Find out what's been seen and what's going on. Free newsletter now available. Just fill in the box to sign up. No details passed on!

For Google's translation of this website into Greek click here: Birdwing in Greek

Birdwing at the Birdfair!
Last weekend we met many interesting people and gained new members at the British Birdwatching Fair - here taking a well-deserved ice cream break with friends from Kerkini!

Squacco Heron

Welcome to BirdWING!

BirdWING (BirdWatching In Northern Greece) has been set up to raise awareness of birds in Greece and to raise money for the conservation and restoration of bird habitat in the region. Birdwing has over 500 members from all over the world.

The BirdWING site guide, 'Birdwatching in Northern Greece', has detailed information about birds and birdwatching in the region, with up-to-date maps and site info and can be ordered from this website. All money raised from the book goes to bird conservation in Greece.

Why not join us?

• it's free
• you will receive regular newsletters about what's happening and what's been seen
• you'll be helping birds in Greece by adding to our 'voice'

One month later

Birdwing Tern Raft in use!!

Things move fast in the bird world! These photos, taken a month apart, show the raft before and after being adopted by Common Terns.

Black-eared Wheatear

Latest sightings

Summer 2010
At Prespa some 1600 pairs of pelicans, mainly Dalmatian, nested, along with perhaps 80 pairs of Great White Egrets. Barred Warblers were also much in evidence in the scrubby margins.
At Evros July and August saw a maximum of 53 Spur-wing Plovers including this year's birds, 83 Dalmatian Pelicans and 47 Ruddy Shelduck. Autumn migration is already underway with 290 Garganey, 20 Black Stork, a magnificent 1468 Glossy Ibis, 735 White Pelicans, 386 Black-tailed Godwits and 255 Spotted Redshanks already seen. At Porto Lagos site 1c (see book) there was a Great Snipe along with 6 Temminck's Stints and 100+ Collared Pratincoles.
At Kerkini the new pelican platforms rewarded the efforts of the Management Body by playing host to a record 119 chicks, double the numbers achieved previously. Other breeding highlights here were 45 pairs of Black-necked Grebes and 110 pairs of Whiskered Terns. In addition a pair of Mute Swans bred for the first time, producing 6 cygnets. Other records include 131 Spoonbill, 80 Glossy Ibis, 27 Black Kites and a single Egyptian Vulture.

Winner of the Photo Competition

Winner of the Birdwing Wildbird Photo Competition!

Congratulations to Konstantinos Stafylidis who took this fantastic photo of a Wryneck (Jynx torquilla) in Alykes Kitrous (Near Korinos) in Northern Greece during April last year.

This was the unanimous winner of the competition, with the judges particularly commenting on the sharpness of the subject and composition of the picture as a whole. Click on the photo to enlarge it!

Yellow Wagtail

The birds of Northern Greece

Kerkini in spring

There are some fantastic places to come birdwatching in Northern Greece, including the unique Dadia forest and the wetlands of Lake Kerkini and the Evros delta.

If you have never been birdwatching in Northern Greece, consider this: where else in Europe could you see…

• hundreds of White and Dalmatian Pelicans
• thousands of Pygmy Cormorants and Greater Flamingos
• White-tailed, Imperial, Spotted, Lesser Spotted, Golden, Booted and Short-toed Eagles
• Lanner, Saker, Lesser Kestrel, Eleonora’s and Red-footed Falcons
• Black, Griffon and Egyptian Vultures
• Long-legged and Honey Buzzards
• Goshawk and Levant's Sparrowhawk
• four species of shrike breed in Northern Greece, as do eight species of owl. Five species of flycatcher can be found
• nine species of woodpecker are resident and Isabelline Wheatear and Spur-winged Plover are regular breeders
• over 100 000 duck winter on the Evros Delta, often with Lesser-white Fronted and Red-breasted Geese
• in Dadia Forest 36 species of raptor have been recorded, and 20 breed
• in 2008 a single eagle roost in Northern Greece held 47 Spotted Eagles and 2 Eastern Imperial Eagles

The future

Many of the sites are under threat. Continued land reclamation, drainage, illegal building, over-grazing and a serious lack of political will towards the environment all continue to have damaging effects. In addition, at certain sites, like the Evros Delta, hunting pressure is intense.

WE NEED TO BRING PRESSURE TO BEAR FOR THEIR PROTECTION NOW!!!

The aims of Birdwing are:

• to raise awareness of issues affecting birds in Northern Greece
• to raise money for direct habitat improvement to help birds whose habitats are at risk
• to build a membership with a collective voice on conservation issues

If you care, join us today - or make a donation - to help make a difference.