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Since I live not very far from Greece, I have often combined my vacation there with birding. I have a handful of Greece travel guides (not that I am happy with any of them), but what I always missed was a specialised bird-finding guide. Greece is visited by millions of tourists every year (over 19.5
Steve Dudley, a bird guide and author of the Lesvos birding guide, once told me: “Greece is THE premier birding location in Europe for me [and for yours truly as well]. You can get to Athens from pretty much anywhere, and from Athens, you can access anywhere else in Greece easily enough by plane, ferry, or car. What’s not to love!”
Finding Birds in Northern Greece (2015) covers the birdwise very best northeast of the country (provinces of Macedonia and Thrace), from the wetland border with Turkey all the way to the mountains and lakes at the triple border with Albania and North Macedonia.
I was born and bred by the banks of the Lake Kerkini National Park in the north of Greece, one hour from the country’s second largest city Thessaloniki. With more than 312 so far recorded bird species, Lake Kerkini National Park offers great birding year-round. My name is Nikos Gallios. The maximum length of the Lake Kerkini Lake 10.5
One simply has to love Greece. I am exhilarated – I have had only a handful of chances to observe this species! Such a fascinating species. How old are they as a species? Just ten minutes later, another swift species shows, several Pallid Swifts above the outskirt of a seaside town.
And then, a few days ahead of our trip, a British birder Clive Mason left a comment under my old blog on birding Lake Karla , just north of the Pelion Peninsula in central Greece, saying that he will be in the area next week. The lake IBA has about 230 so far eBirded species.
The Prespa Lakes National Park in Greece is well hidden among the mountains at the triple border with Albania in the west and the FYRO Macedonia in the north. One of them has a satellite transmitter around its neck and quite a few have white collars marked with the letter “G” (for Greece?) and dual digits. 02, G04,06,07,40 and G74.
While crossing Gramos Mountain in northern Greece, a Dendrocopos woodpecker flew over the road and landed in a pine tree. 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. Enough of the mountains. What to say?
Lake Kerkini National Park in the north of Greece is the very best birding area in the Balkan Peninsula and definitely among the top ten hotspots of Europe. Some 320 species have been recorded here, and in springtime it is possible to observe more than 150 bird species in a week. The lake lies at a mere 35 m / 115 ft a.s.l.
The sun rises over the village of Chrysochorafa, by Kerkini Lake in the north of Greece, not far from the triple border with Bulgaria and FYRO Macedonia. Before this trip, I asked Steve Mills, the author of ‘ Birdwatching in Northern Greece ’, which sites would he recommend at this time of the year. Early September morning. Google Map.
Birdwise, it turned out to be a good one and my year list was almost 400 species long, which made me happy… almost. This will be the first time I find myself in Greece in winter. Both: “The Lesser White-fronted Goose in Greece” by Demertzi et al., At home, I may find a new bird, perhaps two, but four? The solution?
All around Porto Lagos (220 km / 140 mi east of Thessaloniki) lies the largest national park of Greece, Nestos Delta and the Vistonida-Ismarida lakes and lagoons complex, founded in 2008. The area is one of the most important in Greece for birds, comprising more than 270 species.
“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)!
It is an early April morning and we are in the hills surrounding Lake Kerkini in the north of Greece. A few metres further, something is jumping from one branch to another… a pair of Subalpine Warblers , a Mediterranean species that does not go much further north than this. Trips Europe Greece pelicans'
I was driving along the legendary eastern levee of the Kerkini Lake in northern Greece ( Google Map ) and, listening to the first Golden Oriole flute, was slowly getting closer to a wooded Mt. Out of some 4000 buffaloes still being kept in Greece, about 3000 are at this lake. What is the status of this species in the Kerkini NP?
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. Spring (migrants and breeding species) and winter (wintering waterbirds). Eurasian Spoonbills. Soon the lake ends. Yet, what is killing the birds of Lake Karla? Practicalities.
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.
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
I was a week into my trip to the Peloponnese, in south-west Greece, and my bird list had stagnated on 40 species. So one day, in search of new birds, I drove from my base at Agios Nickolas, south of Kalamata, to the Gialova Lagoon, on the west coast.
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. On a wire by the road, one European Bee-eater awaits me.
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.
There haven’t been any reports of Turtle Doves locally this year, which isn’t really surprising as this species has declined by a staggering 97% in the last 20 years, and it’s eventual loss as a breeding species in the UK is a distinct possibility. This year didn’t disappoint: the weather was good, the birds as brilliant as ever.
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. Nor have I see a skua (jaeger) of any species. I haven’t done well with Golden Eagles, with just a single bird, seen briefly, in Greece, in May.
This time I was lucky enough to join a fam trip organised by Natural Greece, an ecotourism company from Athens, and spend a few days at my favourite Kerkini Lake, which you already birded through my bins ( April and September ). Should I add, this is my best sighting of this uncommon species – ever!
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).
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.
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.) Both species of pelicans breed on the lake, with the Dalmatians the more numerous.
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.
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.
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'
And here I am on vacation in Greece, turning off the alarm at 5.30 In my native Serbia, these birds are so ill numbered that they were even deleted from the huntable species list with an explanation: “there is no surviving population of huntable size”. Trips Greece partridges' No partridges for me under these olives, either.
That is why I am so pleased to see the new “Gulls of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East: An Identification Guide” being illustrated with nearly 1400 colour photographs of the 45 species of gulls found in the Western Palearctic. Detailed range maps with a textual range description for each species are included. pounds, and 6.7
This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. I used to live in Botswana, where there are about 450 bird species in an area a few dozen miles from the capital; then somewhat naively moved back to Serbia with mere 250 species around the capital.
Here we go: Guest-authors: Deborah Jean Cohen, Eric DeFonso, James Wolstencroft, Joshua Stuart Rose, Marcel van Driel, Mike Black, Natural Greece, Paul Oliver, Rockjumper – Worldwide Birding Adventures, Sandra Paci, Susan Soloyanis, WorldBirders. Natural Greece: “Empathy is important too. Language skills too.”. ’ TICK.
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. It is one of the most range-restricted of European birds, breeding only in Greece, Turkey and adjacent areas.
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). Yes, it is expected on migration, but to be accepted, a good quality photo-proof would be a necessity.
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.
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.
The aquarium said it hoped Homer would help raise awareness about the plight of his species. The Archelon rescue centre in Greece previously looking after Homer believes this is what happened to him. Fishermen in Greece deliberately blinding turtles? Fishermen in Greece deliberately blinding turtles?
I had just a split-second glimpse of this species – my only second ever – yet immediately knew what is it, but I was driving through a snowbound countryside and had another car behind me, therefore I stopped a good 50 metres later to eBird it. Fortunately, B. managed to see it, his largest owl ever. Am I satisfied?
There’s also a much greater variety of species of deer living here now than than there were four or five hundred years ago, for along with our native Roe and Red Deer we also have large populations of Fallow, Sika, Reeves’s Muntjac and Chinese Water Deer. Reeves’s Muntjac , a highly successful invasive species in the UK.
Late last month, while searching for bears , woodpeckers and spirits of Greece, I deliberately avoided checking any news, especially from my home country. We are facing a plague of poaching that is again decimating the species. The way I see it, it is a cruel joke leading towards the extinction of a threatened species.
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.
Born in a different era, when bird photography was difficult, I gave many advice how to write the basic info, but the strangest thing to novices today turned out to be the advice on sketching the unknown species. Still, besides documenting rare species, forms, or odd individuals (e.g. Cover photo: birding Greece.
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