17th April 2026 - Day 1 Northern Greece for Bird's Wildlife & Naturel

I arrived very late last night from Stansted and Dancho kindly met me at the airport and after a fitful night’s sleep I awoke to the sound of the first early Crested Lark followed shortly by a couple of Magpies and a ‘poooping’ Hoopoe.  I was no longer Costa Rica or Suffolk but in Thessaloniki in northern Greece.

The rest of the small crew had arrived before me and we all came out onto our balconies pre-breakfast were Red-rumped Swallows and Barn Swallows circled and House Sparrows and Starlings welcomed in the day.

Breakfast and a quick look outside and four Tree Pipits flew over high calling and a surprise Roller lazily flew through which was a very nice start.

We packed up and navigated our way through and around the smoggy metropolis and were soon at the suburb of Paleokastro which as the name suggests is next to a now disused quarry where we spent our first time in the field exploring.  It was most rewarding with wing flapping piebald Eastern Black-eared Wheatears and song flighting slaty Blue Rock Thrushes.  There were Western Rock Nuthatches collecting food and even a pair of Black Redstarts with the male ‘fizzing’ every now and then.

Eastern Black-eared Wheatear

Eastern Black-eared Wheatear

Cirl Buntings buzzed and Woodlarks spiralled above while Crested Larks were taking the terrestrial song post route.   Nightingales sung as we had driven up and were replaced by the belt and braces outbursts from a couple of Eastern Orphean Warblers. These and Woodlark are two of my most favourite songs so I was very happy.  There were Sardinian Warblers and Whitethroats along with Linnets and Greenfinches and a Wood Warbler zipped across.

Common Swifts poured through at height and with them were several swooping Alpine Swifts and a few hirundines and somewhere there were invisible Bee-eaters too.  At least four Woodchat Shrikes were seen with the males scratchy song being over sung by the Orpheans and even the mimicking efforts of the Wheatears.

Woodchat Shrike

A Marsh Harrier drifted through and we saw Sparrowhawk and Kestrel.  A Spur-thighed Tortoise was found in the grass and there were plenty of butterflies with Cleopatra, Orange Tip, Wall Brown, Small White, Eastern Bath White, Red Admiral, Spotted Fritillary or similar, Common Blue and Brown Argus along with a funky Flower Mantis nymph and a furry Bee Fly. 

Spur-thighed Tortoise

Flower Mantis 

Bee Fly sp

Philaeus chrysops - a funky Jumper

Common Blue

Common Blue

Not quite sure

Red Admiral

Eastern Bath White

Brown Argus

Wall Brown

Florally it was excellent and included several tall Early Spider Orchids.

Blue pimpernel - Lysimachia foemina

Broadleaf Glandweed - Parentucellia latifolia

Musk Thistle - Carduus nutans with Hummingbird Hawkmoth

Field Poppy

Dyer's Alkanet - Alkanna tinctoria

Early Spider Orchid - Ophrys sphegodes 

Early Spider Orchid - Ophrys sphegodes 

Fumana arabica

Lomelosia brachiata

Mallow-leaved bindweed - Convolvulus althaeoides 

Mediterranean Hartwort - Tordylium apulum

Red Vetchling - Lathyrus cicera

Rock Alyssum - Aurinia saxatilis

Salsify

Silverleaf nightshade - Solanum elaeagnifolium - not native New World

Anacyclus clavatus

Onwards and through the industrial hinterland adding Hobby, Ring-necked Parakeet and House Martins on the way as well as a pair of frisky Great Spotted Cuckoos that started to follow a pair of Magpies after they had finished their quick roll in the hay.

Great Spotted Cuckoo

Down to the hidden Kalochori Lagoon and we spent a good bit of time there right alongside the mirror calm Aegean watching waders, gulls, Flamingos and such like.  There was a good number of Ruff and with them we found many Wood Sandpipers as well as Greenshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Stilts and Avocets, Black-tailed Godwit and a flock of about 70 Little Stints with four Curlew Sandpipers.  There were Shelduck and Coots and male Black-headed Wagtails sung from bits of the saltmarsh while Cetti’s Warblers, Crested Lark and Corn Bunting made upmost of the passerine song amongst the silent Whinchats hawking from the weed tops and groups of quietly chupping Tawny Pipits on the tracks where Hoopoes flared their crests.  A single Northern Wheatear was our first and round by the taverna where we had lunch (Navagio) a Tree Sparrow was chirping away quite merrily.

Black-headed Wagtail

Ruff, Stilts and Wood Sand

Whinchat

Tree Sparrow

On the sea there were hundreds of Great Cormorants and a delightful number of diminutive Pygmy Cormorants along with Common, Sandwich and a single Caspian Tern while back on the inland side there were 28 Gull-billed Terns roosting on the mud where we also picked out a couple of Black-headed Gulls.  We also found two tardy Red-breasted Mergansers and a several Great Crested Grebes and three each of circling Black and White Storks.

