This short break would take you either to the mountains in south-western Bulgaria or to the Southern Carpathian Mountains in Romania, depending on where it is easier to find the Wallcreeper at the time of your visit. This means that we will be flexible with this target birding tour, the idea being to increase to the maximum our chances to enjoy and photograph this magnificent bird.

The main Wallcreeper spots in Bulgaria are located in high mountain ranges in south-western Bulgaria – the Pirin, the Rila and the Western Rhodope mountains. The landscape in the Rila and the Pirin mountains is of expressed alpine character and exceptional natural beauty, boasting high peaks over 2500 m, fascinating alpine meadows dotted with glacial lakes, dense forests, spectacular rocky gorges and precipitous cliffs. Quite different is the view in the Western Rhodopes – rounded, pine-clad hills, occasionally cut by streams and rivers winding through deep gorges.

We will spend our time exploring the rock faces in the mountains, searching for the Wallcreeper. Usually the Wallcreepers can be easily seen constantly flicking their crimson-and-black wings while investigating the rocky nooks for food. We will also check certain conifer forests and mountain meadows for birds like the Grey-headed Woodpecker, Black Woodpecker, Spotted Nutcracker, Alpine Chough, Ring Ouzel (ssp. alpestris), Eurasian Crag Martin, Crested Tit, Common Firecrest, Rock Bunting and many others.

Our alternative Wallcreeper spots are in the highest part of the Southern Carpathians in neighbouring Romania. This is a long chain of mountains with vast stretches of spruce, beech and oak forests, holding with large populations of Brown Bear, Wolf, Chamois and a rich diversity of birds, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates and plants.

During our tour we will be exploring the alpine and conifer forest zones of the mountain, where apart from the Wallcreeper we will be able to enjoy a good variety of forest birds, including the Black Woodpecker and Grey-headed Woodpecker, Willow Tit, Crested Tit. In the alpine areas we will have very good chances to observe the Alpine Accentor, Horned Lark, Black Redstart and Water Pipit.