Bulgaria trip

[Ian Pratt]

I returned home from a 13 day trip to western Bulgaria just over two weeks ago. Our group saw 146 species of butterfly, and well over 100 species of bird, in addition to many flower species. The highlights for me were purple emperor, lesser purple emperor, cynthia's fritillary, Apollo, clouded Apollo, scarce copper and many scarce swallowtails. I attach some photos.

[John Vergo]

Great, looking forward to see more

[selbypaul]

Hi Ian
Sounds like an excellent trip. Which tour company did you travel with?
Best Wishes
Paul

[Andy02]

neophrontours@gmail.com

Paul , this company offer great value tours in Bulgaria. I have used them several times and will bespoke to your requirements. They have guides for all wildlife requirements.

[Ian Pratt]

Hi Ian
Sounds like an excellent trip. Which tour company did you travel with?
Best Wishes
Paul

British Bulgarian Society. Check their details online.

[selbypaul]

Super, thanks both!

[BarrieS]

Hi Ian

A wonderful taster for everyone with your excellent photographs and I hope to read more about your trip and the array of eastern specialities undoubtedly saw. No doubt you will have many more highlights to share.
My wife and I were on the last BBS tour way back in 2019 and as you no doubt found out, the leaders (Nick and Zdravko) are focused, passionate and have superb knowledge and the tours, which include flights, are well organised and excellent value for money.
BBS organised a private 8 night tour (my fourth) for a friend and myself, which left 10 days after you, but took in many of the sites you would have visited. Our trip was very successful, even though we thought the season was early this year and the quantity of butterflies was lower than expected.

Very much looking forward to your report.
Best wishes

Barrie

[Ian Pratt]

On our way from the airport in Sofia to our first hotel in Melnik in southern Bulgaria close to the Greek border we stopped at a small track just off the main road to see what we could find.
We saw the following in about 90 minutes:
scarce swallowtail, black-veined white, small white, green-veined white, Eastern Bath white, Berger's clouded yellow, clouded yellow, wood white, sloe hairstreak, blue-spot hairstreak, white letter hairstreak, sooty copper, purple-shot copper, Eastern short-tailed blue, small blue, osiris blue, holly blue, large blue, Eastern baton blue, silver-studded blue, brown argus, mazarine blue, Ripart's anomalous blue, meleager's blue, common blue, Peacock, painted lady, comma, map, dark green fritillary, niobe fritillary, Queen of Spain fritillary, twin-spot fritillary, marbled fritillary, weaver's fritillary, knapweed fritillary, spotted fritillary, lesser spotted fritillary, heath fritillary, marbled white, grayling, great sooty satyr, great banded grayling, false grayling, meadow brown, ringlet, small heath, pearly heath, chestnut heath safflower skipper, dingy skipper, Essex skipper, small skipper, large skipper: 54 species!!

[aeshna5]

Lovely photos of some stunning butterflies.

[Wolfson]

Indeed it was a great trip and your Report and photographs bring back good memories. I am looking forward to the next instalment. I thought that access to Zdravco’s knowledge was a real bonus.
James

[BarrieS]

That's a very impressive introduction to your trip Ian, including some quite scarce species. I'm assuming that you stopped just beyond the Kresna Gorge where our list ten days later was not as impressive as yours. Looking forward to seeing some more of your highlights.

Barrie

[Ian Pratt]

On our third day we set off to the Pirin mountains to try to find the elusive Bosnian blue butterfly (Agriades/plebejus dardanus) which is similar to the Gavarnie blue but limited to Bulgaria and the Balkans. On the way we saw a fleeting Camberwell beauty and various other species including many Queen of Spain fritillaries. I was pleased with the attached photo showing the upperside and the mother of pearl on the underside. Also, I was pleased to get both male and female mazarine blues in one photo. Finally, I managed good shots of the nettle tree butterfly closed and open.

[Ian Pratt]

Although our group only had a fleeting view of a Camberwell beauty, I thought you might like to see one I photographed in the Spanish Pyrenees on October 1st several years ago. Quite a special moment as it was feeding on yew berries for over 20 minutes!

[Ian Pratt]

Some more photos from day 1 of the trip on the way from the airport to Melnik.

[Ian Pratt]

Day 2 photos.

[BarrieS]

Very nice photographs again Ian - really liked the Camberwell Beauty. That Grecian Anomalous Blue must have caused some excitement - a very good species to see anywhere.

[Ian Pratt]

Day 3 butterflies etc.

[David M]

Intoxicating stuff, Ian. 146 species in 13 days is as good as you can realistically expect in Europe, and you have seen some quality species amongst that tally.

[Ian Pratt]

Intoxicating stuff, Ian. 146 species in 13 days is as good as you can realistically expect in Europe, and you have seen some quality species amongst that tally.

Thanks David. It was a great trip with excellent weather. Only one downpour which meant we lost a couple of hours butterflying. Stunning scenery too!

[David M]

Yes, Ian, I've been on the Greek side of the border a couple of times this year and the scenery is indeed tremendous.