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
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
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| Lake Kerkini |
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| Lesser Grey Shrike |
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| Pygmy Cormorants |
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| Black-headed Bunting |
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| Levant Sparrowhawk |
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| Mediterranean Tortoise |
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| Eastern Black-eared Wheatear |
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| Dalmatian Pelican |
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Eurasian Eagle Owl -
Only the top third being visible.
|
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| Eagle Owl quarry |
