The new Swallow nest

The Barn Swallows in Veshtica have made a new nest near the house. I think that the nest is well protected from cats. There are only two eggs in it. I hope that soon  I will be able to ring the little swallows.

Again turtle (video)

It looks like that these days the turtles in Veshtica are very active. Around all the ringing and the interesting birds , I saw one very big and shy turtle. Here is the video. It's not very dynamic ,but I think that the turtle is very scared.

Lanius Collurio and many Blackcaps again

Today I continue with the ringing. The first bird for the day was a big surprise for me because it was a Red-Backed shrike(Lanius Collurio).It was a big and healthy male shrike. My brother took some pictures ,but we didn't make a video.

The totals for the day are:13birds.
-Blackcap-6
-Red-Backed shrike-1
-Tree sparrow-3
-House sparrow-1
-Great tit-1
-Song thrush-1

The last two day were wonderful for me and I'm very happy ,because I finaly ringed some birds. Total for the two days 25 bird from 7 species.

Blackcap domination !

On 21.07.2012(Saturday) I got up at 5:00AM. I took my brothers bike and I began the 12km journey from Belogradchik to Veshtica. The first thing that I saw was the sun...

At 6:30AM I managed to set up the mist nets and the ringing started. For the whole ringing session I ringed 12 birds:

-1-Blackbird
-1-Song Thrush
-1-Great tit
-1-Tree sparrow
-7-Blackcaps
-1-Olive-tree Warbler(Hippolais olivetorum)(young)- I will make separate post about this bird with pictures and video.


Very interesting for me was the fact that whole of the seven Blackcaps were females. Maybe they are migrating before or after the males, but I didn't even see any male  Blackcaps. Most of the other ringed birds were young. Here are some pictures from today :

Song Thrush

Female Blackcap

Female Blackcap

Young Blackbird

Young Blackbird

Tomorrow I will try to make some ringing,photos and videos .

Is it save to share bird trap information ?

I have a question ....Do you think that it is save to post information about bird traps. I have many schemes about traps ,but I haven't posted them because I thought that bad people can see them and use those traps for killing birds or selling them ...

Please tell me your opinion. I want to share the information with other bird ringers ,but I'm not sure how to secure the information.

So help me with some advice please !

The hottest day for the year

Today was the hottest for the year. In Veshtica is was 41 degrees celsius...This isn't normal. But for tomorrow the forecast is for 31 degrees celsius , so it will become more normal. Maybe soon I'll be able ot make some ringing ,but for now I won't try becasue It will be too dangerous for the birds.

Many birds ,but no ringing....

Today I was planing to make some ringing ,but the weather was way too hot and sunny for mist nets. Last few years I ringed little Red-backed shrikes in July so today I went outside for a walk. I hoped that I will find Red-backed shrike nests and I'll be able to ring some shrikes. But there was a fire last autumn and all the bushes were burned. So I didn't find any nests today. I saw 4 adult male  Red-backed shrikes , one of them was holding a locust in his beak. I thought that he will impale the locust and I'll be able to picture it ,but after 5 minutes the male just ate it :)

On my way back I saw two Storks and one Black Stork (Ciconia nigra).

Here is a picture of a Barn Swallow nest in my house in Veshtica:

And here is my new little,little cat :

Now something sad...this is the result of an idiot driving and drivers...I saw this dead Dice snake (Natrix tessellata). Every day many snakes,turtles and other animals are killed by drivers for no reason...This make me sad..

I'm ready for ringing

This year I still haven't ringed any birds. But these day I will try to make some nest ringing.Thats why I have to prepare myself. The last few days the weather was very,very hot. So I will wait until It becomes more normal. I don't want stress the birds in this hell. So here is part of my "equipment". My facebook friends thought that the mist net is human hair or something like that :D

Turtle mating pictures

Yesterday my brother and my father went to Veshtica because they had some work to do. On the way to the bee-garden the saw two mating turtles. My brother managed to make two pictures of them but when he tryed to make a video they stopped to make what they were doing. Here are the pictures:

They also saw other five turtles.

And here is a picture of a strange mushroom.

Shrikes in Bulgaria

The Shrikes are some of my favorite birds. In Bulgaria there are five Shrike species. I'm going to tell you something about each one of them .

The Masked Shrike ( Lanius nubicus) is a member of the shrike family Laniidae. It breeds in southeastern Europe and the eastern end of the Mediterranean, with a separate population in western Iran. It is a common species in Turkey, Cyprus, Israel and Syria. It is migratory, wintering in northeast Africa.

