Bulgaria’s exceptional natural history is well known to travellers who have previously taken part in our wildlife holidays. This combined nature tour is designed to diversify our mountain birding, butterfly and botanical experience by introducing you to the rich wildlife of Lake Kerkini in Northern Greece.

During the first part of this tour we will explore the Pirin and the Rila Mountains. This is landscape of exceptional natural beauty, with high peaks over 2500 m, alpine meadows dotted with glacial lakes, dense forests, spectacular rocky gorges and sheer cliffs. For six months of the year thick snow covers the alpine part of the mountains. The arrival of spring, however, is marked by a burst of rare and beautiful mountain flowers, such as Pulsatilla vernalis and Geum bulgaricum, the blue flowers of Gentiana pyrenaica, the dark pink of the heavenly Primula deorum, a local endemic, and many more rare or localised flower species.

The Pirin and Rila National Parks are home to excellent wildlife. They provide refuge to the Brown Bear, the Wolf and the Balkan Chamois. A big variety of attractive birds occur in the alpine and forest areas, including the Alpine Chough, the Spotted Nutcracker, the Hazel Grouse, the Tengmalm’s Owl and the White-backed Woodpecker (ssp. lilfordi). The butterfly fauna includes  Apollo, Clouded Apollo, Mountain Small White, Balkan Copper, Higgin’s Anomalous Blue, Phalakron Blue, Amanda’s Blue, Balkan Fritillary, Bulgarian Ringlet and many others.

Medieval monasteries with magnificent murals and icons are nestled in the mountains. One of these is the famous Rila Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which we will visit.

After a few days in the mountains, we descend along the Struma River valley and across the Bulgarian-Greek border to Lake Kerkini in northern Greece. Picturesquely nestled between two separate mountain ranges, Lake Kerkini is one of the true jewels of European birding and the core of a nature reserve that is a relatively unexplored wonderland of beauty and biological diversity. Plenty of Great White Pelicans, Dalmatian Pelicans, Pygmy Cormorants, herons, ducks and storks, European Rollers and European Bee-eaters, riverside forests, water-lilies and fantastic panoramic view from the mountains of Belasitsa and Krousia give it distinctive atmosphere. The combination of wildfowl, flora and fauna, good weather for much of the year and a virtually traffic free road around the lake make it ideal for a day’s birdwatching.

Back in Bulgaria we will spend another couple of days in the foothills of the Pirin Mountain and around the town of Melnik – our base. Melnik is one of those traditional mountain villages that have been turned into open-air crafts and architecture museums, where you can feel what life was like a century or two ago. It is also famous for its locally produced wines, which we will taste. The climate and the flora here are predominantly Mediterranean, the dry and rocky terrain encouraging a variety of butterflies and dragonflies to add their colour to the displays of wild flowers. Great Banded Grayling, Scarce Swallowtail, Southern White Admiral and Common Glider are just some of the butterflies recorded here.

Mountains again, though of a different nature, are our next destination – the Rhodopes. Their western part, with rounded, pine-clad hills, is occasionally cut by streams and rivers that flow through deep gorges. One of these is the famous Trigrad Gorge – the realm of the Wallcreeper. Its vertical limestone cliffs are echoing with the sounds of numerous Alpine Swifts and Eurasian Crag Martins and the shrill calls of the Peregrine Falcon. The range of interesting and colourful plants in the Rhodopes is a feast for the eye – Haberlea rhodopensis, Sideritis scardica, Scabiosa rhodopensis, Campanula cervicaria, Hypericum montbretii, Verbascum humile, Campanula orphanidea and many species of orchids.

Quite different is the view of the Eastern Rhodopes – it is a mountain of jagged peaks, towering cliffs and sparsely vegetated, boulder-strewn slopes. The most spectacular bird residents there are the Eurasian Griffon Vultures, which inhabit the crater of an ancient volcano. Eurasian Black Vultures, Egyptian Vultures, White-tailed Eagles, Eastern Imperial Eagles are also frequent visitors of the feeding tables. We will see many Black Storks feeding in the rivers and enjoy the colourful Western Rock Nuthatch, Red-rumped Swallow, Blue Rock Thrush, etc.