Electrofishing the large rivers of Western Greece - the Ionian Freshwater Ecoregion

I’m posting a handful of snapshots boat electrofishing in the rivers that spill into the Ionian Sea. Western Greece is often described with postcard words—gorges, plane-tree galleries, turquoise springs—but for a freshwater biologist the real poetry is in the fish.

These river and lake basins sit in an ecoregion of unusually high endemism. In plain terms: many of the species we net here exist nowhere else on Earth, restricted to a single basin or to a tight cluster of neighbouring basins. Each river is its own little evolutionary archive, shaped by histroical isolation, ancient geographical barriers, limestone karst and local ecological dynamics. You can feel that history in the bucket: a familiar “Mediterranean” fish assemblage, yes—but also odd local forms, subtle variations, and those small, secretive fishes that only make sense once you’ve seen the ecosystems that produced them.

Boat electrofishing looks dramatic (and, inevitably, people ask if it’s “fishing”....). It isn’t sport; it’s scientific sampling—carefully standardised, short pulses, tight safety protocols, capture technique and quick handling so fish can recover and swim away. The routine is half choreography: the skiff sliding along a run, the anode poles probing the margins, dip-nets ready, data sheets getting damp, GPS logging each transect. Meanwhile, we’re also reading the river: flow, substrate, cover, riparian conditiosn, the scars of water abstraction, the shadow of barriers, the die-back of the platanus trees due to an alien fungus invasion; the occasional surprise of an alien species where it shouldn’t be.

And still—despite multiple pressures and degradation—these Ionian rivers can feel astonishingly alive and wild. Every survey reminds me that conservation here isn’t an abstract idea. It’s local, basin by basin, decision by decision. Protect the habitat, and you protect an entire, irreplaceable lineage.

 

Fish Pictured here include (in order of appearance): Economidichthys pygmaeus - Goby, Knipowitschia sp. - Goby; Squalius peloponensis - Chub; Luciobarbus graecus (with D. Kommatas) - Barbel; Dicentrarchus labrax - Sea Bass; Luciobarbus albanicus - Barbel; Knipowitschia sp. - Goby; Liza (Chelon) ramada (in net) - Mullet; Salaria fluviatilis (juv.) - Freshwater Blenny; Alosa fallax - Twaite Shad. 

My colleagues: Alexandros Ntakis, Dimitris Kommatas, Vassilis Pappas, Anthi Economou and Petros Chronopoulos. Some pics taken by Vassiliki Vlami who was also on one of the trips. And again my thanks to HCMR, we are so grateful to work there...

You are also welcome to download one of our recent papers on the fish assemblages within this Ecoregion: 

Fish_assemblage_taxonomy_highlights_spatial_patterns_of_b-diversity_within_a_freshwater_ecoregion

And a map by my good colleague Theocharis Vavalidis from the above paper. The major river basins where HCMR does electrofishing using a boat are numbered as so: 1) Kalamas, 2) Acheron, 3) Louros, 4) Arachthos, 5) Acheloos, 6) Evinos, 7) Mornos, 8) Pineios, 9) Alpheios, 10) Pamissos, 11) Evrotas.

Greece as a birding destination

Greece as a birding destination

Birding is big in nature-based tourism. However, it is not an easy 'industry' to develop. Greece is an interesting country to discuss such development. 

The interest in international wildlife watching tourism in Greece is probably old but probably rather slow growing. See multiple references to: ''wildflowers and archeological sites'', Spring birding on Lesvos (Lesbos), botanical excursion to Crete etc  (ever since the late 1970s...) and this "hidden Greece" approaches away from the beaches have been well promoted. Ever since people like Marc Dubin (Rough Guides) helped inland areas famous (at least since the early 1980s). "Wildlife" stands as a nice complement to cultural tours, i.e., many of the culutural monuments are in marvelous open landscapes, sometime close to wild lands too. Also, I should mention Oliver Rackham and his important contribution through the book 'The Making of the Creten Landscape' (1996). In the '80s and '90s, when there were magazines and tiny guide books sold at kiosks, people like George Sfikas provided an important impetus for promoting natural history tourism here. And there were many writers at the time (now they are bloggers, or vloggers...). Ok.

There were different stages of this promotion. And some of it really worked but was it sustainable? 

Ok, since the early 1980s there has been an active interest in some kind of quasi-ecotourism development in this country but nothing never really clicked, despite the glossy photos, nature protection areas (on paper), and good new accomodation facilities, etc. 

Lets focus on birds. Not a lot of the country was well known for birding before 2000 (and before Google Earth; it was not easy to explore). Since, 1997, when 'Birds of Greece' was published by Handrinos and Akriotis (this was a land-mark for birding developement as where some early "site-guides" (Crete, Lesbos, Northern Greece)).  

Times have changes a generation later (2015-2025 period). We know where the birds are and this has really been helped by Ornithologiki, Greece's birdlife partner, with many field trips and information and leBird, of course. One would expect Greece to be good/thriving/big for birding tourism. Simple criteria point to this and  support this claim. There are some amazing hotspot concentrations - with specialty birds, big wetlands, migration traps and an amazing combo with beach and cultural tourism. Also, Greece is so easy to drive around in, and you can combine driving in Greece with visiting four bordering Balkan countries next door. Also Greece is a beautiful. 

Is Greece a top birding country in Europe and the Med: no (i.e., compared to Spain, Isreal, Turkey Cyprus, France).

