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

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 195

Greece Serbia Hunters Cows 195

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 27, 2016

I dipped a bird recently – possibly a lifer. While crossing Gramos Mountain in northern Greece, a Dendrocopos woodpecker flew over the road and landed in a pine tree. So, I wrote to my friend Giorgos Spiridakis, a bird guide living by Kerkini Lake , further east, if he could help me with this elusive woodpecker.

Greece 255

Greece Woodpeckers Boars Eagles 255

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2023

In short, it was the perfect day to go birding, so I grabbed my binoculars and camera and set off for the forest. The trouble with mature pine forest is that it isn’t really very good for birds, and in winter there’s little to be found there apart from Goldcrests and Coal T**s.

Barn Owls 220

Barn Owls Rats Japan Owls 220

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 26, 2024

A first-winter Red-breasted Goose at Cley, North Norfolk As a general rule, geese are birds of subtle, even dull, plumage. With its deep chestnut-red breast, exquisite head pattern and black and white body it’s an exceedingly handsome bird, and one that never fails to attract admirers when one turns up in Britain.

Bulgaria 130

Bulgaria Geese Romania Estonia 130