Divjaka-Karavasta National Park is the home of the Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus), the largest bird of Europe. The National Park is the only breeding place for the species in Albania with a colony of circa 80 breeding pairs located in a lagoon island. We will visit the colony from a safe distance with the possibility to take pictures of the breeding pairs and their chicks. The lagoon is a breeding site for other bird species too including: nesting colonies of Little Tern, Common Tern, Yellow-legged Gull & Pied Avocet as well as passerines such as the Black-headed feldegg race of Yellow Wagtail.

The park host also a large colony of Pygmy Cormorant as well as Squacco Heron & Glossy Ibis etc.

We start our morning birdwatching with a visit to of the abandoned farmland in the southern part of the park where we hope to see some of the ground nesting birds such as Collared Pratincole, Eurasian Thick-knee (Stone Curlew), Kentish Plover & Tawny Pipit etc. This area is also used by other interesting species such as Woodchat, Red-backed & Lesser Grey Shrike, Zitting Cisticola & Red- rumped Swallow etc. In the afternoon we leave for Vlora with a stop along the way for nesting European Roller, White Stork, Olivaceous Warbler, Black-eared Wheatear (melanoleuca), Spanish Sparrow and other passerines. Close to Vlora we will stop again in Akernia plain where we should see breeding Calandra, Short-toed & Crested Lark, as well as Tawny Pipit, European Thick-knee, Little Ringed Plover and Collared Pratincole.

Panaja hills, close to Vlora are covered by olive groves and Mediterranean macquis. They shelter different passerines, notably Sardinian, Subalpine, Olivaceous & Olive-tree Warbler. After this our morning walk, we reach the dike dividing the Salinas and the lagoon of Narta. It is a great site for plenty of breeding and resident birds. Some colonially nesting birds are present here in high numbers, such as: Avocet, Collared Pratincole, Gull-billed, Little & Common Tern, Black-Winged Stilt, and other birds including Stone Curlew, Dalmatian Pelican, Eurasian Spoonbill, Mediterranean Gull and migrating Curlew Sandpiper, Marsh Sandpiper and Mediterranean Gull. After lunch we leave Vlora for Orikum and Saranda with a number of stops to see Ferruginous Duck, Shrikes, Black-Headed Bunting, Blue Rock Thrush, Rock Bunting & Rock Nuthatch.

We will leave Saranda in the early morning to reach Butrint National Park, a historical world heritage site and wetland ecosystem close to Mile peak at c. 700 m above sea level. Apart from the brackish wetland sites, the area is covered by Mediterranean macquis and oak forest. The visit to the Park is because we hope to spot Somber Tit, Rock Nuthatch, Sardinian Warbler, Subalpine Warbler, a colony of the Spanish Sparrow, Short-toed Snake Eagle, Levant Sparrowhawk, Turtle Dove, and Black-head Bunting as well as waterbirds.

The site was designated a ‘Globally Important Bird Area’ due to the pre-migration flocks of Lesser Kestrels. 2-3 % of the global population can be present in the area in late July. Here too, there are three breeding pairs of the Globally Vulnerable Egyptian Vulture. During the morning walk we will check the valley for passerines, particularly Lesser Grey Shrike, Alpine Swifts and Alpine Cough. Following this we will look for Egyptian Vulture, Golden & Short- toed Snake Eagles, Peregrine Falcon, Levant Sparrowhawk, and Turtle Dove etc. Other species that occur in the area include: Little Ringed Plover and White Stork, & Black Stork etc. In the evening, we check another that is an Egyptian Vulture territory and before we leave for Korca.

Prespa National Park is a tectonic, fresh water lake, with limited reedbeds, surrounded by oak forests and the high (2,890m) Dry Mountain. The site offers spectacular landscapes and great views of both land and waterbirds. At the lake it’s easy to see mixed flocks of Dalmatian and Great White
Pelicans, Goosander, Little Bittern, a number of Grebe species. There is also a colony of Alpine Swift as well as Bearded Reedling and other reed-bed specialists. mThe area around the lake offers the possibility to observe other species including the Eastern Orphean & Barred Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Rock Nuthatch and if we are really lucky, Cretzschmar’s Bunting.

We will start with a morning walk in Korca urban park seeing urban birds as well as woodland species. The park has breeding birds such as the Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler, Woodchat Shrike, Eurasian Wryneck, Syrian Woodpecker, and European Serin etc. We leave Korca and visit Maliq Marsh where we could see Ferruginous Duck, Pygmy Cormorant, Green Sandpiper, White Stork and birds of prey including Hobby and Short-toed Snake Eagle. In Pogradec, at Ohrid lake we should see Goosander, Little Bittern, and other waterbirds as well as Crag & Sand Martins, and Red-rumped Swallow etc. Our final stop in Krraba will be focused on species present on Krraba cliffs where we hope to see Blue Rock Thrush, Little Owl and Rock Nuthatch as well as other species resident in the surrounding vegetation such as Sardinian Warbler, and Golden Oriole.

Our morning walk will start at Tirana Lake Park with Syrian, Middle Spotted, Great Spotted & Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, Wryneck, Icterine & Cetti’s Warbler etc. Close to the park, at the adjacent urban areas, we will try to distinguish between Pallid and Common
Swift. We leave Tirana for Dajti National Park with stops along the way to see Warblers, Blue Rock Thrush, Black-eared Wheatear, Marsh Tit and forest birds. Dajti National Park is the end of our eight-day birdwatching itinerary in Albania.