I generally feel a lot more could have been done here. And there are many lost opportunities and degraded sites (i.e, trashed infrastructure, wasted efforts by government, and poor conservation interest).  Basically Greece is a top and global nature tourism opportunity which we Greeks have trashed and neglected, for 4 decades straight! I know there is a lot of greenwashing paperwork saying otherwise. 

Yes, I think we have failed. And I say this from experience. I first led tours with my brother and then my wife in the late 1980s and 1990s; then I did a lot of education tourism in this century. So I have been doing this a lot (despite my other interests and varied activities).  I still lead educational tours. I know Greece. Why am is so negative?

Well, maybe I should not be so negative (leave that for another time)...here I will concentrate on the successes, the good places. Where a perfect combination of location, government support and private initiatives really made a difference. Where local people really benefited and birds were effectively used a as an incentive and tool for ecotourism development.  

Some areas, about 30 or so hotspots did become 'world famous' for birders in Greece. And the specific attractions have recived a steady development (ecodevelopment, ecotourism). This is looking at the glass half-full. Lets do this. 

Where are the top birding hotspots where we have good ecotourism experiance in Greece?

It depends on your choices, your criteria: lets use these: Richness (bird spp.), Distinctness (ambiguous I know...) and accessibility as categoreis. 

I would wager there are 13 top areas, and I know I am missing out a lot but lets see these together here...

I divided GR in North and South based on a line across the country. This is a bit abstract but worthy of consideration since 8 of the sites are north of the line (only 5 south of the line). Note that all areas have wetlands and no non-wetland dominated area is included except say Crete which has some minor wetland sites as well. The north is exceptional in having many more 'lesser' areas close to and attached to the ones selected here - and some of these are uniquely rich near the wetlands. So in the North you may have the wetlands and the temperate mountain landscapes (this includes the spectacular Central Rhodope mountains near Nestos or the Kaimaktsalan Mountains with the 'lake district' of Kastoria-Ptolemaida for example). The south is interesting in having some specialty birds not easily found in the north (Bonelli's Eagle, Ruepell's Warbler, huge colonies of Eleanora's Falcon, etc). The scale of cover in the south and the distinctiveness is hard to express. There are many smaller areas that are not in the 13 top sites I picked here: some areas that probably should be included are: Naxos Island (wetlands and mountains with Griffin Vulture colonies), Kos (wetlands), Samos (Eastern specialties, small wetlands).

This is a quick description of the top sites I picked in this rapid review:

1. Evros Delta National Park (Eastern Macedonia and Thrace)

Why: Legendary. One of Europe’s great deltas (≈320 spp. most easily seen each year), guided tours/boat rides via the Visitor Centre (Loutros). Extensive seasonal checklists and reports going back to late 1960s. Best seasons: peak spring and autumn migrations and definatly winter (geese, raptors, swans, pelicans, rarities all the time). Facilities & access:easy; track network (4×4 helpful in wet months), boat trips (more so in the past); good access from Alexandroupolis and close to other hotspots along the border (and on the other side of the border as well).

2. Dadia–Lefkimi–Soufli Forest NP (Eastern Macedonia and Thrace)

Why: Raptor stronghold with Europe’s vulture trio; raptor observatory & good information centre; long-term scientific monitoring shows since early 1990s strong - outstanding conservation impact. Famous place. Good network of trials. Best seasons: All year round. Late spring–summer for migrants, breeders and soaring birds; autumn migration wonderful with storks and eagle passage and lots of passerines; forest birds. Winter: Wintering raptors and passerines. Facilities & access: Dadia visitor centre & hide network; one private hide for photography (Chris Vlachos). Area regenerating after a massive forest fire a couple of years back. Still a beautiful area, within a culturally interesting part of Greece; easy access to Turkey and Bulgaria increase the ecotourism potential.

3. Nestos Delta, Porto Lagos & Lakes Vistonida–Ismarida (Eastern Macedonia and Thrace)

Why: One of Greece’s largest national parks by extent although much of it under cultivation. Lots to see: mosaic of lagoons, reedbeds, ponds, lakes, & coastal steppe, saltmarshes, and the largest lowland riparian forest in the country (much of it regenerating after protection and restoration progremmes). Multiple vantage points and tracks (but area not well organized; poorly promoted).  Best seasons: spring for herons/warblers/raptors; winter for geese and ducks. Facilities & access: spread-out network of drivable embankments; visitor nodes at Porto Lagos area but still poorly developed. Nearby uplands also of interest, especially Kompsatos Gorge and Nestos Gorge. Site very close to spectacular mountaion areas of the Central and Eastern Rhodope massif. But generally, this area is underplayed, poorly organized (a transit area moslty). 

4. Lake Kerkini National Park (Central Macedonia)

Why: Without a doubt Greece's best all-round international birding destination! Year-round abundance and high diversity (≈300+ spp.). Look-outs, embankment roads & a staffed info-centre, easy boat trips for pelicans/waterfowl, shorebirds; easy road access from Thessaloniki. Conservation & monitoring are long-standing (Ramsar/Natura 2000) and work of local scientists and good management team on the ground.  Best seasons: All year: winter (pelicans, waterfowl), spring (pelicans in breeding plumage, herons, breeding forest and countryside birds), late spring for breeding waterbirds, forest birds in nearby mountains; Autumn is very good as well (low water, shorebirds, migrants, flamigos, etc). But I think late spring is best (May-late June) and combined with forest birding on Mount Belles and Mount Krousia - it is fantastic. Easy access to Bulgaria and North Macedonia as well. Also, the site is close to other lesser hotspots (Lake Doirani, Central Rhodope). If you are from the Americas and want to go to one site, go to Kerkini.

