More than 10 years have passed since my first visit to the forests of the Rodopi mountains. In all these visits one of the main target species was Capercaillie. The “emblematic” species of the forest most probably at its southernmost point of existence in Europe. However I always returned with a little disappointment since all efforts failed. Despite all information and no matter how hard I tried, I never managed to find it. Besides, the population is quite small. Less than 400 birds are said to exist throughout the vast forest.
All this until last November! At last, in my last excursion with Michalis and George our luck changed. While moving into the forest we fell on a beautiful female Capercaillie which was moving right on our path! We sat quietly and took several photos since the impressive bird seemed not to be particularly disturbed by our presence. She moved slowly and after giving us some beautiful pictures, she vanished in the woods.
This encounter overshadowed all the other beautiful and rare species that we found in this unique forest. The Pygmy Owl that we found in the area of Elatia forest (check the below photo) is just an example.
Don’t forget that by clicking on the pictures you can see them in a larger/sharper version with their Exif Data.
Great photos Petros !
The Owl was Pygmy !
Thanks Michali!
The mistake is already corrected!