Newsletter 35 - Summer 2024

We have lots to bring you in this issue of the Birdwing newsletter. Read more below.

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Reforestation of the Drymos Forest Area

Following the devastating fires in recent years at Dadia and the Evros region, the Society for the Protection of Biodiversity of Thrace (www.spbt.gr)  has recently been declared a reforestation sponsor by the General Directorate of Forests and Forest Environment of the Greek Ministry of the Environment and Energy and will reforest part of the Drymos forest area (114.5 hectares), under the responsibility of the Alexandroupoli Forest Service. Immediate artificial reforestation is proposed in the restoration of Evros forest ecosystems study and will be financed by WWF funds. The 350 hectares area of the Drymos forest site, is special in that it has burned three times in recentyears, some parts in 2009, 2020 and 2023 and some in 2011, 2020 and 2023.

Last year's fire in particular passed through the area with high intensity thus preventing its physical recovery. The important features of the reforestation are that a wide variety of trees and shrubs will be used while no plantings will be made in places where natural regeneration has been observed, especially by streams.

The reforestation project (planting, watering and plant care) has a duration of 3 years. SPBT will frame the reforestation work with various informative and educational activities.

After the end of the reforestation, SPBT will undertake the monitoring of the project.

For more go to www.spbt.gr

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TYTO

A few years ago. eight Greek professionals got together and founded the organization for The Civil Society Organization “Association for Management and Conservation of Biodiversity in Agricultural Ecosystems” or more simply ‘TYTO’ (www.tyto.org.gr) based upon the concept of the construction and installation of Barn Owl nest boxes in collaboration with municipalities and agricultural organisations.  

Working alongside those with local interests, TYTO’s strategy aims to encourage the control of small mammal populations in agriculture, through natural predation from Barn Owls.

One of the team, Konstantinos Vlachopoulos stated: I am proud to collaborate with seven other scientists in TYTO offering sustainable solutions/options for the Greek countryside, the farmer and Greek agricultural products. In order for agriculture to have a sustainable future, it is now absolutely clear that it must be developed with respect for the natural environment, the flora and fauna that make it up. Furthermore, if agricultural practices become more biodiversity-friendly, the agricultural product will also become more consumer-friendly as its quality is upgraded and thus the health of all of us is protected. The road is long but the choice is there. And that's why we work tirelessly.

Based in the Thessaly region of Greece, Tyto have a vision to expand both nationally within Greece and in collaboration with other international groups. We, at Birdwing, were lucky enough to meet with Mr Vasileios Bontzorlos and a recent recruit, the scientist Alexander Hargrave. to discuss their work and objectives.  

The team have a wealth of experience and have quickly got to work constructing and identifying appropriate sites for the Barn Owl boxes to be located in the Greek countryside. The "Barn Owl Project" is currently implemented through a pilot-program in areas of Thessaly, with over 120 nestboxes in place and many being used. Preparations have begun for its future implementation in areas including Crete, Boeotea and Evia. Having had success with breeding Barn Owls in our Birdwing nestboxes at the Evros Delta we were keen to share information and discuss future collaborations.

Read more about their excellent projects here:

www.tyto.org.gr Civil Society Organization Association for the Management and Conservation of Biodiversity in Agricultural Ecosystems

www.facebook.com/TytoCivilNonProfitOrganization

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An Irish Cuckoo in Greece!

The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has, over several years, fitted satellite tags to several British and Irish Cuckoos to gather information on their migration routes and wintering areas. Whilst all of our Cuckoos head to Africa, the routes they take vary, concentrating mainly through either Spain or Italy. This year, however, one of the birds, christened Cuach Torc, has surprised observers by heading to Greece instead! After a brief stopover south of Patras he was soon on his way again - but, instead of continuing his journey south he's headed north again to Albania!

The BTO writes, 'Irish Cuckoo Cuach Torc continues to defy us by not only not getting on with his journey south but instead actually moving north again! He has now left Greece and is back in Albania, having flown 383 km (238 miles) north-west from his last location in Greece. He is currently 23 km (12 miles) west of the Albanian city of Korçë. He is in a river valley close to the village of Marjan in Korçë Province, southern Albania. Last year Torc arrived in north Africa on 29 July and by 3 August had crossed the Sahara. How much longer will he wait before tackling the desert this year?'

