Selsey Birder
Well-known member
So here is the penultimate report, i will also include a full species list with locations where relevant after i have written about the final day.
May 8th
So dawned the final full day on the island and in truth it was a little bit like after the Lord Mayor’s show.
Sam had decided to stay local andf then spend the day with his wife Sandra, Paul and I wanted to be back with our wives by mid morning, Alan and Yvette decided they would also come back with us at that time, whilst Ads and his partner Sue would spend the day on the west coast (apparently not seeing very much). With the limited time allowed we decided on one final visit to Ipsilou, not a good decision as it turns out since the was very little activity early in the morning, although we did see 3 female Golden Orioles, together with the same array of species that we had seen there on previous visits, plus a few Sombre Tits. Sadly we did find a freshly killed Cuckoo at the base of the hill, it had clearly been hit by a car in the very early morning. I may post a picture here if it is desired, but i found it upsetting so will defer to everyone’s opinion. We then headed back towards Petra, deciding to stop at the entrance to the “Grand Canyon” where we had previously parked on the Monday morning.
We were reliably informed that there was a Rock Sparrow nest here on the cliff opposite the road and that it was in a disused Western Rock Nuthatch nest. This half hour spent here was probably the most productive birding of the whole day. We had Short-toed Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard and Eleonora’s Falcon overhead, then also appearing high in the sky were a pair of Booted Eagles. We also managed to solve the mystery of Monday’s bird that flew with the very deep wingbeat, in truth i think we all suspected the culprit but we needed confirmation. We found the nest and sure enough within ten minutes an adult Rock Sparrow appeared just beneath, before squeezing into the small hole. When it emerged it flew off in the exact direction of our mystery bird from 4 days earlier with the identical flight. We also had a few Bee-eaters here perching on the telephone wires and a pair of Blue Rock Thrush.
Returning to Petra, Paul and I now went sightseeing with our wives in the village, climbing the 114 steps to the church which had a fantastic view over the village and the surrounding countryside, then we pottered around the village looking at the small shops together with an amazing number of schoolchildren, for some reason there were nine full coach loads of them.
It was now midday so the four of us decided to head for Molivos for lunch, where we pulled a master stroke. It became evident that George and Nancy would prefer to wander around the village without two puppy dogs (us) following them wherever they went. Therefore, it was agreed at 1.15pm that we would meet them in the car park at 4pm, thereby giving us sufficient time to drive across the island and obtain an unexpected final viewing of the Kalloni Saltpans. Amazingly as we walked back to the car, the nine coach loads of children arrived in the village, definitely time to hightail it south.
We mainly saw the same birds that had been there all week, but it seems worthwhile to give them a final name check; Greater Flamingo (appx 300), Black Stork (4), Glossy Ibis (3), Squacco Heron (8), Little Stint (50), Short-toed Lark (2) and Red-throated Pipit (3). Our only new bird for the holiday was a White Wagtail that Paul located at the back of the pool in the Sheep Field and there were also a pair of Gull-billed Terns on the pool opposite the salt works, together with the apparently resident Whiskered Tern.
It was unplanned and therefore a real bonus to spend a final 2 hours on the salt pans, we did visit the Petra Reservoir in the evening (more accurately Paul, myself and Sam did) without seeing anything out of the ordinary. However, Sam’s morning had been eventful as he had also visited the Reservoir in the early morning, missing a Great Spotted Cuckoo feeding on the ground by a mere 5 minutes (he spent an hour hoping it would return to no avail). For this Paul received the entire blame, the previous evening he had wondered out loud whether any Shearwaters were visible from Molivos, Sam decided to check this out at first light (without any success) thereby missing the Cuckoo!
However, Sam did find a Middle Spotted Woodpecker nest just outside Petra, we visited the site after visiting the Reservoir, however since eight of us were going to the restaurant at Vafios again that night we only had 10 minutes to spare and the birds did not show in that time. For those interested, opposite the school building on the main road is a junction where two roads head inland, the more northerly of the two is the road you require. This is actually the road that leads to the Petra reservoir on the back roads, approximately a third of a mile along this road on the right hand side is a small scrapyard. Park here and view the obvious holes in the row of trees on the opposite side of the road (the birds were seen here on Saturday morning).
Back to the apartments to get changed and off to the hills for our final meal, which was again excellent. Whilst sat outside we again saw the Little Owl and heard a nearby Scops Owl calling. The coach was due to collect us at 9.30 am the next morning, so just enough time for a final visit to the haunts that had served us so well during this fantastic week. For me the holiday list now stood at 147 and it would increase further before we left the island.