5. Axios–Loudias–Aliakmonas Delta (near Thessaloniki)(Central Macedonia)

Why: This place is totally underated. Vast coastal complex with easy urban access, active management unit & information centre, routes for independent birders but no over-all development for birding. Its important to note that the area is next door to Thessaloniki, Greece's 'second capital city'. In fact parts of it are within the city limits: This includes the Dendropotamos Estuary (Ekvoli Dedropotamou) and the Loudias Estuary at Kalochori. These places are full of birds at all seasons.  Best seasons: all year; spring/autumn for shorebirds, herons, storks and migrants; winter for a varierty of raptors, flamingos & wildfowl. Facilities & access: Info Centre; signed routes; near-urban walking paths (e.g. Kalochori Lagoon). Note that from this place you can look across the bay to see the towering Mount Olympus - often snow-capped. Its less than 60 minutes away and offers good forest birding potential (among other attractions). 

6. Prespa Lakes National Park (Western Macedonia)

Why: Globally important Dalmatian Pelican colony; strong NGO-led conservation (SPP), visitor info hubs, trails & viewpoints; excellent documentation and monitoring and good community spirit supporting conservation (both at the national and municipality level). Both upland wild land and lake-side cultural landscapes. Note this is a really unique place globally, but a lot of it looks like upland areas in some other Balkan countries or even in parts of Asia. Best seasons: Mar–Oct for pelicans/waterfowl; winter for waterfowl. Migration season and especially spring for both migrants and breeders. Not so good as a winter destination (continental cold!). Facilities & access: Agios Germanos Info Center; multiple park info points- well developed and with a proud local nature-positive vibe. And still authentic.

7. Amvrakikos Gulf National Park (Epirus)

Why: One of the Mediterranean’s most productive semi-enclosed gulfs and the most extensive complex of lagoons, vast saltmarshes and mudflats in Greece (comprable in size to Messolonghi). Hosts Dalmatian Pelican colonies, Greater Flamingo flocks, varied herons, raptors and many other attractions (dolphins) but all is low key and poorly organized. Ramsar/Natura 2000 protection with NGO/park support but poorly managed, poor coordination on the ground; ramshackle conditions. However, it is a great place to explore (you need a guide - it is huge!).  Best seasons: Year-round interest; peak spring/autumn passage; winter for wildfowl, hugh flocks. Facilities & access: Visitor centres at Salaora and Strongyli no longer functioning; observation tower at Louros (overgrown road access). The area is easily reached from Preveza airport or Arta but the best place to stay is at Koronissia. The problem with this area is that it is plainly too vast. Access is difficult in some areas (roads overgrown with vegetation), and poorly signed or promoted. However, any Greek ornithologists will tell you this area is within Greece's top five birding-nature attractions. 

8. Messolonghi–Aitoliko Lagoons (Western Greece)

Why: This area is the southern half of Greece's most important wetland complex and probably the most birdy area in the south in general. It is huge. It is also a culturally and aesthetically amazing place. A Ramsar wetland with excellent, diverse birding (salinas, lagoons, mudflats; rock hills, canyon, woods, coasts and more). Active management unit, small visitor information centre, and some ecotourism promotion (low-key). Amazing and easy place to see good wildlife and have large day-lists (with spectacular species, incl. vultures, flamingos etc. all together). Combines well with nearby areas (big lakes, mountain forests, rivers, etc - Acheloos-Evinos uplands). Best seasons: spring & autumn for shorebirds/terns; winter for wildfowl and raptors. Facilities & access: Info Centre at Aitoliko; guided tours upon request or from Greece's top birding guides (based in Athens). Messolonghi is the closest big wetlnad experiance near Athens. 

9. Strofylia National Park (Peloponnese)

Why: Greece’s largest coastal umbrella pine forest adjoining lagoons, dunes and wetlands plus rock hills and beatiful oak-sage savannas. A wonderful landscape with good birds (~270 bird species recorded including flamingos, spoonbills, forest birds, raptors). Active management but big poaching probs; popular for low-key nature tourism. Best seasons: Autumn/winter for waterbirds; spring for migrants and breeding herons/terns. Too hot in summer and not that birdy then (nearby Messolonghi is perhaps better in Summer). Facilities & access: Network of tracks and watchpoints; visitor information at Kotychi–Strofylia Management Body; within 1.5 hours drive from Patras; also close to Athens.

10. Gialova Lagoon / Pylos (Peloponnese)

Why: Key stopover at the south end of the Balkans (~250+ spp.), good trail access near major tourism infrastructure (Pylos/Costa Navarino) and beautiful landscapes.  Best seasons: Apr–May & Sep–Oct migration; winter holds some ducks, flamingos, etc. Facilities & access: graded tracks, local accommodation/food options in Gialova/Pylos. Note that in the Peloponese we have only two wetland areas as important hotspots; this is unfortunate because a lot of other areas are poorly developed (not well organized/poor access/ poor conservation intiatives or plainly too small - of localized or regional interest). There is an important migration in the southern part of the peninsula at other points besides Gialova/Pylos - and perhaps the best and best studied place is the 'pelagic' island of Antikythira, due south of the southernmost three pronged peninsula. But I think Antikythira, and its world-famous bird observatory, are mostly for an ornithological trip, not general birding (that's why its not included here). 

