Kerkini Lake, Greece: 3rd - 5th May 2019

Below are some images of species that weren't included in the previous posts. In total over the three days I found 112 species of birds (3 being lifers), as well as 13 species of Butterfly (weather not very conducive for these) and maybe five species of Orchids.

In all, the trip cost around £250, that's with staff travel flights (£28 return), car hire (£75 incl. insurance), accommodation (£140) & food costing just £13 (pasta and luncheon meat for dinners only plus basics for lunch and breakfast). I only used three-quarters of fuel over the trip, not bad for a Hyundai i10.

It was a very successful but also relaxing trip (apart from the hike up to the Bulgarian border), mainly as the area is so quiet and devoid of people; birds are everywhere, especially Nightingales, Golden Orioles, Bee-eaters and most other species that are rapidly declining here in the UK. I feel further exploration in this area is a must for future years.

Top ten birds for me are as follows:

Lesser Grey Shrike                                                       Roller
Lesser Spotted Eagle                                                    Spur-winged Plover
Levant Sparrowhawk                                                   Common Rock Thrush
Eastern Black-eared Wheatear                                     Eurasian Eagle Owl
Penduline Tit                                                                Masked Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

'Black-headed' Yellow Wagtail

Two Great White Pelicans &

2 Dalmatian Pelicans

Curlew Sandpipers

Green Underside Blue

Toothed Orchid

Pink Butterfly Orchid

(taken with my phone hence the quality)

Kerkini Lake NP, Northern Greece 5/5/19

I woke up to the sound of a strong breeze outside and so I was in no rush to rise. When I did a short while later, I went to check the very local Penduline Tits that Ellen & Phil (from Ringmer!!) had kindly told be about last night. Although the light was too poor for the camera, the charismatic pair showed off their incredible nest at close range. Wishing not to disturb them I left them to it.

Plan for the day was to head to the Bulgarian border (by road this time) to some riverine forest. Along the way I pulled over to check where I was, and a Roller was on some wires near the car, and further looks produced seven Turtle Doves on the same wire. I wasn't too sure what to expect at the forest, but I parked up in a very isolated location and managed to find a disused track into the dense strip of Poplars and Beech. Bird activity was thankfully very high and it wasn't too long before I found a nest hole belonging to a pair of Middle Spotted Woodpeckers. They didn't like me so again I left them to it. I was getting a tad bored with the track and wanted to get back on the road, so I took the (unwise) decision to head back to the road via what turned out to be a swamp. Despite much traversing across streams and getting my shoes covered in swamp, I returned to the original path. This may appear to have been a waste of time, however during the pointless exercise I found a stunning male Semi-collared Flycatcher in full song.

Now out of the forest my next plan was to walk some tracks on the adjacent hillsides, not just for the birds but also for the Orchids and Butterflies in the area. The weather was suitable for the latter, and just up the road I found a suitable track. I spent a few hours here mainly because it was very good. At long last there was an abundance of Eastern Subalpine Warblers, an Eastern Orphean Warbler showed nicely as it sang on top of a dead tree, whilst overhead a couple of Short-toed Eagles cruised over. I also managed to find some giant Lady Orchids, but most impressive for me was a perfect Knapweed Fritillary, this being a new species for me. There was also a Glanville Fritillary and many Queen of Spain Fritillaries that had surely just emerged as all were very fresh, as well as some interesting Blue butterflies.

After a lengthy time here I drove back to Lake Kerkini to once again bird the NE section, and it was excellent. Whilst parked up overlooking some grassy islands I noticed a superb Spur-winged Plover. Around it were no less than 18 Wood Sandpipers, and once some rain had passed, three immaculate summer-plumaged Curlew Sandpipers joined the party. A couple of Coypus were also in some reedy areas. A male Lesser Grey Shrike performed nicely before I called it a day. I still had to dry my shoes and so I tied them to each wing mirror, and were partially dry after the half hour drive back to my hotel. With them still wet, I walked bare foot to the Penduline Tits with ease before retreating quickly as a huge thunderstorm was approaching.

Highlights for today:

Dalmatian Pelican - 50
Pygmy Cormorant - 20
Spoonbill - 42
Great White Egret - 10
Scuacco Heron - 15
Night Heron - 3
Short-toed Eagle - 3
Spur-winged Plover - 1
Curlew Sandpiper - 3
Wood Sandpiper - 18
Whiskered Tern - 4
Turtle Dove - 10
'Black-headed' Yellow Wagtail - 3
Roller - 1

Middle Spotted Woodpecker - 2
Eastern Subalpine Warbler - 5
Eastern Orphean Warbler - 1
Semi-collared Flycatcher - 1
Penduline Tit - 4
Masked Shrike - 1
Lesser Grey Shrike - 1
Hawfinch - 10

Coypu - 2
Brown Hare - 1
Brown Squirrel (yesterday) - 1

Roller

Middle Spotted Woodpecker

Fire Salamander

Eastern Subalpine Warbler

Masked Shrike

Spur-winged Plover

Wood Sandpiper

Penduline Tit

Penduline Tit nest

mating Chapman's Blues

Lacks any underside forewing cell spot.

Common Blue

Cell spot on underside forewing 

clearly visible

Knapweed Fritillary 

A very fresh and bright individual

Knapweed Fritillary

(lacking any black dots along the central

 underside pale segments)

Glanville Fritillary

Lady Orchid

Kerkini Lake NP, Northern Greece 4/5/19

The day dawned cloudy and it stayed like that for the rest of the day bar a half hour period where it was baking. Read on further down to find out what the conditions were on top of a mountain pass!!

I concentrated the morning around the NE corner of the lake as trip reports have consistently said how many more birds there are. This was very true and I enjoyed the morning finding a host of good birds, and stacks of them to. European Bee-eaters, Nightingales and Golden Orioles were just everywhere and such a joy to see. A large congregation of Pelicans were gathered along the river, and out of a Poplar tree sang a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. My first of many Cuckoos of the day turned out to be one of those rufous individuals, an absolutely cracking bird.

Moving further down the lake I kept on hearing Penduline Tits but photographing them was extremely difficult. Out on the lake were some Whiskered Terns, and along the shoreline were lots of Sqaucco Herons and Wood Sandpipers. What was encouraging was coming across two migrating flocks of Turtle Doves, one group containing 12 birds.

Once I had completed that side of the lake, I walked the hillsides at the southern end to try for Olive Tree Warblers, but despite trying I couldn't hear any, maybe its a tad too early, although the last and only one I saw back in 2010 in Lesvos, was in April. There were plenty of birds (a trio of Masked Shrikes were the best on the ground), and raptors at last were well represented here with a few Lesser Spotted Eagles, displaying Levant Sparrowhawks, a Booted Eagle and a presumed pair of Honey Buzzards, whilst two Black Storks circled the area several times. When the sun did come out, Dragonflies were found and of most interest to me was a Common Clubtail.

It then started to rain and so I headed back north on the west side and came across a good looking bank that had a minimum of four species of Orchids, but with my book at home they will be un-identified until I get back.

Now this is where it all went a tad crazy, with the afternoon getting on and having seen most of my hoped to see birds. I love walking up mountains, and I love knowing what's on the other side them. So I ascended with the car to the highest point I could, but then I had a gruelling hike, firstly up a woodland stream as no other paths were around. Once I had cleared the treeline (after finding some awesome Fire Salamanders) I then had to slip up the scree rocks to where it then turned into prickly vegetation, but after a long hike (with no food and three gulps of water!!) I had made it to the Bulgarian border, and got the confirmation text from Vodaphone. It was however very cold at the top and with only a Whinchat of note along the border, I retreated downhill quickly, and somehow only a few scratches was all I had after. I don't think I was allowed where I ended up, as the highest peaks either side had guard towers present, but thankfully unoccupied. A terrific experience, but very random and completely pointless as I went to Bulgaria last year, but Eade tours are never without a crazy moment. The most disappointing aspect to this hike was receiving a phonecall from my hotel when I was above the tree line stating my room had been changed. At the time I was really looking forward to another jacuzzi bath, and although my new room was bigger, it lacked the bubbles and soothing massages, but with this major downfall, it had been another excellent day here in northern Greece.

Highlights for today:

Dalmatian Pelican - 30
Red-backed Shrike - 5
Scaucco Heron - 20
European Bee-eater - 200
Levant Sparrowhawk - 3
Eastern Orphean Warbler - 5
Penduline Tit - 5
Tawny Pipit - 3
Spoonbill - 2
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker - 1
Whiskered Tern - 6
Wood Sandpiper - 20
Turtle Dove - 18
Woodchat Shrike - 1
Masked Shrike - 3
Honey Buzzard - 2
Booted Eagle - 1
Black Kite - 1
Lesser Spotted Eagle - 2
Black Stork - 2
Tree Pipit - 1
Rock Bunting - 6 (hike)
Common Rock Thrush - 1 (hike)
Whinchat - 1

European Bee-eaters performing 

nicely today.

Black-headed Bunting

Great White Pelicans

A cloudy sunrise at Lake Kerkini

Sqaucco Heron

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler

A very young Eastern Orphean Warbler

Vagrant Emperor

Common Clubtail

Good numbers of Turtle Doves today

Fire Salamander

Common Rock Thrush

Starting position - the top ridge

just out of view from the ridge in front.

Nearly at the top

Looking into Bulgaria from the border

Kerkini Lake NP, Northern Greece 3/5/19

Back in 2018 I booked my leave for the first week of May to ensure witnessing some Pom passage. Sadly the winds were not satisfactory, and with 8 days to fill, I decided on booking some cheap staff travel flights at the very last minute. I ended up deciding on Thessaloniki as my flight destination and to bird the well known Kerkini Lake, situated in northern Greece near to the Macedonian and Bulgarian border. With only a few hours of preparation, I was confident of a nice little trip.

