ITINERARY: 
Day 1 – Arrival in Thessaloniki, Greece – 16th April
Please arrange your flight to Thessaloniki airport, Greece (Airport code SKG) where we will overnight in a local hotel. Note most international flights go to Athens, from where it is a short 50 minute flight to Thessaloniki. With people on different flight schedules from various countries around the world, please note this is just an arrival day so you are open to arrive at any time of day as long as its the 16th April. You will then be transferred to a hotel on the outskirts of Thessaloniki where we will all meet for dinner. 
Overnight in Thessaloniki.  D.

Day 2 – Kalochori Lagoon – Lake Kirkini – 17th April
This morning we set off for about a 30 minute drive to the Kalochori Lagoon, part of the Axios Delta National Park. At this time of year thousands of shorebirds pass through with many stopping off to refuel before continuing on to their breeding grounds further north. Its possible in the right weather conditions to witness thousands of Mediterranean Gulls, alongside Black-headed and Little Gulls, while big flocks of Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank and Little Stints are not uncommon. Among these we will look for Little Ringed and Kentish Plovers, Wood and Marsh Sandpiper, Temminck’s Stint, Black-tailed Godwit and with luck maybe Collared Pratincole, or the rarer Terek Sandpiper, Broad-billed Sandpiper or Red-necked Phalarope. Groups of terns can include Gull-billed, Little, Sandwich, Black, Whiskered and the beautiful White-winged. In the lagoons we can spot both Pygmy and Great Cormorants and maybe a Garganey or two. From Kalochori we will make a brief stop to look at one of the last remaining sites for European Ground Squirrel in Greece, before driving north to the magnificent Lake Kirkini. Stops at strategic sites along the way will offer us opportunities to see Lesser Kestrels, Calandra Larks, Montagu’s Harrier, Long-legged Buzzard and possibly hundreds of Ferruginous Ducks. We will then check in to our hotel and take our first look along the shores of the lake or surrounding marshes.
Night Lake Kerkini. B,L,D

Days 3 – 4  Lake Kerkini – 18th – 19th April
We will spend two full days searching various habitats around this incredible lake. Around the southern half of the lake are several small channels of water with reeds and here we can look for Little Crake and Little Bittern, with Great Reed Warblers singing from almost every patch of reeds. This is a great spot to see Coypu (Nutria), a beaver-like rodent that has a good population here. Areas of sandy habitat will be home to the beautiful European Bee-eater, plus the exotic looking Hoopoe, as well as Red-backed and Woodchat Shrikes, Golden Oriole, and maybe a Syrian or Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. On the embankment overlooking the lake we could spot our first pelicans while a small river has Common Nightingale and Penduline Tits, plus a few species of dragonfly such as Scarce Chaser, Broad-bodied Chaser and maybe Vagrant Emperor and damsels such as Blue Featherleg. Balkan Green Lizards laze around in the sunshine and if we are lucky we may encounter the attractive Nose-horned Viper, Dice and Grass Snakes. A little further away we will check a river valley where Hobby and Red-footed Falcon can often be seen hunting and Olive Trees hold both Olivaceous and the difficult Olive-tree Warbler. Ortolan Buntings sing from hillside bushes and if lucks on our side we may be able to spot the resident Eurasian Eagle Owl sat up in the rocks. Closer to our hotel, we will explore areas around the northern end of the lake and take a few excursions into woodlands and some nice hills. Everywhere is accessible by vehicle but we will take short walks to enable us to look for all other forms of wildlife such as reptiles, amphibians, butterflies etc. On one day we will take a pre-dawn boat trip out onto the lake to views the masses of both White and Dalmatian Pelicans that now call Lake Kerkini their home. As the sun rises we have fantastic photo opportunities as we slowly drift past colony’s of nesting Great Cormorants (27,000), White Pelicans (4,000) and Dalmatian Pelicans (1,500). Pygmy Cormorants fly overhead and hundreds of Great Crested Grebes can be seen engaging in their elaborate courtship displays. Black-crowned Night Herons, Squacco Herons and ducks such as Garganey and Ferruginous Duck can all be seen as well as Black-necked (Eared) Grebe in full breeding plumage, gulls such as the delightful Little Gull and flocks of terns including Black, Whiskered and White-winged. Other areas near to our hotel include woodlands where we will look for the sought after Semicollared Flycatcher, Turtle Dove, Grey-headed Woodpecker and possibly Black Woodpecker. Several quarries play hose to Western Rock Nuthatch, Blue Rock Thrush, Little Owl, Black-eared Wheatear, and Eurasian Crag Martin, and while we are here the possibilities of raptors flying overhead include Levant Sparrowhawk, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Montagu’s Harrier, Western Marsh Harrier and both Hobby and Red-footed Falcon. Along the shallows and muddy edges of the lake flocks of shorebirds come and go so several return visits to the best spots could find us Ruff, Wood Sandpiper, Marsh Sandpiper, Dunlin, Little Stint, Temminck’s Stint, Greenshank, Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Curlew Sandpiper, Grey Plover, Little Ringed and Common Ringed Plover, and with luck one of the scarcer migrants such as Great Snipe, Collared Pratincole, Red-necked Phalarope, Terek or Broad-billed Sandpiper. Other areas will be alive with numerous flocks of colourful European Bee-eaters, Hoopoes, Golden Oriole and the magnificent European Roller. What a splash of colour that will be. The warm weather should bring out a nice variety of butterflies and lizards and in the evening we can check our ultraviolet light and hope for some interesting moths, such as the Giant Peacock.
Nights Lake Kerkini  B,L,D

