OBSERVATION OF VULTURES DURING FEEDING

The price for feeding the vultures, regardless of the number of people in the group, is BGN 120.

We will provide the food for the vultures and an ornithologist guide to take you to the site and accompany you on this adventure. And you, around 9:00 a.m. on the appointed day, reach the village of Potochnica, close to the wall of the Studen Kladenets dam, in the direction of Krumovgrad. There, our guide will explain to you what behavior you should have in order not to disturb the birds. This is important to be able to see them. Together you will continue to the village of Potocharka, from there in about 20 minutes you will reach the observation point, in the immediate vicinity of the Valchi dol reserve.

Watching the vultures while eating in their "restaurant" is an unforgettable attraction. Sometimes more than a hundred birds gather at the feeding grounds of the vulture species, rushing to eat the main menu. We observe them with a spotting scope and binoculars at a distance of about 400 meters. Naturally, the hungriest birds are first, but their fellow birds do not wait long. In about 30 minutes we understand why these birds are nature's janitors. They clean their dining table to a "full shine". In about 2 hours, we manage to get to know the manners of vultures during feeding and what it means to be at the top of the food chain. Of course, it has happened that the birds wish to leave their food for later, but they are always there in their "restaurant".

MAKE YOUR PROGRAM YOURSELF

Watching vultures during feeding is a wonderful combination with searching for minerals in the Studen Kladenets area, watching other birds, amphibians and reptiles, watching wild tarpans, visiting historical sites or kayaking on the Studen Kladenets Dam.

We wish you an unforgettable adventure!

About a century ago, four types of vultures - griffon, black, Egyptian and bearded - were found in Bulgaria. Today, the bearded vulture has completely disappeared from the nature of Bulgaria, and the black vulture has disappeared as a nesting species. A small number of griffon and Egyptian vultures have survived in the Eastern Rhodopes, in the area of Madjarovo and the Studen Kladenets dam. The main reason for their disappearance and reduction is the poisonous baits used in the past, aimed at reducing the number of wolves. In the 1980s, as a measure to restore the population of griffon vultures /counting only a few pairs in the area of Madjarovo and Studen Kladenets/ a group of passionate environmentalists and the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds started feeding them. Today, pairs of griffon vultures number 77, and their regular feeding continues THANKS TO YOU.