11. Crete (island-wide; key wetlands, mountains & gorges)

Why: Greece’s southernmost major island is a migration crossroads, with raptors funnelling through its mountain ridges and numbers of passerines and waterbirds using wetlands as stopovers. Resident raptors include amazing populations of vultures and several rarities (both breeding and wintering). Key sites include Lake Agia near Chania (with a hide and info boards), artificial reservoirs, and gorges such as Samaria and the Asterousia mountains for raptors. Several species show distinctive Cretan forms (but there are no endemics), adding extra interest for birders. Best seasons: Spring (Apr–May) for mass migration and breeding raptors; autumn passage is also rewarding. Facilities & access: International airports at Heraklion and Chania provide easy access. Lake Agia has basic birding infrastructure; other sites are reachable by car with nearby accommodation options.

12. Lesvos (island-wide, esp. Kalloni Gulf wetlands and areas around this central location)

Why: First Lesvos is in Asia, not Europe. It is one of the big islands along the coast of Anatolia. It has famous spring migration (falls of passerines, shorebirds, bee-eaters, shrikes) and some local Anatolian specialties (cinereous bunting, Kruper's nuthatch and others); superb documentation (decades of trip reports) and an Environmental Information Centre at Kalloni and Natural History museum (Sigri). Best seasons: late Apr–May (spring peak); also autumn passage. Facilities & access: Kalloni Centre programs; dense network of drivable tracks and easy accommodation near hotspots. At least two good local guides regularly lead tours on the island. Hands-down, Lesbos is Greece's best destination for visitors from Western and Northern Europe (and may be good also for North Americans who have seen Central European habitats). Lesvos does not really compete with the wetlands of Northeastern Greece or the mountains of that area; both areas are big and special for birding and natural history. 

13. Schinias–Marathon National Park (Attica)

Why: Greece's capital’s most important birding wetland (>210 spp. recorded), ease of accessibility (45–60 min from central Athens); some trails and observation towers; strong seasonality but great for quick visits or wetland targets in season (i.e., needs to be a bit 'wet'; not a good place in prolonged droughts...). Best seasons: peak passage is spring, also for breeders but during drought years things can be underwelming. Winter is interesting if there are flood waters and colder conditions (cold snaps up north); autumn brings rarities. Facilities & access:some "marked paths' (Schinias Reservoir); easy public/private transport from Athens; however its best to have a vehicle since the area is rather big and there are no circuit trails; not easy to walk it on a hot day. Schinias-Marathon is close to some other areas in Attika, notably Mount Parnitha (spring forest birds, winter); Artemis Lagoon, Oropos Lagoon and even the wonderful Tritsis Park within Athens metro area (see map below showing the top 15 birding wetland sites near Athens). 

15 important wetland sites for birding in Attika (circled in red). Since Athens attracts a great number of international tourists, it would be in the economy's great interest to promote ecotourism in these sites. At this point in time only one of them has some kind of infrastructure (observation towers, etc), and that is Schinias-Marathon National Park. Some of them are threatened and extremely degraded. 

A typical itinerary for spring birding in Greece; as marketed by one international tour company (FieldGuides.com). My wife and I led this kind of tour back since the early 1990s for Canadian visitors and it was really a fantastic experience for all. The trip starts with a flight from Athens to Alexandroupolis and then you are led down to Athens.

Greeks promoting birding within the National Parks of Northern Greece at the UK Bird Fair in 2025. The NECCA our authority for conservation areas is doing its part in promotion of biodiversity and awareness. Below are some campaign posters. 

Schinias-Marathon National Park in Attika (very near Athens) makes a wonderful airphoto at certain angles and there has been some effort made to suppress wildfires and save the coastal pine wood at the beach. The fantastic aspect here is the amazing wetland behind the wood.

One of the most unGreek landscapes in Greece is the remarkable wetland complex of the Lakes Vistonis, Ismarida and Thracian lagoons, also part of a National Park. This incredible area is one of the top 5 places for birding but it is poorly developed relative to its potential. 

Greece has no endemic bird species but several are range-restricted specialties and rarities which are not seen easily in other parts of Europe. Rueppel's Warbler is one such bird distributed in the south and a few of th larger Aegean Islands.  

How to rapidly learn birds: The Roman Palace mnemonic technique

 

Mnemonic Techniques - the Roman Room - Method of Loci (MoL)

A little Greek history! 

Simonides of Ceos (modern Kea Island) is often credited with discovering the "Roman Room" method around 500 BC: the legend says he was at a banquet of honored guests, stepped outside to receive a message, and at that moment a powerful earthquake collapsed the roof, crushing everyone inside beyond recognition. Known for his mnemonic techniques, tο everyone's astonishment Simonides could identify each body for burial by mentally “walking” through the seating arrangement and matching each person to their place, showing that when we anchor vivid mental imagery to locations (Loci), the mind can store astonishing amounts of information in sequence and with striking clarity. This technique—later named the Method of Loci (MoL) by modern scientists and memory athletes—was widely used in Ancient Greece and Rome by orators, teachers, poets, politicians, and scholars of all kinds. These people could recite vast material without notes, and echoes of similar place-based mnemonic systems have also been found in many pre-writing societies (including the indigenous peoples very far from Europe and the Med). We now call it Roman Room or Roman Palace technique because this thing was BIG during the Pax Romana - once you learn it, it can help you learn lots...fast! 

