Trigrad birds

Our long awaited guests arrived, whoopee, paying guests! And not a moment too soon, money was getting short to say the least.

Three very nice ladies, all friends long standing, one from Brazil, one from Canada & the other from UK.

They decided they wanted me to guide them to Trigrad Gorge. It is a 300mt high gorge in south Rhodope's and it is the strong hold for the elusive Wallcreeper, amongst others. 
So yesterday we set off nice and early, after a hearty breekie. It's about 11/2hrs to Trigrad, but I always stop at various place's along the way, our first stop was just as you enter "Nastan" there is a rock face there and it's full of Alpine Swift, around 100 pairs.

Further long the way we stopped to look at the "Trigradski River" as it tumbles and forms a fantastic cascade over the rocks. This is where you can find Dipper and Grey Wagtail, if you are lucky also Orphean Warbler.

Upon reaching the gorge we parked at the "devil's throat cave's" a must see!

 We then spent a far amount of time scanning the sheer rock face for the Wallcreeper. This really is a neck breaker, you cannot spend more than an hour doing this, or in the morning you wont be able to move your neck!

But this time none were present, the locals told me that because of the cold weather they have had, the birds have not been seen for a few days. So not to be disappointed we then took the Roman road up to the alpine plateau that is above the village.

Here are the most amazing panoramic views you will ever see. along with rock thrush, crested tit, golden eagle, peregrine falcon, masked, red-backed & lesser grey shrike plus many more.

 The weather was hot & sunny, not a cloud in the sky! Everyone was happy, birds were being spotted by all. We decided to have a 10min rest, took off our packs and sat down for a quick sarnie, when things got really interesting. 

We had a really good sighting of a male Lesser Kestrel, a really elegant bird. 

We had about 15mins of great observation, when it then swooped down and across the meadow, brilliant!!!

The whole walk took around 4hrs, and yielded the following sightings:-

Alpine swift....Crag Martin....Raven....Coal Tit....Great Tit....Blackbird....Yellow Wagtail..

White Wagtail....Serin....Grey Wagtail....House Martin....Black Redstart....Yellowhammer.

Lesser Kestrel....Northern Wheatear....Crested Tit....Blackcap....Mistle Thrush....Cirl Bunting....Greenfinch....Cuckoo....Hooded Crow....Lesser-Grey Shrike....Jay....Robin.

and Goshawk.

A good day was had by all, we returned home with happy birders, and the days adventure was talked about untill the small hours.

I even enjoyed my Yak pee (herbal tea)........