European Bird Days take place across Bulgaria today and tomorrow, and entry to the Poda Nature Protection Centre is free today, the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds says. Visitors to the centre can watch the autumn migration and talk to the society's experts. The watch is open to everyone on both days, but the events in Haskovo, Veliko Tarnovo and Baldevo run only today.
In Haskovo, the outing sets off today at 9:30am from the boat lake in Kenana Park. At the same time in Veliko Tarnovo, people will gather for a bird-watching walk at the car park by the Church of the Holy 40 Martyrs.
In Varna, watching runs on both days from 8:30am — today at the protected site of Yatata, and tomorrow at the Sea Garden. Organisers have given the exact spot for today's event.
In the village of Baldevo, in Garmen municipality, volunteers from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds will lead a watch at the Bozhe Ime complex from 10:30am. There's also a photo exhibition, plus a workshop planned for children and parents.
In Sofia, trainees from the bird-watching group set off today on a trip through Vitosha and the Etropole Balkan to look for white-backed woodpeckers. Tomorrow they head to wetlands in the western Sofia plain: Mramor reservoir, Petarch, Bezden, the Aldomirovtsi marsh and the Dragoman marsh.
Participants log how many birds they spot in the SmartBirds Pro app. They'll enter the data on 4 October, and the combined results come out on 5 October. BirdLife Slovakia gathers and pulls together the data from everyone who takes part.
Through the campaign, the society wants to draw attention to migration and to protecting migratory birds — their breeding grounds, stopover points and wintering sites. It lists climate change, collisions with power lines and glass facades, heavy land use and poaching as the main threats to these birds.
The society also points to the role of international cooperation: BirdLife partners in different countries and continents bring together experts, ornithologists, volunteers and bird lovers to watch birds and protect endangered species.