10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

And here I am now, avoiding the two barking dogs trying to bite my tires while I am driving through pre-dawn darkness towards the delta of the river Styx, or Acheron , as it is known today at the Ionian Sea coast of Greece. This is possibly the only European wetland I’ve birded where Common Moorhens outnumber Eurasian Coots.

Greece 162

Greece Serbia Hunters Cows 162

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 18, 2018

I needed 4 more birds to round it up to 400, and as I said, I had only a few more days left. At home, I may find a new bird, perhaps two, but four? This will be the first time I find myself in Greece in winter. Both: “The Lesser White-fronted Goose in Greece” by Demertzi et al., The solution? The Kerkini Lake.

Greece 189

Greece 2017 Pelicans Geese 189

10,000 Birds

MAY 31, 2024

The days are longer and warmer, flowers fill the meadows, and the birds are back. True, most of our migrant breeding birds start to return in April, but in May even the late arrivals – Turtle Doves, Swifts, Spotted Flycatchers and Nightjars – finally appear. I haven’t seen a Nightjar, either, but I have heard several.

Greece 192

Greece Turtles Breeding Europe 192

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

The sun rises over the village of Chrysochorafa, by Kerkini Lake in the north of Greece, not far from the triple border with Bulgaria and FYRO Macedonia. Before this trip, I asked Steve Mills, the author of ‘ Birdwatching in Northern Greece ’, which sites would he recommend at this time of the year. Early September morning.

Greece 197

Greece Pelicans Serbia Eagles 197

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2015

The other day I was exploring a new area for the first time, birding the national park that I’ve watched only in BBC documentaries, the place famous for the largest Dalmatian Pelican colony in the world – more than 1300 pairs! Checking the birds on the stork’s nest, I found both House and Spanish Sparrows. Have you heard of it?

Greece 252

Greece Pelicans Geese Breeding 252

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2017

There should be thousands of birds at this time of the year, Dimitris Michalakis from the Karla Lake management authority told me. In the northern section, the water was deep, interspersed by reed-islets, but the only birds were a few Little Egrets and Black-headed Gulls. Lesser Kestrel. I am trying to count them all!

Greece 208

Greece Killing Pelicans Eagles 208

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2015

“The estuary and the delta of the River Kalamas form the most important wetland of northwest Greece”, so the “ Birding in Greece ” guidebook claims for the area where I am heading, a bit late since I overslept this morning. Yet, beside a few Little and one Great Egret , a raft of Eurasian Coots , no birds.

Greece 239

Greece Dogs Pelicans Fish 239

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2020

Like many of you, I had plans for this year’s spring migration: to bird the very best tour of the Balkans, heading for northeastern Greece. First, 800 km of driving from Belgrade through Bulgaria to very NE corner of Greece and the Dadia Forest National Park with its 36 species of diurnal raptors, out of Europe’s 38.

Greece 266

Greece Bulgaria Birds Serbia 266

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2023

Back in July, my fellow 10,000 Birds contributor Dragan wrote a delightful piece about birding Lake Kerkini in spring. I first visited Kerkini and this bird-rich region of northern Greece 15 years ago, and have been returning regularly ever since. My photograph below is of a captive bird).

Greece 238

Greece Pelicans Geese Buffalo 238

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2014

Our bird guide, Georgos Spiridakis, is driving slowly along this dirt track, checking the mud all the time. It is an early April morning and we are in the hills surrounding Lake Kerkini in the north of Greece. And then he stops and leaves the car – to show us a Grey Wolf track!

Greece 167

Greece Pelicans Breeding Buffalo 167

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

10,000 Birds is running a series of articles by and about tour guides, tour companies, eco-lodges, and other birding travel organizations. We want to help the birding tourism industry come back strong from the COVID pandemic. It also currently works with two other bird and mammal hides in Europe.

Wildlife 198

Wildlife Greece Mammals Reptiles 198

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2024

However, my current favourite member of the family Cucilidae is the Great Spotted Cuckoo (GSC), a common bird in Cyprus in spring. Birds that nest in southern Africa winter to the north in the tropics, while birds that breed in southern Europe and Turkey migrate south to, you guessed it, tropical Africa.

