10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2024

Take a quick look at the breeding distribution of European birds and you will see that there are a surprising number of species that are restricted to the Balkans. It is these Balkan specials that are the target species… Source It is these Balkan specials that are the target species… Source

Herzegovina 237

Herzegovina Albania Bosnia Macedonia 237

10,000 Birds

MAY 31, 2024

True, most of our migrant breeding birds start to return in April, but in May even the late arrivals – Turtle Doves, Swifts, Spotted Flycatchers and Nightjars – finally appear. Since my first visit to this corner of Greece in 2008 I’ve been a regular visitor, drawn back by the abundance and variety of birds.

Greece 243

Greece Turtles Breeding Europe 243

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2017

In early August this year, I saw 77 species here (69 on the lake, plus 8 more in the surrounding areas) but barely more than a thousand individuals. In my homeland, some 800 km / 500 mi further north, these ducks are common on migration but very rare in the breeding season and I realized that these are my first young birds – ever.

Greece 210

Greece Killing Pelicans Eagles 210

10,000 Birds

JULY 12, 2024

My target at the start of the year was 200 species in the UK and 300 in Europe, so I’ve achieved the latter, while the chances of reaching the former are pretty good. That trip was fun, as it reminded me of the delights of watching birds like Golden Plover and even Meadow Pipit on their breeding grounds.

Cyprus 240

Cyprus Greece Spain Europe 240

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2020

Like many of you, I had plans for this year’s spring migration: to bird the very best tour of the Balkans, heading for northeastern Greece. First, 800 km of driving from Belgrade through Bulgaria to very NE corner of Greece and the Dadia Forest National Park with its 36 species of diurnal raptors, out of Europe’s 38.

Greece 273

Greece Bulgaria Serbia 2000 273

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2023

My British total was a mere 172 species – not bad, but not very good. Every one of my 171 species was a bird that I found myself. It keeps a monthly record of sightings, so I can tell you that it was in February that I recorded my highest monthly species total (106), while my lowest total was in August (39).

Estonia 245

Estonia Portugal Greece Barn Owls 245

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2024

It’s a reservoir, not a natural lake, and was formed by damming the Striminos river, which flows into Greece from neighboring Bulgaria (unfortunately bringing with it huge amounts of plastic rubbish, creating problems for the National Park.) This indicates peak breeding condition, but by May their pouches are back to pale yellow again.

Pelicans 229

Pelicans Greece Fish Bulgaria 229

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2014

We are in the village of Finikas on the island of Syros in the Cyclades archipelago of Greece. Nick finds a bird-shaped protrusion at the top of the rock – Black-eared Wheatear , not exactly a species I expect to observe from a boat deck. The Sun already sets and I haven’t seen a new species in a while. Practicalities.

Greece 251

Greece Malta Croatia Italy 251

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

Have you read my blogs on birding Greece ? Presuming that you live somewhere in Europe and plan a car trip to Greece, let me suggest a couple of routes that will increase your tour list. For the Ionian Sea, take the motorway exit for the town of Prilep, continue through Bitola and head for the Medzitlija – Niki crossing to Greece.

Greece 182

Greece Albania Macedonia Europe 182

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2024

There are 154 species of cuckoos in the world, and they’re all a fascinating bunch. It’s not a species you are likely to overlook, either, as it is extremely noisy, its cackling call carrying great distances. I wonder whether birds that breed in Europe ever meet up with those nest in southern Africa?

Cyprus 243

Cyprus Africa Europe Asia 243

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2023

I first visited Kerkini and this bird-rich region of northern Greece 15 years ago, and have been returning regularly ever since. Last year, in November, I notched up a dozen species of butterflies, an impressive total anywhere in Europe so late in the year.

Greece 241

Greece Pelicans Buffalo Geese 241

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2013

An afternoon is already growing old while I am driving downhill to the Livadi marsh at the island of Kefallonia, Greece. A quite uncommon bird – there are only about 6000 pairs on the planet and this is one of only a handful of my observations of this species. Trips falcons Greece'

Falcons 201

Falcons Greece Madagascar Game 201

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

And here I am now, avoiding the two barking dogs trying to bite my tires while I am driving through pre-dawn darkness towards the delta of the river Styx, or Acheron, as it is known today at the Ionian Sea coast of Greece. Trips Greece wetlands' On a wire by the road, one European Bee-eater awaits me. Circaetus gallicus.

