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“The estuary and the delta of the River Kalamas form the most important wetland of northwest Greece”, so the “ Birding in Greece ” guidebook claims for the area where I am heading, a bit late since I overslept this morning. I am checking the grass for any flash of white and soon my suspicion is confirmed: Cattle Egrets (cover photo)!
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'
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).
On my 21-day Kenyan safaris we reckoned to find around 600 species of birds and around 60 mammals, both impressive totals. In 2023 I attempted to keep a year list of mammal encounters: the list barely exceeded 20 species, while it became complicated by seeing bats and voles that I was unable to name specifically.
Lynford also boasts an arboretum, with 200 different species of trees. Hawfinches have declined in the UK in recent years and become harder to see, though they remain common on the Continent: this year I’ve only seen them in Greece. However, the best bird of the day I came across when just a couple of miles from home.
This is “the deep cradle of Western ornithology: the birthplace of bird study,” he tells us as he writes about gazing at the 8,000-year old depictions of “flamingos, herons, raptors, avocets and many other species” (p. There’s the Neolithic era; Ancient Egypt (bird mummies!);
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? This is a Masked Shrike.
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.
While crossing Gramos Mountain in northern Greece, a Dendrocopos woodpecker flew over the road and landed in a pine tree. It’s the boar hunting season. By the cliffs we find several Eurasian Crag-Martins and a consolation species – a family of Golden Eagles in the air! The Greater Spotted Eagle is a threatened species.
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. A guy on a motorbike is approaching me… perhaps a leader of the hunt to warn me off the area for safety reasons?
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. A guy on a motorbike is approaching me… perhaps a leader of the hunt to warn me off the area for safety reasons?
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.
But, from the existing data, the authors have drawn a different conclusion – there is no proof that the breeding population ever existed, that the south of Africa was beyond the species range and that that all observations were of vagrant individuals. During my lifetime, this species was rare in my native Serbia, too.
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”.
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