00:28The
00:37I'm at Lake Kirkimi in Northern Greece and I've just set up my hide on the edge of the
00:45lake waiting for dawn, though from what I can see the horizon looks pretty sucked in
00:52by clouds so I doubt we'll get much of a sunrise but there's still the chance of some decent
00:57light and hopefully some water birds have come close, flamingos, ducks of all varieties and waders
01:09so we'll see if we can get some decent shots of those. The thing with the lake is that during
01:15the winter they draw the water out of the lake through the dam and empty it because they're
01:25worried of flooding during the winter so they let the water drain out quite a lot and this
01:34year in particular they've let the water drain out a lot further than normal so that they
01:40can do some repairs on the dam itself. Unfortunately that means that in a lot of places along here,
01:49along the embankment where we'd normally have access down to the water, the water is so far away
01:58that we can't get decent access because the beach that's left is so muddy that you just sink up to
02:06your knees in the swamp and that being the case I've had to sort of come to a place that
02:14I wouldn't
02:14normally come to where I can get access down and be relatively close to the water so hopefully that's
02:22going to give us a decent chance at an image at any rate so all I can do is wait
02:29and see and hope
02:30that something turns up. At the moment there's nothing in front of me though a flock of flamingos did just
02:36fly past
02:39um so it's about another hour before sunrise and so I'll just sit as quiet as I can in the
02:48hide
02:49and wait it out see what happens. In the meantime I guess I'll make a cup of coffee. See you
02:56in a little while.
03:25coffee now in hand
03:26coffee now in my starbucks mug cup
03:35ah lovely
03:37ah lovely
03:39ah
03:41ah
03:46ah
03:48ah
03:49ah
03:54ah
03:54ah
04:02a couple of flamingo have arrived there young ones which you can tell by their slightly more drab plumage
04:17and hopefully that'll give confidence to more flamingos that will see them as they fly over that it's safe and
04:24they can land also
04:26so
04:27so fingers crossed
04:29some more birds will arrive soon
04:36so
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06:17down the beach
06:20so
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07:05alone here. Within nature. Just soaking it in.
07:25It's beautiful.
08:02It's beautiful.
08:04This block of pied white cove has turned up and it's so cute and this one in particular is just
08:11on a rock in the water reflecting beautifully.
08:38There is no flamingo arriving. You can really see the print of the flight photos as they fly.
09:23So we've got a few braver individuals, flamingos, starting to flip the cross in front of my position here.
09:35So I'm starting to get some better images.
09:41The sun briefly broke through a timeless gap in the clouds and only the shafts of light coming through so
09:47it's quite beautiful.
09:49But it never really made a proper appearance.
09:53So we still have this very soft milky light which is absolutely gorgeous. It's very soft.
10:03I'll give you a quick look at the scene.
10:05Let's go.
10:07Let's go.
10:12Let's go.
10:23Let's go.
10:23Let's go.
10:26Let's go.
10:26Let's go.
10:43Let's go.
10:58Try and share your back camera what it is that I'm seeing as long as this thing can focus on
11:04it.
11:06Let's have a look.
11:37Flight pass like this.
12:08Great white tigre just landed to the right of the flamingo in front of him.
12:34One of the things I wanted to explain is what this channel is going to be about.
12:40And it's mainly going to be about landscape and wildlife photography.
12:45Adventurous wildlife and landscape photography.
12:50Here in Greece and throughout the Balkans hopefully in the coming year.
12:58This is a part of the world that I absolutely adore.
13:03Greece especially.
13:06People have the impression of Greece as being beautiful islands, beaches, sun, sand, sea, bars, drinking and all that kind
13:17of thing.
13:18And what they don't realize is just how rich this country is in amazing landscape.
13:26Amazing wild places that are largely unknown by anyone out of Greece.
13:37To give you an example, Greece has about 60 peaks that are over 2000 meters.
13:48Which means it's a proper alpine zone.
13:51And it's stunning, stunning mountains.
13:54Stunning lakes like this one.
13:56Lake Tirkini.
13:59Just amazing, amazing, amazing places.
