Take a fast take a look at the breeding distribution of European birds and you will note that there are a shocking variety of species which are restricted to the Balkans. (The Balkans, by the best way, is a unfastened time period for Europe’s south-eastern peninsula, overlaying the international locations of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Greece.) It’s these Balkan specials which are the goal species for many birdwatchers visiting the realm from western Europe.
The Balkan specials are a remarkably numerous lot. The biggest of them is the Dalmatian Pelican, which with a wing span of round 10ft and a weight of as much as 26lb is a critical contender for one the world’s greatest flying birds. Go to the fitting location and you’ll’t miss it, which is greater than you’ll be able to say for the Olive-tree Warbler. The latter is huge (the largest of all of the Hippolais warblers), purchase shy. Because the Collins Hen Information notes, it “retains nicely hidden”. You’ll hear greater than you see, and you’ll’t usually assure to listen to one, both.
As a result of Olive-tree Warblers are such a problem to seek out, and, to be sincere, not that thrilling to take a look at if you do ultimately see one, they don’t function right here in my Balkan High Ten. As an alternative I’ve chosen my favorite 10 species I anticipate finding once I go to Greece, solely a few of that are restricted to the Balkans. These are all birds I anticipate (or hope) to see on a go to right here.
No 1
The Dalmatian Pelican has to take the No 1 spot, because it’s so huge and spectacular. It’s barely bigger than the White Pelican, in whose firm it could possibly typically be discovered. In comparison with the clean-cut White, it’s not such a wise fowl, its plumage tinged with gray, whereas the curly feathers on its head look as if it wants a go to to the hairdresser. It’s in late winter and early spring when these pelicans look their finest, as the massive invoice pouch develops an intense shade of orange-red, indicating that the fowl is in peak breeding situation, however this quickly fades again to a uninteresting yellow.
The basic websites for seeing these pelicans are Lakes Prespa (with the world’s largest colony), Amvrakikos and Kerkini, however they do wander, and infrequently flip up at different wetlands, and even in harbours near Thessaloniki.
No 2
OK, you’ll find White Storks in lots of European international locations, however they’re one of the crucial attribute birds of Lake Kerkini: the village of Kerkini (from which the lake takes its identify) has over 40 nesting pairs. Most arrive in March, however by mid September they’ve migrated again south to their wintering grounds in Africa.
White Storks construct big nests which get greater yearly because the house owners add extra sticks and materials. In Greece these spectacular nests typically host colonies of Spanish Sparrows that nest in holes within the construction. Such a nest web site has its dangers for the smaller occupants. In Might this yr I watched a sitting Stork catch and eat one in all her tenants. Such an unfriendly act created a variety of pleasure among the many sparrows, lots of which got here out to sit down on the close by wires to debate the occasion. After some time peace was restored, and the sparrows returned to their nesting chambers,
No 3
Forty years in the past the Better Flamingoes was a rarity in Greece, with fewer than 30 information. At present it’s change into a well-known wintering fowl, with flocks of 1000’s to be seen at favoured localities. I do know it nicely from the salt pans at Angelochori, only a few miles to the west of Thessaloniki’s airport. Right here flocks could be seen in most months of the yr. (It is a positive web site for different birds, with quite a lot of waterbirds and waders invariably to be discovered right here, together with resembling species as Black-necked Grebe, Avocet and Slender-billed Gull).
In recent times Better Flamingoes have unfold eastwards and now breed repeatedly in Italy and Turkey, whereas in 2020 the primary profitable breeding was recorded in Greece, on the wetland of Agios Mamas in Chalkidiki. Better Flamingoes are strikingly good-looking birds and it’s encouraging to seek out them doing so nicely in Greece at the moment.
No 4
Spoonbills aren’t a Balkan particular, as they even nest now in my house county of Suffolk, however there’s nowhere higher to see them at shut vary than on their breeding grounds at Lake Kerkini. Right here the latest lack of the flooded forest means that almost all of birds now nest away from the lake, commuting to it to feed.
