Back in June 2024, we took a far-too-short trip to northern Greece. First trip to Greece since Kythira in September 2019. We stayed in a lovely, but dusty little village with Stork nests on powerline poles and House Martins ducking in and out of the rickety building opposite our guest house.
We travelled and trekked around, and one early morning took a boat trip on Lake Kerkini. The trip was hot and exhausting, but we saw a lot of wildlife. We saw and heard more than 90 species of bird, 70-odd butterflies, and several dozen moths.
Three bird species that I really hoped to capture were Hoopoe and Golden Oriole and any kind of Eagle. We saw and heard the first two fleetingly and our guide spotted a Booted Eagle, but no snaps, ah well, next time…
Check out my Greek Moth Gallery and Greek Butterfly Gallery
Please click a thumbnail for a better view of the photo gallery
This is the hopefully complete list of birds we observed, a few were only ever heard or seen fleetingly.
- Bee-eater, European (Merops apiaster)
- Blackbird, Common (Turdus merula)
- Blackcap, Eurasian (Sylvia atricapilla)
- Bunting, Cirl (Emberiza cirlus) (heard only or Merlin)
- Buzzard, Common (Buteo buteo)
- Buzzard, Honey (Pernis apivorus)
- Chaffinch, Eurasian (Fringilla coelebs)
- Chiffchaff, Common (Phylloscopus collybita)
- Coot, Eurasian (Fulica atra)
- Cormorant, Great (Phalacrocorax carbo)
- Cormorant, Pygmy (Microcarbo pygmaeus)
- Crossbill, Red (Loxia curvirostra) (heard only or Merlin)
- Crow, Carrion (Corvus corone)
- Crow, Hooded (Corvus cornix)
- Cuckoo, Common (Cuculus canorus)
- Dove, Collared (Streptopelia decaocto)
- Dove, Turtle (Streptopelia turtur)
- Eagle, Booted (Hieraaetus pennatus) Michael d only
- Egret, Little (Egretta garzetta)
- Firecrest, Common (Regulus ignicapillus)
- Flamingo, Greater (Phoenicopterus roseus)
- Flycatcher, Spotted (Muscicapa striata)
- Goldcrest (Regulus regulus)
- Goldfinch, European (Carduelis carduelis)
- Grebe, Great Crested (Podiceps cristatus)
- Greenfinch, European (Chloris chloris) (heard only or Merlin)
- Gull, Black-headed (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)
- Gull, Caspian (Larus cachinnans)
- Gull, Yellow-legged (Larus michahellis)
- Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes) (heard only or Merlin)
- Heron, Grey (Ardea cinerea)
- Heron, Night (Nycticorax nycticorax)
- Heron, Purple (Ardea purpurea) Niko the skipper only
- Heron, Squacco (Ardeola ralloides)
- Hobby, Eurasian (Falco subbuteo)
- Hoopoe, Eurasian (Upupa epops)
- Ibis, Glossy (Plegadis falcinellus)
- Jackdaw, Eurasian (Corvus monedula)
- Jay, Eurasian (Garrulus glandarius)
- Kestrel, Common (Falco tinnunculus)
- Kingfisher, Common (Alcedo atthis) (heard only or Merlin)
- Lark, Crested (Galerida cristata)
- Linnet, Common (Linaria cannabina)
- Martin, House (Delichon urbicum)
- Moorhen, Common (Gallinula chloropus)
- NightingaleLuscinia megarhynchos(Luscinia megarhynchos)
- Nightingale, Thrush (Luscinia luscinia) (heard only or Merlin)
- Oriole, Golden (Oriolus oriolus)
- Owl, Little (Athene noctua)
- Pelican, Dalmatian (Pelecanus crispus)
- Pelican, Great White (Pelecanus onocrotalus)
- Pigeon, Common Wood (Columba palumbus)
- Pigeon, Stock (Columba oenas)
- Raven, Common (Corvus corax)
- Redstart, Black (Phoenicurus ochruros) (heard only or Merlin)
- Robin, European (Erithacus rubecula)
- Shrike, Masked (Lanius nubicus)
- Shrike, Red-backed (Lanius collurio)
- Skylark, Eurasian (Alauda arvensis)
- Sparrow, House (Passer domesticus)
- Sparrow, Spanish (Passer hispaniolensis)
- Sparrow, Eurasian Tree (Passer montanus)
- Sparrowhawk, Eurasian (Accipiter nisus)
- Sparrowhawk, Levant (Accipiter brevipes)
- Spoonbill, Eurasian (Platalea leucorodia)
- Starling, Common (Sturnus vulgaris)
- Stork, Black (Ciconia nigra)
- Stork, White (Ciconia ciconia)
- Swallow, Barn (Hirundo rustica)
- Swallow, Red-rumped (Cecropis daurica)
- Swan, Mute (Cygnus olor)
- Swift, Pallid (Apus pallidus)
- Tern, Common (Sterna hirundo)
- Tit, Blue (Cyanistes caeruleus)
- Tit, Coal (Periparus ater)
- Tit, Great (Parus major)
- Tit, Long-tailed (Aegithalos caudatus)
- Treecreeper, Eurasian (Certhia familiaris)
- Wagtail, Grey (Motacilla cinerea)
- Wagtail, White (Motacilla alba) (heard only or Merlin)
- Warbler, Cetti’s (Cettia cetti)
- Warbler, Eastern Olivaceous (Iduna pallida) (heard only or Merlin)
- Warbler, Great Reed (Acrocephalus arundinaceus)
- Warbler, Moustached (Acrocephalus melanopogon) (heard only or Merlin)
- Warbler, Sardinian (Sylvia melanocephala) (heard only or Merlin)
- Wheatear, Northern (Oenanthe oenanthe)
- Woodpecker, Great Spotted (Dendrocopos major)
- Woodpecker, Green (Picus viridis)
- Woodpecker, Middle Spotted (Dendrocopos medius)
- Wren, Eurasian (Troglodytes troglodytes)
- Wryneck, Eurasian (Jynx torquilla) (heard only or Merlin)