Villa
Philadelphia is located in the Strandja National
Reserve, which is one of the most important breeding areas
in the country for Ciconia nigra, raptors such
as Neophron percnopterus, Circaetus gallicus,
Aquila pomarina, Aquila chrysaetos,
Hieraaetus pennatus and Bubo bubo, and
forest species such as Picus canus,
Dendrocopos medius and Ficedula semitorquata.
The mountain is also a major migratory bottleneck site,
where more than 33,000 Ciconia ciconia pass
overhead each autumn. Species of global conservation concern
that do not meet IBA criteria: Phalacrocorax pygmeus
(common on passage), Pelecanus crispus
(common on passage), Crex crex (occurs on
passage).
Villa
Philadelphia is in the immediate vicinity of two major IBA Protected Landscapes:
Veleka, 1,546 ha; and the Veleka
Mouth, 1,511 ha; and a short drive to a third: Silistar,
773 ha. There are over a dozen more sites within a 90
kilometer radius of Villa Philadelphia (Atanasovo lake,
1,050 ha; Poda Lagoon, 101 ha; Izvorska Mouth, 151 ha;
Ropotamo, 1,001 ha; Alepu lake, 167 ha; Maslen Nos, 18 ha;
Pyassachni Dyuni, 12 ha; Arkoutino, 97 ha; Chengene Skele
Cove, 160 ha; Cape Emine, 1 ha and others.)
Our major
tours to Bulgaria are led by BirdLife members as well as on
of the few organizers that is fully-sanctioned by the
Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BirdLife
International's Bulgarian Partner).
Our
Autumn
tour is led by Gerard Gorman,
regarded as Eastern Europe's
most experienced guide. You may contact Gerard directly at
gerard@probirder.com
for pricing.
We are
probably the only bird-tour organizer which actively funds the
Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds' (BSPB)
projects through these tours.
Funded
projects include: (1) Birding Olympics; (2) Administrative Court
Costs for BSPB projects; (3) Imperial Eagle Breeding in Sakar (group donation); (4) Carcass donations during tours
at Eygptian Vulture Feeding Station; (5) Sinemoretz' Avi-Fauna
Mapping Project; (6) Scientific Publication projects. (6)
Actively recruiting membership for the BSPB.
When going on
birding tours in Bulgaria, you MUST consider if the
organizer is (1) active in conservation efforts; (2)
contributes to conservation efforts; (3) Includes full
direct membership in BSPB for all tour attendees and (4) has a
genuine concern of conservation issues in Bulgaria.
Our tour's
sole purpose is promoting the protection of vital breeding grounds for resident and migratory species.
A major portion of tour funds are used to explore and record
avi-fauna regions within a 25-30km radius of Sinemoretz
within the Strandja Reserve under direct supervision of
The Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds. A
portion of these funds also are used towards the BSPB's Vulture
Feeding Station in Madjarovo which has been working hard in
revitalizing the breeding population of Egyptian Vulture.
Guests who wish to become
members of the Bulgarian Society for the protection of birds
as well as supporting the mapping and recording of Avi-Fauna
species in the Strandja Reserve, a contribution of 25EUR
(~43USD) will go a long way (15EUR BSPB Membership +
Strandja Reserve Project). This can be done securely by
clicking the logo
(invoiced by VP
Technologies)
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Guests
of Villa Philadelphia who wish to explore the Strandja region with
any of our guides, should make this special outing request
no less than 20 days prior to arrival!
