In this season, the reedbeds of Orikum (Vlorë) are visited by hundreds of small migratory birds, and as always, their movements and origin arouse the curiosity of the AOS team. Therefore, we decided to dedicate  the last weekend of April (25-26) to conducting a bird ringing weekend in Orikum Ornithological Station, a weekend which also …

The wide optionality of touristic attractions that the National Park of Divjaka-Karavasta possess, provides a friendly destination, thus hosting every year, thousands of native and foreign tourists. The services that the park offers enable spaces of different dimensions of tourism, such as hiking trails, picnic spots, culinary-gastronomic tourism, and especially for birdwatching. However, the ecological …

While we are passing through a challenging time due to COVID-19, the circumstances have not been the same for the Dalmatian Pelicans’ colony in Divjaka Karavasta National Park. The end of the breeding season for the Dalmatian Pelicans (Pelecanus crispus) is approaching and presently, the Pelican’s island is inhabited by new offspring, the next generation …

During these days of self-isolation, two cadavers of European Badger (Meles meles) suspected of poisoning were reported at AOS. One of cadavers was reported in Kavaja and the other in Durrës. However, not always finding a cadaver means that the cause of the animal’s death is poisoning. To confirm this, it is necessary to take …

Huge Dalmatian Pelicans, vibrant flamingos, and colourful bee-eaters.  These are just a few of the first birds that captured my attention after I moved to Albania from the United States last year. My family and I came knowing we would have only 2 years here, so I felt a sense of urgency to explore all …

Although monitoring the White Stork population in Albania for the year 2020 seemed to be impossible due to COVID-19 and the difficult working situation, AOS continued its efforts by working closely with AOS local supporters, in order to increase the number of nesting White Storks in Albania. Recently, a call from AOS local supporter, Xhevdet …

On the Easter Day, that most of us link with the ritual of red eggs as the symbol of revival, AOS provides another happy news linked with eggs and species recovery. Two species, in the focus of our work, respectively the Egyptian Vulture (𝘕𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘴) and the White Stork (𝘊𝘪𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘤𝘪𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢) have laid eggs and …

At the beginning of 2017, private investors “Mabetex Group” proposed a masterplan for the construction of a massive tourism resort, the so-called “𝘿𝙞𝙫𝙟𝙖𝙠𝙖 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝘼𝙡𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙖” at the Divjaka-Karavasta National Park. The whole panorama of the project was staggering in terms of dimensions, especially its location (core area of the National Park) and its prospective aim …

A joint team, AOS, PPNEA, RAPA Gjirokastër and our local conservation group have started the monitoring of the territories of the 𝐄𝐠𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐕𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 (𝗡𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘂𝘀) in Albania aiming to find out the territories used for this year, the number of breeding pairs and the location of the nests. This monitoring process, expected to last until …

“𝐕𝐣𝐨𝐬𝐚 / 𝐀𝐨𝐨𝐬”, our Egyptian vulture, baptized by this name and equipped with satellite transmitters in 2015, is now only a few kilometres away from its territory, lying in two countries, southeast Albania and northwestern Greece. Vjosa has so far traversed over 7,000 𝗸𝗺 in 10 different countries (Chad, Libya, Sudan, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudy …