From the Eagle and Vulture Hide Madzharovo, Eastern Rhodopes, Bulgaria

Friday 26th September.
 It would be hard to put in to words and describe what today has been like. I have been through a roller coaster of emotions and experiences. I have felt real fear, trepidation and anxiety as well as feelings of self belief and satisfaction at having tested myself and come through. I left the town of Bansko this morning well before 10 and then just before 10 this evening, I arrived at my destination. The drive was more than 350 kilometres, like driving from Plymouth to Manchester but only using B roads and at times dirt tracks. Throw in a few mountains at 3000 feet with constant hairpins both up and down, and that was it. I arrived at a weird place ending in Grad at about 7 30 and I thought I was almost there, but no, there was still many miles to go but on this leg it was guesswork because by now it was dark. The road signs are in the Crillic language and they use a different alphabet, all the signs are effectively in code! For "a" read "h" etc. So the main method of direction was to stop and show a piece of paper with my next destination on it. This worked remarkably well during the day and I just ticked off the places one at a time like stepping stones. But try that in the dark with houses locked up, no street lights even in the towns and barking guard dogs everywhere, There was nobody to ask anymore. I have to honestly admit that this is one of the most extreme things that I have ever done. I have tested myself to the limit and come through it a stronger person. This might sound extreme but think about being in a foreign country, alone and lost without any way of communication and wondering if the next person you ask is going to rob or help you. My main snag was not being able to find out the distances involved, was it 5k or 45k to that village that you were looking for. A map would have helped but the names written in the Crillic language are so hard to decipher. Leaving the ttown that ended in Grad, I was seemingly totally lost and up the creek without a paddle having no idea where I was or how to pronounce the name of the place I was going to. I drove on blindly and every time I saw twinkling lights I remained hopeful that I would be able to find directions. Evenually, and more by luck than any judgement at all, thankfully in a small village whose name I have no idea and wouldn't be able to spell or pronounce it anyway, I saw the lights of a bar and I could see people! This was in a village far from nowhere and the only place I had seen with lights on for about 50k. I took my worn piece of paper inside and asked if anyone could help me. At first they were as vague as me but then it dawned…….. Madzharovo……yes, yes it is just down the road they seemed to be saying. 2 klms of Tarmac and 6 kmls of brick road which turned out to be the back road to where I needed to be. How I got my little Opel Corsa to traverse this is still a mystery. My guardian angel had rescued me again! I came in to the village of Maroitsova By the back road and I saw the equivalent of the local corner shop. Quickly inside, the shop keeper contacted my guide Marin; I had his number with me. He was amazed that I was here and from that direction. Hallelujah sounds too drastic but trust me it wasn't. But if he had bothered to give me proper directions in the first instance then I would have arrived with much less difficulty. I had been give.n adequate directions to the place ending in Grad….actually called Krumvograd but from there no directions at all and my assumption was that it was very close but in fact about it was about 50k.  And the reason I am here in the Eastern Rodopes district of Bulgaria?  To spend 2 days in a hide where I hope to watch and photograph Griffin Vultures, Golden Eagle and even Wolves!   Yes wolves, this district of Bulgaria has the largest population of wolves in Europe and only the day before yesterday, wolves were photographed from the hide I had arranged to visit. According to Marin there are around 15 breeding females in this district and a total of around 200 to 300. They are not protected but as a conservationist he said he prefers the shepherds and farmers to try to shoot them because poisoning would devastate the birds of prey as well.

 

Marin's Eagle and Vulture  Hide 

Note the two way glass which is directed at an angle so that it does not reflect like a mirrow outwards.  The cameras protrude from the cloth area beneath the glass.

