Wildlife In The Heart of Sofia

in #archisteem5 years ago

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So easy does life in the city make us forget how close we are to nature. And how close we can still choose to be if we just took the time to walk in the park.

I want to take you to a place in the central park of Sofia, the one called Borisova Gradina (The Garden of Tsar Boris III, last monarch of Bulgaria who held the post until the end of World War Two).

The place is somewhere between the Observatory grounds, the Water Lilly Pond and a monument dominated by a huge obelisk.

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This story is not about any of those, it is about the forested part between where animals will come to meet you if you have the patience. You will know it when you see the few wooden tables and benches among tall pine trees near an oak grove.

There and in nearby areas dwell the most calm representatives of Sofia's wildlife. You may see the same variety of species in other parks around the city but here they have grown used to people feeding them from their open palms, even.

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Well, some of them, at least. And it does require patience and calmness on the human's part. But in winter animals would always prefer food that requires less effort to find because effort does kill in winter. Exhaustion is a real threat when food is scarce and storing as much energy as possible could be crucial to the each specimen.

Squirrels are the most curious of them all and would trust you to touch them gently. Well, after they take what you offer they would usually take their distance. But before that... they may decide to make a thorough inspection of your bags.

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Other casual visitors of spontaneous restaurants you might decide to open would be jays and chickadees or tits (different words I found for the same species).

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When I stay awhile I am usually able to capture a interesting moment like the process of deciphering some alien culture's ancient writings on a bench...

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Last time it was too dark to capture any good colors and motion at high shutter speeds.

It seems that the largest of them all would be the most cautious. Especially if you try to point any big lenses ot other tubes at them. They say crows are smarter than most.

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Not easy to approach those folks.

About that last time I mentioned... Yes, it was dark and cold. My fiancée loves feeding the tiny creatures but she is also busy until late most of the days so we went in the park not that far away from us in not that optimal a time. I had spotted so many of the park's wild inhabitants the previous week when I had a lesson there with a student of mine... And when I brought here to the same spot a week later... nobody. Not a sound, not a pixel moving among the trees.

Well, lucky I had those magic seeds. You throw them in a thin can, they clatter there for a few seconds... and soon, out of nowhere, the usual crowd seems to spawn.

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Enjoy the Dark Si... I mean the Dark Squirrel!

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Please, be advised that those cute animals are still rodents, wild and may carry diseases like rabies even. Don't let them bite you. And don't do harm, too. For instance they should not eat salty stuff.

Take care!

Yours,

Manol

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Thanks a lot! It has been a while since I uploaded a story.

Yup, we are longing for your stories! Keep it up @manoldonchev!

Thank you for presenting such variety of birds in the city, I believe because it is quite difficult to get some food in winter they prefer to spend time close to human, and been fed. You were lucky to be able to capture a squirrel so close, I love them, they are so cute but the same time very fast so it is almost impossible to get close to them. I remember couple of years ago we placed a basket with different sorts of nuts in our garden on a tree and we had the whole winter through a family of squirrel visiting us, that was a lot of fan. The pictures are beautiful and great quality.

Thank you! I hope you have even more fun and nice visitors in winters to come.

WOOO that squirel is so so so cute <3

That's their job.

What wonderful squirrels live in Sofia! Great photos and story! )

Thanks! They live in more than one park but most of them are too shy. Which is just good instincts.

Aren't those little animals are squirrels. ....pretty amazing how beautifully you shot each of them.....shot is wrong word I believe capture is the best to choose.
I believe the best pal for a photographer are their camera ...which keeps Them company ..all along. Looking at each of them feels like watching the real nature live....lovely capture..👍

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Well, I have that T-shirt that says that I shoot people, so it is not that wrong a word ;) Thank you for your comment!

Awesome captures!!! 😍

True we cannot see these things in the city. If we could only pause City life and enjoy the little things that we often ignore.

Exactly a walk in the park is not bad, we all need the break. Its good that the squirrels seem friendly that they were not even scared for they had come to you and eat whatever you had feed them. And they are simply not camera shy too! Hahaha.. i like that at all!

Hmmmmmm.. was that even an ancient writing? Or was it a vandalism??.. guilty over here! I used to do that when I was younger..

I like also how you had patiently covered the bird story or moment as you call them. It was a fun watch.

Thanks @manoldonchev for taking the walk.

Cheers!

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Oh, so you also did ancient writings?

Hahahahaha i must say yes i did..

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Enjoyed the walk in the wooded area with you @manoldonchev everything fresh and new, nature up north is so different, the flash of blue in the bird swings stunning.

The bristle tail of the squirrel a rodent we seldom see, our crows are big and mainly black, very seldom fly close enough to capture a photograph.

Thanks for stopping by! Where do you live, @joanstewart?

Sub-tropical climate in Durban, South Africa. Have seen squirrels, they look very different to your ones in the north. Your bird species are not birds we see down here in the south.

You got great shots there. You must have a very good lens to have captured these all. I love that third photo of the jay. And whoah, the squirrels are cute! 😃 Looks like great for pets. Can those be domesticated in the first place?

Hardly domesticated in a lifetime. But they can be thought to come for food, I guess ;)

I guess that will be an easy one. 😊

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