BELLES MOUNTAINS - ARANZI LAKE AND SURROUNDING COUNTRYSIDE - DOIRANI LAKE
WEATHER: mostly overcast with thick cloud, some sunshine later and hot. Max Temp 30C
Great birding days continue in this wonderful place, we saw another bucket full of new species as we visited more diverse habitats.
There wasn't an early morning birding excursion so we left the hotel at 8:15 after our breakfast, we drove to the alpine meadows hig above the hotel in the Belles Mountains along a long winding track used by loggers. One of our main target birds was the Black Woodpecker and we saw one perched at the side of the track on a tree stump. Both vehicles stopped and watched this bird before it flew off into the forest. Wowza! a great start!
Balkan Green Lizard
We drove through mixed woodland also pine before reaching small alpine meadows which were alive with familar bird song. We heard Song Thrush, Wren, Robin, Chaffinch and Chiffchaff. We found a Eurasian Treecreeper's nest, the two adults were busy feeding young.
Provence Orchid
We were after woodpeckers, the White-backd Woodpecker in particular, but apart from some distant calls we drew a blank. Balckcap, Lesser Whgitethroat, Cirl Bunting and Raven went onto the day list, we heard Black Woodpecker and over the next hour we walked around the meadows scanning the forest that surrounded us.
Red-backed Shrike
The cloud cleared, we got periods of sunshine and that brought out butterflies, we saw Holly Blue, Grizzled Skipper, Eastern Wood White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Large White, Scarce Swallowtail, Queen-of-Spain Fritillary and Painted Lady.
Eastern Wood White
We also found a couple of Orchids, a tall yellow Provence Orchid and a couple of Early Purple Orchids, the beautiful Green Balkan Lizard showed well too. Dancho picked out a Rock Partridge high on the skyline, Honey Buzzard, Eurasian Sparrowhawk and a Hobby were also seen. As it warmed up insect began to take to the air, we saw Red-backed Shrikes dashing after them. We heard Great Spotted Woodpecker but it never showed.
Early Purple Orchids?
We spent some time further down the track and we heard Black Woodpecker again, one dashed across the track high in the canopy and a third was seen by some of the group. On the way down the track we stopped to admire the view of Lake Kerkini. From our vantage point we could see the whole of the lake. We aslo added two more butterflies to the list in the form of Wall Brown and Nettle Tree Butterfly.
We bought our picnic lunch in Lavadia and ate it at a picinic site near the shore of the lake. Golden Orioles called all around us, we saw Night Heron, Great Crested and Little Grebe, Pygmy Cormorant, Dalmatian Pelican and White Storks during lunch.
For our afternoon birding we drove down to a lake near the border with Macedonia, it took nearly an hour to get there, we arrived around 2:30pm. We drove past Rollers, Bee-eaters and Turtle Doves that sat on the wires and countless Corn Buntings, jingled their morose little song.
The Lake at Arzani
The lake was man-made, perfectly circular, quite large and full of birds. We saw five species of Terns, Little, Gull-billed, Common, Whiskered and White-winged, they put on quite a show. We added a few ducks to the trip list such as: Gadwall, Shoveler and Ferruginous Duck, they were joined by Eurasian Teal, Mallard, Common Pochard and three species of grebes, Great Crested, Little and Black-necked.
In the marsh area we found Sponbills, Glossy Ibis, Squacco Heron and a Black Stork flew over. Dancho then found a pair of Garganey and a pair of Black-winged Stilts dropped in to join the terns. A Little Crake was seen as we left the embankment.
Eurasian Spoonbills and Glossy Ibis
here are Common Terns and Whiskered Terns, see if you can pick them out
A few raptors were also noted, Dancho called out Hobby, Short-toed Eagle, Levant Sparrowhawk, we searched for Collared Pratincole without success.
White-winged Terns, Whiskered Terns and Common Terns
As we drove away from the lake we stopped to view a small pool where we found four Wood Sandpipers and a Temminck's Stint was found by Guy the Birding Guru.
Ferruginous Duck
The last place we visited was a nearby hillock, a place that gave us a good vantage point over the surrounding fields. It started to rain as we drove there but it was very light rain and it didn't deter us. We had a fabulous half and hour watching raptors and seeing one of our target birds, the Calandra Lark.
Long-legged Buzzard
Short-toed Eagles were seen perched and flying, a Lesser Spotted Eagle was on the ground too, it flew off pretty soon after we arrived. A colourful Long-legged buzzard came down in recently cut hay meadow, the larks did not like that. We found a Nightgale singing from the top of a bush, a pose unseen before, by most of us!
One of our target birds flew over the cut grass in the meadow, a female Montagu's Harrier, we enjoyed that one. Then a Great Spotted Cuckoo flew over us being chased by smaller birds, Black-headed Buntings sang from the hedgerows and Corn Buntings were everywhere.
Back on the road again, but not for long, we pulled over on a busy stretch of road because a dozen or so falcons were feeding in flight ahead of us. We got out of the vehicles and enjoyed a fabulous display from Red-footed Falcons and Lesser kestrels, it was an amazing sight and an excellent way to finsh the day.
female Red-footed Falcon just about to catch and insect, taken by Dancho
male Lesser Kestrel hunting insects with the red-footed Falcons
On the way back to Kerkini we made short stop at the border, to view Lake Doirani. It was chilly and wet and we didn't stay long. a Little Bittern was added to the day list along with Yellow-legged Gull.
It took another 40 minutes to get back to the hotel, we arrived around 6:30pm, in time for a shower before dinner.