February 7th :- Arrival at Varna Airport. Drive to Kavarna (70 km north of Varna) and check into our hotel. If time allows we will spend the remainder of the day searching the area around Kavarna to get our trip list started. Three nights in Kavarna

February 8th & 9th :- We will spend these two days in the Coastal Dobrudja - the northernmost part of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast near the Romanian border, including the lakes of Shabla and Durankulak, where the geese roost. Early in the morning we will watch the geese “take off” - every day they leave the lakes and fly inland to feed in the winter crop fields around. The numbers of Red-breasted Goose vary between 5000 and 50000, depending on how severe the winter is. Later in the morning, after watching the geese taking off, we will have coffee, tea and sandwiches at a local bistro, then will explore the fields where the geese graze. Besides enjoying the Red-breasted Geese there, we will also search for Lesser White-fronted Goose. Usually while checking the huge flocks of White-fronted Geese we can expect to spot the Lesser White-fronted Goose too. Offshore we can expect to see Black-throated & Red-throated Divers, Great Crested, Black-necked, Red-necked & Slavonian Grebes, Red-breasted Merganser, Greater Scaup, as well as the Great Bittern plus White-tailed Eagle, Greater Spotted Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard, Rough-legged Buzzard, Peregrine and Merlin are common winter residents here. There will be a very good chance of Pallas’s (Great Black headed) Gull at the lakes. In one of these two days we will also explore Cape Kaliakra, where we can expect to see the Mediterranean Shag, Eagle Owl, possibly Wallcreeper and various seaduck. The adjacent steppe area hosts wintering Long-legged Buzzards, Merlins, Calandra Larks, etc.

February 10th :- Drive to the southern Bulgarian coast via Varna Lake for Pygmy Cormorant, Great White Egret, Cetti's Warblers,  and more with the Kamchia riverine forests to the south of Varna for White-tailed & Greater Spotted Eagles, Black & Middle-spotted Woodpecker, Short-toed Treecreeper. We can also expect various waterfowl in the sea in front and Merlin in the agricultural lands around. Another option for this day would be to spend the morning in Coastal Dobrudja (to watch once again the geese) and then drive in the afternoon to Bourgas without stopping at Varna lake. Two nights in Bourgas.

February 11th :- Bourgas wetlands: Atanasovsko Lake (shallow lagoon with salinas), Bourgas /Vaya/ Lake, Mandra Lake and Poda lagoon: all Ramsar sites and Important Bird Areas. Here we will be able to watch Pygmy Cormorant (nearly 10000 wintering in the area), Dalmatian Pelican (hundreds wintering in Atanasovsko and Bourgas Lake) and White Pelican, White-headed Duck (hundreds wintering in Vaya Lake), White-tailed Eagle, Bearded Tit, Slender-billed Gull, Mediterranean Gull and other commoner wintering water birds. The open waters may hold the Ferruginous Duck too.

February 12th :- Drive to Varna (~ 2 hours) and departure from Varna Airport. If the departure flight is late in the afternoon, on the way to Varna we can visit some good habitats for Sombre Tit, Cirl & Rock Bunting in the Eastern Balkan Range and also Varna Lake for some more waterbirds.

Price includes:-

Price does not include:-

1. Transfers too & from Varna Airport
2. 5 nights accommodation
3. All meals inc. drinks
4. All transport costs, inc. vehicle hire, fuel, tolls etc
5. Potential trip list with daily check list.
6. Use of field guides covering the area
7. Local experienced Birdwatching Guide.

1. Flights to Varna, Bulgaria.
2. Travel and contents insurance.
3. Extra food & drink to normal meal times.
4. Items of a personal nature.