This brings us to the obvious question: Can naturalists benefit from mnemonic techniques too? For sure! 

Memorizing Birds Really Quick! 

So, I will provide a step-by-step example, and of course there are many such tutorials on YouTube - all sorts of people now use MoL techniques for language learning, public speaking etc... 

About 30 years ago when I learned about this (see personal note-at the end of this post) it was not widely known - and boy did it help me get through University! So as a Natural Historian, I owe a lot to mnemonics - and maybe to the Ancient Greeks (and my modern mentors) as well. 

This is a step-by-step guide of how I do it with learning birds, an example being rapid name-building and field-mark competance before going on a trip where I need to learn a lot of names..... Lets say I need to RAPIDLY learn the names and "looks" of 500 birds for a upcomming trip to Kenya (total avifauna: approx. 1,100 spp.). Say, I've got no time....and I know very well that browsing the Merlin Bird ID app does not make them stick! 

Here I'll use this old Greco-Roman mnemonic technique, the Roman Room, and show you how.... 

The “Roman Room/Palace” technique is basically:

• A fixed route through a "familiar place", like the specific numbered spots-locations in a large room (your loci - the locations).

• One vivid image per location, exaggerated and weird (!!).

• Strict order (you always walk the same path).

• Chunking: lots of small rooms rather than one giant one. Many rooms make a palace. I'll call them rooms here/ focus on the basics.

Memory Palace Generalization. A Palace is made up of rooms (compartments within apartments). You visualize a room first, then connect the rooms into a palace. (Source: https://fastercapital.com/content/Focus-Techniques--Memory-Palace-Technique---The-Memory-Palace-Technique--A-Mnemonic-for-Focus.html)

You don't necessarily have to draw the room and its loci, but it may help to make a quick sketch of the numbered loci. Each locus will have a bird on it. I have found that it is quite easy to fit 25 birds in on side of the room (about 50 spp. per room is possible). The image ilustrates the method.(Source: Google)

For 500 birds, the secret is many small rooms and a consistent bird-image recipe per locus - each room can have mayby 25 or 50 loci at most.

What you need to memorize 500 birds efficiently?

You’re memorizing two things per bird:

1. the name (word/phrase)

2. the look (key field marks)

So you must create one combined image/scene on each locus that encodes both:

• Name cue (a pun / sound-alike / meaning)

• Visual cue (2–3 distinctive features: color patch, beak shape, tail, crest, habitat)

Example (made up as a template):

• “Lilac-breasted Roller” → a lilac-colored bra rolling like a tire while a bird with turquoise wings does acrobatics.
  Name = lilac + bra + roller. Visual = turquoise wings + lilac chest.

That’s the whole game!

Build palaces the “Roman” way (fast)

Choose 10 rooms × 50 loci each = 500 birds

You can do:

• Your home (50)

• A childhood home (50)

• Your walk through a city mall you know well (50)

• A museum route you know well (50)

• A school/university building (50)

• A favorite neighborhood loop (50)

• A gym route (50)

• A friend’s house (50)

• A small fishing harbour route (50)

• A “virtual palace” you know well (e.g., a famous movie set you can walk through mentally) (50)

Rule: Each palace must be a linear route, not random compartments etc.

How to get 500 loci quickly in one Roman Palace!

Do “50 per room (i.e., finish palace with 10 rooms for 500 spp.)”:

This would be a likely route within a such a fantastical room:

• Door handle

• Left corner of door frame

• Window corners, window center

• Table/bed

• Right corner , etc.

That’s 50 per room. Add another 5 if needed (in a later re-frame):

• Ceiling light

• Rug

• Closet

• Shelf

• Chair

(You would do this later if you want to add species within a family or similar looking group of birds; so instead of creating a new room, you would go back and increase the numbers using more space - or new compartments in the same room - see appendix below for more on this). 

Try for “One bird family = one room” (best for 500 birds)

• 10–25 families you care about most

• 20–50 loci each room (don’t force 80+ in one room unless you’re experienced)

• Advantage: almost zero interference 

• The loci must be clear to you- you can see them in your mind's eye....

Put “taxonomy” into the route itself (hierarchy cue)

For each family room or appartment-block (palace) of several rooms, make the route structured like:

Entrance = Family (or similar-spp group) anchor
Room 1 = Non-passerine waterbirds
Room 2 = similar-looking cluster #1
Room 3 = similar-looking cluster #2
Room 4 = oddballs / rare / lookalikes

This is huge for families like weavers and cisticolas, where many species differ by tiny details. So Cisticolas would have one room or two or three rooms - depending on how deep you want to get into them. Super-similar looking species are not easy....

How to handle super-similar looking species (the real challenge)

When 10 birds differ by “slightly more yellow” you need a ''difference system''.

The “2+1 rule”

At each locus, encode:

• 2 field marks (strong visual differences)

• 1 differentiator object that stands for the key difference

Examples of differentiator objects:

• Eyebrow vs no eyebrow → paint roller stripe above eye

• Red eye → laser eye

• Longer tail → absurd ribbon tail wrapping the room

• Black throat → choke-collar / black scarf

• Voice distinction → chicken-like cackle...

