SmartBirds
The new platform in the Kalimok-Brushlen Protected Area, © Svilen Cheshmedziev
For the eighth year in a row, the breeding season for Dalmatian pelicans in the Persina Nature Park has started. In mid-February, during the regular monitoring of the marshes on Persin Island, a team of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) and the Persina Nature Park Directorate found that the pelicans had occupied the eastern wooden platform in the Peschina Marsh. At the time, experts observed about 50 adult birds actively preparing their nests. The other two platforms (one in Peschina Marsh and one in Dead Marsh) were not yet occupied, but this may happen at a slightly later stage.
Peshina Swamp, © Svilen Cheshmedziev
The news about the nesting Dalmatian pelicans in the Kalimok-Brushlen Protected Area is extremely good. To date, 32 pairs have built their nests on the old platform. It is gratifying that about 40 more pelicans also liked the new platform we built for them in December 2022. Some of the birds have already built their nests on it, while others are still building them. A record year is looming for Dalmatian pelicans in the Kalimok-Brushlen Protected Area, with 30 pairs successfully raising 30 young in 2022.
Kalimok-Brushlen Protected Area, © Svilen Cheshmedziev
“We are very happy that the pelicans liked and occupied the wooden platform that we built for them three months ago in the Kalimok-Brushlen Protected Area. This is indeed a major conservation success given the exceptionally bad year for the birds last year, when the population of this majestic species in the Balkans fell by around 40% in just a few months, due to the high mortality caused by a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu that was recorded in outbreaks in Greece, Romania, Albania, and Montenegro. Each newly formed nesting site is a step forward towards the protection and securing of the future of Dalmatian pelicans”, says Svilen Cheshmedjiev from BSPB.
Kalimok-Brushlen Protected Area, © Svilen Cheshmedziev
The season for Dalmatian pelicans in Srebarna Lake has also started successfully. During the regular monitoring in January, carried out by BSPB, our team observed about 50 adult birds on the platforms.
In the coming weeks and months, we will continue to monitor the situation with the nesting colonies of Dalmatian pelicans in Bulgaria, hoping to have a very successful breeding season.
The conservation activities of the Dalmatian Pelican are carried out in the framework of the “Pelican Way of LIFE” project (LIFE18/NAT/NL/000716), funded by the LIFE Programme of the European Union and with the assistance of the Whitley Fund for Nature.
