The standout highlight from my visit to Poda was getting my first ever go at some Collared Pratincole photos. They (pratincoles generally) have always been up there as one of my favourite species, and one I’d been looking forward to opportunity to photograph, especially having seen over the years lots of great low angle photos, including nearby along the Black Sea Coast in Romania.

I’d only ever seen a few high flyovers on previous visits to Poda, so our count of 25+ was a surprise, and especially seeing some landed — this year they were breeding at the site, which wasn’t the case as far as I’m aware in previous years. In Bulgaria, Collared Pratincoles lay 2-4 eggs in the middle of May, the young supposedly hatching around the time of my visit. I managed to find a nice spot obscured amongst the reeds where I was able to get a nice low angle, while still being far enough away to not cause disturbance.

Earlier in the day I also managed a few decent flight shots, but nothing special. Flight photography is always hard at Poda given it doesn’t open until relatively late, by which time the sun has already become an inconvenience. These are probably on par with the last Collared Pratincoles I saw, when amazingly 3 appeared together at Dungeness RSPB.