14:02And amazing wildlife.
14:04And bird life.
14:07This lake in particular was a man-made lake.
14:14But since it was created in the 30s to basically rid the area of malaria.
14:23Because this was all swampland.
14:26It has become a haven for wildlife.
14:29Birds in particular.
14:32And it is a staging post between the North and the Arctic, Scandinavia.
14:40On their migrations.
14:42So in the winter the Scandinavian Arctic birds.
14:46Ducks, geese, etc.
14:49They fly down here to overwinter on this lake.
14:53And at Lake Tirkini in particular we have the majority of the Paleoarctic population of lesser white-fronted geese.
15:07Of which I think there's only about 140 left.
15:13And I think at last count there was 103 here.
15:17On the lake.
15:18They're very difficult to see and to photograph of course.
15:21Because they're well hidden, well within the delta of the lake.
15:26And they also hide themselves amongst the flocks of the white-fronted geese.
15:30So they're quite difficult to spot.
15:32But nevertheless they're here.
15:34Which gives an indication of just how important this wetland is.
15:39The other thing with this wetland is the accessibility.
15:45There aren't...
15:46You obviously have to respect the environment.
15:50Respect the location.
15:51Respect the place.
15:52Respect the animals.
15:53That live here.
15:55But by and large you are unhindered in your access to the lake.
16:02There are no-go zones for example in the delta itself.
16:07Where there is a particular type of forest which actually survives in the water.
16:14So that's really a no-go zone.
16:18But other than that all around the edges of the lake are accessible.
16:25And largely unexploited.
16:28So you're not going to find ready hides here like you do in the national parks in other countries.
16:36So you really have to bring your own hide if that's what you want to do.
16:41But it's...
16:42You can drive around the lake.
16:44You can access different points.
16:46Different beaches.
16:47Different piers.
16:49And get really really stunning images.
16:53The lake is probably best known for its population of Dalmatian pelicans.
16:59Which are classed as endangered.
17:01And they have been breeding here successfully for quite a number of years now.
17:08I think they built in 2015.
17:10They built new platforms.
17:12Stone platforms for them to nest on.
17:14And those have been hugely successful.
17:17And if I'm not mistaken they had 285 chicks this year.
17:22Which is a stunning stunning success.
17:26And in January I actually bring workshops here.
17:29Photography workshops to photograph specifically the Dalmatian pelicans.
17:33In December I bring...
17:36I have a workshop here which is specifically for the flamingos at dawn.
17:40And we also try and photograph wildcat.
17:44Of which there are many around the lake.
17:47But we also have other wildlife here.
17:50Jackals, otters.
17:53Unfortunately we also have koipu.
17:55But they're quite fun to photograph.
17:57Being an introduced invasive species.
18:01So they shouldn't really be here.
18:03And they do do some damage.
18:06What else do we have?
18:08And all the bird life.
18:11So as I was saying in the winter the Scandinavian arctic flocks arrive.
18:17From the north to overwinter here.
18:19And then in the spring time they leave.
18:22And we get all the African migrants arriving.
18:26So we have bee eater.
18:29Roller.
18:30Different birds of prey arrive.
18:33A stunning variety.
18:35Hoopoe.
18:38Lots and lots and lots of birds.
18:41So we really are very very lucky here.
18:44So part of what I'm trying to do with this channel.
18:50Is to show you the diversity of life that there is here in Greece.
18:59And to show you some of the locations that you might not have thought of before.
19:04To visit.
19:05Which are a lot easier to access than some of the better known wildlife photography locations.
19:14And landscape locations for that matter.
19:17And we have stunning stunning places.
19:20Which I hope you will follow me on here.
19:23Subscribe to this channel.
19:25And over the coming months and year.
19:28Hopefully years.
19:30I look forward to having the opportunity to show you.
19:36My Greece.
19:37The Greece that I love.
19:42I'm gonna pack up now I think.
19:44And try not to disturb the birds as I leave.
19:48And I hope to see you again very soon.
19:52Bye for now.
19:54Bye.
19:56Bye.
20:24Bye.
20:25Bye.
20:31Bye.
