My Bulgarian birding friend has often regaled me on the virtues of Lake Kerkini in Northern Greece, so I put it on my mental list of 'must visit places', but was in no rush to tick it off as there are still many wonderful places here we haven't seen. When we were invited to celebrate the New Year there though it was too good an opportunity to miss - a birding trip and a multi-national 'knees-up' rolled into one! As the date for departure neared and the flock of 100 Lesser White-fronted Geese ( a target of mine) continued to linger there it seemed a most propitious decision indeed!
We set off early(ish!) Saturday morning and after a mid-morning coffee break stopped for lunch at Momchilgrad (the larget Bulgarian town with a Turkish majority of the populace) in the Eastern Rhodopes. Soon after we crossed over into Greece at Makaza and picked up the A2 motorway. A few Greek ticks presented themselves along the way but it was dark by the time we reached Hrisohorafa on the Eastern side of Lake Kerkini so any serious birding would have to wait until the morning!
We met up with my friend Mitko and his wife plus fellow birders from Serbia Dragan and Dusha, and had a wonderful meal of 'lake fish' (carp) washed down with local wine and Vergina beer at a local taverna along with our host Niko. Breakfast was set for 8.00am and we turned in for the night.
To be continued...
We set off early(ish!) Saturday morning and after a mid-morning coffee break stopped for lunch at Momchilgrad (the larget Bulgarian town with a Turkish majority of the populace) in the Eastern Rhodopes. Soon after we crossed over into Greece at Makaza and picked up the A2 motorway. A few Greek ticks presented themselves along the way but it was dark by the time we reached Hrisohorafa on the Eastern side of Lake Kerkini so any serious birding would have to wait until the morning!
We met up with my friend Mitko and his wife plus fellow birders from Serbia Dragan and Dusha, and had a wonderful meal of 'lake fish' (carp) washed down with local wine and Vergina beer at a local taverna along with our host Niko. Breakfast was set for 8.00am and we turned in for the night.
To be continued...