The “comparison trick” (works insanely well)

Put look-alike pairs next to each other on consecutive loci and make them “fight,” highlighting the difference.

• Bird A steals Bird B’s crest.

• Bird A spills blood over the other (Bird B having a more reddish hue on breast...)

• Bird B rips off Bird A’s tail streamer.  PLEASE NOTE: I am not joking with you: That forced contrast sticks and the 'action' sticks in memory surprisingly well.

Keep “family props” constant to reduce cognitive load

In a family (or look-alike group of speceis) room, decide 3–5 props that appear everywhere.

Example: Sunbird room props

• flowers

• sugar

• shiny metal

• tiny curved beaks (like mini sickles)

• nectar dripping sound

Now every species image only needs:

• name pun

• 2–3 field marks…and your brain supplies the rest automatically!

Don’t exceed your “room clarity limit”

For speed learning:

• New room: 20–30 loci

• Comfortable: 30–50 loci

• Advanced: 50–70 (only if loci are extremely distinct)

If a family has 120 species, split it into two rooms:

• “Cisticolas A (common + similar group 1)”

• “Cisticolas B (similar group 2 + oddballs)”

Quick checklist for each family room (1 minute setup)

1. Choose a room/palace with a strong theme (bakery, gym, hospital, boat).

2. Put the family anchor at the entrance.

3. Pick 3–5 repeating props.

4. Divide rooms into similarity clusters.

5. Put look-alike pairs next to each other.

6. Make the species that are similar-looking interact! 

7. Go back (before review) and make each scene/image of each species at each loci more 'active'/grotesque/connected.

----The rapid training plan (do this in order)----

 

Hour 0–1: Learn the skill by doing 20 birds first!

• Build a room with 20 loci (your living room: door handle → fire-place → windows route).

• For 20 birds, force yourself to make images with:

  • Movement (wacky movements, funny ones, trempling, shaking...)

  • Emotion (pain, awe, brilliance, happy-slappy-crazy feelings...)

  • Absurd size (really small for...pygmy sunbird...)

  • Interaction with the locus (bird-shitting on door-handle, stepping on bird at door corner...blood all over the locus...).

• Walk the route twice in your head.

You’re not “learning theory” — you’re training the mental muscle. 

---

Hour 1–2: Create your “Bird Encoding Recipe” (so you don’t stall)

For every bird, you will encode:

A) Name cue (2 seconds decision)

Pick ONE:

• Sound-alike (“Weaver” → someone weaving)

• Split word (“Kingfisher” → a king fishing)

• Meaning (“Secretarybird” → secretary with papers)

• Simple symbol (if name is concrete: “Eagle” = giant eagle)

B) Visual cue (pick only 2–3 field marks, not more only those that stick out - don't be a perfectionist!)

Choose the most diagnostic:

• Head (crest? mask? eyebrow?)

• Beak (hooked, long, thick, curved)

• Tail (forked, long streamers)

• One standout color patch (red wing, yellow throat)

• Habitat cue if helpful (reeds, water, savannah; i.e., if the Cisticola in question is in wetlnads have  dirty-smelly water dripping from the locus).

C) Fuse into one scene

The name-cue object forces the bird to show the key marks (e.g. Woodland Kingfisher - bright glowing blue and in a shady green wood). Keep it simple animated, caricature-like.

This prevents perfectionism. Two–three field marks/habitat cues is enough. You need to move fast to cover 500 species!

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Hour 2–5: Encode 150–200 birds (speed block)

• Do 25 birds per room (not 50 yet).

• YOU NEED DISCIPLINE HERE: Work in 25-minute sprints, 5-minute breaks. It is critical to move fast or else it becomes drudgery and you will question why its taking so long.... (Once you've done it, you go back and re-inforce and iron-out the images). 

• After each sprint: walk the whole palace once.

Speed target:

• 45–90 seconds per bird at first.

• You’ll speed up to 20–40 seconds per bird after ~80 birds.

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Hour 5–6: First big retrieval (this is where memory forms)

Do active recall, not rereading:

• For each room, write/say bird names as you walk the loci. (I often just say the names with vivid imagination; I sometimes write them coded form).

• Then check your list.

• Rebuild any weak images (make them more violent/weird/bigger/sexier).

This step matters more than adding new birds.

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Hour 6–9: Encode the remaining 300–350 birds (volume block)

Now you can safely do 50 loci per room.

Same rhythm:

• Encode 10

• Walk back 10

• Encode next 10

• Walk back 20

• etc.

If you feel images “colliding,” your rooms are too similar or the loci not distinct. Fix by:

• adding strong “landmarks”

• changing the route direction

• using different themes per room (e.g., Room 1 is watery scenes, Room 2 is fire, Room 3 is cartoons)

• Drawing the rooms or palace (apartments of many rooms makes one palace- remember). Quick sketch is all you need (I sometimes use colours).

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Hour 9–10: Final test + “repair pass”

• Randomly test yourself: jump to locus 37 in room 4.

• If you can’t pull it instantly, replace the image with a more extreme one.

• Do one last full walk of each room. The palace is big but you can now visualize it even if you have some shady compartments (these will iron-out easy). 

Sleep on this, next day you will be surprised how you remember so many birds (which of course you previously did not know...).

