Blue Eyed Birder

We were down the quay at Mandraki at 7am for our boat trip out onto a tranquil Kerkini. It was a magical three hours with the sunrising over the misty waters were Pelicans and Cormorants loafed around. Most of the Herons were seen including so many Squaccos.

Pre dawn view down to the lake from Villa Belles

Dalmatian Pelican

Dalmatian Pelican & Pygmy Cormorant

Great Cormorants

Great Cormorant

There were Great Crested Grebes with the beginning of nests being formed on the first of the surface water weeds and we also found a couple of Little Grebes and a pleasing ten Black-necked Grebes with most in breeding plumage with head plumes and all.

Great Crested Grebes

Black-necked Grebes

Great Crested Grebes

We got close to quite a few duck with Garganey, Shoveler, Teal, Wigeon and Mallard along with 12 Pochard and nine Ferruginous Ducks and there were several broods of Greylag Geese. The shallower margins were home to hundreds of Ruff along with Spotted Redshanks, flocks of Wood Sandpipers and even six Collared Pratincoles, two Black-winged Stilts and a single Marsh Sandpiper.

Dalmatian Pelicans with well grown young already

There were quite a few Common Terns noisily flying around us and a wonderfully fluid mobile flock of Marsh Terns that gave us all three species with 35 Black Terns, 35 Whiskered and three gleaming White-winged Blacks. Smiffy was one very happy buddy indeed and I think it was his holiday highlight. They were not along and we counted 63 Little Gulls in various groups. Most were tatty 2cy but there were one or two black headed adults in there too.

Mixed terns

Little Gull

It was idyllic and there was just the sound of the phut phut of the engine and the gentle slop of water on the bow. Skirting the edges gave us some close up fly bys of both Pelican species as they hurried to get to the latest frenzy spot and the reeds resounded to Great Reed Warblers with Golden Orioles and Cuckoos in the trees beyond. Two Red-footed Falcons were insect hunting above the same trees and we picked up Black Kite and Marsh Harriers before getting back to the quay once again, where we added Reed and Sedge Warblers to the trip list.

Smiffy watching Marsh Terns

Dalmatian Pelican

Frenzy

Frenzy with Great White Pelicans

Great White Pelicans

Great White Pelican

Great White Pelicans

Great White Pelican

Great White Pelicans

Dalmatian Pelican (details submitted), both Cormorants and Great Crested Grebe

Great White Pelicans

Great White Pelican

White Stork

Squaccos

Pygmy Cormorants

Eastern Green Lizard - Lacerta viridis

Great White Pelicans

It was a very late breakfast but those of us who went out had had a glorious morning. Food consumed, there was time to linger outside before we headed back out again and it was a bit of a raptor fest with three Lesser Spotted Eagles, Short-toed and Booted Eagle soaring above and the bushes behind the car park gave us Tree Sparrows, purring Turtle Doves and another Cuckoo.

Lesser Spotted Eagle

Our post lunch walk was up into the Oriental Plane woodlands above the quaint upland village of Ano Poroia and once past the gurgling of the crystal clear river where Grey and White Wagtails bobbed we found a forest coming to life.

It was quite satisfying trying to find commoner woodland birds such as Robin, Wren, Blue, Great, Marsh and Long-tailed Tits, Nuthatches and Short-toed Treecreepers for our American visitors but there were also some much wanted specialities here and we were successful in finding a pair of Semi-collared Flycatchers on territory and watched them making the first nest site explorations. This was a new song for me. A single Spotted Flycatcher was found but it did not linger.

Semi-collared Flycatcher

A Grey-headed Woodpecker was noisily yaffling but seemed stationary and with a bit of patience we found the nest and were able to watch it poke its head out of the hole giving my best views ever of this hard to see bird.

Grey-headed Woodpecker

The warm sunshine had prompted some Butterfly action with Nettle-Tree, Eastern Wood White, Large and Green-veined White, Cardinal, Small Copper and Orange Tips flitting around the trails. The flora was very rich and worthy of the time spent trying to put names to things.

Andrena cineraria

Big Leaf Periwinkle - Vinca major

Blue Bugle - Ajuga genevensis

Eastern Wood White

Green Veined White

Orange Tip

Cream Spot Tiger

Rambur's Pied Shieldbug

Orange Tips

Fritillaria gussichiae

Spotted Dead-nettle - Lamium masculatum

Gargano dead-nettle - Lamium garganicum

Germander Speedwell - Veronica chamaedrys & Lamb's lettuce - Valeriana locusta

Germander Speedwell - Veronica chamaedrys

Goat's Beard - Tragopogon pratensis

Tuberous Comfrey - Symphytum tuberosum

Star of Bethlehem - Ornithogalum umbellatum

Purple Mullein - Verbascum phoeniceum

Loose Flowered Vetchling - Lathyrus laxiflorus

Green Strawberry - Fragaria viridis

Greater Celandine - Chelidonium majus

Habropoda tarsata

We ambled back down and stumbled on a juvenile Dipper feeding along one of the rushing culverts. It was doing quite a good job and gleaning inverts from the mossy sides of the tunnel under the road. Another in a long line of birds new to the Greek list that I do not keep!

Dipper in the gloom

We had a leisurely lunch at the taverna in the woods where the world, his wife and their dog were turning up for food and we had timed our arrival and departure just right! We made our way through Kerkini village and reversed back up to check out on a Woodpecker that Smiffy had found – it was a Great Spot but actually showed very well.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Down at the bridge we watched Eastern Green Lizards on the walls while Beautiful Demoiselles danced over the brambles where Scarce Swallowtails fed on the Milk Thistles. A Camberwell Beauty shot through but did not stop and Night Herons and Squaccos were in the riverside trees.. On to that fabulous marsh area once again – it is actually called Korifoudi. There were six Great Reed Warblers showing to varying degrees and a fine flock of flava Wagtails that included Grey, Black and Blue-headed forms was feeding around the mobile bovines.

Beautiful Demoiselle

Coypu tracks

Eastern Green Lizard

Scarce Swallowtail

The Spanish Sparrows were in full late evening chatty mode and you could imagine those Storks trying to get some rest above them – proper problem neighbours. Turtle Doves were purring and a we picked up Short-toed Eagles and a Black Kite that was slowly quartering the meadows. It was a pleasant end to a full day around the lake.