What is your favourite bird species?

To be fair, I don’t have a specific favourite bird! I get joy from showing birds to people and get excited when they see them. Seeing the joy on people’s faces after they have been dreaming about a bird is a real pleasure!

I do enjoy being in specific types of habitats, though. I love seeing birds from the ancient coniferous and deciduous forests like Capercaillie, Three-toed Woodpecker, White-backed Woodpecker, Pygmy Owl, Semi-collared Flycatcher and many more. I just love being in the forest and listening to birds singing.

Pygmy Owl

What is your name, and where do you live?

Iordan Hristov (people call me Dancho) and I live in Sofia, Bulgaria

What are the main regions or locations you cover as a bird guide?

The whole of Bulgaria and Northern Greece, but I also guide trips to the Romanian Danube Delta, the Varanger peninsula in Northernmost Norway and Extremadura in Spain.

Wallcreeper

How long have you been a bird guide?

Over 25 years

Sombre Tit

How did you get into bird guiding?

There is one particular event that I consider a milestone that triggered my interest in Nature. In my early teenage years, I did a hike with my family to one of the Bulgarian mountains. During the hike, we had a very close encounter with a Balkan Chamois with its cub. We met at a very dramatic cliff edge with a deep abyss on one side, and the whole atmosphere was truly special. It had a very strong emotional energy, which triggered my interest in Nature.

After this, I started reading about wildlife and a few years later, I got my hands on the journal of the local bird society, the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds. Then, I became a member and have been involved in its activities ever since. Now, I coordinate the national Breeding Bird Survey and communicate with hundreds of volunteers who monitor hundreds of survey plots. This occupation gives me the opportunity to oversee actual data on bird numbers and species distribution.

Dalmatian Pelican

What are the aspects of being a bird guide that you like best? Which aspects do you dislike most?

I love showing birds to people and get real joy when they manage to see what they want.

I don’t like travelling long distances with a group without seeing a bird. That is why I tend to stop every now and then. Very often, I travel with my window open when road conditions allow it. This gives me the opportunity to hear birds as we travel, and there have been quite a few occasions when I have pulled out the car in the middle of nowhere because I have heard a bird while travelling.

White-backed Woodpecker

What are the top 5-10 birds in your region that are the most interesting for visiting birders?

There are really many special birds in the area, but some of the highlights of every trip are the Wallcreeper, Rose-coloured Starling, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Dalmatian Pelican, Red-footed Falcon, Masked Shrike, Olive-tree Warbler, Levant Sparrowhawk, Black Woodpecker and many more. Often, it is not a specific bird but bird behaviour which creates a truly memorable experience.

Black Woodpecker

Can you outline at least one typical birdwatching trip in your area? Please briefly describe the locations, the key birds and the approximate duration of such a trip

A typical trip in Bulgaria is about 7-10 days long. In spring, for 10 days, we manage to see over 200-220 bird species. We cover a great range of habitats to look for this diversity of species.

• We start from the mountains near Sofia, where we look for the Spotted Nutcracker, then continue to the Western Rhodope mountains, where the main target is the Wallcreeper.
• Further east, into the Eastern Rhodopes, we focus on birds of prey and many warblers with the prefix Eastern. Some of these are Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler, Eastern Orphean Warbler, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Eastern Subalpine Warbler, etc.
• From here, we head to the Southern Black Sea coast with many stops en route to look for Eastern Imperial Eagle, Lesser Kestrel, Masked Shrike, Levant Sparrowhawk and Semi-collared Flycatcher.
• Once on the coast, we focus on waterfowl, but still looking at the migrating soaring birds. There are great areas with breeding Lesser Spotted Eagles, which often display.
• From the Southern Black Sea coast, we head to the Northernmost corner of Bulgaria, where the special birds are the Pied Wheatear and the Paddyfield Warbler.
• Another superb trip is in Northern Greece, where we combine the waterfowl with many warblers, birds of prey and species from the alpine area like Rock Partridge. Levant Sparrowhawk is a daily bird in the area around the hotel where I usually stay.

Rose-colored Starling

What other suggestions can you give to birders interested in your area?

Every season is great for birding in the area, and it all depends on the target birds visitors have. For species diversity, I highly recommend anytime in April and May. There is a fantastic raptor and wader migration after mid-August through to the end of October. Winter is great for the wintering Red-breasted Geese in Bulgaria and the Lesser-white-fronted Geese in Northern Greece.

Pygmy Cormorant

If any readers of 10,000 Birds are interested in birding with you, how can they best contact you?

By email: [email protected] , or WhatsApp: +359888409907

Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers of 10,000 Birds?

• Feel free to check my TripAdvisor page for testimonials, and do not hesitate to contact me with any enquiries you may have.

• Bulgaria and Greece are real gems for birding in Europe, and if you have not been in the region, you will not be disappointed. Both countries combine fantastic birding, lovely hospitality, great food with delicious products and safety when travelling. You are always welcome to come and see local birds in the Easternmost of the westernmost edge of their distribution range. The geographical position of the countries makes them really superb for birding.

Bulgaria