MANDRAKI JETTY - VERONIA TRACK - SIDIROKASTRO QUARRY AREA AND WATERFALL - EAST BANK KEKINI LAKE
WEATHER: a beautiful morning, crisp and clear. cloudy later with rain. Top temp 33C
Our last day of birding had arrived, we still hadn’t found all of our target species so we endeavoured to find some of them today. Our early morning pre-breakfast excursion was to the Jetty at Mandraki, it is such a wonderful place for a great start to the day. We never saw the massive numbers of Pelicans and Cormorants as previously seen but it was still a magical experience. A few new birds were added to our trip list, both Sedge and Reed Warblers were seen, Cetti’s Warbler still eluded us and better views were had of Little Bittern.
we saw one of these at Mandraki and another two from the East Bank later in the day - Little Bittern
Today’s programme was designed to find more species for the trip total, a few birds were still missing and Middle Spotted Woodpecker was one of them. So, after breakfast we headed to the wooded track near the marsh at Veronia and walked a fair way along it. We heard Grey Headed and Green Woodpeckers, we saw Great Spotted Woodpecker and finally, some of the group managed a glimpse of the Middle Spotted.
In the meantime we searched for Marsh Warbler, at least three were calling in the dense scrub around the water. The overnight rains had brought down many migrant birds especially Spotted Flycatchers, we saw about 15 of them along the walk but I’m sure a proper count would reveal a lot more.
Butterflies and dragonflies were numerous, we saw Eastern Festoon and Poplar Admiral butterflies as well as several common species.
Eastern Festoon
An Icterine Warbler was singing from the canopy, we tracked it down and had short views of it, most of the group saw it. A River Warbler had been reported singing at one site, we stopped there for a while but never had a sniff of it. The usual Levant Sparrowhawks were seen well and a Eurasian Sparrowhawk was seen on high.
We drove back into the village to buy lunch supplies and for a quick cuppa, the stop turned into a raptor watch, many birds were passing over, our sightings included Booted Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Hobby, Short-toed and Lesser Spotted Eagles, Long-legged Buzzard and a couple more.
Spotted Flycatchers were everywhere toiday
The woodland and riverside at Sidirokastro was our next venue, we hoped to see Short-toed Treecreeper, Middle Spotted Woodpecker and perhaps a Dipper on the river. It was a lovely walk and with good light and a nice temperature. We reached a picturesque man-made waterfall and saw both Grey and White Wagtails but no Dipper.
We had much better success with Middle Spotted Woodpecker, we all saw it well as it moved from tree to tree. The Treecreeper was elusive and none of us saw it. Subalpine Warbler and lots of common species were seen and a rock face was surrounded by birds. On the rocks we saw Blue Rock Thrush, Eastern Black-eared Wheatear and flying around we watched Crag and House Martins, Red-rumped Swallows and a few Alpine Swifts. Levant Sparrowhawks circled above.
approaching the waterfall
We ate our lunch further along the road and before we returned to the lake area, we spent some time trying to find Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler in the oak woodlands, without success.
Our last venue and our final birding of the tour was Eastern Embankment of the Lake, we all loved this area and we had such a great time there for our last two hours. I think we saw around 40 species and added only 2 new species to the list! A count of 5 Spur-winged Plovers was impressive, and the number of Bee-eaters was outrageous, they were everywhere.
a view of the meadows from the East Bank
We watched Hoopoes, Golden Orioles, Turtle Doves, Shrikes, Grey-headed Woodpeckers, Olivaceous Warblers, we saw our first Kingfisher of the trip. The flooded meadows were covered in water birds, Herons, egrets, Spoon bills, waders and ducks. The light was fantastic, we stayed until 6pm and just before we left Dancho found a group of four Grey Plovers. This had been our most productive day, we had recorded 113 species, this included about 10 heard but not seen.
The Trip total finished at 187 species, the biggest total ever obtained by a WINGSPAN Group at Lake Kerkini.
It is a true testament to how good Lake Kerkini really is! Come and join us next year.