole, Red-backed Shrike and Corn Bunting. This is unthinkable to us in northern Europe!
Ian Francis
Corn Bunting in particular is so incredibly abundant in Bulgaria – in our working lives in Britain, we have spent a great deal of time trying to conserve small and declining populations of this species, so it was extremely nice to see how common they are in Bulgaria.
Many widespread species in Bulgaria are listed as being of IUCN or European Conservation Concern – we hope that Bulgarians are never complacent about the immense importance of the country for many of these “common”, but declining species!
The wide extent of seed- and insect-rich habitats, often mixed with scrub and trees, was very notable and clearly influences this rich bird population. It was also obvious that grazed habitats are now declining, which will be very influential on some bird populations.
Nicky Penford
We did see many birds which were very interesting to us, being from northern Europe (just a few examples being Syrian and Grey-headed Woodpeckers, Pallid Swift, Black Stork, Black-headed Bunting, Bee-eater, Barred Warbler, Lesser Grey Shrike, Black Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Long-legged Buzzard, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Pygmy Cormorant, Dalmatian Pelican, Isabelline Wheater, Levant Sparrowhawk, Common Rosefinch). “
Everyone can contribute to the creation of the Atlas, whether you are a beginner bird enthusiast or an experienced ornithologist. Find out how at https://atlas.bspb.org/en/take-part/
