Darío Gijón and I have visited Lake Kerkini for some days last week and had a blast. The attracting landscape often covered in mist in rural northern Greece was the perfect spot to connect with long-awaited species. We did not meet any birdwatcher on our trip and barely anyone in most of our stops, and the whole area seemed quite silent in the winter.
On a couple of days, we had bagged our eight targets of the trip: Syrian woodpecker (Dendrocopos syriacus), tundra swan (Cygnus columbianus), western rock nuthatch (Sitta neumayer), lesser white-fronted goose (Anser erythropus), sombre tit (Poecile lugubris), pygmy cormorant (Microcarbo pygmaeus), Dalmatian pelican (Pelecanus crispus), and great white pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus).
We got great quality sights of most species but one. Lesser white-fronted geese foraged in flocks mixed with similar-looking greater white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons), at a very long distance in the plains overseen from a dirt road connecting the villages of Limnochori and Melanochori, in the east embankment of Lake Kerkini. Common cranes (Grus grus) and tundra swans also foraged in the distance, but flocks would fly over the path and provide great views, unlike the geese.
On our third and last morning in Kerkini, on 13 Dec, we tried our best to connect with the lesser white-fronted geese flock again. We left from our accommodation in Lithotopos south of the lake at 07:00 and drove to the east embankment under the golden light of sunrise, surrounded by numerous common buzzards (Buteo buteo), flocks of pygmy cormorants, and some kestrels (Falco tinnunculus).
We approached the road from south to north, therefore entering it through Limnochori. As soon as Darío set the scope on the first place where we stopped the car, he pointed at a flock of 17 lesser white-fronted geese which gave us rather satisfying looks, still distant but closer than the day before. We learned a great deal about this scarce and heavily threatened species these days. The wintering population in Greece is mainly composed of birds breeding in Scandinavia which are part of a reintroduction project. Among the flock, we identify a bird with a neck GPS-tracker — perhaps the popular Mr. Blue.
The distant surface was full of waterfowl just as the previous days. Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), Eurasian teals (Anas crecca), and shelducks (Tadorna tadorna) were on the hundreds, with tens of pintails (Anas acuta), gadwalls (Mareca strepera), wigeons (Mareca penelope), and common pochards (Aythya ferina) with them. Northern lapwings (Vanellus vanellus) and dunlins (Calidris alpina) foraged on the shore with flocks of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) and skylarks (Alauda arvensis).
Tundra swans were numerous, scattered among the waterfowl, but I also managed to spot some whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus) within them. A merlin (Falco columbarius), several greater spotted eagles (Clanga clanga) and marsh harriers (Circus aeruginosus), a hen harrier (Circus cyaneus), a golden jackal (Canis aureus), and distant flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) and pelicans were also present.
As Darío scoped the plains, I got busy photographing the numerous birds in bushes and trees around. Dunnocks (Prunella modularis), wrens (Troglodytes troglodytes), goldfinches (Carduelis carduelis), hawfinches (Coccothraustes coccothraustes), green woodpeckers (Picus viridis), blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus), great tits (Parus major), and a redwing (Turdus iliacus) were seen.
The first chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) of the day was unusually light and showed up in the distance. It slowly approached the bushes next to us, right when we noticed its continuing distinctive call — a Siberian chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita tristis), a rarity for Greece that foraged around us for several minutes.
We moved on a bit further north once the lesser white-fronted goose flew away, trying to connect with the large geese flocks in the distance. We worked through the jizz of greater and lesser white-fronted geese within the flock almost one by one.
At a certain point, Darío spotted some short, sand-brown birds walking behind the geese. We had spotted two little bustards (Tetrax tetrax) flying the day before briefly, getting lost on the grass. Today, not two but three little bustards walked in the open next to the geese. The distance was very large, but we managed comparative views with a curlew (Numenius arquata) foraging next to them. The bustards marked the second Greek rarity of the day, giving us better views than the day before.
Just as we scoped the bustards, an odd-looking dove flew into a tree in front of us where a couple of collared-dove (Streptopelia decaocto) sat. In flight, we noticed a white belly and brown wings. The bird left too soon and I only managed to get a flight shot that already gave us goosebumps from the little screen of my camera.
Fortunately, we managed to relocate it as it flew into a tree in the distance. We spent the following 20 minutes getting slowly closer and closer. An Oriental turtle-dove (Streptopelia orientalis), the third Greek rarity of the day and a lifer for both of us. An obliging bird that gave prolonged views in an area that seems relatively favorable for overwintering individuals of this mega bird.
After encountering these three completely unexpected rarities, we were satisfied and ready to leave Greece and drive back to the airport in Bulgaria. On our last moments in Kerkini a bit north up the road, we added a last-minute species to our trip list. Along with the common pochards and three ferruginous ducks (Aythya nyroca) we spotted the only tufted duck (Aythya fuligula) of the trip.
Lake Kerkini has proven a fantastic location for comfortable birdwatching with an infrastructure enough to explore it on one’s own without missing on amenities — great birds, nice accommodation, good food, and the charm of rural mainland Greece. The finds of this morning are just a harbinger of the potential of the lake.