Spatia Wildlife

A week of winter birds photography targeting Golden eagles, Goshawk and other raptors as well as passerines.

Golden eagles and winter birds photography

Sunday 9^th - Saturday 15^th December 2012

Bulgaria boasts a healthy population of Golden eagles and more than 160 pairs inhabit its mountains. Our tour gives you the opportunity to take photos of these impressive raptors. From a distance of 25 to 35 meters you can photograph their natural behavior – feeding, preening and even mating without disturbing them. In the winter, when the food is scarce, the eagles visit willingly the baits in front of our hides.

The great advantage of Bulgaria when it comes to Golden Eagle photography are the various options for background, as well as light and perches. Here you will not photograph the eagles only in snow, but on small rocks, on the ground, on junipers bushes, on mountain hay meadow or on a wooden branch properly situated by us. The light in Bulgaria, even in the winter, can be excellent for photography and in fact gives you opportunity to be creative even with a difficult subject as the Golden Eagle. There are also opportunities for flight shots of the eagles when they land and take off from the bait.

We have been running this tour successfully for over seven years and so far we have build up a number of hides giving various options for photography and avoiding obstacles as bad weather, no access due to a deep snow, recent disturbance etc. All of the hides are different in terms of setting, access, distance to the birds, perches, background etc.

Every pair of Golden eagles visiting the baits is also more or less different – some birds prefer to feed in the morning, others in the afternoon; some are feeding individually, some pairs usually come together. The same is true for the other species visiting the baits – one hide has a Goshawk visits daily, another one has a constant flock of 30 + Ravens, third one has a Common Buzzard pair and few Jays etc. We have also established few bird feeders around the hides and these are constantly visited by Hawfinch, Sombre Tit; Grey-headed, Syrian, Great Spotted, Middle Spotted, Green and even a Lesser Spotted woodpeckers; Willow Tit, Brambling, Yellowhammer, Bulfinch, Goldfinch, Fieldfare, Jay and many more commoner species.

The itinerary provided is provisional in terms of sites and species that can be photographed, beside the Golden eagle of course which is the main target. If you are interested in that tour, please let us know what your preferences are as well as the period convenient for you, and we will be happy to suggest you what we think is the best option. That tour is possible from late November till the middle of February.

Clothes: Warm clothes and boots, hat, gloves etc are necessary.

Physical conditions: You need to be in good physical conditions in order to stay all the day in the hide.

Equipment: At least 300mm lens plus converter. Stable tripod is must. Bean bags are provided by us.

Extension: The Golden eagle photo tour can be combined with a short extension trip for Dalmatian pelicans photography. Depends on the winter, there are several sites where we can do this in Bulgaria. Alternatively, the best site for that species is Lake Kerkini in Greece, just next to the Bulgarian border. Here we can also photograph Greater Flamingo, Pygmy Cormorant and Great White Egret etc. Best period is February and the beggining of March, when the pelicans’ bill’s lower mandible turn into a bright red color. Within two to three days you can get excellent photos of the pelicans in breeding plumage – feeding, resting, flying etc. Please contact us if you are interested in that option.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

   Golden eagle female by Michele Mendi.

   Golden eagle juvenile by Michele Mendi.

   Golden eagle by Bernard Schouwey.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

   Hawfinch is friquent visitor of the feeders. Photo John Sheppard.

   Raven is another visitor of the baits in front of the hides.
   Photo Mike Ashton.

   Raven pair by Mike Ashton.

   Dalmatian Pelican by Dobromir Domuschiev.