Pylos in winter

Pylos Greece
January 2020

Voidokilia Cove - in the Gialova Lagoon Natura 2000 site - definitely one of the most beautiful beaches in Greece. And the walk above the beach on the limestone crags is probably one of the most enchanting nature hikes in the country as well. The other aspect here is the climate - its warm in winter...I mean a good 17 C on the mid-January visit we made; and one of us even had a swim in the sea!

It's one of those places where there is a lot of new tourism development happening on the coast - building has begun recently you can sense this; however much is still so idyllic. An evolving Mediterranean community that needs close observation and a helping hand in conservation.

Well...Hi and Happy New Year to everyone!!! - This is our first work-related trip this year ...the lovely town of Pylos. We wish all our friends to keep travelling, naturing, loving life in 2020!  

On the limestone hill the spectacular old Navarino castle - first build by the Franks in the 13th Century. Beyond this the hills and cliffs of Sfakteria Island, Navarino Bay. 

The entrance to Voidokilia bay. Tooth-sharp limestone crags. 

Part of Gialova Lagooon, a famous wetland. Rich in birds; we easily spotted 25 species in less than an hour. 

Over Gialova Lagoon; a wonderful long-legged buzzard (Buteo rufinus), mobbed by crows and gulls (composite of two photos).

Known since pre-classical times as Sandy Pylos. The dunes here are spectacular. 

This is Costa Navarino https://www.costanavarino.com/- a huge hotel complex that is the creator of the local long-term ecosystem observatory partner organization here- the Navarino Environmental Observatory (https://www.navarinoneo.se/). The ballance between nature and tourism development is not easy; they seem to be trying to harmonize things here.

Two seasoned travellers take a winter's walk on the beach: Voidokilia - alone. Don't come here in summer!

The water was crisp, gin-clear. 

LTER teamwork at the NEO fascilities.

This is part of the Long-Term Ecosystem Research (LTER)- Greece team above the lagoon of Gialova. Thanks to the local partner - Navarino Environmental Observatory (NEO) for the hospitality and guidance during the meeting (https://www.navarinoneo.se/). 

Lake Ohrid basin fishes

Lake Ohrid 
Late July 2019

The summer light on Ohrid's surface: the "light of Zeus" - its ancient name Lychnidion.

The lake has 30+ m. visibility and spectacular "coastlines" - some similar to the Ionian island coasts.
Gin-clear spring trout waters in a southern Balkan lake.

Then the ichthyofauna (about 20+ native species) - legendary for its endemics, especially the unique and unresolved taxonomy of the local lake trouts, the interesting enigmas still persisting and so much still unknown....

This is Ohrid. 
There's nothing like it, nowhere else on Earth.

And the lake is shared by North Macedonia and Albania, between the prestigious historic town of Ohrid (UNESCO sitec) and the less-populated and still somewhat "underdeveloped" Albanian coastline.

Vasso and I went in late July - when all of Skopje is relaxing by the Lake; but it was a work-trip so we just did a lot of that. It was my first formal collaboration with North Macedonia. We worked closely with the local scientists, enjoyed the wildlife and hope to return. Of course, our warmest thanks to our close friends in North Macedonia!

Some of our snap-shotes shared here.

The amazing karstic springs at Saint Naum, southern part of the Lake. 

A dice snake (Natrix tesselata) among many fishes on the eastern shores of the Lake. 

This is my most sentimental "Lake Ohrid Shot": a typically amazing concentration of fishes in gin-clear waters within a Phragmites reed bed. I had time for just two snorkel surveys on this trip -need to go back...

Alburnoides ohridanus and Pachychilon pictum feedin on inverts on a rock I overturned. 

One of the headwaters streams that enter the Lake; here up in the mountains its just a cold-water trout creek -  with huge Coltsfoot Petasites leaves. 

Sampling during our international effort. Researchers from Greece and North Macedonia working on fishes together....

We studied three streams and sampled nine sites over a period of about a week in North Macedonia. Wish we could have stayed more. Wonderful friends made. 

The range-restricted endemic Barbel of the Ohrid -Drin system (Barbus sp.). This beautiful specimen caught in the river-mouth of the Sateska river, north shore of the Lake.

We visited a fish-farm with trout that are from the lake - presumably Salmo letnica - and we were assured by researchers of the Hydrobiological Institute that these are all of this species. 

Salmo letnica (Karaman, 1924), Ohrid trout. This species has been introduced from Lake Ohrid to the transboundary Prespa Lakes (Crivelli et al., 1997) in the 1950s,where it may possibly also hybridise with the local endemic trout Salmo peristericus. The degree of establishment of this introduced taxon and its current status within Greek territory is unknown. Many thanks to our colleagues in Ohrid for getting us this close to trout at the trout farm.

The Belvica Salmo ohridanus (3 on R) and the Ohrid Trout Salmo letnica (big one on L). At Saint Naum taverna.

Amazing visibility in the NE part of the lake. These are Dreissena zebra mussel patches on rocks below lake shore cliffs. 

Large shools of Alburnus skadarensis swim by as if they are large marine clupeids. 

Fishing with policemen friends I made on the NE side of the lake.

The western - Albanian - side of the Lake.

The village of Lin in Albania, western side of the Lake.

The southeastern shores of the lake.