The “Birds Celebration”, organized by the Hellenic Ornithological Society in cooperation with 45 other organizations (Protected Areas Management Bodies, Municipalities, Environmental Education Centers and NGOs) in 32 Greek regions, has successfully ended. 5,000 people of all ages took guided tours in wetlands and practiced birdwatching, but also visited exhibitions, watched presentations and participated in environmental games, workshops, bike rides, puppet shows, handicrafts and constructions.
The events were held in 40 countries on the same dates, within the framework of EuroBirdwatch 2013, aiming to raise public awareness about migratory birds and the need to protect their crossing points.
Greek participants had the chance to watch amazing Greater Flamingos and Dalmatian Pelicans, rarer species like Black Storks, Mute Swans, Ferruginous Ducks, Black Kites and Booted Eagles, threatened like Eleonora’s Falcons, distinct like Black-tailed Godwits, Blue Rock Thrushes, or Red-breasted Mergansers, more widely known like Little Egrets, Great Egrets, Grey Herons, Grey Plovers, Common Kingfishers, Great Cormorants, Common Coots, Little Grebes, Common Moorhens, Water Rails, Mallards, Common Teals, Common Shelducks, Garganeys, Eurasian Wigeons, Common Pochards, Pied Avocets, Common Greenshanks, Common Redshanks, Little Ringed Plovers, Spotted Redshanks, Eurasian Curlews, Icterine Warblers, Cetti’s Warblers, predators like Eurasian Marsh Harriers, Common Buzzards, Long-legged Buzzards, Peregrine Falcons, Eurasian Hobbies and Red-footed Falcons, as well as seabirds like Caspian Terns and Black-headed Gulls.
Note: The most detailed recordings of bird sightings were conducted at Heraklion, Crete – Aposelemi Dam, Sfendili (41 species), at Chania – Lake Aghia (37 species), at Moustos Wetland on the east coastline of Peloponnese (33 species) and at Nea Agathoupoli, Pieria (29 species).