The easyJet flight was nice and smooth and picking up the hire car was even smoother. Never before have I picked up a car so quickly before. This was a great start and I was soon on my way north along the quiet main roads. Very little seen on the way north, but a superb flyover Lesser Spotted Eagle and numerous Red-rumped Swallows kept me interested.

It only took an hour to reach the southern shores of the lake and my first good bird here was a superb male Lesser Grey Shrike. Numerous Warblers singing were mostly Eastern Olivaceous Warblers and by far the commonest singer were the Nightingales...….honestly absolutely everywhere. I couldn't believe how quiet the area was in terms of seeing people, and I was also surprised on how small the lake was.

My first new bird wasn't far behind when a cute Pygmy Cormorant was spotted settling on the water, and many Pelicans were out in the distance among the more expected water birds along the lake's shores.

My accommodation (Morfi Hotel) was soon found in the town of Kerkini and it was luxurious to a point, yes it had a jacuzzi (and upon trying I flooded the floor....but it was well worth it!!), but the kettle was in fact a pot of water that needed to be heated on a stove. Still this was fine and my dinner later on using the same methods (consisting of pasta and some weird canned meat) went down a treat.

After a rest and a coffee, I was back out again and heading to the north of the Lake to a town called Varonia. Above the town is a quarry that apparently has had Eurasian Eagle Owl in the past, and with semi regular sightings last year I was confident of possibly finding this much wanted new bird. The quarry itself was just fantastic for birding, and by far the highlight was a stunning male Levant Sparrowhawk, another new bird for me. The bushes were alive with Warblers, mainly Eastern Orphean Warblers and Eastern Subalpine Warblers, whilst Black-headed Buntings were also particularly numerous.

Whilst patiently waiting for low light and some Owl activity, I kept on being distracted by some gorgeous Eastern Black-eared Wheatears, Blue Rock Thrushes and the sounds of Hoopoes and Turtle Doves. Then for some reason, I started to scan the various rock edges, and in the semi-distance, I made out what I thought were some long ears. Now, my past experience has always been what I think may be a feature or a shape of the bird I'm looking for always turns out to be some stick, mud or various other matter, but on this occasion the ears were actually ears, and were attached to an enormous Eurasian Eagle Owl. I was ecstatic for many reasons, one of which was I didn't have to stay until dark to catch a shadow flying through the quarry. I'm unsure whether this roosting bird has been found during the daylight hours, but either way I'm mightily pleased to have found it.

With now time to spare I re-visited the lake from Kerkini where the highlight was a male Penduline Tit that was heard calling whilst driving past some Willow Trees, and also getting prolonged views of many Golden Orioles. A brilliant first day, with two more full days still to go.

Highlights for today:

Lesser Spotted Eagle - 1
Cirl Bunting - 3
Red-backed Shrike - 2
Lesser Grey Shrike - 1
Eastern Olivaceous Warbler - 5
PYGMY CORMORANT - 4
Great White Pelican - 30
Dalmatian Pelican - 2
Golden Oriole - 15
European Bee-eater - 10
Sqaucco Heron - 2
Purple Heron - 1
Golden Eagle - 1 sub-adult
Black-headed Bunting - 6
LEVANT SPARROWHAWK - 1 male
Eastern Black-eared Wheatear - 2
Blue Rock Thrush - 2
Eastern Orphean Warbler - 2
EURASIAN EAGLE OWL - 1
Hawfinch - 2
'Black-headed' Yellow Wagtail - 1
Penduline Tit - 1

Lake Kerkini

Lesser Grey Shrike

Pygmy Cormorants

Black-headed Bunting

Levant Sparrowhawk

Mediterranean Tortoise

Eastern Black-eared Wheatear

Dalmatian Pelican

Eurasian Eagle Owl -

Only the top third being visible.

Eagle Owl quarry

Seaford Head 1/5/19

Being a still morning I resisted going seawatching and devoted some time to the Head. This was a wise choice as a few (and I really mean a few) migrants had made landfall, with the highlight being a very vocal Grasshopper Warbler next to Harry's Bush. Singles of Sedge Warbler, Garden Warbler and Willow Warbler were the only other obvious arrivals.

Afterwards down at Splash Point, a fairly quiet session with Richard, John and Simon produced a close eastbound Shag, some Arctic Skuas and some smart Tern flocks migrating.

Today (2nd May), a short vigil down the Cuckmere produced a summer-plumaged Golden Plover settled on the west side, yet another Wader that you don't normally see here making the use of the recently flooded fields.

Grasshopper Warbler 'reeling'

Sedge Warbler at Seaford Head

Shag passing Splash Point