Introduction
I am sorry to say that due to the total incompetance and extreme obfuscatory nature of the Greek government the Spring Migration Project is cancelled.
It remains possible that the project may run again next year, but my patience and finances are running very low so nothing is guarranteed. If you would like to be included in the 2009 project, if it runs, please bookmark this page and check it in the autumn. My apollogies to all the good hearted people who volunteered and who have now been dissapointed.
As the rest of this website explains, Lake Kerkini is a wonderful habitat, however it is one that is known to very few foreign birders, and it is one that has practically no local birders. This means that we have very little information about the birds of the lake except for our presence or absence records. This is especially true for the passerines. Therefore we have started this volunteer project here at the lake to help us learn more about the populations, and movements of passerines around the the lake.
The ornithological volunteer project was started in the Spring of 2005 and most of the volunteers from then have booked in for a return visit, or indicated their desire to return in other ways. What more can I say. The entomological survey work is new to 2008 and is aimed at people who have some expertise in the various groups listed and the literature necessary to identify Greek mainland material
We offer you free accomodation and an excellent birding experience. However you will have to find your own way here, and feed yourself while you are here.
You should fly the Macedonia Airport, Thessaloniki. I have found Olympic Airlines to be very friendly, but you may find cheaper flights with the budget airlines if you book well in advance. From Thesaloniki you will travel by bus to near the lake where you will be collected by car and taken to your accomodation.
Food is cheap here, most pst volunteers have enjoyed experimenting with the local tavernas, but some basic self-catering facilities are available.
The level of ornithological expertise required is not high. If you can distinguish between a Whitethroat and a Lesser Whitethroat you will be OK. The less well known (to western Europeans), more mediterranean birds occur in much smaler numbers and you will soon learn to recognise any you find.
The work involves walking 0.5 and 1.0 kilometre transects and recording all the birds you see/hear. Volunteers always work in pairs, and you will normally only work 4 or 5 hours a day.
In order to facilitate a succession of volunteers we would ask you to arrive on a Sunday, and to depart on a Saturday. We are seeking volunteers from March to early October on the various projects. Below are the time periods in weekly blocks with indications of the work involved. If you wish to be involved in more than one of the now discontinuous ornithological survey weeks this can probably be accumplished providing you can occupy yourself during the off week. At the moment we can only accomodate 4 ornithological and 8 to 10 entomological volunteers at a time at any one time. The presence of an X after a date means somebody is already booked into that space, thus 4 Xs in an ornithological week means the entire time slot is booked.
We are also seeking an ornithological co-ordinator to work voluntarily from the middle of March until the end of May. This person must have a valid and current drivers licence and be willing to drive the other volunteers to and from the survey transects and some facility with computors. I weeks training will be given, and I hope the successful volunteer will recieve a small stipend to cover their food costs, however I have not yet found a source of funding yet.
Finally we are seeking 2 to 4 entomological university students (who have finished year two) or recent graduates to work for a month during July sorting Malaise trap and Pitfall trap material to order, suborder and in some cases to family (diptera, coleoptera). Again we hope to offer a stipend to cover food costs, but at the moment the funding has not been found so the project is a bit tentative.
| January 2008:- | |
| Over-wintering Passerines | 13th to 19th | X Cancelled |
| March 2008:- | | |
| Bird Migration | 16th to 22th | XX |
| Moths | 23th to 29th | |
| April 2008:- | | |
| Bird Migration | 30th to 5th | XX |
| Hymenoptera | 6th to 12th | |
| Bird Migration | 13th to 19nd | XXXX |
| Easter Break | 20th to 26th | |
| May 2008:- | | |
| Bird Migration | 27th to 3rd | XX |
| Diptera | 4th to 10th | XXXXXXX |
| Bird Migration | 11th to 17th | XX |
| Coleoptera | 18th to 24th | XX |
| Breeding Passerines | 25th to 31st | |
| June 2008:- | | |
| 1st to 7th | |
| Butterflies | 8th to 14th | XXX |
| 15th to 21st | |
| Coleoptera | 22nd to 28th | X |
| July 2008:- | |
| 29th to 5th | |
| 6th to 12th | |
| 13th to 19th | |
| 20th to 26th | |
| August 2008:- | | |
| Neuroptera | 27th to 2nd | |
| Orthoptera | 27th to 2nd | X |
| 3rd to 9th | |
| 10th to 16th | |
| 17th to 23rd | |
| 24th to 30th | |
| September 2008:- | | |
| Bird Migration | 31st to 6th | XX |
| Odonata | 7th to 13th | XX |
| Bird Migration | 14th to 20th | XXXX |
| 21st to 27th | |
| October 2008:- | | |
| 28th to 4th | |
| 5th to 11th | |
| Moths | 12th to 18th | XX |
For more information, or to book your dates, please contact Gordon Ramel on mrgordonramel@yahoo.com
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