The first LIFE projects in Bulgaria started with the Programme’s current phase – LIFE+ (2007-2013). Every year a call for project proposals is announced and projects in the three program components, “Nature and Biodiversity”, Environmental Policies” and “Information and Communication”, are selected and funded. Currently, 10 projects are running in Bulgaria. One of them focuses on novelties in the sphere of environment and the remaining 9 –on biodiversity conservation. These projects involve a total investment of €15.2 million, €9.1 million being provided by the European Union.

The LIFE programme celebrates its 20th anniversary in May 2012.  To mark this important milestone in the history of the EU’s financial instrument for the environment, LIFE project events will take place across Europe throughout the month of May. As a beneficiary of 6 LIFE projects aiming at the conservation of threatened bird species and their habitats, the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB/ BirdLife Bulgaria) organizes different events in Sofia, Varna, Bourgas and Haskovo.

On May, 5^th, the BSPB teams working on the LIFE projects for conservation of the Red-breasted Goose and the Saker Falcon are participating in a joint event dedicated to the Days of Europe and LIFE at 20, together with Amorpha Youth Group and Varna Municipality. Join us in the Sea Park of Varna, at 14.00 h at the Pantheon, to celebrate together and to learn more about the relation between people’s wellbeing and nature’s health.

The last monitoring registered only 5 geese – 1 Red-breasted and 4 White-fronted in a field north of Eagle Marsh. Birds roosting in the lakes were not observed.

Among the more interesting and rare observations during the monitoring were those of a Great Snipe (Gallinago media) and a very rare species for the country – Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maura), which was until recently considered a subspecies of the Stone Chat. The globally threatened Dalmatian Pelican and Ferruginous Duck were also observed.  The usual contingency of different ducks and waders, typical for the end of March, are already in the region too.

The geese have left, but with the advancing spring many migrating birds have arrived – White Storks, Hoopoes, Wagtails, Stone Chats, etc. Most of them are only passing by and will continue their migration north, but some will stay to breed. The breeding season for species like the Skylark, the Calandra Lark and the Corn Bunting has already started and the male birds are actively singing and occupying territories around the lakes.

During the survey we established a total of 51 878 geese. The number of Red-breasted geese was 4491. Compared to the previous monitoring on February 11^th, their number has decreased by more than half, which also points to the fact that some of the birds have already migrated north. The Greater Whitefronts were 47 084 and the Greylag geese were 135.

Unlike earlier in the season, most of the geese were roosting in the sea instead in the lakes. There were no geese at all spending the night in the Shabla lake complex, while two weeks ago over 15 000 geese were recorded there. All the birds registered at that survey point were coming from the sea. The bigger part of the geese was recorded at Durankulak Lake – about 2/3 of the Redbreasts and 55% of the Whitefronts. Most of these birds had also roosted in the sea.

Species rare for the region, such as Long-tailed Duck and Great Black-headed Gull, were also observed during the monitoring.

The bird was seen near the village of Tjulenovo in a mixed flock of Red-breasted, Greater White-fronted and Greylag geese. The unusual thing about them was that the geese were very tame and allowed people get as near as 20-30 m from them. During the hunting season that finished in the end of January such observations were practically impossible – the geese were so scared that they used to take off as soon as someone appeared even at a distance of several hundred meters.

The morning goose count established a total of 38 239 geese. This number is a little bit smaller than the one established at the monitoring two weeks earlier (46 201 geese). The species composition is 25 677 Greater White-fronted geese, 10 561 Red-breasted geese and 381 Greylag geese, plus 1620 unidentified geese. The number of White-fronted and Red-breasted geese has dropped, while that of the Greylag geese has increased a lot – from 6 birds 2 weeks ago to 381.

Most of the birds had spent the night on the ice of the almost completely frozen Durankulak, Ezerets and Shabla-Tuzla Lakes (about 80% of the geese). The rest had spent the night in the sea to the south of Tjulenovo. The greatest number of Red-breasted and White-fronted geese was recorded in the region of Ezerets lake – 6913 and 11 138 respectively.

Unfortunately the severe winter takes its toll. Dozens of dead birds dotted the ice of the completely frozen lakes – a Red-breasted Goose, a White-fronted Goose, a Mute Swan, many Coots and other birds. This easy prey had in its turn attracted a great number of White-tailed Eagles. A roost site of eagles was found near Shabla Lake, where in the afternoon 19 White-tailed Eagles were observed together (7 adults and 12 immature birds).

