Tripreport. Lake Kerkini April Page 1

Transcription

1 Tripreport Lake Kerkini April 2018 Page 1

2 Lake Kerkini From april I went to Lake Kerkini in Northern Greece with another photographer, Kees Kroon. I visited the region before in april 2011, but Kees never did. 23 April: At 02:30 I left home, picked up Kees and at 04:00 we were at the parking at Schiphol Airport and a bus brought us to the terminal. About 07:15 we took off from Schiphol and about 11:00 (Greek time) the plane landed at the airport of Thessaloniki. A minibus brought us to the car rental company where we got a nice Nissan Pulsar. After about an hour we reached Lake Kerkini. We took the east bank and along the irrigation channel we drove to Chrysochorafa, where we had booked a room in hotel Limnaio. Page 2

3 When we arrived at the hotel there was nobody there. I phoned Nikos Gallios, the owner of the hotel. At that moment he was with a group on his boat. He arranged for his father to come and within ten minutes he was at the hotel and let us into our room. After putting our luggage in the room we went birding straight away. Along the irrigation channel we went back to the east bank of the lake. There we had our first traffic jam i.e. a shepherd with his goats. Along the east bank we saw a lot of European Bee-eaters, some Hoopoes, Common Cuckoos and a European Pond Turtle crossing the road. Page 3

4 Then we drove to Mandraki. There we could take some pictures of this European Green Lizard. That evening we had dinner in the village at Psarotaverna Savvas and after that we went to bed early. 24 April: We woke up early and went to the irrigation channel to photograph Great Reed Warblers. Every few metres there was one singing. We saw also this Coypu. Page 4

5 We continued along the east bank, where I could photograph these Pigmy Cormorants. After breakfast we went to Vironeia. We crossed the area between the village and river Strimonas where we saw Hoopoe, Green Woodpecker and Syrian Woodpecker. We also visited the quarry in the mountains above the village. Along the river we found a colony of Sand Martins and watched the birds while having our lunch. Page 5

6 Then we went to Mandraki again and drove along the south-side of the lake back to our hotel. We had dinner that evening in another restaurant, but we preferred the food at Savvas, so the rest of our stay we had dinner there. 25 April: When I woke up Kees told me he hardly slept that night, because I was snoring so loud. After breakfast we arranged for him to have a room for his own during the rest of our stay, so he could sleep well and I could keep on snoring without disturbing anyone. After breakfast we went to the area near Vironeia but there were few birds. We did see a lot of beautiful dragonflies like this Scarce Chaser. Page 6

7 The plan was to go to the forest near Promachonas to look for woodpeckers, but the forest was partly flooded so we couldn t go further. There were also a lot of mosquitoes. We drove back along the river Strimonas, then to Kerkini because we had planned a boat trip on the lake. We were to early and Nikos Gallios gave us a tip to go to an old quarry near the village of Kerkini where an Eurasian Eagle Owl was seen. There we met a group of other Dutch birdwatchers. We didn t see the Owl, but there was a very confiding Woodchat Shrike, some Red-rumped Swallows and a Shorttoed Snake Eagle flew by. Then we drove along the west bank of the lake and witnessed a feeding frenzy of Great Cormorants and Dalmatian Pelicans. It was very impressive to watch such a large number of birds fishing at the same time (I made a short video: v=gefejbojxvw&t=25s) We moved on to Mandraki again. There we could take some pictures of these Balkan Green Lizards. Page 7

8 Then it was time to go back to Kerkini for the boat trip with Nikos Gallios. We were joined by Monika, another Dutch photographer. There was no wind at all and we had beautiful light, so the circumstances for photography were perfect. We came close to colonies of Dalmatian- and White Pelicans, Great Cormorants and all kinds of Herons and Egrets. For me this was one of the most spectacular birding experiences ever. Page 8

9 We ended the day with a beautiful sunset. On the way back to the hotel we passed the quarry near Kerkini and met a group of English birders who found the Eagle Owl. We had a late dinner at Savvas and when I got to bed I couldn t sleep and have been listening to the calls of a Eurasian Scops Owl for a few hours. 26 April: Before breakfast we went to the river Strimonas near Vironeia where we had found a colony of Spanish Sparrows. We could make some nice pictures of these beautiful birds. Page 9