Pygmy Cormorant with handy measuring guide in case you were not sure

Greater Flamingos

Pygmy Cormorant

Pygmy Cormorant

During the whole of our visit the air was full of the sound of countless hundreds of Med Gulls which seemed to be continually on the wing.  The soundscape was amazing.  Two pinky Slender-billed Gulls were drifting around and Yellow-legged Gull was the only big species.  There were raptors too with Kestrels and many Marsh Harriers and a Short-toed Eagle on arrival but a Lesser Spotted Eagle was found circling amongst the mass of Med Gulls and an Osprey inexplicably caused complete havoc.  Clouded Yellows were the only new butterfly.

Osprey 

After a lovely lunch (mmm… saganaki…) Dave found us a couple of Kentish Plovers before we bumped our way back out to the main road.

Some dozing may have occurred on the way north but I did see quite a few Lesser Kestrels along one stretch before we arrived at Vafiochorio. A very close Long-legged Buzzard was worthy of a pull off before turning down the track and it circled just above us while a flock of 13 White Pelicans drifted over! We did not get too far down there either as White Storks were drifting around on all sides and then a cloud of Collared Pratincoles headed our way requiring another hasty exit as the swirled and called around us in a sixty or so strong flock.  They are always very special to see in big aerial flocks.

Collared Pratincoles

Collared Pratincoles

White Stork

Nightingales were in full swing and there were more Whinchats too as we made our way down to the lake.  A fast moving channel gave us Grass Snake, European Pond Terrapins and Greek Marsh Frogs but the only bird was a snaky necked adult Purple Heron that soon departed.

The reveal on the lake was not quite what Dancho had expected as it was inexplicably almost empty but there were things to see and our scans picked up a few waders including several Northern Lapwings along with two each of Black and Whiskered Terns, Mallard and Gadwall and a Great Egret with a few Grey Herons.  A Mute Swan flew through and 18 White Pelicans dropped but seemed disappointed and soon started spiralling up once again.

Eastern Festoon was a new butterfly

Several single Rooks flew through

Dave found a female Montagu’s Harrier which successfully caught something small in the next ploughed field and there were Marsh Harriers and Buzzards dotted around a Merlin was seen well twice.

Merlin

Corn Bunting

As we drove back out a small flooded quarry salvaged some of the duck hopes with two drake Garganey and a pair of Ferruginous Ducks in amongst the flowering Crowfoot and there were Moorhens and Coots around the edges while up above us two Dalmatian Pelicans allowed us to do the double before ever reaching Kerkini.  A pair of Lesser Kestrels even gave us a close fly by while the Greek Marsh Frog chorus became deafening.

White Pelicans

White Pelicans

Dalmatian Pelican

Dalmatian Pelicans

Lesser Kestrel

We stopped again just off the main road in an arable area and quickly found our quarry with several chunky Calandra Larks circling around.  One even came down and perched on a spoil heap and gave excellent views through the scope while two Quail counter sung from either side of the road.  A big gang of Spanish Sparrows bundles in and out of the low bushes and as we were leaving and silvery winged adult male Red-footed Falcon flew around us before continuing on its way.

Onwards to Kerkini with three drive by Rollers and several more Lesser Kestrels for our troubles and Laura fund a Golden Jackal in a ploughed field but it soon moved on.

The snow capped mountain of Macedonia were just a short way off as we then swung towards Kerkini and before too long we arrived at our lovely hotel which afforded panoramic view of the bird filled lake below.  The birds may have been ‘some way off’ but there were hundreds of Pelicans and countless Great Cormorants along with Pygmy Cormorants, Glossy Ibis, Great and Little Egrets, Squacco Herons and Spoonbills.  Western Cattle Egrets wandered around the feet of Water Buffalo and most of the dabbling duck and a few Greylag families could be seen.  We ignored the wader dots for the time being!

Closer to us the Nightingales were warming up and we could hear Turtle Doves, Green Woodpeckers, Blackbirds, Cirl and Corn Buntings and by the time we came back from dinner (mmm… village buffalo Sausages…) there were Little Owls about and even a Cuckoo had decided to join in with the evening chorus. 

It got dark very quickly from that point and the local packs of Golden Jackals all started up creating quite a cacophony.  Hopefully we shall see  some well over the coming days. The European Tree Frogs were trying to out sing them but the Nightingales and a Scops Owl were trying their best not to be outdone.

Jackals and the Frogs...

It had been quite a magnificent first day with nearly a hundred species encountered.  Role on the pre-breakfast walk in a few hours time.