Cyprus 241

Cyprus Africa Europe Asia 241

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2020

If you are old enough, you will remember birding without a phone? Later I carried it because of a stash of bird songs I compiled in it. And now I carry it for the same reason, only now they are a part of the bird ID app. Anyway, I don’t even have an app for the European birds at the moment, but for the Birds of Southern Africa.

Serbia 293

Serbia Birds Ducks Cyprus 293

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 12, 2024

Memorable encounters with Mammals: Part I Most birdwatchers enjoy seeing mammals, but the trouble with mammals is that they tend to be much more challenging to see than birds. I remember the guide on my first Kenyan birding safari remarking that “birding groups always see far more mammals than those who come just to see animals.

Fur 218

Fur Otters Bulgaria Estonia 218

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2014

We are in the village of Finikas on the island of Syros in the Cyclades archipelago of Greece. We sail into the relative calm of a cliff, the mast takes an upright position, navigation becomes calm and quiet… quiet enough for our bird guide, Andrea Bonetti to pick up a voice of a Western Rock Nuthatch coming from the rock face.

Greece 250

Greece Malta Croatia Birds 250

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

Don’t you hate it when you cannot communicate while birding overseas? Having mobility issues, I still remember birding from a van along a rather productive dirt road in Costa Rica ( Broad-billed Motmot , Lineated Woodpecker , Cocoa Woodcreeper , etc.), While tracking brown bears in Greece some time ago, B. Yes, I thought so too.

Bears 161

Bears San Jose Greece Costa Rica 161

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2015

This time I was lucky enough to join a fam trip organised by Natural Greece, an ecotourism company from Athens, and spend a few days at my favourite Kerkini Lake, which you already birded through my bins ( April and September ). These cute little birds are common in the villages. Picture 6: Little Owl – Athene noctua.

Greece 256

Greece Woodpeckers Eagles Birds 256

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

Have you read my blogs on birding Greece ? Presuming that you live somewhere in Europe and plan a car trip to Greece, let me suggest a couple of routes that will increase your tour list. But, however successful it proved to be at the moment, waiting for accidental appearance is not the best birding tactic.

Greece 181

Greece Albania Macedonia Europe 181

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2024

Bee-eaters are one of the most colourful, and beautiful, of all European birds, but they are very scarce visitors to Britain. This was the best photograph I managed on a dull, grey May afternoon Suddenly, there they were, a whole line of birds on the wires, plus individuals swooping after insects. I’m coming!”

Greece 130

Greece 2014 Investigation Breeding 130

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 13, 2016

This September I found myself on a bear tracking tour organised by Natural Greece in the prime bear habitat of the Pindos range – the southernmost bear country in Europe, heading for the 2,520 m / 8,270 ft high Gramos Mountain along the border with Albania. inhabitants per km², mainly livestock farmers. and Apennine peninsulas (30 + 50 ind.).

Bears 271

Bears Greece Europe Slovenia 271

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

There’s something wonderfully primeval about the Northern Bald Ibis: it has the look of a bird that really ought to be extinct. The fact that it’s not is quite surprising, as this curious bird has come very close to the brink. Sadly, they no longer breed in Algeria, while in Turkey no free-flying birds remain. (In

Morocco 244

Morocco Austria Algeria Germany 244

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2024

I would be fascinating to know how many species of birds it was pointed at during its time with me, but it must have been well over 1,000. As a bird-tour leader, the scope was an essential part of my equipment, and I became pretty quick at getting it on to distant birds so that my clients could see them, too.

Estonia 230

Estonia Poland India Pelicans 230

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 26, 2023

I see myself as an old school birder, which means that I do remember the times when good bird photos were rare and far in between, and the times when bird paintings were getting ever more impressive. Yet, there is one group of birds where even I prefer photographs: gulls. pounds, and 6.7 I hate the cold. But I went off-topic.

Europe 257

Europe Africa Greece Groups 257

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

And here I am now, avoiding the two barking dogs trying to bite my tires while I am driving through pre-dawn darkness towards the delta of the river Styx, or Acheron, as it is known today at the Ionian Sea coast of Greece. This is possibly the only European wetland I’ve birded where Common Moorhens outnumber Eurasian Coots.