10 After breakfast we went to an old quarry near Sidirokastro, where European Rollers and European Bee-eaters were supposed to breed. Near the quarry we saw some Rollers, but there were no birds at all in the quarry. It was a beautiful spot though with a lot of flowers. The plan was to go to Mount Panggaio during our stay and we decided to do it this day. It took us a few hours to get there and the drive up the mountain took us another hour, but the road through the forest was beautiful. Before reaching the ski area we saw a Common Rock Thrush, a lifer for both of us. At the ski area there was a small group of Ortolan Buntings. 27 April: Before breakfast we went to the irrigation channel in an attempt to photograph Little Bitterns. They showed themselves very well. At the moment a male was showing himself in top of the reeds my memory card was full. My spare one was in my bag in the back of the car. I couldn t leave the car, because Kees was taking pictures of the bird. When the bird left, I could get out of the car to get my bag. The new memory card was still in the package. When I wanted to open it, the card jumped out and I didn t see where it fell. After a while I found it again and fortunately the Little Bitterns came back so all is well that ends well. Page 10

11 Along the east bank of the lake we saw several Herons and Egrets and European Bee-eters. After another excellent breakfast in hotel Limnaio, we went to Ano Poroia. The idea was to go walking in the mountains, but it became very warm again and we returned quickly to the airconditioned car. On the way back we went to Mandraki and sat there for a while in the shade. Then near the Vironeia bridge we saw a large group of European Bee-eaters building nests in the field near the road. We waited a while in the car and suddenly a Hoopoe landed a few metres from the car and started to look for food. Our presence there didn t bother him at all. Finally we drove once more along the irrigation channel near Chrysochorafa and I could take some pictures of a female Little Bittern. Page 11

12 28 April: This morning we went for the last time to the irrigation channel and again the Great Reed Warblers and Little Bitterns showed well. We also watched a Golden Oriole chasing away two Common Cuckoos. They were probably trying to put an egg in the nest of the Golden Oriole. For the last time we passed a spot near the village where a pair of stray dogs had pups. The one on the picture was so cute and if I didn t already have a sixteen-year old dog at home, I might have taken this one with me. Page 12

13 After a final excellent breakfast we said goodbye to the people at Hotel Limnaio and thanked them for their great hospitality. Then we went to Thessaloniki, delivered our car at the rental company and were brought to the airport. At 14:15 the plane took off and about 16:00 (Dutch time) we landed at Schiphol Airport. It was quite cold in Holland, compared to Greece. We had to wait about 20 minutes for our luggage, a bus brought us to my car and after bringing Kees back to his hometown I arrived home at 18:30. Thanks to the very pleasant company of Kees and the hospitality of the people at Hotel Limnaio I had a great vacation. Nikos Gallios and his parents are very nice people who do anything they can to give their guests a pleasant stay. Here s the link to their website: Page 13

14 The birds we have seen: Barn Swallow Black-crowned Night Heron Black-eared Wheatear Black-headed Wagtail Black Kite Black-necked Grebe Black Redstart Black Stork Corn Bunting Crested Lark Girl Bunting Collared Dove Common Blackbird Common Buzzard Common Chaffinch Common Cuckoo Common Kestrel Common Nightingale Common Rock Thrush Common Shelduck Common Starling Common Swift Common Tern Crag Martin Dalmatian Pelican Eurasian Eagle Owl Eurasian Coot Eurasian Jackdaw Eurasian Jay Eurasian Spoonbill European Bee-eater European Roller Page 14

15 Eastern Olivaceous Warbler Garganey Golden Oriole Goldfinch Great Cormorant Great Crested Grebe Great Reed-warbler Great Ringed Plover Great Tit Great White Egret Green Woodpecker Grey Heron Hooded Crow Hoopoe House Martin House Sparrow Lesser Spotted Eagle Little Bittern Little Egret Little Gull Magpie Mallard Marsh Harrier Mute Swan Northern Wheatear Ortolan Bunting Pigmy Cormorant Red-rumped Swallow Short-toed Snake Eagle Spanish Sparrow Squacco Heron Syrian Woodpecker Tawny Pipit Page 15

16 Tree Sparrow Whinchat White Pelican White Stork White Wagtail White-winged Tern Wiskered Tern Woodchat Shrike Yellow-legged Gull Page 16