Photo: © Dr. Petar Yankov

Earlier this year, we informed you that the BSPB team, while conducting bird monitoring at Atanasovsko Lake in June, captured photographic evidence of the first successful nesting of the Greater Flamingo in Bulgaria. This monitoring was carried out within the framework of the EU-funded LIFE project “The Lagoon of Life”, where BSPB collaborates with the Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation (BBF), Black Sea Saltworks, and the Together 2011 Association. This is fantastic news, as the appearance of new breeding species in Bulgaria is an exceptionally rare occurrence.

Just a few days ago, a scientific publication announcing this extraordinary event to the European scientific community was released. The authors of the article are Dr. Petar Yankov from BSPB and Prof. Zlatozar Boev from the National Museum of Natural History. The article was published in the renowned scientific journal Larus (Croatia), the leading scientific journal in the Balkans. You can find the article HERE to learn more details about the discovery.

Photo: © Dr. Petar Yankov

Since flamingos are highly sensitive to human presence, we appeal to everyone to refrain from entering Atanasovsko Lake next summer when we hope the birds will nest again. Access is prohibited both due to salt production activities (the area is guarded by Black Sea Saltworks) and under the Biodiversity Act, which imposes penalties for disturbing birds!

The significant increase in the number of Greater Flamingos at Atanasovsko Lake (exceeding 4,100 birds) prompted us to investigate whether they might be competing with the Pied Avocet, which has a very similar diet – brine shrimp. As part of “ The Lagoon of Life” project in 2022, three volunteers from the USA conducted such a study, which showed no competition between the two species.