site.btaA Perfect Day for Bird-Ringing

On a warm sunny Saturday in late September, three women and two men are ringing birds. They are volunteers or certified bird-ringers working at Dragoman Marsh, which is one of the two bases of the Balkani Wildlife Society.

Lying a mere 35 km north-west of Sofia, the marsh is the biggest natural karst wetland in Bulgaria - and arguably in the Balkans. The area was declared a Ramsar site on February 2, 2012. It is home to over 200 species of birds including some of high conservation status.

The marsh is home to the biggest colony of great egret in an inland wetland area in Bulgaria. Also, it is home to a couple of grey herons. The grey heron had stopped nesting in Bulgaria when the country started to drain its wetlands for agricultural purposes. In 2023, the couple had a chick, a first in the marsh's history over the past few decades, but then the little bird vanished. Fortunately, a new chick hatched in 2024. "The local people are really proud of it," said Neli Ivanova.

It is the third edition of Balkani’s bird-ringing campaign, held in partnership with the Bulgarian Ornithological Centre with the Institute of Bio-Diversity and Eco-System Studies with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and WWF Bulgaria.

The bird-ringing is taking place between September 14 and October 13.

The volunteers have placed nets at several spots in the marsh and up the hill across the road that goes along it. They check on the nets every hour or so and collect the birds. Each bird is put in an individual bag and taken to the ringing spot. As they are ringed, the volunteers measure their weight, wingspan, feet, beaks and head. Once the data is collected, the birds are released. Those of the same species who have been caught in a group are released together.

The 2023 camp ringed 876 birds of 42 species in the course of 15 days. According to Balkani, these camps prove the significance of Dragoman Marsh as a bird habitat, feeding ground, resting spot for migratory birds and overwintering spot.

Neli Ivanova of Balkani told BTA that in addition to providing valuable information about the bird populations in the Dragoman Marsh, the bird-ringing is also a way to educate people and attract and train new volunteers. She said the bird-ringing volunteers are very few.

Balkani has taken on an important educating mission where the focus is local people and students. Ivanova said that they hold meetings with local people to raise their awareness of the significance of the marsh for wild nature.

Ivanova gets passionate as she speaks about educating people. While some are aware of the significance of the marsh, others have never set their foot there even if they have lived in the area all their life. She wants to "infect them with the marsh bug", meaning she wants to get them engaged and involve them in protection and marsh-related activities – most notably cutting the reed and typha. Both plants could grow so dense that they cover any open water areas, vital for the birds. This is when Balkani volunteers have to interfere and cut the reed and typha.

Today the organization has a project to rebuild wooden walks that were destroyed in a 2020 fire, which also burnt the marsh vegetation. Most of the vegetation took a year to restore, but what is left of the trees is the charcoaled trunks jutting out from the reeds. Today they only serve as homes to bats and other small animals.

The visitors walk will take a dedicated investment to be rebuilt. Balkani has a design ready and is halfway through the approval procedure with the local authorities.