Page 1 of 1

British Bulgaria Friendship Society butterfly tours 2010

Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:39 am
by Pete Eeles
Hi all - Nick Greatorex-Davies sent me the following, which I thought might be of interest to you! I can vouch for the quality of Leps in Bulgaria (see http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/reports_bulgaria.php) and also the BBFS - you'll be in good hands!

As some of you will know I have been leading butterfly tours to Bulgaria annually since 2003. I am writing this email to you in case any of you should be still considering what you might do for holidays this summer, and if so whether you might consider joining me on the July BBFS butterfly tour, or perhaps you know someone else who might be interested. For 2010 we (BBFS and I) decided to run two separate slightly shorter tours (10 days each) (previously the tours have mostly been two weeks). The first is to the Eastern Rhodope Mountains in mid-June - that is now full. The second tour is scheduled for 18th to 27th July to the Rila and Pirin Mountains at a cost of £1195 (all inclusive (flight, hotel accommodation etc.) except lunch and pocket money). At the moment we do not have quite enough people booked to make it financially viable to run the tour hence my email to you (I am trying every avenue!). I think the slow take up for the July trip is at least partly due to the later date being after the school term ends (11 of the 16 booked for the June tour have been with me before, some several times so I/we must be doing something right!).

Details of the tour are on the BBFS website (http://www.bbfs.org.uk/tour_list.aspx) and you may also have seen the advert in the recent issue of Butterfly Conservation’s quarterly magazine “Butterfly”.

My co-leader for the July tour, Zdravko Kolev, is one of Bulgaria’s (very few) top butterfly experts. He is a native born Bulgarian and he was born and brought up near Smolyan in the Eastern Rhodope mountains. I have corresponded with him over several years and had the privilege to meet him and spend time with him when I went to a Lepidoptera conference in Romania last May. He speaks excellent English and is very personable and I felt he would make an excellent co-leader - so I asked him! He has produced an excellent website illustrating all the butterfly species of Bulgaria, perhaps you have seen it. It can be found at: http://www.butterfliesofbulgaria.com/. He currently lives in
Finland and is involved in butterfly research.

The later date is to try and ensure that we see as wide a range of mountain species as possible, the trip is by no means restricted to mountain species and we plan to visit sites lower down where we expect to see many more species. We should see well over 100 species during the 10 day tour.

I am confident that we should see most (possibly all), of the following mountain species: Dusky Grizzled Skipper, Balkan Clouded Yellow, False Eros Blue, Balkan Gavarnie Blue, Higgin’s Anomalous Blue, Shepherd’s Fritillary, Balkan Fritillary, Cynthia’s Fritillary, (we found an excellent site for this species (saw at least 40) when I stayed on for an extra week in 2009 which we plan to visit this year), Arran Brown, Large Ringlet, Bulgarian Ringlet, Scotch Argus, Woodland Ringlet, Silky Ringlet, Nichol’s Ringlet, Common Brassy Ringlet, Ottoman Brassy Ringlet, Water Ringlet, Black Ringlet, Bright-eyed Ringlet, Dewy Ringlet, Northern Wall Brown and Eastern Large Heath (among others).

This is an excellent opportunity for anyone who really wants to get to know their butterflies (that occur in the Balkans), but if you just want to have a fun time looking at butterflies and other wildlife (albeit with a fair bit of mountain walking – but nothing too arduous) in the beautiful and most spectacular of Bulgaria’s mountains – this could be for you! Although we try to follow the tour itinerary as far as possible I always make the point that it is flexible and I will tailor the tour according to the group and the weather. The walks will be no more arduous than those done the last two years and I have not lost or killed anyone yet! So please don’t be put off by that.

Should any of you be interested, or know someone who might be, please would you let me know, or contact Annie Kay, BBFS tours organiser (annie.kay@btinternet.com), as soon as possible. If you have any questions about the tour please do not hesitate to email or phone me. Please don’t feel you have to reply – unless you are interested in coming.

With very best wishes
Nick

nickgdlepman@googlemail.com
Home phone: + 44 (0)1480 301 685

Re: British Bulgaria Friendship Society butterfly tours 2010

Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 8:08 am
by Mikhail
I can vouch for the excellence of these tours, having been on two previously and having booked for the June tour this year. See some of the photos I have taken on these tours are in my overseas album.

Misha