Macro Photography in the Rhodope Mountains

I’ll be honest, I’m not an early riser, but sitting in a misty meadow in Bulgaria at dawn, surrounded by no less than 20 roosting butterflies stirring in the morning sunshine is one of those moments where you consider all those mornings you’ve wasted by pressing ‘snooze’!

Bulgaria is a country of many colours and is unendingly beautiful. Second place in terms of biodiversity in Europe, it contains a great variety of landscapes, from huge expanses of open grassland peppered with sunflower fields, ancient oak forests and impressive gorges carved through mountains and swirling switchbacks leading to wildlife-rich mountain plateaus. When it comes to wildlife, Bulgaria has a huge number of endemic species and some real treasures.

When planning my trip, there were a few species I was keen to see and spoonwing and owlfly were top of the list. You know what it’s like when you’ve looked at images of animals that you haven’t seen and they almost become like mythical creatures? Well, these ‘unicorns’ of the insect world are no longer mythical thanks to beautiful Bulgaria!

Spoonwings can thrive in seemingly uninhabitable areas of dried bush and grass. Stepping out of the car on the rocky escarpment and crunchy dried leaves I looked around thinking – really? Here? But two minutes after walking into the bush I found my first spoonwing! It has a very distinctive flight pattern, so was easy to spot as it landed, apparently unusually, on the underside of a thick branch. That was not the only one however, as walking through the dried bushes, I came across another four or five relatively quickly, some happier to pose than others.

Part of the antlion family, they’re also known as thread-winged lacewing, and it’s clear to see how they get that name when you look at the fragility of their structure. In flight, they look as though they may just fold up and drop out of the air, but they’re a real pleasure to watch and photograph.

The second target was the eye-catching owlfly. Arriving at a possible known location in the intense heat of the afternoon I soon saw a flash of yellow rising into the air. Racing after it, I focused on it ready to shoot it when it landed … and as it did, it immediately closed its wings. This became a game for a while, so I busied myself with other creatures nearby, including a lovely mantis.

I discovered a female owlfly laying eggs on a stem, and watched the incredible precision with which she positioned the eggs in a closely-spaced double row. Thankfully my patience was rewarded as the sun began to lower and I looked around to see a number of owlflies start to open their wings and bask in the last rays of sun. What a beautiful sight!

Our Bulgaria Macro Photography trip focuses on these in addition to a plethora of other butterflies and insects, including blues, fritillaries, eastern festoon butterflies, mantids and more. We stay in two hotels surrounded by meadows and wildflowers, giving us constant access to subjects throughout the day. Bulgaria is perfect for any macro lover and I can’t wait to go back and explore with our group.

Find out more about our Bulgaria Macro Photography trip, or for a slightly different itinerary consider our Butterflies & Birds of Bulgaria group tour which is perfect for non-photographers. For further guidance, contact our expert team.