Greece is so close to Israel, and such a beautiful country, yet I have never visited it, until last week. I spent the week of Passover with my family in different parts of the country. As it always happens in my family holidays, birding was limited normally to early morning sessions before the rest of the family woke up, and whatever birds I could find during outdoor activities. It was a wonderful trip - I enjoyed the time off and being with my family, Athens was exciting and delicious, the mountains were spectacular, Meteora was unreal.
In Athens, my focus was not quite on birding. The city is wonderful, offering spectacular views of the Acropolis and other world-class landmarks. The food is excellent, too. This is the panoramic view of Acropolis and the Ancient Roman Agora from a rooftop bar near Monastiraki:
I spent three early mornings birding in Athens. The most easily accessible site was Athens National Garden. I was somewhat underwhelmed by birding there. I am used to birding in Israel, where every small garden hosts large numbers of migrants. In Athens I found very few signs of migration whatsoever. The gardens were almost devoid of any migrants. Yet, birding there was sufficient for my checklist streak keeping and enjoyable enough. One morning I climbed up Philopappos Hill which was a bit better. A few Tree Pipits, a Collared Flycatcher, a singing Nightingale made me happy. I heard an unfamiliar song distantly from inside the closed Acropolis gardens - it turned out to be a House Finch (exotic, introduced). I was unaware of the healthy population there - surely they will become a Category C soon?
From Athens we headed north into the mountains. We stayed in Optasia, a nice place near the town of Karpenissi. Nestled under the mighty Tymfristos mountains, along a nice river, walking around our accommodation was fun. Lots of bird song made my birding enjoyable, especially very early in the morning.
Female Cirl Bunting near the accommodation
One day we hiked up the mountains, around Velouchi Snow Center. It was very pretty up there, I enjoy high altitude birding.
Carpets of Crocus scepusiensis (I think)
In fact birding felt very similar to the higher elevations of Mt. Hermon, with plenty of vocal Northern Wheatears, Black Redstarts (with grey rather than orange bellies), Wood Larks and Tawny Pipits.
We also hiked up the trail leading to Black Cave. It was very pretty, lots of water, lush vegetation, and fascinating rock formations.
I was surprised to find a small scorpion (30-35 mm) hiding under a piece of bark. I know nothing about Greek scorpions, I think it belongs to the genus
Euscorpius but there are several very similar species so any expert advice is welcome.
We made a day-trip to Meteora. This is a spectacular region, totally unreal.
The main road of Meteora was full of tourists. I deserted my family there and went off birding in quieter sections, especially the nice ridge along the road to Vlachava.
Birding was quite good there, with lots of bird song and a few nice species - lots of singing Eastern Subalpine Warblers and Cirl Buntings, soaring up in the air were Egyptian Vulture, Black Stork and my first Eurasian Hobby in 2025. I had my lifer Rock Partridge there - I flushed three birds while walking down a trail, no photos sadly.
Eastern Subalpine Warbler
Cirl Bunting singing away
Horseshoe Bee Orchid
On my final morning up in the mountains, before heading back to Athens and home, I wanted to climb up again to Velouchi. Thick cloud that covered the mountain top prevented me from doing so. I birded the slopes above Karpenissi, in mixed forest, which was enjoyable and productive, in pretty habitat.
Bird song dominated the experience, which is always fun. Coal Tits, Firecrests, Mistle Thrushes and lots more filled the soundscape with spring atmosphere.
Mr. Coal Tit - The Boss
I didn't remove the wire obstructing the Eastern Subalpine Warbler's face as an expression of Wabi-sabi
Firecrest
Firecrest soundbombed by Chaffinch
Eventually the cloud lifted and I climbed up above the tree line, enjoying more bird song.
Wood Lark singing softly
Male European Stonechats breeding there seemed a bit dark IMO, with large white rumps - maybe some eastern influence?
This stunning Rufous-tailed Rock thrush sang from the top of a tall antenna, and performed amazing song flights; first time for me to witness this.
The second phrase in this recording develops into a buzzing song flight, as he swooped low over me
And then it was back to Athens and home. I managed to see a sweet total of 100 species during the trip - check my eBird trip report
here.
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