The Great Grey Shrike, Northern Grey Shrike, or Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor) is a large songbird species in the shrike family (Laniidae). It forms a superspecies with its parapatric southern relatives, the Southern Grey Shrike (L. meridionalis), the Chinese Grey Shrike (L. sphenocerus) and the Loggerhead Shrike (L. ludovicianus). Within the Great Grey Shrike species itself, there are nine subspecies. Males and females are similar in plumage, pearly grey above with a black eye-mask and white underparts.
Breeding takes place generally north of 50° northern latitude in northern Europe and Asia (where it is known as the Great Grey Shrike), and in North America (where it is known as the Northern Shrike) north of 55° northern latitude in Canada and Alaska. Most populations migrate south in winter to temperate regions. The Great Grey Shrike is carnivorous, with rodents making up over half its diet.

The Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator) is a member of the shrike family Laniidae.
The Woodchat breeds in southern Europe, the Middle East and northwest Africa, and winters in tropical Africa. It breeds in open cultivated country, preferably with orchard trees and some bare or sandy ground.
This migratory medium-sized passerine eats large insects, small birds and small amphibians. Like other shrikes it hunts from prominent perches, and impales corpses on thorns or barbed wire as a "larder".
The male is a striking bird with black and white plumage and a chestnut crown. The race L. s. badius of the western Mediterranean lacks the large white wing patches.
In the female and young birds the upperparts are brown and vermiculated. Underparts are buff and also vermiculated.
This species often overshoots its breeding range on spring migration, and is a rare, but annual, visitor to Great Britain. The Balearic race badius has occurred in Britain around four times as a vagrant, and has also been recorded once in Ireland.

The Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) is a carnivorous passerine bird and member of the shrike family Laniidae.

This 16–18 cm (approx. 6.3–7.1 inches) long migratory bird eats large insects, small birds, frogs, rodents and lizards. Like other shrikes it hunts from prominent perches, and impales corpses on thorns or barbed wire as a "larder." This practice has earned it the nickname of "butcher bird."
The general colour of the male’s upper parts is reddish. It has a grey head and a typical shrike black stripe through the eye. Underparts are tinged pink, and the tail has a black and white pattern similar to that of a wheatear. In the female and young birds the upperparts are brown and vermiculated. Underparts are buff and also vermiculated.

This bird breeds in most of Europe and western Asia and winters in tropical Africa. Once a common migratory visitor to Great Britain, numbers declined sharply during the 20th century. The bird's last stronghold was in Breckland but by 1988 just a single pair remained, successfully raising young at Santon Downham. The following year for the first time no nests were recorded in the UK. But since then sporadic breeding has taken place, mostly in Scotland and Wales. In September 2010 the RSPB announced that a pair had raised chicks at a secret location on Dartmoor where the bird last bred in 1970. In 2011, two pairs nested in the same locality, fledging seven young. This return to south western England has been an unexpected development and has raised speculation that a warming climate could assist the bird in re-colonising some of its traditional sites, if only in small numbers.

The Lesser Grey Shrike (Lanius minor) is a member of the shrike family Laniidae.
It is similar in appearance to the Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor and the Southern Grey Shrike L. meridionalis. It breeds in southeastern Europe and into Asia.
This species prefers dry open lowlands, and is prominent on telephone wires.
It is slightly smaller than the Great Grey Shrike, and has a black forehead and relatively longer wings.
This medium-sized migratory passerine eats large insects, small birds and lizards. Like other shrikes it hunts from prominent perches, and impales corpses on thorns or barbed wire as a "larder".
It is a scarce vagrant to western Europe, including Great Britain, usually as a spring overshoot.

I've ringed only Red-backed Shrikes mostly from nests. But there is one problem ..Often the little Red-backed Shrikes jump from the nest when I come near it. So it's very difficult to ring them without scaring them. Last year I caught 7year old male Red-backed Shrike that was ringed in a nest by my father. Here is a picture of it : 

Soon I will spend some time searching for Red-backed Shrike nests. If I manage to find some I will make video about it. Wish mi luck !

Big Green Locust in my house

I came in Belogradchik for few week and I'm very happy here. There is a lot of work with our bee hives. We have 62 hive in Veshtivca. Soon I will post some pictures. Yesterday I made interesting pictures of a green locust. It came in my house and when I tried go catch it....It bite mi :))) It was very painful , but It was all my fault. So here are the pictures and I hope that soon I will make some interesting bird pictures.