Unfortunately that was the end of the good weather. While it sweltered in the UK we found it distinctly chilly at our new base at Moravsko Selo 500 metres higher between the Pirin and Rila mountains. From here on, our opportunities were increasingly limited by wet weather. This isn't the complete disaster one might expect as some butterflies simply sit it out with wings closed but remain visible.
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| Corn Bunting |
I ventured out before breakfast and saw a red-backed shrike and, pleasingly, a corn bunting in full song at the rear of the hotel. Others managed to hear and see a common rosefinch, but it ceased to appear once the rains set in after the first two days and I missed it.
We visited a fast-flowing river in a deep gorge where numerous short-tailed eagles and several other birds of prey flew by, including a griffon vulture. At distance it would have been very easy to mistake it for a buzzard.
The accent was a little more on birds here. Great for me was my first sighting of the golden oriole, albeit at distance. We were to hear them on numerous occasions during the rest of the holiday. We also tried to tempt a middle-spotted woodpecker to show itself but without real success and a spanish sparrow turned up on a telegraph post.
On the river there was a group of cormorants behaving in typical fashion, but with notably whiter chests than the North European version.
I did manage to photograph some butterflies (see inevitable slideshow video below), of which the most exotic were probably the female chequered blue and Rippart's anomalous blue. I missed some others - meleager's blue, false eros blue and balkan marbled white, although the latter is apparently hard to distinguish from the normal form.
Also prominent was the appearance of one of the two very large tortoises that live in the Balkans but I forgot the exact name.
We moved not far away to a rather unpromising looking riverside spot where there was a good bit of litter. Apart from clouded yellows and a few lizards, the scarce swallowtail was sighted but was not settling.
We did eventually managed to catch up with it after following a longish path, nectaring on some large thistles. This area was also quite good for skippers, including lulworth and Oberthür's grizzled skipper (apparently) and we also got a sighting of Lang's short-tailed blue.
On the way back, it was nice to see some common gliders in the low trees at the top of the bank. Apart from painted lady, this is the only butterfly that I also saw in Sri Lanka where it is known as the common sailer.
We did attempt another expedition but this had to be abandoned quite quickly when the rain closed in and we huddled under a mulberry tree, As it was in fruit, I got my first ever chance to eat a couple.
