Lake Skadar Birdwatching: 280+ Species, Timing and Tours

The species you are most likely to see

Dalmatian pelicans are the headline — the lake holds one of Europe's few breeding colonies, and they are most visible from late winter through spring. Around them the heron family is everywhere: grey and purple herons, great and little egrets, squacco herons. Pygmy cormorants gather in noisy groups on dead branches, great cormorants fish deeper water, whiskered terns hover over the lilies, and great crested grebes display on open bays in spring.

• •Dalmatian pelican — February to May is best.
• •Herons and egrets — all season, reed edges and shallows.
• •Pygmy cormorant — year round, often in flocks.
• •Whiskered tern — summer, over the lily fields.
• •Glossy ibis and winter waterfowl — autumn and winter.

When to go

Spring migration (March to May) and autumn passage (September to October) bring the greatest variety. Breeding activity peaks in spring; winter brings large numbers of ducks and other waterfowl. Whatever the month, go early: the first hours after sunrise give calm water, active birds and the softest light.

Why you need a boat

The birds feed and nest in reed channels and on islands you cannot reach on foot, and the shoreline road keeps you hundreds of metres from the action. A small private boat can move slowly through the channels, cut the engine and drift — which is how you get within photography range without disturbing anything.

Our Amazon Boat Safari is the tour built for this: slow going through the reed channels and pelican habitat with a captain who knows where the birds were yesterday.

Photography and etiquette

Bring a 300 mm lens or longer, and keep shutter speeds high — the boat is always moving slightly. Shoot into the soft morning light rather than across it. Never ask the captain to push closer to a nesting colony: birds that flush lose eggs and chicks to gulls, and a flushed colony is worse for every visitor after you.