The majority of the birds had spent the night at sea, probably disturbed by the hunting pressure. Before dawn we heard about 40 shots near Durankulak Lake, that raised part of the geese roosting there. We would like to stress once again that illegal hunting in the wintering grounds, such as hunting in the dark, is one of the main factors causing stress and reducing the population of the extremely rare and endangered Red-breasted Goose.

Besides geese, our team found compact flocks of thousands of Mallards and Pochards. Other interesting observations include 48 Ruddy Shelducks, which is a record number for the area, and 30 Pygmy Cormorants.

All data are from Durankulak Lake (Shabla Lakes did not produce wintering geese or other interesting birds).

Red-breasted Goose by Mladen Vasilev, http://www.mladvaswildlife.com/

This year’s Festival of Kites supported the cause of the Wildlife Conservation Society “Let’s get to know and love the soaring birds on the Black Sea migration route Via Pontica”.

Many thanks to all photographers – amateurs and professionals, who sent us their photos. Here is a selection of 22 representative images, which were extremely difficult to select among all the beautiful photos we received

On the 1st Nov we did one of the regular bird monitoring in this area, together with colleagues from Neophron Tours, we were lucky to have found the first 24 Red-breasted Geese (Branta ruficollis) for the season – in a flock of about 900 Greater White-fronted Geese (Anser albifrons), feeding in a corn stubble field.

This observation surprised us, because this time of year the arriving wintering geese usually concentrate and stay for a while in the Danube wetlands and only towards the end of November they head to their traditional wintering grounds in Coastal Dobrudzha.

Apart from the Red-breasted Geese we had also a flock of 7 Tundra Swans and 14 Whooper Swans, all of them having arrived unusually early this year.

There was an active raptor migration all day round, including hundreds of Common Buzzards and Eurasian Sparrowhawks, plus a Lesser Spotted Eagle.

Wooper Swans by Mladen Vasilev, http://www.mladvaswildlife.com/

This year (2014) the field research season lasted from March 25 to June 15. During this period 220 nest-boxes divided in five plots were used in the Goritsa Forest area in the region of Varna. Preliminary figures show that the boxes were used by about 120 breeding pairs of Semi-collared Flycatcher compared to 85 during 2013. This year the area was exposed to a really high rate of predation (~45%), by Forest Dormice, Martens, domestic and wild cats and Aesculapian Snakes.

The onset of the egg-laying’s during this season started on the 10th of April – 5 days earlier than the year before. This season 374 Semi-collared Flycatchers were ringed with Bulgarian rings, including all the nestlings which left the nest-boxes. 75 flycatchers, ringed 2012 and 2013, were recovered and controlled in the area.
Biometry – biometric data was gathered from 155 adult birds (84 ♂♂ and 71 ♀♀) – some of them measured after they had been killed by predators. All nestlings were measured at the ringing occasion.

In the period April 9 to 16 a Pre-Display-Catching session was implemented to get last years’ geolocaters back (before the predators). Of the six first geolocaters only three had worked. Later five more were recovered. During this season another 10 Swiss’ geolocaters were applied on adult flycatchers.

Excessively high predation rate marked this field season

Favorable winds allowed the participants to demonstrate their skills in the manipulation of original and attractive kite models. This year the festival included participants from neighboring Turkey. Enthusiasts from Seagull Kite Club even rose in the sky the biggest kite ever seen in town – a blue silk bear. Some models were patterned by the smiling children on the beach.

To the kids’ delight, candies rained from the sky, while the colorful kites floated amid thousands of White Storks migrating over Varna.

Over 20,000 storks flew over Asparuhovo Beach during the festival, following the Via Pontica – the western Black Sea migratory route of birds. The sight of huge colorful kites against the stork flocks fascinated everybody present, and reminded us of our privilege, but also of our responsibility to protect this natural wealth.

This year’s Festival of Kites supports the cause of the Wildlife Conservation Society “Let’s get to know and love the soaring birds on the Black Sea migration route Via Pontica”. We thank all the members and volunteers of WCS for the enthusiasm and effort s they put to make this event happen!

This year the Varna Kite Festival becomes international – participants from Bulgaria, Italy, Turkey, Romania and others will demonstrate their original handmade models. The program includes a parade of kites, a competition for the most attractive model demonstrations of model aircraft, gliders and other flying objects and kite-making workshop on the spot. The accompanying program of the festival is also rich – performances of children’s dance and theater groups from Varna and the region, mini-concert of famous Bulgarian pop singers, workshops for making jewelry, badges and origami, a photography workshop and photo exhibitions “Kite Festival – Varna 2014 “, guided watching the ongoing migration of storks, pelicans and other soaring birds with specialized optics, nice music and many other activities.

Striving to achieve the freedom and beauty of the flight of birds, about two millennia ago man invented the kite. Therefore, the relationship between such a popular entertainment like kite-flying and the cause of wild birds conservation is more than obvious. This year’s festival supports the initiative of the Wildlife Conservation Society “Let’s get to know and love the soaring birds along the Black Sea migration flyway, the Via Pontica”.

All the young birds are ringed and closely monitored after hatching until leaving the nest. After the third and fourth breeding seasons some attempts to capture birds with mist nets will be made. The goal is to capture and identify adults and yearlings which have changed their plumage already preparing for the autumn. Individual photographs, biometric data, weight and feather samples will be taken from these birds to identify the key aspects for the differentiation of species of the genus Ficedula and changes due to age and gender. In order to track the migration and establishing the wintering sites for Semi-collared Flycatchers in West Africa, 50 geo-locators were fitted to adult birds the second and third season.
All project results will be presented in a detailed final report.

The main objectives of the project are:
1 / A detailed description of the breeding cycle in the Semi-collared Flycatcher in Bulgaria
2 / Identification of changes in plumage that occur seasonally and with the aging of the birds.
For four years, the project will identify the key factors needed to plan a long-term scientific study of the breeding ecology of the Semi-collared Flycatcher in Bulgaria.

EXPECTED RESULTS:
Report containing a description and analysis of the following aspects of the behavior and ecology of the Semi-collared Flycatcher (Ficedula semitorquata) in Bulgaria:
• Description of the plumage and the changes due to age;
• Biometrics to distinguish species from other species of the genus Ficedula;
• Time of arrival in the study area;
• Conduct during mating and breeding season;
• Song and calls;
• Territorial activities;
• Collecting nesting material;
• Time of laying and egg size;
• Size of the clutch;
• Model and intensity of incubation;
• Hatching rate and unfertilized eggs;
• Growth and survival of young birds;
• Model moult after the breeding season;
• movement shortly after leaving the nest;
• Migration