May 8th
So dawned the final full day on the island and in truth it was a little bit like after the Lord Mayor’s show.
Sam had decided to stay local andf then spend the day with his wife Sandra, Paul and I wanted to be back with our wives by mid morning, Alan and Yvette decided they would also come back with us at that time, whilst Ads and his partner Sue would spend the day on the west coast (apparently not seeing very much). With the limited time allowed we decided on one final visit to Ipsilou, not a good decision as it turns out since the was very little activity early in the morning, although we did see 3 female Golden Orioles, together with the same array of species that we had seen there on previous visits, plus a few Sombre Tits. Sadly we did find a freshly killed Cuckoo at the base of the hill, it had clearly been hit by a car in the very early morning. I may post a picture here if it is desired, but i found it upsetting so will defer to everyone’s opinion. We then headed back towards Petra, deciding to stop at the entrance to the “Grand Canyon” where we had previously parked on the Monday morning.
We were reliably informed that there was a Rock Sparrow nest here on the cliff opposite the road and that it was in a disused Western Rock Nuthatch nest. This half hour spent here was probably the most productive birding of the whole day. We had Short-toed Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard and Eleonora’s Falcon overhead, then also appearing high in the sky were a pair of Booted Eagles. We also managed to solve the mystery of Monday’s bird that flew with the very deep wingbeat, in truth i think we all suspected the culprit but we needed confirmation. We found the nest and sure enough within ten minutes an adult Rock Sparrow appeared just beneath, before squeezing into the small hole. When it emerged it flew off in the exact direction of our mystery bird from 4 days earlier with the identical flight. We also had a few Bee-eaters here perching on the telephone wires and a pair of Blue Rock Thrush.
Returning to Petra, Paul and I now went sightseeing with our wives in the village, climbing the 114 steps to the church which had a fantastic view over the village and the surrounding countryside, then we pottered around the village looking at the small shops together with an amazing number of schoolchildren, for some reason there were nine full coach loads of them.
It was now midday so the four of us decided to head for Molivos for lunch, where we pulled a master stroke. It became evident that George and Nancy would prefer to wander around the village without two puppy dogs (us) following them wherever they went. Therefore, it was agreed at 1.15pm that we would meet them in the car park at 4pm, thereby giving us sufficient time to drive across the island and obtain an unexpected final viewing of the Kalloni Saltpans. Amazingly as we walked back to the car, the nine coach loads of children arrived in the village, definitely time to hightail it south.
We mainly saw the same birds that had been there all week, but it seems worthwhile to give them a final name check; Greater Flamingo (appx 300), Black Stork (4), Glossy Ibis (3), Squacco Heron (8), Little Stint (50), Short-toed Lark (2) and Red-throated Pipit (3). Our only new bird for the holiday was a White Wagtail that Paul located at the back of the pool in the Sheep Field and there were also a pair of Gull-billed Terns on the pool opposite the salt works, together with the apparently resident Whiskered Tern.
It was unplanned and therefore a real bonus to spend a final 2 hours on the salt pans, we did visit the Petra Reservoir in the evening (more accurately Paul, myself and Sam did) without seeing anything out of the ordinary. However, Sam’s morning had been eventful as he had also visited the Reservoir in the early morning, missing a Great Spotted Cuckoo feeding on the ground by a mere 5 minutes (he spent an hour hoping it would return to no avail). For this Paul received the entire blame, the previous evening he had wondered out loud whether any Shearwaters were visible from Molivos, Sam decided to check this out at first light (without any success) thereby missing the Cuckoo!
However, Sam did find a Middle Spotted Woodpecker nest just outside Petra, we visited the site after visiting the Reservoir, however since eight of us were going to the restaurant at Vafios again that night we only had 10 minutes to spare and the birds did not show in that time. For those interested, opposite the school building on the main road is a junction where two roads head inland, the more northerly of the two is the road you require. This is actually the road that leads to the Petra reservoir on the back roads, approximately a third of a mile along this road on the right hand side is a small scrapyard. Park here and view the obvious holes in the row of trees on the opposite side of the road (the birds were seen here on Saturday morning).
Back to the apartments to get changed and off to the hills for our final meal, which was again excellent. Whilst sat outside we again saw the Little Owl and heard a nearby Scops Owl calling. The coach was due to collect us at 9.30 am the next morning, so just enough time for a final visit to the haunts that had served us so well during this fantastic week. For me the holiday list now stood at 147 and it would increase further before we left the island.