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SOME IMPORTANT POINTS TO BE MADE

The mistake that kills people at 200+

Interference: similar birds blur together (e.g., too many “weavers,” some similar looking “sunbirds”, female sunbirds, etc).

Fix it with sub-palaces by family:

• Palace set A: Sunbirds (all loci include nectar, flowers, shiny metal)

• Palace set B: Weavers (every scene includes weaving looms, baskets, knots)

• Palace set C: Raptors (claws, hooks, meat, wind)

Then within that theme, each bird gets its unique name cue + marks.

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Make your images “sticky” (champion rules)

Use at least 3 of these every time:

• Sex/embarrassment (brains remember it)

• Danger (blood, falling, explosions)

• Disgust (slime, rot, excrement, feces)

• Comedy (ridiculous physics)

• Huge scale (car-sized bird, molecule sized bird)

• Sound (screeching “KAA-KAA!”)

• Smell (burning feathers, bird shit, vomit, swamp gas, sewage lagoon smells, jasmin-flowers)

Also: NEVER-ever place a “still photo” in a locus. Always a scene.

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“Within a day” reality check (and how to actually make it stick)

You can encode 500 in a day, yes, but to keep them you need two short follow-ups:

• Next morning (Day 2): one full recall walk (30–60 min)

• Day 4: another recall walk (30–60 min)

Without that, a lot will evaporate. 

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APPENDIX - A CRITICAL QUESTION

*****If I have built one room with one family of birds (say sunbirds) how do I go back and add or subtract species to have a new completed room?

You can edit a “sunbird room” later, but you want to do it in a way that doesn’t scramble retrieval order. Think of your room like a numbered street: you can renovate houses, but renumbering the whole street is painful.

Here are the best systems memory athletes use to add/subtract species cleanly.

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A1) Use “addressed loci” so order never breaks

Before you store any birds, decide your loci are permanently numbered:

Sunbird Room:

1. Door

2. Coat rack

3. Mirror

4. Sofa left arm

5. Sofa seat

6. Coffee table
   …etc.

Now every species has an “address” (Sunbird Room #12).

This is the foundation that makes editing possible.

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A2) The cleanest way to add birds: reserved “empty slots”

When you first build a room, don’t fill every locus. Leave planned gaps:

• Fill only odd numbers first (1,3,5,7…)

• Keep evens as “parking spaces”

Later, new species go into the empty evens without shifting anything.

If your room has 40 loci:

• Day 1: place 20 birds (odd loci)

• Later: you can add 20 more (even loci)

This single trick prevents 90% of rework.

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A3) The next best method: “annex shelves” (overflow areas)

If the room is full, don’t insert in the middle. Add a clearly marked extension:

• “Sunbird Room – Window Sill Annex” (10 loci)

• “Sunbird Room – Under-the-Rug Basement” (10 loci)

• “Sunbird Room – Ceiling Catwalk” (10 loci)

Retrieval stays:

• Main room 1–40

• Annex A 41–50

• Annex B 51–60

Your brain loves this because it’s still one route.

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A4) If you must insert a species between two existing ones

Do NOT renumber the whole room. Use sub-addresses like a book page:

• Locus 12 = species A

• Add new species between 12 and 13 → put it at 12B (or 12.5)

How to do that visually:

• Locus 12 has a “main scene”

• The new species lives on a distinct sub-spot at the same locus:

  • on top of the object

  • under it

  • inside it

  • hanging from it

Example:

• Mirror (Locus 3): original sunbird is stuck to the glass

• New inserted sunbird (3B): perched on the mirror frame holding a sugar syringe

Rule: max 2–3 birds per locus or it gets muddy.

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A5) How to subtract a species (without leaving a “hole” that confuses you)

Two good options:

Option A: Delete + “seal” the locus

Remove the bird image, then add a strong “EMPTY” marker:

• yellow caution tape

• a big red X

• a “FOR RENT” sign

That tells your brain: “There’s intentionally nothing here.”

Option B: Replace (best if you don’t care about keeping the old)

Just overwrite that locus with the new correct species. Fast and clean.

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A6) What not to do: shifting everything forward/back

Avoid:

• “I’ll move every bird after #17 one locus forward.”
  That breaks retrieval, causes interference, and costs more time than it seems.

If you want a different order, make a new version room (see next tip).

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A7) When you should rebuild instead of edit

If you changed your checklist a lot (say 30–40% of species), make a new room:

• “Sunbirds v2 (Kenya checklist 2026)”

You can still keep the old room as “archive” so you don’t confuse memories.

Athletes do this all the time: versioned palaces beat constant reshuffling.

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A8) Best practice for bird learning: separate “storage order” from “study order”

Your palace order can stay stable (e.g., alphabetical or field guide order), while your study sessions can jump around. The palace is your database, not your only study sequence.

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Quick REVIEW for you (500 birds use-case)

• Build each family room with  20 to 50 loci

• Fill 20 on odd loci initially

• In future development within a room, the overflow goes into Annexes, not mid-route insertion

• Subtract by “seal” markers or overwriting

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HOW I GOT INTO THIS?                                ???????????????????????????????

And a personal note about Memory Techniques. I was first exposed to this in the first few years of the 1990s when I lived in Vancouver Canada. 

This was pre-internet times, and what we did back then is read books and watch TV (I watched public television programmes a lot). 

