By Alexia Vlachou
ATHENS, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- To celebrate the autumn migration of birds, people of all ages attended a festival of bird watching on Sunday at the "Antonis Tritsis" Environmental Education & Sensitization Park in the northern suburb of Athens.
Bird lovers, young and old, carrying their binoculars joined the bird-watching event which was organized by the Hellenic Ornithological Society in an attempt to raise awareness for this special natural phenomenon.
"As part of the European Bird Watching Day, we organized a special free day of bird watching and other similar activities in Athens and in other 35 places across Greece for the public to come and to observe bird migration," Evgenia Panoriou, responsible for the Environmental Education at the Hellenic Ornithological Society told Xinhua.
Expanded to 900 acres, "Antonis Tritsis" park is one of the last shelters of wildlife in the Athens urban environment.
As the wetlands of Attica are shrinking in recent years, the lakes of the park have attracted various species of birds.
"We have observed more than 180 species of birds, like cormorants and herons among others," Panoriou said.
During the festival, visitors had the opportunity to tour and observe with binoculars or through telescopes different species of wildlife.
"It's an escape from the city life. Many families with their children joined the event and participated in the activities with great interest," Panoriou added.
Children also took part in painting and craft activities where they learnt the importance of the natural habitats of the wildlife.
In cooperation with ANIMA, the Hellenic wildlife care association, they also participated in releasing wild birds which had been injured and nursed for a long period.
Through the activities, visitors enjoyed the wonder of bird migration and paid attention to the efforts being made to save endangered bird species and their habitats.
The climate and geographical location of Greece, in south-eastern Europe and at the crossroads of three continents, has enriched the country with a diverse birdlife, according to experts.
"So far, 450 species of birds have been recorded in Greece," Panoriou said.
The country comprises a meeting point and bottleneck for birds' passage from Europe, Asia and Africa, and is the only place in Europe where you can see some of the birds coming from other continents.
The EuroBirdwatch, which takes place every year in autumn in more than 40 countries, is the biggest event of the European and Central Asian Bird Life federation.