Follow the journeys of Cuach Torc and other tagged Cuckoos at:

https://www.bto.org/cuckoos?dm_i=102F,8OZ5V,QNCE4Z,103GE7,1

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Good news from our neighbours 

The small and highly threatened population of Egyptian Vultures in the Balkans has received a boost this spring. A dramatic decline over the past 40 years in the Balkans has reduced its population from 600 pairs in the 1980s to fewer than 60 pairs in 2019. As a result the species looked to be heading for extinction in Eastern Europe. In 2012 a team of NGOs from Bulgaria and Greece,led by the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, set about trying to turn the tide. This year the results of these efforts are plain to see - numbers of these majestic birds have increased in Bulgaria by almost 20% on last year up to a more healthy 35 pairs.

The BSPB writes, 'The dedicated team applied large-scale conservation actions to combat poisoning, illegal killing, electrocution and collision with energy infrastructure, and illegal trade by carefully developing nest guarding, provisioning of safe food, GPS tracking individuals, involvement of local communities and many other conservation tools. The second pillar in our conservation strategy is the implementation of a reinforcement program through the release of captive-bred individuals.' To date, 21 have been released and five of them have occupied breeding territories in the Eastern Rhodopes. This year, for the first time, two of these individuals successfully bred and are currently raising three chicks.

These efforts to halt the decline of such an iconic bird should be celebrated and it may be that a corner has been turned. However, there is still much to do. The BSPB adds, 'Halting the decline of a threatened migratory bird species is a major success, but the population is still small and vulnerable.

Continued efforts to reduce the key threats are necessary along the entire flyway to enable the full recovery of the population, and funding is sorely needed to sustain these efforts long-term.  However, for once, there is a glimmer of hope that with a large team of dedicated people working at truly intercontinental scales, even species that migrate thousands of kilometres can potentially be rescued – a feat that seemed impossible only a few years ago.'

The bulk of the Bulgarian birds breed in the Eastern Rhodope mountain range which borders Greece. We hope that an increasing population will begin to spread and bolster the perilously small number of birds that remain in Greece. In the meantime Greece has its own good news- for the first time in six years a pair of Egyptian Vultures have bred in Meteora in Central Greece.

Read more from the BBC Wildlife Magazine:

https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/birds/egyptian-vulture-bulgaria 

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Two firsts for Greece!

In February, two Olive-backed Pipits were reported from Ioannina, in a first for the country. Far from their Russian breeding grounds these birds would normally be expected to have headed down to South Asia for the winter.

Also in February, a first for Greece in the form of a Great Knot was seen on the Evros Delta. Breeding in northeast Russia, Great Knots are highly migratory, wintering on coasts in southern Asia through to Australia.

To see a photo of one of the Olive-backed Pipits found by Alexandros Batsis, click here:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/pUpKswh9BVPBFjNH/

To see the Great Knot found by Aris Vouros, Giorgos Kouthouridis (photo), Katerina Zafeiriadou & Yiannis Banakakis, click here:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/eqd5mFurAMDMnxwf/

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Greek tours helping birds

In May, Birdwing-supporter Alexander Wirth again guided a nature tour to Northern Greece on behalf of NABU-naturgucker Reisen. From the profits of the tour NABU kindly made a generous donation to Birdwing for which we are very grateful. Alex writes more here:

We started our tour in Dadia Forest, which was beautifully in flower, even though the trees still told the story of the horrible fire of August 2023. Although the observation hide was not re-opened yet, we saw all vulture species and also expected orchid species were nicely in flower. We then headed west via the Evros Delta (Anthia marshes) to Lake Ismarida and the Thracian Lagoons, were we found the bluestar (Amsonia orientalis) flowering in marsh land and had some nice sights of plovers and waders. In the Nestos Area we explored the lakes at Chrysoupoli, a place which increasingly suffers by agriculture. We also went up to the meadows around Agias Kosmas looking for the last paeonies and orchids, of which most plants hide in the scrubs. Of course, a visit to the Nestos Gorge, which always has such beautiful scenery and special flora, is mandatory. From here, we went on to the top of Mount Falakro (recently on fire). Again, this year it was more like a misty-mystery-flower-challenge, rather than overwhelming alpine meadows in the sun.

