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Pelican Lake (Greece): Magic Revisited

10,000 Birds

The system starts with a small pool bursting with Little Egrets , Pygmy and Great Cormorants , Black-headed Gulls … I am driving by it and, through the opening in the bushes, see a… Pelican! Such a large bird in such a small pool and only the first of many Dalmatian Pelicans I will see that day.

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Birding Lake Kerkini, Greece: Three Lazy Days

10,000 Birds

Booted Eagle by Kostas Papadopoulos The next morning was a lazy one, a late breakfast and even later excursion. Later in the day, roadside birds included a Booted Eagle and a Levant Sparrowhawk. We also observed nests of Pygmy Cormorants , Dalmatian Pelicans , Little Egrets , Cattle Egret (with a chick), Squacco Heron , and Spoonbills.

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Kerkini in Winter

10,000 Birds

By November nearly all the White Pelicans have gone south (there always a chance of seeing a young bird that has been left behind), but you are certain to see plenty of Dalmatian Pelicans , one of Europe’s rarest birds, but a common resident here. They soon lose the colour as the spring progresses).

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Greece: Pelicans galore at Lake Kerkini

10,000 Birds

A large raptor just across the hilltop… Georgos says that at this time of year, we can expect Common Buzzard , Booted , Lesser Spotted and White-tailed Eagles. The bird is not showing again, so we use the elimination system: the first and the last are way too different, and dealing with the other two, we ID it as a Lesser Spotted Eagle.

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Prespa Lakes National Park, Greece: the largest Dalmatian Pelican colony in the world

10,000 Birds

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! Dalmatian and White Pelicans (White = the black ones). Have you heard of it? Can you pinpoint it on a map?

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The American White Pelican Scoops Up Fish As It Swims

10,000 Birds

The American White Pelican ( Pelecanus erythrorhynchos ) is a huge bird! In breeding plumage, adult American White Pelicans have a distinct “centerboard&# or “horn&# on the ridge of their bill. I did see several American White Pelicans though, including this immature bird (click on photos for full sized images).

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Birding Porto Lagos Lagoons, Greece, or the snake-cold Vergina lager

10,000 Birds

Dalmatian Pelicans and Eurasian Spoonbills were flying above the beach, sometimes above the hotel garden, while Golden Oriole and Scops Owl could be heard. We were based at the end of Porto Lagos, overlooking the sea and constantly having a salty sea breeze. I do not remember such salt-scented air anywhere else in Greece.

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