Two amazing people who influenced me were the tele-course pioneer professor Roger Albert (a wonderful French-Canadian sociologist who had a course on Public Television at the time) and the spectacular memory athlete and coach, Tony Buzan (a British naitonal who also studied in Vancouver in the '60s). Both these wonderful people popularized the study rapid skills development using such techniques and helped me on my way in my own University studies and my broad natural history skills development. They have now both passed away, may they Rest in Peace. I am sure they helped hundreds of thousands of people - world-wide. 

Roger Albert, Sociologist. A screen-frame from one of his telecourses in 1991. He had one course (which I took) called: Effective Study Techniques. There he introduced mnemonic approaches and Tony Buzan's mind-mapping (including Memory Palaces, MoL). 

The very successful, brilliang self-help author and memory athlete, Tony Buzan.

  

Birding in Greece in the 1980s

Photo published in the Hellenic Bird Ringing Center Bulletin No. 2 (2024), showing: Banding group on Lafri Hill (Porto Lagos, Thrace) in early September 1987: From Left to right: top: Martin Gaetlich, Vassilis Goutner, Johannes Foufopoulos, Charalambos Alivizatos, Photis Pergantis. Bottom (from left to right): Dimitris Xanthakis, Stamatis Zogaris.

Looking back...from November 2025

I became fascinated with natural history in Greece in the early 1980s. Part of the magic was the feeling that my friends and I were pioneering these pursuits. We felt really exploring and contributing... For me—just a teenager at the time—it was a focus on birds, on habitats ...all wrapped in a sense of discovery and wonder.

I can say just a few things here but of course, it was complex and political. And worthwhile.  

Some top issues that come to mind:

1) We were anti-hunters! Perhaps, that is because we were seeking to change society's outlook on wildlife and we considered it the ultimate cruelty to be killing birds (i.e. nature) in such "degraded", disorganized conditions. Protected areas did'nt work, no enforcement was evident anywhere. It was bad, in the sense of how bad it is today in some Middle Eastern countries (see Egypt, Lebennon and the like). 

2) The top NGO in 1984, when I joined, was the Hellenic Ornithological Society. There was a hierarchy, some top mentors we followed and learned from. For me these where: Ben Hallmann, Giorgos Handrinos, Phillipos Dragoumis,Triantafyllos Akriotis, Stratis Bourdakis, Alexis Vlamis, Photis Pergantis, Vassilis Hatzirvassanis, Aris Vidalis, Thodoros Kominos, Vassilis Goutner, Giorgos Catsadorakis, Martinos Gaetlich (among several others). The Hellenic Ornithological Society, was the major scientific club and a 'nest' for all these serious naturalist/activists.  

3) There was no ecotourism at the time in Greece, although a very few visitors did come to explore (and several foreigners laid the foundations). These people include natural history experts and academics plus some intrepid walkers/hikers who publicised the wilds of Greece. 

4) We did field trips; exploration trips. We inventoried and 'discovered' places.  

5) We had very little access to birding spot data or ornithological literature. 

6) The European Union helped a lot and brought a rapid transformation. However it also brought catastrophic change through land-use changes, agricultural subsidies that promoted certain cashcrops and agrochemical increases. Basically we lived the transformation of Modern Greece in the '80s.  

7) We were ecologists, active in conservation. In Greek the term naturalist (φυσιοδίφης) is not used widely, so basically our interest was wildlife and conservation and actively trying to participate. 

8) We were not amateurs, we were scientists and quasi-scientists and felt a professional connection to our 'work' and our cause. 

9) We argued a lot. Politics was difficult and personal.

10) There was pain, lots of pain. And very little progress in conservation. 

Some snapshots from the day, follow. 

A lot of our action in the '80s was educational and awareness-building, but it was really very low key. This is an exhibit in a town square in Athens (Zogarafou Neighbourhood), circa 1988. In the bottom left are two of the most important figures in Greek activisim at the time Georgia Tsakona (genearal secretary of the HOS for many years) and Philippos Dragoumis. Note that the photos show a lot of shot-dead birds, from the rampant poaching at the time. Photo (unpublished), copyright: Aris Vidalis.

We didn't have FB, but we had a monthy magazine focusing on political ecology, Nea Oikologia (and other local print-media as well); but this was national and available at many kiosks throughout Greece. Pictured on the late '80s volume (at Right) is Maria Ganoti - who spear-headed Wildlife rehabilitation in Greece and contributed immensly to the growing awareness of damage done due to shooting/poaching. This poster-girl photo is telling, and I think people like Maria really produced a cultural shift in Greece (...and she is still doing wildlife rehab...four decades later). 

One of Greece's success stories. At the time in 1985 we had no idea we could save it. Greece had only two Dalmatian Pelican colonies, this one, in the Amvrakikos numbered less than 30 pairs, all nesting on this strip of low islets in the Tsoukalio Lagoon. 

In 1985 we were based on this sand bar on the Tsoukalio Lagoon. We were witness to its total degradation by roadbuilding but could do nothing. 

This is the amazing camoflaged camper which was set up by HOS in 1985 to monitor and gaurd the Dalmatian Pelican colony. Tractor-excavator building the road next-door!

This is me, a photo taken by Aris Vidalis in the Spring of 1985. Note the excavator and construction vehicles working on building a road on the shell-beach sand bars of the lagoon!!! I mean, we as a team must have suffered PTSD seeing and living this absolute desicration of this pristine landscape.