Day 5  Lake Kirkini – Porto Lagos via – Nestos Gorge  20th April
An early start sees us driving up to the mountains with Rock Partridge being our main target and rocky roadside stops and woodland walks at different elevations will give us our best chance whilst adding a wealth of new species with Common Rock Thrush, Sombre Tit, Woodlark, Ortolan Bunting, Tree Pipit, Northern Wheatear, Serin, Common Crossbills, Crested Tits and Rock Bunting all being possibilities. There will be plenty of Warblers with the prefix Eastern, including Olivaceous, Olive-tree, Orphean, Subalpine and Bonelli’s Warbler. On the lower slopes we will check for raptors such as Short-toed & Booted Eagles, Levant Sparrowhawk, whilst at mid-elevation Goshawk and Eurasian Sparrowhawk dominate. Woodland species include Sombre Tit and there is a possibility of Eagle Owl, Blue Rock Thrush, Western Rock Nuthatch, Crag Martin, Subalpine and Orhpean Warblers.Further afield we can drive to elevations of over 2500 meters where some real goodies await us, such as Black Woodpecker, Spotted Nutcracker, Rock Partridge and above the tree line we can look for Golden Eagle, Common Rock Thrush. Ortolan Bunting and many locally common species such as Red-backed Shrike, Cirl Bunting, Woodlark, Northern Wheatear and Common Stonechat. In the pine woods we can look for Common Crossbill,  Short-toed Treecreeper, Tree Pipit, Willow Tit, Firecrest and Crested Tit. In a large woodland near the town of Promochonas it is possible to find six Woodpecker species, with Great, Middle & Lesser Spotted, Syrian, Green and Black. This unspoilt landscape should give us the chance to also see a wealth of spring Butterflies and other invertebrates and fantastic botany. There will be plenty of other places to search including secluded valleys, remote gorges and rocky hills. We can search for warblers, buntings, rock sparrows and larks. Birds of prey seen at this level may include Eleanora’s Falcon, Lesser-spotted Eagle, Red-footed Falcon, and Long-legged Buzzard. Honey Buzzards are common and Levant’s Sparrowhawk can be seen almost anywhere. After descending from the mountains, we head to Porto Lagos stopping and the Nestos Gorge to look for Wallcreeper, Griffon Vulture and another chance for Rock Partridge. Once we reach the coast the birdlife will change back to marsh and farmland specialities. We shall spend the next three nights in the small village of Fanari where an evening excursion may produce Scops, Little and Eagle Owl and possibly Common Nightjar.
Nights Fanari  B, L, D

Days 6 – 7  Porto Lagos Lagoons – 21st – 22nd April
The next two days will be packed with birding as we hit peak migration, and amongst the hundreds of Greater Flamingos we should find Marsh, Wood, Curlew and Broad-billed Sandpipers, both Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits some of which will be already in their summer plumage while Collared Pratincoles, Avocets and Black-winged Stilts will be beginning to nest. Gull billed Terns can be seen hunting for insects over the fields while Whiskered, Black and gorgeous White-winged Terns will compete with glowing pink Slender-billed Gulls on the lagoons. We shall also look for Penduline Tits, European Bee-eaters, European Rollers, Eastern Olivaceous and Great Reed Warblers, Red-rumped Swallows and Common Nightingales, while constantly scanning the skies for Montagu’s and Western Marsh Harriers and any passage falcons.
Nights Fanari  B, L, D

Day 8 – Evros River Delta – 23rd April
Today we head north-east towards the border with Turkey and Bulgaria. We have several great sites to visit with some quality target species including tail waving Rufous Bush Robins, Rüppell’s Warbler, dainty Lesser Kestrels, Blue Rock Thrush, Western Rock Nuthatch, Isabelline Wheatear and a wealth of roadside raptors. The delta will hopefully add to our shorebird list and there is a chance of Ruddy Shelduck here as well as Woodchat Shrike, Penduline Tits and even Red-throated Pipits on passage. At this time of year almost any passage passerine heading north is possible wherever we stop. 
2 Nights Dadia Village B, L, D

Day 9 – Dadia Forest National Park – 24th April
Our final full day will be spent around the Dadia Forest National Park, one of the prime areas in Greece and indeed Europe for birds of prey.  The area suffered a lot from forest fires in the past years but is now slowly recovering and we have good opportunities to find species such as Eastern Imperial, Golden, Short-toed, Booted, Greater and Lesser Spotted Eagle, Black Kite, Egyptian and Cinereous Vulture, Long-legged Buzzard and maybe Hen Harrier, Hobby and Red-footed Falcon. The forest and environs of the national park will give us the chance to search for Woodlark, Golden Oriole, Hawfinch, Red-backed and Masked Shrikes, Eurasian Siskin, Hooded Crow, Syrian Woodpecker, Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Short-toed Treecreeper, Cirl and Rock Bunting.
Night Dadia Village B, L, D

Day 10 – Dadia – Thessaloniki Airport – 25th April
Today we will head back to Thessaloniki Airport (code SKG) in time for everyone’s depending flights no earlier than late afternoon. B, L