Greece 214

Greece Serbia Hunters Cows 214

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

They may be about bird eggs ( The Most Perfect Thing: The Inside (and Outside) of a Bird’s Egg , 2016), or a 17th-century ornithologist ( Virtuoso by Nature: The Scientific Worlds of Francis Willughby, 2016), or How Bullfinches learn songs from humans ( The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology.

Dissection 251

Dissection Birds Research Europe 251

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2019

What qualifies a bird to be included in the top-5? This version extended the list a bit and it turned out that almost every fourth bird was an one-monther. Somewhat unfairly, the second criterion was that I described the observation at 10,000 Birds. The post The top-5 birds of 2018 appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

2018 121

2018 Serbia Falcons Greece 121

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2024

Note the short legs, stout body and white rump and tail I see Muntjac on virtually every birding (or dog-walking) outing, as these small Asian deer are now very numerous around my home in the Suffolk Brecks. I’ve yet to see one in the UK, but I had a memorable encounter with one while birding from a small boat on a river in Lithuania.

Fur 236

Fur Deer Boars Estonia 236

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 1, 2018

It is the end of January and my year list reached 110 birds. More productive areas of the Balkans have January eBird lists from 105 to 115 species (but I combined several areas in two countries, Greece and Serbia), so I have every reason to be satisfied. My January 2018 list (4 birds in bold are globally threatened): 1.

Owls 111

Owls Greece Serbia Woodpeckers 111

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2018

Usually only several birds overwinter in Serbia – the biggest count ever was less than 10. I observed my first GS eagles in India some 8 years ago, then the first for Europe in Greece only last December , and finally I have them in my home country list. There weren’t that many birds at all, they hated the sounds as much as I did.

Moldova 125

Moldova Birds Serbia Greece 125

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2014

They were commenting where they felt most at home – on their favourite FB pages (predominantly American Birding Association). Eric DeFonso: “I was thinking about one particular quote from the blog post today while guiding, pertaining to recounting special bird sightings. ‘ Natural Greece: “Empathy is important too. A teacher.”.

Greece 231

Greece Birds Zambia Experience 231

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2013

An afternoon is already growing old while I am driving downhill to the Livadi marsh at the island of Kefallonia, Greece. I am watching from the main coastal road and do not see much – several Little Egrets and Grey Herons , one Common Kingfisher … is he going to be my best bird here? Trips falcons Greece' Of course you do!

Falcons 196

Falcons Greece Madagascar Game 196

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2017

A few years back, I birded northern Greece with a couple from Namibia. Nicolaas, who can see them back home any day commented that they are the most numerous wading birds in the world (the “most numerous” equaling “the least interesting”). Here comes the angry bird. All photos (6) by Vladimir Milovanovic.

Birds 142

Birds Namibia Greece Feral 142

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2014

Since I live not very far from Greece, I have often combined my vacation there with birding. As the time passed on, I started combining birding with vacation. And, finally, this spring I combined birding with – birding. Greece is visited by millions of tourists every year (over 19.5 I chose paper.

Greece 245

Greece Birds Macedonia 2014 245

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2019

I was driving along the legendary eastern levee of the Kerkini Lake in northern Greece ( Google Map ) and, listening to the first Golden Oriole flute, was slowly getting closer to a wooded Mt. The first birds to spot from the boat were Common Terns furiously defending their newly built nests on floating logs. mi) above the lake.

Greece 203

Greece Pelicans Buffalo Fish 203

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2013

And here I am on vacation in Greece, turning off the alarm at 5.30 For some unexplainable reason, birds seem to particularly love that time. In my native Serbia, these birds are so ill numbered that they were even deleted from the huntable species list with an explanation: “there is no surviving population of huntable size”.

Greece 232

Greece Serbia Europe Goats 232

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 17, 2015

One simply has to love Greece. The bird is gone into the pines, about to land in some tree crown. Birding is either black or white – there are no gray tones. Then, I go birding. Above that steep section, a bird hanging in the air on a strong wind… Should I stop the car? I’ve had just two glimpses of it.

Greece 246

Greece Falcons Madagascar Birds 246

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

And where all those birds are? This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. And it raises a question: if all the birds are having a party over there, am I in the wrong spot? I am talking 600 or 700+ bird species. Why am I here?

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257