Greece is the word

Northern Greece. A sliver of land that stretches from Albania in the west to Turkey in the east. In the north-east, Greece ends as a watery wedge into Albania and Macedonia - Lake Prespa, a natural lake with natural habitats. Still a quiet backwater, as it's four hours drive from Thessaloniki. It is my third visit - the first was in 1985.

I stayed in the last village in Greece, Psarades. 

I made a sketch in the back streets.

The lake's edge was dominated by the loud frog-like calls of Great Reed Warblers.

On the jetties and rocks sat the famous pelicans. Here at the front are the White Pelicans (Pelecanus onocrotalus). Pure white, with bright pink around the eyes, on the legs and powdered over their necks. They are rare and can only be seen in summer in a few localities in south-east Europe, migrating in from north-east Africa. Behind them two Dalmatian Pelicans (Pelecanus crispus), dirty grey. Also rare and confined to south-east Europe, some populations resident throughout the year.

In flight, the White Pelican can be easily identified by the thick black margins under the wings.

Not so the grey Dalmatian.

Two species of cormorants are found on the lake, the Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), resident throughout Europe, and the Pygmy Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pygmeus), found only in south-east Europe. No prizes for guessing which is which.

Pygmy Cormorants look cute even as adults, with fluffy brown heads and necks.

The young Great Crested Grebes (Podiceps cristatus) have hatched. They like to jump on their mother's back and take a ride.

In the scrub a Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur). Although it summers all over Europe, it is now a rare sight in the north.

Love is in the air for a pair of Red-backed Shrikes (Lanius collurio)...

...and a whitethroat (Sylvia Communis) male...

...and female.

The iconic bird of south-east Europe - the Black-headed Bunting (Emberiza melanocephala).

Down on the ground, a Chrysolina sanguinolenta leaf beetle.

Two Turkish snails (Helix lucorum) doing what comes naturally. You won't be able to tell a male from a female, because they don't exist - all individuals are hermaphrodites, with both male and female sex organs producing both sperm and eggs. They spend hours mating, during which time they will stab 'love darts' into each other. These are coated with a chemical that increases sperm survival.

I was taken out in a boat. High up in a cleft in the cliffs, a few metres from the Albanian border, a hermitage built in the 15th century. It is called Panagia Eleousa - the Greek orthodox term for an icon of the baby Jesus nestled into the cheek of the Virgin Mary, as painted over the door.

The island in the lake is now connected to the mainland by a pontoon bridge.

I watched Little Bitterns (Ixobrzchus minutus) flying from reed to reed.

In the trees were Sombre Tits (Poecile lugubris), residents to south-east Europe.

Hermann's tortoises (Testudo hermanni), native to the Balkans and Italy, have found their way here - presumably not using the pontoon bridge.

I headed west to Thessaloniki and stopped off in Edessa. At a viewpoint a male Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus) sat on a wall.

I met Mike at Thessaloniki airport and we drove north up to Lake Kerkini at the border with Bulgaria, a man-made reservoir that has attracted wildlife.

Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) roam here - Meditteranean forms long isolated from the Asian populations from which they were introduced.

The shallow backwaters attract numerous birds.

Grey Herons (Ardea cineria) line up to feed.

Together with a few Purple Herons (Ardea purpurea).

Night Herons (Butorides striata) look on.

Squacco Herons (Ardeola ralloides) glowed in their summer plumage, with bright blue dagger bills and white dreadlocks.

The elegant shape of a Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus).

Taking the prize for the least practical looking bill, the Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia).

Again White and Dalmatian Pelicans occurred side by side.

Red-rumped Swallows (Cecropis daurica) drifted past in a typical glide, showing off the white rump that separates them from the common barn swallow.

A cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) settled on an overhanging branch.

In the bushes sang Eastern Olivaceous Warblers (Iduna pallida).

All the butterflies I saw on the lake were common European species: Clouded Yellow (Colias crocea)...

...Small Copper (Lycaena phalaeus), a specialist of Rumex...

...a male Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus)...

...Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus)...

...Mallow Skipper (Carcharodus alceae), as the name implies a Mallow species...

...and always a joy to see the Prunus feeding Scare Swallowtail (Iphiclides podalirius).

Where there's water, there should be dragonflies. I found these common European species: A female Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) - the male is blue.

A mature male Blue (or Scarce) Chaser (Libellula fulva).

And this, believe it or not, is the immature male of the same species - the female is also orange.

A male Broad Scarlet (Crocothemis erythraea) - the female is a dull orange.

There were chafers on the plants. A species of Anoxia, maybe A. pilosa...

...and a species of Protaetia flower chafer.

And a Lixus weevil.

A scoliid wasp. They parasitize scarab beetle larvae - so it's in the right place.

The area was full of giant dandelion like seed heads - I assume some type of Goats Beard.

And on the edge of the lake a elaborate shrine to some young man.

We walked up into the hills towards Bulgaria.

In a quarry we looked up a rock face to see a Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius).

Closer at hand a Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator) clutched its cricket prey.

For the butterflies, a female Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus). It lays its eggs on plants of the pea family...

...a male Queen of Spain Fritillary (Issoria lathonia)...

...and a worn female Lesser Spotted Fritillary (Melitaea trivia).

But the splendor was the 'explosions' of Nettle-tree Butterflies (Libythea celtis) that went before us as we walked.

They are in a family of their own, the Libytheidae. And just look at that snout - actually long palpi. Like its host the Nettle Tree (Celtis australis) after which it is named, it is confined to the Mediterranean region.

I found this moth taking daytime refuge under a wooden shelter. It has a yellow underwing, which it flashes when disturbed to confuse potential predators, but it's not a Yellow Underwing (which are noctuids) but an Erebid of the genus Catocala. There are 23 species of Catocala in Eurasia, 11 of them have yellow underwings. This is Catocala nymphaea. The larvae feed on the Evergreen Oak, Quercus ilex.

These two digger wasps have found a soft dry cow pat for their amourous activities.

A falcon flew over. The redness underneath identifies it as a Hobby (Falco subbuteo). They hunt dragonflies over the marshes.

We headed east of Thessaloniki, to the Nestos Delta.

There is a wonderful marshland behind Mandar Beach, where Collared Pratincoles fly.

A group of young Shelducks (Tadorna tadorna) followed their mother.

More Ibis flew in.

A lone Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa) on its way north.

On an island in the marshes by Porto Lagos, a colony of  Mediterranean Gulls (Larus melanocephalus).

But most intriguing, pots hanging from the trees.

They are the nests of the Penduline Tit (Remiz pendulinus).

They are very fine and downy, made from interwoven seed hairs.

The young have already fledged, and were chasing each other around the trees.

I never realized Little Egrets settled on wires.

During a coffee break I heard a strange noise coming from the trees bedside the restaurant. I followed it, and found a Little Owl (Athene noctua).

Our route around the marsh was covered with Great Banded Graylings (Kanetisa circe). They like to collect the salts and minerals from the paths - or the skin of passing birders.

They were joined by Meadow Browns (Maniola jurtina).

A Purple-shot Copper (Lycaena alciphron), a Rumex specialist.

The Spotted Fritillary (Melitaea didyma). Isn't it just beautiful.

The Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) is called a 'common' butterfly. But there's nothing common about this lady. Every summer she leaves Africa to fly through Europe.

And another dragonfly - a female Southern Darter (Sympetrum meridionale).

Mike and I agreed, it's an easy area to return to for a few days fix of nature. We saw around 100 species of birds as well as other joys. I will return.