Purple Heron, Spoonbill and the heat!
02nd August 2019
The heat in Bulgaria and also Romania, while we were there in June really was quite debilitating and health precautions became necessary. Copious amounts of water had to be consumed and sun cream had to be applied every morning first thing. Both of these become tedious after a time – sun cream can get in your eyes when you sweat and we were sweating big time! And water becomes particularly unpalatable after you are drinking it by the litre! However, both were very necessary if you were staying out in temperatures of thirty degrees plus - every day. Although having taken these precautions I was still suffering from some heat exhaustion on one particular day. These symptoms manifested themselves in the form of a really upset stomach and I had to disappear into some bushes very quickly one morning (much to the amusement of Susan and Dimiter). This was bad enough but it was accompanied with feelings of extreme lethargy when I just wanted to curl up and fall asleep. Thankfully these horrible feelings had passed by the following day and afterwards I increased my water intake and found shade whenever I could.
Previously I had mentioned to Dimiter that it would be good to see a Purple Heron if possible, and in fairness everything we asked about he did his best to find. Unfortunately on the day mentioned above that I was below par we were out on an extremely hot and humid morning in a very arid area with hardly any shelter. We had parked the jeep under the only tree around to try and escape the heat and I was sat inside resting. Although the sky was overcast and quite grey in places, the weather was still hugely oppressive. There was a reed bed about two hundred yards away which was supposed to hold breeding Purple Herons and we were waiting to try and catch a bird in flight. Susan and Dimiter were looking at some dragonflies and I was sat there with my lens on my lap just in case. I was drifting off to sleep when suddenly a shout came - ‘Steve a Purple Heron’ I jumped out of the vehicle, half asleep and saw a bird flying overhead.
I took a few shots and retreated back to my seat - I felt as rough as a Badgers bum to be honest! After a couple of minutes had passed I was drifting back to sleep – when the call came again - ‘Steve it’s coming back’ - I was back out again trying to take a few shots.
I had to try because I really wanted to see this bird.
The sky had by now become totally clear and it was now even more hot. As the Heron drifted away back to the reed bed I resumed my position and I thought that was it because Susan and Dimiter were coming back to the jeep. Then like an alarm clock – ‘Steve, Spoonbill coming over’ it was like something from a nightmare – out again and took more shots.
Although it was great to see these lovely birds, especially the Heron because we don't see many of those anywhere, I was thinking to myself, ‘please don’t find anything else’! I felt so ungrateful but it was really tough going, then at last we drove off with the air-conditioning on. I was glad to escape the oppressive heat and head for our much needed lunch stop.
Previously I had mentioned to Dimiter that it would be good to see a Purple Heron if possible, and in fairness everything we asked about he did his best to find. Unfortunately on the day mentioned above that I was below par we were out on an extremely hot and humid morning in a very arid area with hardly any shelter. We had parked the jeep under the only tree around to try and escape the heat and I was sat inside resting. Although the sky was overcast and quite grey in places, the weather was still hugely oppressive. There was a reed bed about two hundred yards away which was supposed to hold breeding Purple Herons and we were waiting to try and catch a bird in flight. Susan and Dimiter were looking at some dragonflies and I was sat there with my lens on my lap just in case. I was drifting off to sleep when suddenly a shout came - ‘Steve a Purple Heron’ I jumped out of the vehicle, half asleep and saw a bird flying overhead.
I took a few shots and retreated back to my seat - I felt as rough as a Badgers bum to be honest! After a couple of minutes had passed I was drifting back to sleep – when the call came again - ‘Steve it’s coming back’ - I was back out again trying to take a few shots.
I had to try because I really wanted to see this bird.
The sky had by now become totally clear and it was now even more hot. As the Heron drifted away back to the reed bed I resumed my position and I thought that was it because Susan and Dimiter were coming back to the jeep. Then like an alarm clock – ‘Steve, Spoonbill coming over’ it was like something from a nightmare – out again and took more shots.
Although it was great to see these lovely birds, especially the Heron because we don't see many of those anywhere, I was thinking to myself, ‘please don’t find anything else’! I felt so ungrateful but it was really tough going, then at last we drove off with the air-conditioning on. I was glad to escape the oppressive heat and head for our much needed lunch stop.