Greece 219

Greece Serbia Hunters Cows 219

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2013

In short, the accepted view used to be that a small breeding population of Egyptian Vultures inhabited Southern Africa, but has vanished facing the spread of towns, roads and farms. During my lifetime, this species was rare in my native Serbia, too. The work is expected to take two months, after which the killer line will be removed.

Sudan 249

Sudan Macedonia Botswana Serbia 249

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2020

This is an uncommon species here – only about a dozen birds overwinter in the country annually. Out of my total of 15 observations ever, this is only the third within Serbia (the rest were half in India, the other half in Greece). published in the US as “Birds of Europe”), shows only a male in breeding plumage.

Serbia 296

Serbia Birds Cyprus Ducks 296

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. And a mere 120 bird species would be a good reason not to take Polynesia as an option. So, the perfect country to move to needs to have at least twice as many species as Serbia.

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2016

I am planning to have this post be the first in a (very) small series on Europe’s “large white-headed gulls” It will of course only be a small series since there aren’t that many large white-headed gull species in Europe and particularly because I don’t want to cause too harsh a drop in the blog’s visitor numbers.

Europe 146

Europe Spain Italy Ireland 146

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2016

Unlike other bird races where participants keep tight-lipped about bird species as mundane as a House Sparrow , this event gives a prize to the team that helps the most. But isn’t all of that data sharing counterproductive for a bird race where the team with the most species wins?

Israel 189

Israel Costa Rica Eagles Raised 189

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2019

eBird doesn’t offer such an option, so I used the second best: the species was observed in one month only. They do not build nests, but occupy old nests of Rooks and breed colonially among them. Red-footed Falcon’s breeding range starts less than 50 mi north of here and I hope that some will choose to join a local rookery and stay.”.

2018 122

2018 Serbia Greece Falcons 122

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2024

The next couple of months will of course see a boost to my British list, as summer migrants flood into England, while forthcoming trips to Cyprus, Greece and northern Spain will also turbocharge the European list. A lone Whooper Swan on a grey January day in Norfolk As for the ducks – I’m now up to 15 species.

Spain 130

Spain Eagles North America Ducks 130

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2016

Out of just under 200 bird species I observed this year in SE Europe, there are 6 threatened species. point to just one problem source, one over-abundant and highly invasive species – Homo sapiens. point to just one problem source, one over-abundant and highly invasive species – Homo sapiens.

Montenegro 203

Montenegro Serbia Greece Bulgaria 203

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2024

Only four species breed in Britain – the Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Corn Bunting and Cirl Bunting, but there are rather more in Europe, of which my favourite is the Black-headed Bunting. This is a Balkan special, and a bird I know well from Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus. A Cirl Bunting in winter.

Bulgaria 220

Bulgaria Greece Breeders India 220

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

Storks, Ibises and Spoonbills goes on to give greater detail of the former nesting sites in Europe: it could once be found “in southern Germany and Austria, in the valleys of the upper Rhine and Danube Rivers, and in the Alps of Switzerland, Italy and Germany, and perhaps in Hungary and Greece”.

Morocco 245

Morocco Algeria Austria Germany 245

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 26, 2024

Explaining the increase in the number of sightings is difficult, as the Siberian breeding population is declining. Vagrants are typically found in flocks of Brent Geese or Barnacle Geese so the winter distribution map mimics the stopover and wintering areas of those species.”

Bulgaria 130

Bulgaria Geese Romania Estonia 130

10,000 Birds

JUNE 30, 2022

In addition, it has over 450 bird species and more than 30 in-country endemics, of which it is possible to see every single species! More than 140 bird species have been recorded, a list that includes dozens of rainforest and/or wet-zone specialists unlikely to be seen anywhere else readily accessible to tourists.

Sri Lanka 147

Sri Lanka Ghana Uganda Protest 147