Lake Kerkini, Greece (Final update)

I've finally got round to doing a trip report for my visit to Lake Kerkini in northern Greece. Just to set the scene here is a map of it's location which is about an hour and a half north of Thessaloniki almost up to the Bulgarian border.

Copyright Google maps

The lake is formed by a dam at the lower end which I think was constructed for water supply. At the top (northern end) the lake broadens out and is quite shallow which makes it ideal for water birds as we shall see later. 

Our base for the week was this hotel which is located on the northeast side of the lake. This is not my photo - I forgot to take one. Yes, there was snow on the mountains even in May.

Looks a bit like a Tibetan monastery set against the foothills of the Himalayas but it was definitely Greek and very comfortable. It was family run and mama did all the cooking - very good it was too. We'd had an upgrade from the usual  guest house because our group was too large to be accommodated there.

A couple of views of the lake from my balcony window.

What stuck me initially about the area was the sheer abundance of bird life. Although it's a very fertile area the agriculture is small scale and diverse with many areas of uncultivated land and wild flowers. None of the mono-culture and manicured land which we are accustomed to and consequently wildlife flourishes.

Nightingales seemed to be singing every few hundred metres as were Cetti's Warblers but they were just as hard to see as in the UK. Corn Buntings were equally ubiquitous including one that never seemed to stop calling in the hotel grounds but were more obliging.

Although the lake was the main attraction - more about that later - we explored various habitats around the area so I'll start with a few bits and pieces. 

At a small disused quarry one of our group recognised the song of an Orphean Warbler - a new one for me. It was perched high up so not a good shot.

More at the same place included a (Black-headed) Yellow Wagtail (ssp Feldegg) ......

........ a distant Cirl Bunting feeding on the ground ...

.... and an equally distant Ortolan Bunting.

This site proved to be quite fruitful as on a second visit I managed to get these Red-rumped Swallows coming to collect mud which I've never managed to photograph before.

Who's a pretty boy?

At a reed bed alongside the road a Great Reed Warbler was showing nicely .......

....... and if you've never heard one singing it sounds like a common Reed Warbler with laryngitis and much louder.

A White Stork posing on a dead branch beside the lake. There were plenty around in the villages but this was so nicely posed that it would have been rude not to have snapped him.

A roadside Little Owl. Sorry it was poor shot through glass.

Our local guide was constantly stopping to rescue reptiles from the road. This is a Herman's Tortoise. 

And say hello to what I think he said was a Dice Snake.

And here's one we found in a safer location. Only the body visible on this one unfortunately.

An overflying Black Kite. Rather dull compared with my Red Kites.

I'm going to pause here before I lose the lot and also to give you all a break. More to come in due course.

To be continued >>>>>>>