Saturday

It is now Saturday morning…..early, very early and I am in the hide as I write. But first a bit more about yesterday, what an epic. On my journey I had stopped off at Trigrad Gorge which is one of the best places in Europe to see Wallcreeper, a spectacular grey and crimson species with a long bill that does exactly as the name implies. Unfortunately however, it rained solid for pretty much the whole of the day and did it tip down. It was torrential and unrelenting which made conditions treacherous but contributed to my long drive with the necessity to take extreme care on the poor roads which meandered up and down the mountains to the various towns and villages on my route. I never did find the Wallcreeper by the way. Once I had actually got to my lodgings which was a comfortable dormitory style room, to myself I must add, I had a meal of soup with veg and pieces of baby cow, well that's how it was described. I was picked up this morning at 5.15 in a 4×4 by the guide Marin, a big burly man with a mop of black hair and a command of broken English, Still in the rain, we made our way up in to the mountains in the pitch black along a track that seamed impossible to traverse, He discussed what I needed to do to be successful. When a vulture landed, my brief was to take no photos and wait for this "sentry" bird to signal to the circling hoards that it was safe to land. The area in front of the hide had been baited with entrails and parts of dead cow. (Those bits that weren't in my soup apparently). I was to sleep in the hide and he would pick me up at 6 tomorrow evening. That was nearly 3 hours ago, only 34 to go now! Then suddenly…… a vulture flew in and landed and wow what an amazing sight, it peered around just as he said it would, and above, a dozen or so circled. This was at 10 past 8 and then, just as suddenly, it departed along with the ravens that had already been feasting on the entrails for at least half an hour already. Then it was silent and quiet as though the whole episode had not happened, but I had proof already that my massive efforts had been worth while, it was just an incredible and thrilling moment and I am excited to see what happens next. Golden Eagle are a real possibility as well as the chance of White Tailed Eagle. Almost 2 hours later and with the Ravens back on the viscera another Vulture soared around in front of me and after a while it landed but a distance away from the food. I guess this is the sentry bird again and this time they will all come in to feed……and the rain continues. But they didn't and the wait carries on………..just 33 hours to go now! There is a dead tree quite close and Marin had said that the Eagles use this a lot. A few minutes ago a Kestrel was in the bare branches posing beautifully. 4 hours passed by, nothing came in or flew past then a pair of Ravens came to feed and were taking big chunks of meat. I guessed that at this point the vultures would take an interest and that's exactly what happened, first one and then I counted 13 in total but they didn't fly down. Then weirdly Marin the guide came back in his 4×4 with a new carcass, a dead sheep. I say weirdly because I wonder why he said it was so massively important to be in the hide well before dawn if not to disturb? I guess he thought that the presence of an actual dead animal would be worth the disturbance caused, well I hope so. He also told me that the local shepherd was around which explain why I sat here for five hours with nothing happening, trust my luck! Now there are 2 massive dogs eating the innards, I didn't know what to do about this but I decided they can only eat so much and then they will leave, now the two have been joined by one more. I don't think this going too well now. I decided to ignore the disturbance and have left the hide and chased theme off, it's very unlikely that anything will return if there is no bait to draw them in so I took the decision based on how much meat 3 big dos and maybe even more may be able to eat? A little about the hide. It's a sturdy log cabin, lined with pine inside and covered with natural stone on the outside. There are two bunks on the back wall and two-way glass to give you a good view out without wildlife being aware of your presence. There are four false camera lenses protruding with CDs stuck in the ends to replicate shiny glass. When photographers are present, the false lenses are replaced by the real thing. In this way the hide looks the same whether its occupied or not. It is carpeted and has a portable toilet which is cunningly concealed but easily accessible under one of the bunks.which lifts to conceal the user.

Sunday

Darkness arrived last night at around 1900 and what else could I do than get my head down and sleep. Surprisingly my night was no better or worse than normal and my 5 layers of shirt proved to be one too many! in other words I wasn't cold! It was weird being out in the wilderness, up a mountain, totally isolated and with wolves potential only feet from me. A few bangs and bumps in the night were slightly worrying but I not too bad. When dawn arrived I just literally sat up on the bunk and began to watch. In the half light. The excitement was already here, I could see what I thought to be a wolf but quickly realised it was a red fox, oh well!  (However it was very likely that there was also a wof present having spoken to Marin later). Then a massive bird flew in followed by another that landed on the rocks above the cow parts scattered around. I dived off the bunk to the camera……a Golden Eagle! Marin had told me that Eagles will grab food and leave immediately and this is exactly what happened but as it flew down the valley, I photographed it in flight with the camera doing a half decent job in the very low light.

 

Golden Eagle at first light.

What followed then was both amazing and equally frustrating. Griffin Vultures, 50 or more came in, they circled around and one landed but behind the ridge where dogs, foxes and whatever had dragged viscera in the night. Then it seemed that many more landed as well. Quite a big disappointment that they were now out of sight, feeding but out of my eye line. However, as one or two joined them later on, I took some lovely flight shots in the by now much better morning light. There is still 10 hours to go so who knows, I my get luckier as the day goes on. ……Well that 10 hors is almost past now and the last vulture I saw was at around 8 this morning, quite a disappointment really, but to be fair I have photographed Golden Eagle and of course the vultures but I haven't finished up with hardly as many shots as I hoped for. The feral dogs have been a menace and I am certain that they have kept other animals and birds away from the hide. In fact as I write now there is a dog chomping away at the carcasses! I spent a pleasant afternoon photographing a female Kestrel that was using the old dead tree as a base to hunt from and I have some nice photos of this bird.