Bulgaria boasts a healthy population of Golden eagles and more than 160 pairs inhabit its mountains. Our tour gives you the opportunity to take photos of these impressive raptors. From a distance of 25 to 35 meters you can photograph their natural behavior – feeding, preening and even mating without disturbing them. In the winter, when the food is scarce, the eagles visit willingly the baits in front of our hides.

The great advantage of Bulgaria when it comes to Golden Eagle photography are the various options for background, as well as light and perches. Here you will not photograph the eagles only in snow, but on small rocks, on the ground, on junipers bushes, on mountain hay meadow or on a wooden branch properly situated by us. The light in Bulgaria, even in the winter, can be excellent for photography and in fact gives you opportunity to be creative even with a difficult subject as the Golden Eagle. There are also opportunities for flight shots of the eagles when they land and take off from the bait.

We have been running this tour successfully for over seven years and so far we have build up a number of hides giving various options for photography and avoiding obstacles as bad weather, no access due to a deep snow, recent disturbance etc. All of the hides are different in terms of setting, access, distance to the birds, perches, background etc.

Every pair of Golden eagles visiting the baits is also more or less different – some birds prefer to feed in the morning, others in the afternoon; some are feeding individually, some pairs usually come together. The same is true for the other species visiting the baits – one hide has a Goshawk visits daily, another one has a constant flock of 30 + Ravens, third one has a Common Buzzard pair and few Jays etc. We have also established few bird feeders around the hides and these are constantly visited by Hawfinch, Sombre Tit; Grey-headed, Syrian, Great Spotted, Middle Spotted, Green and even a Lesser Spotted woodpeckers; Willow Tit, Brambling, Yellowhammer, Bulfinch, Goldfinch, Fieldfare, Jay and many more commoner species.

When we will be finished with the Eagles, we will head for Lake Kerkini in Greece, just next to the Bulgarian border. Here we will photograph Dalmatian Pelicans in breeding plumage. In February and the beggining of March, the Pelicans bill’s lower mandible turn into a bright red color which is very photogenic. We can also photograph Greater Flamingo, Pygmy Cormorant and Great White Egret, and other species. Within two to three days you can get excellent photos of the pelicans in breeding plumage – feeding, resting, flying, etc.

You can see reports and photos on our blog: pelicans and vultures

Day 1: Arrival at Sofia airport, short transfer east to Mirkovo.

Days 2/6: All day photography.

Golden Eagle in flight (Domingo Garcia)

Day 7: Transfer to Sofia airport. Departure (7-days trip).

Day 7: Transfer to Lake Kerkini (North Greece). Photography.

Dalmatian Pelicans, lake Kerkini

Days 8/9: All day photography at lake Kerkini. Pelicans, Great Egret, Pygmy Cormorant, Flamingoes..

Day 10: Transfer to Sofia airport. Departure (10 days trip).

Dalmatian Pelican