The total number of recorded geese is 46 201. This number is about 10 times higher than the one established by the monitoring two weeks earlier (4839 geese). The number of the different species is the following: 34 208 Greater White-fronted geese, 11 987 Red-breasted geese and 6 Greylag geese. It is important to note that the number of Red-breasted geese has increased 20 times in the last two weeks. The main reason for this is the cold spell that seized not only our country, but the whole Eastern Europe. This has driven many of the goose flocks, spending until now the winter north of our country, south to their traditional wintering grounds. In the last several days increased numbers of geese have been registered not only in Costal Dobrudzha, but in the Bourgas lakes, Ovcharitsa dam and other wetlands in the country.

The monitoring established that most of the geese had roosted in Ezerets and Shabla Lakes – 25 731 geese. There was a clear localization of the roosts, as well as division of the species in them – mainly White-fronted geese had roosted in Ezerets Lake, while most of the Redbreasts had spent the night in Shabla Lake. Almost half of the recorded White-fronted geese and 73% of the Redbreasts had roosted in this lake complex. While at the previous monitorings most of the geese had favored Durankulak Lake, this time less geese were recorded there (5088 Whitefronts and 892 Redbreasts). Some of the flocks (including Red-breasted geese) had spent the night in the sea, the greatest number of them being recorded from the point located near the village of Kamen Briag.

The other interesting species established during the monitoring include Bewick’s Swan, Great Black-headed Gull, Smew, Red-crested Pochard and great concentrations of Common Gulls in the sea.

Compared to previous years, the number of wintering geese and other waterfowl was much lower this year. The total number of all the geese established this year was only 4839 birds. As expected, this most recent monitoring showed that the Great White-fronted geese were the most numerous (3833 birds). The number of Red-breasted geese was only 625. Eleven Greylag geese were also observed. At the same time last year over 150 000 geese were counted, and the number of Red-breasted geese alone was bigger than the total number of geese established with the last count. The main reason for these low numbers is the fact that this year the winter in Eastern Bulgaria is warmer than usually. Besides, in the northern parts of the continent the weather is uncharacteristically mild and probably the wintering birds prefer to stay there.

 ¾ of the wintering geese (Whitefronts and Redbreasts alike) keep to the region of Durankulak Lake. The rest are dispersed in quite a big perimeter between the villages of Krapets and Tjulenovo to the south. No geese were established in the region of Cape Kaliakra and further south.

Several relatively rare species were established too in the region of Durankulak Lake – Common Eider, Red-crested Pochard, Goldeneye, Bittern, and Ferruginous Duck. However, only a few Coots and ducks were recorded in sites like Ezerets Lake and Shabla Tuzla which are traditionally hosting great concentrations of wintering waterfowl.

Eventually, one of the teams was rewarded with a rare sight – four otters fishing in the sea close to the shore.

At Durankulak Lake the team recorded a decrease of the wintering geese in comparison with the previous count that took place on 17^th December. It was interesting to note that the numbers of Red-breasted Geese and Greater White-fronted Geese were very similar, which is a comparatively rare phenomenon for this period. A total of 1734 geese were counted at the roost, of which 914 were Whitefronts (8 times less compared to the previous monitoring) and 802 Redbreasts (2 times less). Some Greylag geese were also recorded (18 ind.).

The Shabla Lake Complex provided only 134 geese. 61 of them were Red-breasted, 71 – Greater White-fronted and 2 – Greylag geese.

In general, the numbers of wintering geese recorded are rather low for this period of winter. The decrease could be partially explained with the fact that the weather in North-eastern Europe was unusually mild since 20^th December and there were even places with high temperature records. It is possible this temperature inversion to have influenced the wintering geese in Dobrudzha and some of them to have moved further north to regions with more favourable weather conditions.

Other interesting observations included the huge flocks of roosting starlings in the reedbeds of Durankulak and Ezerets lakes. The birds were estimated to 500 000 ind. (Ezerest – 400 000 and Durankulak – 100 000). A little before sunrise the birds formed huge clouds and moved away from the lakes to the arable fields to feed.

The regular monitoring of Srebarna Lake near the Danube took place on 30^th December. The number of wintering geese there is currently greater than that near the sea coast. 4093 Greater White-fronted and 114 Greylag geese were recorded. No Red-breasted geese were established there this time. The lake provides refuge to 2786 Pygmy Cormorants, which spend the night in big groups among the reedbeds and in the morning disperse all over the lake and the nearby sections of the Danube in search of food.

The geese wintering at Durankulak Lake have increased their number.

Unlike the situation at Durankulak Lake, no geese were recorded at the Shabla Lake Complex. We suppose that the geese that were registered there during the previous count (1508 individuals, 124 of which Redbreasts) have moved north to Durankulak lake.

