A 9-day wildlife holiday to Bulgaria’s south-western mountain ranges in search of the most desirable species of butterflies on the Balkan peninsula and a good selection of birds typical for South-Eastern Europe.

Day 1:

The tour starts from Sofia at 14.00 h (2 p.m.) at the latest. The tour participants will be picked up either from Sofia Airport, or from their accommodation place within the city of Sofia if they have arrived in the previous days. Then we will transfer south (for about 2 hours) to the saddle between the Rila and Pirin Mountains, where we will check-in for two nights in a lodge in the countryside.

Our target birds in the area will be the Pallid Swift, European Serin and Common Rosefinch. The meadows around the hotel hold various butterfly species as the Weaver’s Fritillary and Chapman’s Blue.

Day 2:

Today we will explore the highest parts of the Pirin Mountains (Pirin National Park), looking for butterfly species typical for the subalpine and alpine habitats on the Balkans, including the Balkan Clouded Yellow, Mountain Small White, Apollo, Clouded Apollo, Balkan Copper, Higgin’s Anomalous Blue, Phalakron Blue, Amanda’s Blue, Meleager’s Blue, Blue Argus, Mountain Argus, Balkan Fritillary, Cynthia’s Fritillary, Nettle-tree Butterfly, Nicholl’s Ringlet, Bulgarian Ringlet, Eastern Large Heath, etc.

Bird species of interest here include the Alpine Accentor, Spotted Nutcracker, Water Pipit, Alpine Chough, Golden Eagle, Black Woodpecker, Ring Ouzel (ssp. alpestris), plus chances for the Rock Partridge to be seen. The area is also good to see the elusive Balkan Chamois.

Day 3:

Transfer further south to Melnik area. We will spend most of the day around the Struma River, as well as in the Kresna Gorge area in the western foothills of the Pirin Mountains. The birds that we can expect to see here include the Golden Eagle, Eurasian Griffon Vulture, Short-toed Eagle, Levant Sparrowhawk, Black Stork, Blue Rock Thrush, Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, Rock Bunting, Cirl Bunting, Sombre Tit, Crag Martin, Red-rumped Swallow, Golden Oriole. Butterfly species that we will try to find here include the Eastern Festoon,  Lang’s Short-tailed Blue, Little Tiger Blue,  Eastern Baton Blue, Nettle-tree Butterfly, Yellow-legged  Tortoiseshell, Common Glider, Hungarian Glider,  Southern White Admiral, White-banded Grayling, Lattice Brown,  Yellow-banded Skipper, etc.

Accommodation in the town of Melnik for two nights.

Day 4:

We will spend the whole day in the southern foothills of the Pirin Mountains, trying to find Eastern Festoon,  Powdered Brimstone, Lang’s Short-tailed Blue, Little Tiger Blue,  Eastern Baton Blue, Escher’s Blue, Nettle-tree Butterfly, Yellow-legged  Tortoiseshell, Balkan Marbled White, Common Glider, Hungarian Glider,  Southern White Admiral, White-banded Grayling, Lattice Brown,  Yellow-banded Skipper, Oriental Marbled Skipper, Mediterranean Skipper, etc.

Amongst the birds the most interesting will be the European Roller, Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Syrian Woodpecker, Levant Sparrowhawk, Booted Eagle, Short-toed Eagle, Western Rock Nuthatch, Calandra Lark, Woodchat Shrike, Cirl Bunting, Alpine Swift, Hawfinch, etc.

Day 5:

Transfer west to the Mesta River valley via the pass along the southern part of the Pirin Mnts, where we will spend most of the day, exploring high mountains conifer forests and meadows. Here we will be looking for Apollo, Purple-shot Copper, Scarce Copper, Balkan Copper, Osiris Blue, Bosnian Blue, Mountain Argus, Escher’s Blue, Higgin’s Anomalous Blue, Phalakron Blue, False Eros Blue, Dusky Meadow Brown, Great Sooty Satyr, Balkan Fritillary, etc. The birding highlights here would be the Rock Partridge (small chances), Spotted Nutcracker, Pallid Swift, European Serin, Crested Tit.

Accommodation for two nights in Gotse Delchev area.

Day 6:

We will spend the whole day in the border mountains between Bulgaria and Greece and along the Mesta River valley. The character and physical appearance of the mountains here change significantly from the wetter high mountain areas to the dry Mediterranean habitats, which variable flora is matched by a wonderful selection of butterflies, like Clouded Apollo, Krueper’s Small White, Anomalous Blue, Osiris Blue, Large Blue, Freyer’s Fritillary, Lesser Spotted Fritillary, Twin-spot Fritillary, Woodland Grayling, Eastern Rock Grayling, Great Banded Grayling, Delattin’s Grayling, Dils’ Grayling, Marbled Skipper, Southern Small White. In the lowland areas we will have good chances to find Large Copper, Purple-shot Copper, Lesser Fiery Cooper, Ilex Hairstreak, Little Tiger Blue, Eastern Short-tailed Blue, Reverdin’s Blue, Balkan Zephyr Blue, Freyer’s Purple Emperor, Sandy Grizzled Skipper and Eastern Greenish Black-tip.

Bird species of interest here include the Black Stork, Short-toed Eagle, Golden Eagle, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Little Bittern, Ferruginous Duck, Great Reed Warbler, Ceti’s Warbler, Penduline Tit, etc.

Day 7:

Transfer to the northern part of the Rila Mountains (for ~3 hours) via Lake Belmeken. We will spend most of the day, exploring the eastern slopes of the Rila Mountains. Butterfly species that we might see here include: Apollo, Balkan Copper, Poplar Admiral, Cynthia’s Fritillary, Nicholl’s Ringlet, Ottoman Brassy Ringlet, Eastern Large Heath, etc.

In this area we will look for the Eurasian Pygmy Owl, Black Woodpecker, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Golden Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard, Water Pipit, Alpine Accentor, Horned Lark (ssp. balcanica), Spotted Nutcracker. This area holds one of the biggest populations of European Souslik in Bulgaria.

Accommodation for two nights in a small town in the northern foot of the Rila Mountains..

Day 8:

We will spend the day in the northern part of the Rila Mountains – in the area of the highest peak on the Balkan Peninsula – Mussala. Here we will explore the subalpine and alpine zones in the Rila National Park, looking for butterfly specialties like the Apollo, Mountain Small White, Balkan Clouded Yellow, Balkan Copper, Bosnian Blue, Poplar Admiral, Shepherd’s Fritillary, Cynthia’s Fritillary, Bulgarian Ringlet, Nicholl’s Ringlet, Ottoman Brassy Ringlet, Water Ringlet, Black Ringlet, Dewy Ringlet, Eastern Large Heath, Dusky Grizzled Skipper.

Birds of interest here include the Alpine Accentor, Alpine Chough, Horned Lark, Water Pipit.

Day 9:

Transfer for one hour to Sofia Airport for departure.

If the departure is later in the day we can visit the higher parts of the Vitosha Mnts in the southern vicinity of Sofia, where we will explore the bird and butterfly diversity of conifer forests and alpine meadows.