The Black Sea Coast

It was pouring with rain when I woke on 2nd May. I wondered around the deserted holiday village of Kamchia, these are strange places when they are empty. It's hard to imagine it every being busy and many of the buildings looked derelict. Needless to say I didn't see anything in the rain and wind so I moved north to Cape Kaliakra. The rain had just about stopped but the wind was still blowing when I arrived. As soon as I got out of the car I had hear the tuck call of Sylvia warblers and the 'hooeet' of a Willow Warbler. There were other calls too which I didn't recognise, this looked promising. A male Golden Oriole flew past and I could hear Bee-eaters calling. I stopped out of the wind and soon had brief views of a female Red-breasted Flycatcher, they gave a rippling ticking call like a subdued Wren and a more plaintive 'seep', the calls were coming from several directions at the same time and I put 6 in my note book but there could have been a dozen. 

Red-breasted Flycatcher - female, great little birds

Whilst I was watching one bird 2 Red-backed Shrikes appeared on the edge of a nearby bush.
I moved on slowly to the old walls which are a well known site for Pied Wheatear, one of the few places where this bird can be reliably seen in Europe. Sure enough within a few minutes a male appeared and what a superb bird it was. I've seen immature birds as vagrants in the UK but this was my first adult male. 

Pied Wheatear - males upper two photos and female below

Also on the wall was a male Black-headed Bunting which appeared exhausted as it allowed a very close approach. A female Pied Wheatear joined the male and as I searched round the area and the walk down to the Cafe I must have seen 7 or 8 birds plus 2 Northern Wheatear. 

Black-headed Bunting - male

As I walked down the narrow road a Little Bittern flew up from under my feet, the wind quickly took it away and it was lost from view.
Over the sea I saw several distance groups of small shearwaters which I presumed were Yelkouan but were too distant to tell
After several hours I got back in the van for the drive up the coast to Shabla, just as I was leaving Kaliakra a Great Spotted Cuckoo flew up from the road and landed in a roadside tree, this is well north of their normal range which ends at the southern Black Sea, an unusual record.
I parked near the campsite at Shabla Lake and saw someone bird watching down the track. I caught them up and was surprised to see that it was John Grist, someone I bird watched with in my twenties at Fairburn Ings and who I usually see at Spurn, it's a small world! He was coming to the end of a two week stay at Shabla. As we were talking a Ruddy Shellduck appeared on the lake along with several Ferruginous Ducks.  They had seen the first Thrush Nightingales and Paddyfield Warblers in the last few days and a Great Snipe just a little up the coast at Durankulak. Unfortunately it was raining again but I decided to have a look for the snipe, I saw several Roller on roadside wires as I drove a little further north, surprisingly these were my first of the trip.
No sign of the Great Snipe but there were hundreds of Black Terns feeding close inshore due to the wind, also quite a few White-winged Black Terns and Little Gulls with them, a fantastic sight. It was late in the evening but hopefully the photo gives an indication of the scene.

Black Terns

Unfortunately I had bad news from home that evening; Pam's mum had been unwell when we left in March but she had deteriorated whilst we were at Kerkini and was admitted to hospital. Her condition was getting worse and I decided that I was needed at home so would have to postpone the rest of my trip for another year. I will go home via Hungary and will make a few stops on the way.