Over 9400 Mallards and 1850 Coots also inhabit Durankulak Lake at the moment. During our visit there we established over 30 bird species, including the fairly rare Bittern, White-tailed Eagle and Goldeneye. Much less birds were recorded in the Shabla Lake Complex. The most interesting observation there were 6 Red-crested Pochards in a group of 650 Coots in the sea south of the village of Krapets.

On 18^th December we did a census at Srebarna Lake near the Danube. At the moment the number of wintering geese there is considerably lower than the registered during the previous count (16647 geese, 1229 of which Red-breasted). This census established only 176 White-fronted and 21 Greylag geese. The reasons for the most geese’ leaving the region remain unclear. We suppose that finding better feeding grounds, as well as the disturbance by hunters, are among the reasons for this shifting.

As usually, the monitoring of the reserve provided several rare species – White-tailed Eagles, Whooper and Bewick’s Swans, Grey Woodpecker, etc.

A total of 4122 geese, including 698 Red-breasted geese, were recorded from the two observation points at Durankulak Lake. Most of the geese had spent the night in the lake (80% of the birds) and about 20% had roosted at sea and were counted while they moved to their feeding grounds near the lake. In comparison with the data from the previous monitoring of two weeks ago, the number of Red-breasted geese has increased with 30% and the Wtitefronts are 20 times more numerous. We expect these numbers to grow considerably after the next big cold spell. The lake provided also Smew and Goosander, Ferruginous Duck, the more rare White-headed Duck and Red-creasted Pochard, as well as a great number of Coots, Mallards and other more common species. In the sea there were Black-necked Grebes, Black-throated Divers and Red-breasted Mergansers.

For the first time this season Red-breasted geese (124 ind.) were recorded at Ezerets Lake. 1384 White-fronted Geese were observed there too, which is a big increase compared to the previous monitoring. Unregulated hunting near the lake was also established. There were over 80 shots, most of which were heard before sunrise. This is violation of the hunting act, which creates prerequisites for shooting endangered species, therefore a signal was sent to the controlling institution, The Regional Inspectorate for the Environment and Waters (RIEW) – Varna.

Similar monitoring was carried out at Srebarna lake on 27^th November. Currently the number of wintering geese there is much higher than that in the region of our coastal lakes – 15274 White-fronted, 1229 Red-breasted and 144 Greylag geese. A lot of hunting violations were registered there too – hunting in the territory of the reserve, shooting protected species (Greylag Goose), disturbance of the roosting birds, etc. Signals were sent to the reserve wardens and the local hunting society.

Поредният мониторинг на зимуващата популация на червеногушата гъска в Добруджа се проведе на 12-ти и 13-ти ноември 2011 г. On the first day counts were done at Durankulak Lake, Shabla Lake Complex and Shabla Tuzla Lake. The first Redbreasts for this winter season are already at Durankulak Lake – this is what the team of observers established. 490 Red-breasted geese were recorded and all of them had spent the night in the northeastern part of Durankulak Lake. An interesting fact was that this time the Redbreasts were much more numerous than the usually higher concentrations of White-fronted geese, of which only 142 birds were recorded. The number of wintering geese is expected to increase in the coming weeks.

No roosting geese were found in Ezerets Lake (the northern part of the Shabla Lake Complex). Only 86 Whitefronts and 4 Greylags, which had probably spent the night at sea, were recorded from the observation point there. The team was surprised by an unexpectedly late young Red-backed Shrike close to the observation point. This species spends the winter in Africa, to the south of the Sahara, and usually leaves our country by mid-October, so November sightings are really rare.

Shabla Tuzla Lake provided the usual for the season Mallards, Wigeons, Coots and Mute Swans. Several Golden plovers and Sanderlings were running along the shore. The search of the sea stretch provided some typical wintering species – Black-necked Grebe, Red-breasted Merganser, Goldeneye and the more rare Scaup.

The analysis of the data from this and last year’s field seasons shows that this year the first Red-breasted geese have arrived at our coastal lakes a month earlier. This is probably due to the earlier establishing of a cold weather front in Northeastern Europe and Western Siberia, which has stimulated the geese to migrate earlier to their wintering grounds.

On 13 Nov.2011 a census was carried out in the region of Srebarna Lake too. A considerable for mid-November number of wintering geese was established – 11504 birds,  457 of which being Red-breasted geese, 482 – Greylags and the rest – White-fronted geese. All the geese had spent the night in the lake, which was used as a roost by 3570 Pygmy Cormorant as well.