A Winter visit to Lake Kerkini

It is now several days since my winter visit to lake Kerkini with the usual company of George and Michael.
This year the water level was lower than usual and as a result, the wintering wildfowl was not that close to the shore. Nevertheless, with some more effort and some luck I managed to get a few decent pictures. For example this Red-crested Pochard that was feeding close to the shore without caring about our presence.

The Dalmatian Pelicans were of course all over the place and they were already in their impressive breeding colours. We also visited our favourite Woodpecker spot even though everyone told us that “this year there are no Woodpeckers there”. Well after five Greater-spotted Woodpeckers, three Green Woodpeckers and the female Grey-headed Woodpecker shown in the photo below, we knew that they were wrong. It just takes some careful search and patience in order to find these species.

The Management Authority has published a great Guide for the lake. The new guide includes the history of the lake, together with info about the fauna and the flora of the area, conservation efforts and problems and even accommodation info. There is of course an English version of the guide and you can get it for free from the Information Centre located at the Kerkini village. I am really impressed with this guide and I think that it is well worth the visit.