Numbers decline within the winter, however birds could be seen in Greece all yr spherical. The younger birds could be simply recognized by their black-tipped major feathers.
No 5
Because the identify suggests, the Levant Sparrowhawk is a Levantine particular. Very related in each look and behavior to the carefully associated Shikra, it’s a fowl that favours open lowlands, and is usually to be discovered round villages. It’s a late-returning migrant, not usually showing again on its breeding grounds till early Might.
The shrill name is loud and much carrying, and in contrast to that of some other European raptor. After I heard my first one, on a go to to Kerkini in 2008, I wasn’t positive what it was, and needed to discover the fowl to determine its id.
No 6
Arguably essentially the most exotic-looking of any European fowl, the Bee-eater is at all times a delight to see and listen to. It’s a widespread breeding fowl all through a lot of the Balkans, arriving again in early Might and staying till late August. It is a fowl that was as soon as broadly persecuted, as its liking for bees made it the enemy of the bee keeper, giving an excuse for it to be shot.
By the way, on day’s birding in northern Greece it’s potential to see all 5 of Europe’s most brightly colored birds: Bee-eater, Curler, Hoopoe, Golden Oriole and Kingfisher. Although it’s potential to see the identical Huge 5 in various different Mediterranean international locations, Greece is the one nation the place I’ve managed it repeatedly.
No 7
There are 10 species of woodpeckers within the Balkans. The one one I haven’t seen right here is the Three-toed, which is restricted to the Rhodope Mountains on the Greek/Bulgarian border. The White-backed can be an actual problem to seek out – the fowl proven right here I photographed near the city of Sidirokastro, a number of miles south of the border with Bulgaria. Information of White-backed Woodpeckers in Greece are few, so the standing of this woodpecker is one thing of a thriller.
The race of the White-backed Woodpecker right here is lilfordi: it was as soon as often known as Lilford’s Woodpecker. Lord Lilford was a Nineteenth-century English fowl fanatic and collector: he shot a thriller woodpecker in Greece in 1857 that was named Picus lilfordi, however it was later reclassified as a race of the far more widespread White-backed Woodpecker.
No 8
Rock Nuthatch. Formally often known as Western Rock Nuthatch to distinguish it from the Jap fowl (that may be present in Georgia), this noisy and energetic fowl is widespread in Greece in appropriate habitat, however not at all times straightforward to seek out. I noticed my first people at Delphi a few years in the past. They’re widespread in quarries and on appropriate rocky hillsides in northern Greece. Hear for his or her distinctive loud whistles.
Earlier this yr I heard one calling in a big disused quarry in northern Greece the place I had seen these birds earlier than, however regardless of my finest efforts I didn’t see it. Irritating, however they’re small birds that favour huge landscapes.
No 9
4 species of shrikes nest in Greece – Lesser Gray, Crimson-backed, Woodchat and Masked – however it’s the latter that’s the Balkan particular. The smallest and most delicate of the European shrikes, the Masked isn’t as straightforward to seek out as the opposite species, as you not often see one perched on roadside wires or sitting conspicuously on the tops of bushes.
Masked shrikes choose an open wooded habitat, so have their very own ecological area of interest, not competing with their bigger cousins. Numbers have been growing lately, so this can be a fowl that it is best to see for those who put the hassle in.
No 10
Wandering Black-headed Buntings have been discovered as far west as Britain, they usually do breed in southern Italy, however that is predominately a Balkan (and Turkish) fowl, migrating to India for the winter. They return in early Might, when the cock’s distinctive and oft-repeated music is a attribute sound of the Greek countryside.
When singing they normally perch conspicuously on the prime of a big bush or small tree the place they’re straightforward to see. In distinction, the a lot drabber females could be troublesome to seek out. The cock is a really good-looking fowl that I by no means tire of seeing, its music one of the crucial attribute sounds of northern Greece in Might.
