© Pavel Stepanek
Unlike the other birds that received transmitters as part of the “Lafe for Eagles’ Habitats” project, the young Lesser Spotted Eagle Iliya did not return to Bulgaria but stayed in Turkey, near the capital city of Ankara.
According to ornithologists from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB), the eagle found enough food in the region, which is why it spent the summer there. The feathered traveller crossed the sea twice, visiting the Black Sea resort of Heraclea Pontica, and during the last days of last week, it flew past the cities of Mersin and Iskenderun on the Mediterranean coast.
In the coming days, anyone can track the eagle’s flight through the project’s website, and we hope the little bird from Dobrudja will reach its wintering grounds without any problems.