Greenwings: North Greece, 6th - 12th June 2022

[David M]

Pieridae

Decent array of species in this group, including Eastern Bath White:

85. Wood White
86. Clouded Yellow
87. Berger's Clouded Yellow
88. Cleopatra
89. Brimstone
90. Black Veined White
91. Large White
92. Small White
93. Green Veined White
94. Eastern Bath White

[David M]

Whilst 90+ butterfly species in early June is a good tally, there is plenty of other wildlife to see in this area of Europe and we saw some excellent birds, principally due to a boat trip we took on Lake Kerkini one morning.

There were plenty of impressive pelicans, both Dalmatian and Great White:

[David M]

Great Cormorant wasn't a bird species I'd heard of till I was on the boat. There was no shortage of them thereafter:

[aeshna5]

Great Cormorant is the same common species we have here in the UK, so no doubt you've seen them before. I did a boat trip on Lake Kerkini back in early May & the numbers of birds were incredible. Unfortunately the Dalmatian Pelicans there & throughout the Balkans have lost c40% of the population to this awful strain of bird flu that's also decimating some of our seabird colonies.

[David M]

Thanks, aeshna. Yes, the guy on the boat mentioned the effects of avian flu. Very hard times for some of these birds.

[David M]

Amongst the multitude of cormorants and pelicans were decent numbers of squacco herons. This is an attractive bird and we got pretty close to a few:

[David M]

Another bird I got close to was hoopoe, when one landed on the lawn of the garden adjacent to our hotel. I watched it skewering the turf for the best part of ten minutes before it moved on:

[David M]

A bird seen frequently was white stork. They were nesting on buildings, telegraph poles and just about anywhere else that took their fancy. Occasionally one would appear on the ground:

The chicks must take some feeding:

[David M]

Lastly, there were a handful of miscellaneous sightings of interest. This green lizard was a highlight:

This poor Queen of Spain Fritillary was predated by a dragonfly as I was watching it:

We also saw several wild tortoises, including this pair:

[selbypaul]

Some fantastic photos there David, not just of the butterflies. What a great week, despite the mixed weather

[Ian Pratt]

Excellent report. Thanks for sharing your trip.

[petesmith]

Fantastic stuff David - this report has cemented our plans for a visit to north Greece and SW Bulgaria next June!

[David M]

Thanks, Paul/Ian/Pete.

This was only my second visit to Greece for butterflies but it won't be the last.

Pete - let me know if you want any of the locations for the rarities.

[petesmith]

Thanks David - I have emailed you.