Evros

This year I decided to close the winter season with a nice photographic excursion to the Evros river estuaries. That visit proved quite eventful since we had to postpone it for two weeks because of major floods that hit the area just the period we had planned to be there.

Eventually I found myself at Evros river delta with George and Michael the last weekend of winter and just for two days instead of three originally planned. We also had some other minor unexpected problems that forced us to abandon our plans to visit the whole river estuaries and to restrict ourselves only to the western part. Nevertheless the trip was a great success as it was the first time that we managed to see the one and only European flock of Lesser White-fronted Geese! Although we had all visited several times the Evros river delta during Winter, this was the first time that we were so lucky. Actually In the above photo you can see about one third of the European population for this species.

There were also many other beautiful moments during our visit, one of them being when two (out of a total of three) White-tailed Eagles spotted during our visit, flew just above our heads in close range giving us a good opportunity for nice photos.

We also saw and photographed several Common Gulls feeding on Grooved Razor Shells. After finding the shells they drop them from a sufficient height in order to be able to open them up more easily and eat their soft interior.

Finally, I have to mention the excellent hide for passerines that was built by the management body of the National Park of Dadia forest. Our time was very limited so we only stayed there for an hour, but during that time we have seen and photographed several species such as Great, Blue and Coal Tits, Blackbirds and even a Brambling which is quite difficult to spot in Greece. The next time you find yourself in the area don’t go only to see the famous vulture feeder. I think that this excellent hide deserves some of your time also.
You can always click on the images to see the Image Exif Data and to view a larger/sharper version.