Butterflies and moths, Bulgaria

A twelve days natural history tour focused on rare butterflies

Scarce Butterflies -NEW-

Wednesday 13th - Sunday 24th June 2012


This tour is focused on some of the rarest butterflies in Bulgaria – Scarce and Freyer’s fritillaries and Large Chequered, Spinose and Tessellated skippers. However, the various habitats we shall visit will allow us to record another hundred species of butterflies, as well as many dragonflies and damselflies, reptiles and amphibians and of course birds. Most of our tour will explore sites and areas in Eastern Bulgaria which are not visited by the classical tours and in fact not studied in great details so even new discoveries are possible. We will also have the option to visit several cultural sites and the Thracian tumulus near Isperih, listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List is definitely a worthwhile.

Itinerary

Day 1

Arrival at Varna Airport and transfer (about one hour) to the town of Dobrich for a two night stay.

Day 2

We spend the day in Suha reka (Dry River) valley. In this region is found most of the Scarce Fritillary’s population in Bulgaria and is the only place in the country where the species is widely distributed and common. Here we expect to see also Yellow-banded Skipper, Clouded Apollo, Black-veined White, Large Copper and many more.

Day 3

Drive further west to Isperih town (about 2 hours) with several stops on the way for Glanville, Knapweed, Lesser Spotted, Heath, Marbled and Twin-spot fritillaries, Map Butterfly, many blues etc.

Day 4

Today we will check the surroundings of the town and our main target will be the elusive Freyer’s Fritillary. We will also visit the nearby Thracian Tomb at Sboryanovo – a unique monument of the ancient Thracian culture listed in UNESCO World Heritage List. We may also see Hobby, Bee-eater, Roller, Hoopoe, Syrian Woodpecker, Crested Lark, Barred Warbler, Golden Oriole, Red-backed Shrike and Ortolan Bunting.

Day 5

About one hour transfer will bring us to another prime butterfly area – the only locality where the Woodland Brown has been recorded in Bulgaria and second one for Scarce Fritillary. We expect to see as well Tufted Marbled Skipper, Eastern Pale and Berger’s Clouded Yellows, Purple-shot Copper, False Eros Blue, The Hermit, Freyer’s Purple Emperor, Common Glider, Lesser Spotted Fritillary, Nickerl’s Fritillary, Heath Fritillary, Niobe Fritillary. Late in the afternoon we will drive further south to our next base – the mountain town of Kotel where we stay for two nights.

Day 6

Today we will explore the immediate surroundings of the town – our main targets here will be the extremely rare Spinose and Tessellated Skippers. Time permitting we will also visit the Blue Stones nature park which is another butterfly rich site. Here we expect Poplar Admiral, Purple Emperor, Zephyr Blue and many more.

Day 7

If necessary we will call again at the skippers’ site and afterwards we will drive east towards the Black Sea coast. On the way we shall visit the Burgas wetlands, particularly Mandra and Poda lakes. Here we expect to see many species including skippers - Oriental Marbled, Orbed Red-underwing and Oberthür’s Grizzled; coppers – Grecian and Lesser Fiery; Swallowtail, blues - Eastern Baton, Chequered, Blue Argus, Lang’s Short-tailed; Nettle-tree Butterfly, Lattice Brown, False Ringlet, Dryad, Tree Grayling etc. Many  dragonflies and birds will be also recorded. Two nights stay in Primorsko, on the Black Sea coast.

Day 8

Today we explore some marshes along the Black Sea coast. Here we hope to see Large Chequered Skipper, Balkan Green-veined White, Iolas Blue, Lattice Brown; Southern, Tree, Freyer’s and False graylings, Southern White Admiral, Camberwell Beauty etc.

Day 9

Drive to Balgari village for a two nights stay. Species we will look for today include Large Blue, Oriental Meadow Brown, Dryad; Eastern Rock, Delatin’s and Great Banded graylings, Cardinal etc.

Day 10

Explore the forests of Strandzha National Park for typical inhabitants of the deciduous forests and clearings – Large Chequered Skipper, Yellow-legged Tortoiseshell, Lesser Spotted Fritillary. Along rivers and streams - some interesting dragonflies: Odalisque, Goblet-marked Damselfly, Southern Migrant Hawker, Small Pincertail, Eastern Spectre, Turkish Goldenring, Somatochlora meridionalis; as well as many  woodland birds.

Day 11

Drive to Burgas via Zvezdec and Malko Tarnovo, with several stops to break the journey. Species we hope to see include Large Blue, Blue Argus, Lattice Brown, Pearly Heath, Oriental Meadow Brown, Dryad, Eastern Rock and Delatin’s graylings. Last stay overnight near Burgas. 

Day 12

Drive to Varna with several stops. Departure.