Finally, our tour ended at Lake Kerkini, where we enjoyed two days watching wildlife around the lake, finding orchids, some reptiles, tiny frogs and least insects. For sure, we went on a boat trip with Nikos, which in the end increased our bird list to nearly 140 species in 10 days. The weather conditions were not always as expected for May in Greece and were sometimes unpleasant. The flora told us that the weather was already a bit unusual before our arrival. Especially, insect and butterflies suffered from late cold weather conditions and some spots are sadly affected by overgrazing. Nevertheless, we had wonderful sights, many species, good company and a lovely trip.

Thanks to all locals, who contributed to this trip.

We were fortunate to meet up with them during their tour at Kerkini and share a coffee with the group and with Nikos Gallios from the Hotel Limneo.

The full trip report in German:

https://naturwerke.net/?beitrag=2341

 

Also in May, the wildlife tour operator Greenwings ran a nature tour to Lake Kerkini. We again were fortunate to meet some of them, accompanied by their excellent guide Yiannis Theodoropoulos.

Since the tour operator’s founding more than 10 years ago Greenwings has continued to donate a proportion of their profits to conservation projects, including supporting Birdwing in this way.

For more about their tours see:

https://greenwings.co/our-holidays/

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Nestbox news

The 2024 surveys of Birdwing nest boxes at the Evros Delta have produced excellent results this year. Surveys in May and June shows the extensive usage of the boxes by the key species of Kestrels, Little Owls and Rollers.

In the screenshot to the right, the wider central column contains information on each box that was taken by a pair, with yellow indicating that the box was observed being used by one or more of the target species. It is estimated that between 81% and 93% of the boxes were used with a large proportion being observed with chicks. Only 3 boxes did not have birds present in one or more of the surveys!

At Lake Kerkini, where there are many more natural nesting opportunities for tree- and hole-nesting birds, we have put up a smaller number of boxes, but this year saw our first successful Roller box being used there. Given this, we hope to expand the number of boxes to support the hopefully-growing population.  

Watch a short video of birds in the boxes here:

www.facebook.com/1666006262/videos/423707020358876/

If you are visiting during the spring and would like a map of the locations of the nest boxes in the region please email us at info@birdwing.eu.

Our thanks go to the staff of the Evros Delta Management Unit for undertaking a survey for us during June.

 

 

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Other news

• Fires

With another hot summer underway, Greece is on the alert for wildfires and we are sad to report that Mount Orvilos has been ablaze in recent days, north-east of Lake Kerkini. The photo here, taken from Lithotopos by Kostas Papadopoulos shows the fire, which has been ablaze for many days now, with the town of Sidirokastro in the foreground.

 

• Tern raft repairs

Evros Delta and Dadia National Parks of NECCA (Natural Environment & Climate Change Agency) undertook maintenance and repair of the Birdwing-financed wooden tern raft that was placed in Drana lagoon to assist the breeding of terns.

The tern raft was placed in Drana lagoon in 2019 and, over the years since then, Common Terns have successfully bred on it.

The work carried out was aimed at repairing parts of the platform that had been damaged by waves and weather conditions, so that it could continue to be functional and offer a welcoming nesting area to the terns. Our thanks go to the staff for undertaking these necessary repairs.

• Third edition sales

The 288-page, full colour, third edition of the site guide ‘Birdwatching in Northern Greece’ has been selling well since its publication at the end of last year. The third edition includes new sites, updated information and lots more than the second edition and has been well reviewed.

To buy your copy go to www.birdwing.eu. Please remember that all proceeds from book sales go towards helping birds in Northern Greece.

For a review by Dragan Simic from www.10000birds.com go to:

https://www.10000birds.com/birdwatching-in-northern-greece-by-steve-mills-third-edition.htm

“The 3rd edition of “Birdwatching in Northern Greece” is a remarkable achievement

 that surpasses its predecessors in both scope and quality.” Dragan Simic

• Thanks

Our thanks go to those of you who kindly donated to Birdwing, including to the ever-supportive Meriel Wilmot-Wright, following our last newsletter. We are very grateful to all of you.

If you would like to donate please use the links at the top or go to birdwing.eu/howtodonate

To contact us email info@birdwing.eu

 

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