Birdwatching trip in Northern Greece

Birdwatching trip in Northern Greece: 7-16 April, 2025

Birdwatching trip in Northern Greece is a memorable experience for every keen birder wishing to experience fantastic birds, superb countryside with beautiful landscapes and great food.

The trip starts and ends in Thessaloniki.

bathing White Pelicans, image: Iordan Hristov

Itinerary

We will meet at Thessaloniki airport on April 7th and make our way to the birding sites

Day 1 (April 7th):

Route: All day birding around Thessaloniki.

The area has a lot to offer including disused quarries, saltpans, lagoons, marshes and farmland. Overnight in Thessaloniki.

We will drive to some of the best lagoons in the country offering opportunities to see hundreds of birds. Dalmatian Pelican and Pygmy Cormorant will be some of the highlights but we also have a good chance to see Spur-winged Plover, Collared Pratincole, Curlew Sandpiper, Kentish Plover, Slender billed Gull, Tawny Pipit, and all marsh terns.

White-winged Black Tern © Iordan Hristov

Day 2 (April 8th):

We will start the day with a prebreakfast walk close to the hotel grounds. Some of our target birds to be seen at the first morning light include Collared Pratincole, Stone Curlew, Little Owl, lots of Flamingos and migrating waders.

After breakfast, we start our way to Kerkini lake via some superb sites offering us opportunities to see Lesser Kestrels, Calandra Larks, Montagu’s Harrier, Long-legged Buzzard and hundreds of Ferruginous Ducks. Once at the lake, we will be able to enjoy a superb view of the lake from our strategically positioned hotel. We will stay here for 3 nights.

Calandra Lark, image: Iordan Hristov

Day 3&4 (April 9-10):

Route: Аround lake Kerkini.

Lake Kerkini is one of the best birding sites in Greece. We will spend the next two days exploring the area aiming to see as much as possible. The area steams with birds occupying the huge variety of habitats. It is not only the lake itself but the mountains and the forest that attract some very special birds. Some of these are Dalmatian Pelican, Pygmy Cormorant, White backed Woodpecker, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Syrian Woodpecker, Semi-collared Flycatcher, Subalpine Warbler, Orphean Warbler, Blue Rock Thrush, Sombre Tit, Golden Eagle, White-tailed Eagle, Great spotted Cuckoo and many, many more.

The highlight of the visit to the area is a boat trip that takes us to the huge colony of cormorants and herons. You can get quite close to see and photograph Pygmy Cormorant, Spoonbill, Night Heron, Squacco Heron, Dalmatian Pelican to name but a few.

Day 5 (April 11):

Route: transfer from lake Kerkini to Porto Lagos via Vrondous mountains.

We will start early in the morning to drive up to the mountains and aim to see the elusive Rock Partridge. Several pairs are known to occupy certain area right by the road. Just there we will also look for Rock Thrush, Sombre Tit, Wood Lark, Tree Pipit, Peregrine Falcon, Orphean Warbler, Northwen Wheatear, Serin, Eatern Bonneli’s Warbler, Rock Bunting and Black Woodpecker.

Birdwatching trip to Greece — Nestos Gorge © Iordan Hristov

After we descend from the mountains we head to Porto Lagos. We will stop at the famous Nestos Gorge to look for Wallcreeper, Griffon Vulture and Rock Partridge. Once on the coast we can already look for the Spur-winged Plover, Collared Pratincole and Stone Curlew.

We will arrive at the small village of Fanari to spend the next 3 nights.

Day 6&7 (April 12&13)

Route: around Porto Lagos lagoons.

The next two days will be also packed with birding and literary thousands of birds to see. Being in the peak time of migration we will have opportunities to see hundreds of Flamingos, Curlew Sandpipers, Broad-billed Sandpipers, Spur-winged Plovers, Marsh Sandpiper, Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwit some of which will be already in their summer plumage. Slender-billed Gull, Gull billed Terns and all three Marsh Terns should be in the area as well.

Marsh Sandpiper (c) Image: Iordan Hristov

Day 8 (April 14):

Route: Porto Lagos – Dadia reserve via Evros river Delta

Today we head North East towards the border with Turkey and Bulgaria. We have several good sites to visit. The target birds for the day are Rufous Bush Robin, Ruppel’s Warbler, Lesser Kestrel, Blue Rock Thrush, Western Rock Nuthatch, Isabelline Wheatear and a lot more birds of prey.

We will stay in Dadia village for 2 nights.

Day 9 (April 15):

Route: around Dadia reserve

Dadia reseve is the prime area for birds of prey in Greece. The area suffered a lot from forest fires in the past years but is slowly recovering. Our target birds here are Eastern Imperial Eagle, Black Vulture, Black Kite, Greater Spotted Eagle, Short-toed Treecreeper, Rock Bunting, Short-toed Eagle and Booted Eagle.

Cinereous Vulture, image: Iordan Hristov

Day 10 (April 16):

Route: Dadia – Thessaloniki (4 hours) for departure late in the afternoon

Depending on the time of the flights for the group we can start early in the morning to allow easy travelling and stops en route.

Price: 1 850 EUR.

What is included in this birdwatching trip in Northern Greece:

all ground costs,
airport pick up and drop off,
local travel, hotels,
dining,
guiding,
entrance to protected areas.

What is not included:

airfare;
insurance;
items of personal nature.

Group size: Min 4 people, max 7 persons

Gallery of images from the Birdwatching trip in Northern Greece

Check out my page with birdwatching and photography tours in Bulgaria, Greece and Spain.

This tour is organised by Esenko Workshops.

Esenko Workshops is a trusted brand of Židana Marela d.o.o.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia
Licence 1134 for Tour Organiser
Licence 1135 for Tour Agent

Questions?

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Birdwatching trip in Northern Greece