Patricia, the girls & myself spent 2 weeks in Halkidiki staying in the Kasandra Bay Hotel close to the small town of Kriopigi. We left Glasgow late on the 24th of July and drove to Newcastle for our flight early the next morning. As we parked at the airport long stay car park a Tawny Owl called from nearby woodland.
I had Googled "Birding Halkidiki" several times in the weeks and months leading up to the holiday and found very little on the subject. I knew that that hotel was surrounded by greenery but in my minds eye the area was very likely to be fairly populated and given that this was a familiy holiday, it was July and we had no transport I decided just to take the binoculars & leave the digiscoping equipment at home................. big mistake !
After the first couple of days I had already become weary of lounging by the pool. Although it was occasionally enlivened by the odd Red Rumped Swallow darting over the hotel. By early afternoon on the 2nd day and being aware of a track leading round the back of the hotel I set off on foot, without binoculars, to explore. The track led me into an area of olive groves, mixed woodland and rough farmland. There were plenty of Sardinian Warblers rattling away and soon I happened upon a family of Shrikes, that I was pretty sure were Woodchat. The area certainly looked promising and certainly worth a further look early morning before it got too hot.
Over the next 3 or 4 mornings I was out at first light (6:30 am) to take a proper look. Best was a family of Masked Shrikes that were in residence in the olive groves at the back of the hotel. They frequently perched up on a nearby fence & if I had only brought the digiscoping kit I surely would have got some nice shots. The same could be said for the many Woodchat Shrikes that were common everywhere. Other birds of interest included Turtle Dove, Cirl Bunting, Jay, Peregrine, Buzzard & Sparrowhawk. A couple of female Sub Alpine Warblers showed well on one of the mornings. Red Rumped Swallows were everywhere and overall accounted for 1 in every 3 Swallows I saw. Given that I had only ever seen 2 before it was terrific to see them so well. Spotted Flycatchers were frequently seen. I also saw a single Eastern Olivacious Warbler that brought back memories of the failed twitch to Flamborough last year.
On the first Sunday I got even more adventurous and decided to attempt the walk from Kripopigi over towards Casandra. The holiday rep had told me that the walk was "very steep" and given the heat the fact that it was a dull morning was comforting. On the way up the hill towards Kriopigi I diverted on to a track that allowed to me to view an area of scrub close to the road. Here there was a party of Red Backed Shrikes including a very obliging male that perched up only yards away..........oh for that camera equipment ! A single Eastern Olivaceous Warbler showed really well here also !
I soon found the lane that led up behind the petrol station and up the hillside. Indeed it was steep but after less than half a mile it reached the top and led down into woodland and open fields. Turtle Dove was common here with several seen and heard. Shrikes continued to be common and I was soon enjoying my 4th Shrike of the trip......... Lesser Grey that again sat obligingly on wires above my head. At this point I was surrounded with birds including even more Red Rumped Swallows and a flock of up to 20 European Bee Eaters perched on wires. I glimpsed a Woodpecker in nearby woodland that from the call I suspected might be Syrian !
By this time it had begun to spit with rain. This rain soon became heavier and I was soon soaked. The path soon became a sea of mud & I had to endure a less than pleasant walk back to Kriopigi. At least the rain was warm.
By midweek I headed into the same general area again. This time it remained dry ! A dry cultivated area provided me with good views of several very vocal Crested Larks. Again Bee Eaters were an absolute delight with over 20 together at one stage hawking above my head.
On the Friday we went on a cruise over to Halkidiki's second peninsula that is called Sithonia. Birds of note includes up to 20 Mediterranean Gulls, some of which were following the boat and 2 Mediterranean Shearwaters.
My final walk into the area at the back of Kriopigi on the final Saturday of the holiday provided over 20 Ravens and calling Golden Oriole. After much scanning I saw a pair of the latter briefly in flight.
