In July, experts from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) successfully captured and tagged with a GPS transmitter a Dalmatian pelican in Albania. The action was done on request and in cooperation with the team of Protection and Preservation of Nature in Albania (PPNEA), as BSPB experts have big experience and expertise in capturing and tagging pelicans.

A Danube Delta-based educational camp held in June saw over 50 participants from four countries come together to learn more about Dalmatian pelicans – and the important role that rewilding can play in recovering populations of this iconic bird across Europe.

Unlike last year, 2023 turned out to be much more favorable for the Dalmatian Pelicans nesting in Persina Nature Park and Kalimok-Brushlen Protected Area. The main reason for this is the relatively high-water level of the Danube River from February to June, which is crucial for the wetland areas along the river and the water-loving bird species nesting there.

The “Festival of the Dalmatian Pelican” third edition organized by Persina Nature Park Directorate collected many smiles and beaming children’s faces. The event took place on May 26 and 27 on the yard of the park’s visitor center as part of the “Pelican Way of LIFE” initiative.

In the period 24-26 May, the sixth international pelican census was held in South-Eastern Europe. It aimed at gathering information about the number and distribution in the region of two endangered keystone species – Dalmatian pelican and Great white pelican. The event was organized within the initiative “Pelican Way of LIFE” and coordinated by the Hellenic ornithological society (HOS).

In the last few weeks, the team of the Hellenic Ornithological Society visited Messolonghi and Amvrakikos Gulf in order to coordinate tagging and monitoring activities of Dalmatian pelican chicks in the two important breeding colonies of the species.

The National Ornithology Olympiad 2023 was held by the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) in spring, with the final round last Sunday, gathering twenty best students from a total of 117 pupils of 5th to 8th grades from different cities of the country.

At the end of March, the first Dalmatian pelicans hatched in the Persina Nature Park and in the Kalimok-Brushlen Protected Area. This was discovered during the regular monitoring of the species, carried out by experts and volunteers of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB), as well as by experts from the Directorate of the Persina Nature Park in the town of Belene.

An international census of wintering Dalmatian pelicans, which also took place in Romania at the end of 2022, shows encouraging results for the species population in the area.

In early March, a team from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) successfully ringed and tagged with satellite transmitters two more Dalmatian pelicans in Bulgaria. The birds were tagged in the Burgas lakes area. This brings the total number of pelicans tagged this season in the country to four.