Date Cost Availability Deposit Single Supp	22 Sep - 29 Sep 2025 £3685.00 5 Spaces £735.00 £250.00 Book Now

Leaders	Sally Nowell and Ecotours guide
Flights	British Airways, scheduled Outbound: Morning, Heathrow-Thessaloniki Inbound: Afternoon Thessaloniki-Heathrow

Day 1	Flight from London to Thessaloniki. Transfer to our base for the week - 7 nights Limneo Guest House.
Days 2-7	From our base we explore Lake Kerkini, Axios Delta and the surrounding foothills and mountain areas, including a boat trip on the lake.
Day 8	Return flight from Thessaloniki to London.

Weather	Temperatures should be pleasant during the day, but cooler at night. Rain or strong winds can occur, 10-25ºC.
Walking	Will be easy to moderate, with some hillside walking on stony trails.
Meals	All included from lunch on Day 1 to lunch on Day 8.
Insects	Biting insects should not be a problem but you may wish to bring repellent.
Accom	Twin and single rooms all ensuite.
Group	12

A single base and relaxed holiday around Lake Kerkini, home to Dalmatian and White Pelicans and a wide variety of waterbirds including migrating waterfowl, raptors and songbirds.

	*   Thousands of birds!!!!!
	*   Explore Kerkini Lake, a designated Ramsar site, one of the finest wetlands in Europe
	*   Single centre relaxed late summer holiday in an excellent family run guesthouse
	*   Spend time in unspoilt and varied habitat
	*   Peak migration time for raptors, songbirds and wildlfowl
	*   Boat trip on Lake Kerkini
	*   Delicious food and local wines

Day 1	After landing at Thessaloniki Airport we meet our other guide and transfer to Lake Kerkini, located some 60 miles north. Our base throughout the week is the comfortable Limneo Guesthouse located on the east side of the lake. Within a few hundred metres we find ourselves on the eastern shore of Lake Kerkini. The guesthouse offers delicious local food and wine.
Days 2-7	We shall make day trips from our base each day, either to the lake or to the nearby mountains and the Axios river delta on the coast. Lake Kerkini is renowned as one of the finest wetland sites in Europe. It attracts tens of thousands of wetland birds throughout the year. In late September, along with a great variety of resident species around the lake, migration is in full swing with many ducks, shorebirds, raptors and passerines present around the lake. Up to a 1,000 Dalmatian Pelicans winter here and White Pelicans should still be around in good numbers. Lesser White-fronted Geese usually arrive on the lake at the end of September, to spend the autumn and winter months here. There is much to see and do in this picturesque corner of Greece and we shall divide our time between the various habitats and what’s about locally at the time. The lakeshore is a good spot for herons and egrets, Water Rail and Little Crake. Cetti´s Warblers are common and Reed Warblers can still be seen. More open areas are good places to look for Red-backed Shrike and Cirl and Corn Buntings. We shall enjoy a boat trip along the northern shore of the lake, where the major heronries and a large colony of cormorants are located. The place is teeming with birds: Purple, Grey, Squacco and Black-crowned Night Herons, Eurasian Spoonbill, Black Stork and Great and Little Egrets feed in the shallow water. Hundreds of Great Crested Grebes frequent the fish-rich waters of the lake. Migrating terns pause to feed in good numbers and we are likely to see Whiskered and White-winged Black Tern and Caspian and Common Tern could be among them. The riverine forest is a haven for woodpeckers! Old poplars, willows and ash trees provide great habitat for seven woodpecker species. We shall be looking especially for Grey-headed and Middle Spotted Woodpecker, but Black and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers are found here too. After our ‘woodpecker walk’ we shall make our way to a reedbed area and grazed grassland, where migrating Red-footed Falcons like to stop on their way south. The reeds can hold Little Bittern and Penduline Tit. On another day we shall explore the Kroutsia Mountains. Hawfinch is common here and others to watch for include Woodchat Shrike and Eastern Black-eared Wheatear. These mountains hold good numbers of raptors. Black Kite and White-tailed, Lesser Spotted and Booted Eagles all occur here. In the foothills of the Belles Mountains Long-tailed Tits and the scarce Sombre Tit forage in the bushes. Hoopoes can be around and migrating warblers and flycatchers favour more secluded spots. We shall explore the grazed slopes and disused quarry area northeast of the lake. This bird-rich habitat of scattered bushes and small trees can hold Eastern Subalpine and Sardinian Warblers. Driving higher into the Belles Mountains we reach an area that has Black Woodpecker, Spotted Nutcracker and Crested Tit in the pinewoods, with Rock Bunting on the more open alpine slopes. The shy and ever-elusive Rock Partridge is also possible here, if we are lucky! We’ll also look for Western Rock Nuthatch that breeds on the limestone cliffs. The rock is also used by raptors from the lowlands seeking thermals upon which to soar into the hills. Short-toed Snake Eagle and Long-legged Buzzard are regular visitors. One day we shall make an early start for a day trip to the coast, approximately a 90 minute journey from Kerkini. On the shores of the Aegean Sea, the Axios River Delta is home to a range of coastal wetland species. We may find a good range of migrating waders, gulls and terns here, including Stone-curlew, Wood Sandpiper, Temminck’s Stint, Spotted Redshank, Mediterranean and Slender-billed Gulls and Gull-billed and Little Terns. Greater Flamingos often linger throughout the autumn here.
Day 8	After breakfast we travel back to Thessaloniki for our flight back to the UK.

Just some of what we hope to see..

Lesser White-fronted Goose	Stone Curlew	Eastern Subalpine Warbler
Rock Partridge	Wood Sandpiper	Sombre Tit
Dalmation Pelican	Caspian Tern	Penduline Tit
Bittern	White-winged Tern	Western Rock Nuthatch
Purple Heron	Eagle Owl	Red-backed Shrike
Black Stork	Little Owl	Woodchat Shrike
Greater Flamingo	Black Woodpecker	Spotted Nutcracker
Lesser Spotted Snake Eagle	Middle-spotted Woodpecker	Hawfinch
Short-toed Eagle	Black-eared Wheatear	Cirl Bunting
Red-footed Falcon	Blue Rock Thrush	Rock Bunting