Find out what's been seen and what's going on. Free Autumn/Winter 2011 newsletter now available. Just fill in the box to sign up. No details passed on!

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

Steve Mills, co-founder of Birdwing, has just been named the Veolia Wildlife Photographer of the Year in the Bird Behaviour category for 2011. Click the link to see his winning image www.nhm.ac.uk

You might be interested in his bird photography website: stevemills-birdphotography.com

Second edition

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 600 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. See the Birdwing Books page. 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'

Short-toed Eagle at Evros

Latest sightings 2011

September at Lake Kerkini - several hundred Flamingos and White Pelicans are much in evidence, Squaccos and Night Herons are everywhere, as are both egrets. We spent a wonderful hour outside a taverna near Mandraki watching 2 adult White-tailed Eagles, 3 Golden - both parents and their youngster, 3 Lesser Spotteds and 1 Short-toed.

October has been eventful with the arrival of several family parties of Common Crane, reaching 25 in all, 11 Bewick’s Swans, a single Ruddy Shelduck , the first 64 White-fronted Geese of the winter along with 21 Lessers. Over 1500 Flamingos are on the lake with 8 Black Stork on the old riverbed. The variety of eagles is impressive, with 3 White-taileds, 8 Spotteds, a lingering Lesser Spotted and 3 Golden. Other raptors include a single Griffon Vulture, 12 Common Buzzards, 10 Marsh Harriers, 2 Peregrines, 3 Merlins, several Sparrowhawks and Goshawks and the first Hen Harrier of the winter. Other birds of note include an impressive 44 Ravens and the first Great Grey Shrike of the winter which arrived as the last Red-backed departed on the 18th.

November brought great news - 69 Lesser White-fronted Geese at the river mouth on the 7th, which is the highest number counted in Greece in over 20 years and the most ever seen at Kerkini.

Rather surprisingly December records to date include a Cuckoo and no fewer than three Hoopoes. The group of Cranes now numbers 26 and an Imperial Eagle has been around the lake for several days. Two Little Bustards were seen on the 7th. All three swan species have begun to arrive as temperatures are falling, together with the first 10 Goldeneye of the winter.

January raptor numbers include around 8 Spotted Eagles, along with 2 - 3 Imperials, 2 Golden and 5 White-tails, along with 35 Common Buzzards, 2 Peregrines, 3 Hen Harriers, 3 Merlins with Sparrowhawk, Goshawk, Marsh Harrier and a Griffon. Flamingos number around 1800, with 900 Dalmatian Pelicans, 8 Black Storks, 1000 Greater White-Fronted Geese, 35 Lesser White-Fronted, 16 Greylags and two (male+female) Little Bustard. The number of Cranes (26) remains steady at 26. An Eagle Owl was in the forest next to the lake, two Great Grey Shrikes near the river and, very oddly, a Cuckoo is still present.

Black-winged Stilts

August and September 2011 at Evros - saw good wader passage continue with 406 Curlew Sandpiper, 115 Little Stint, 45 Collared Pratincole, 53 Spur-winged Plover, 650 Black-tailed Godwit, 133 Ruff, 1572 Spotted Redshank, 123 Marsh Sandpiper, along with several Temminck's Stints and three Broad-billed Sandpipers. Raptors were prominent, and a juv Imperial Eagle and an adult Saker were special, along with 31 Marsh Harrier, 14 Black Kite and 2 Osprey. 18 Purple Heron, 434 Little Egret, 367 White Stork, 319 Spoonbill, 240 Glossy Ibis, 372 Garganey, 34 Ruddy Shelduck, 110 Gull-billed Tern were also counted.

Data from late September and October shows continued wader passage, including 268 Curlew Sandpipers, 276 Marsh and 2 Tereks, 60 Collared Pratincole and 48 Spur-winged Plovers. Totals of 281 Glossy Ibis, 283 Spoonbill and 102 Gull-billed Tern were also counted.The first geese of the winter - a pair of White-fronts - arrived on October 5th.

November saw White-front numbers rise to 159 and swan numbers reach unusually high levels for November, with 722 Bewick's and 340 Whoopers. Spotted Redshank numbers reached 1604 and Dunlin 2278. A pair of Little Bustard was found on the 22nd. Raptor numbers include 20 Spotted Eagle, 3 White-tails and 32 Marsh Harriers.

October at Axios - top birds were three Golden Eagles and a Montagu’s Harrier around the riverine forest of Aliakmonas and a Common Crane in the Gallikos estuary. Other counts include 100 Grey Heron, 70 Little Grebe, 60 Great White Egret and 156 Dalmatian Pelican. Further south, at Alykes Kitrous, 344 Flamingos were counted before, later in the month, around 180 birds could be seen in Axios and Gallikos estuaries.

December has brought 4 divers, 2 each of Red and Black-throated, 2 Merganser and singles of Red-necked and Slavonian Grebes, White-headed Duck and Peregrine while, a little further south at Nea Agathoupoli are 4 White-fronted Geese.

One month later

Birdwing Tern Raft in use!!

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

Olivaceous Warbler

The birds of Northern Greece

Penduline Tit

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

Newsflash

From May 1st the hotel, shop and cafe at Dadia Forest have closed for the forseeable future because of funding problems as part of Greece's financial difficulties.
According to WWF Greece the Information Centre is open from 09:00 - 17:00 and the bus to the feeding station is running again between 09:00 and 19:00. It is also still possible to walk to the hide and the feeding station itself is still operating.

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.