Selsey Birder
Well-known member
Hi All,
Well inspired by Penny's report from last year i am going to try to chronicle our week in this beautiful island. I can never hope to write in the way she does:t:, but here is the first instalment of my report. I will add some pictures when my friends provide me with some!
LESVOS BIRD REPORT
SATURDAY 2ND TO SATURDAY 9TH MAY
Where birds were regularly seen at certain sites it will be indicated when the site is first visited, but not mentioned for subsequent visits, unless the number of a species present is particularly relevant.
We travelled to Lesvos with Thomas Cook on the Gatwick flight arriving at Mytilini airport at approximately 7pm local time with little light remaining, we had the opportunity to sea watch briefly before the coach left for Petra. We stayed in the Blue Sky Apartments in Petra run by a Greek Australian Anthony and his parents, this was an excellent arrangement, but would not satisfy some birders since it is situated in the north of the island, however my friend Sam had stayed in the village three times before and liked the area for early morning birding. Something that i will not be disagreeing with! We each paid £353 for the week’s accommodation and flights, the apartments were excellent and i would warmly recommend it to anyone.
Oh for those of you that separate Yellow Wagtail, unfortunately my notes do not include details of the taxa seen at each site, i shall try to remember as i type, but during the week we saw Ashy headed, Blue headed, Grey headed and Black headed.
We were a party of ten, five birders and their partners’, i won’t introduce them to you, but for simplicity of reference within the following text they are:
Richard “Sam” Hill
Paul Bowley
Adam “Ads” Bowley – Paul’s adult son
Alan Ford
Me – Ian Pitts
May 2nd
After the battle to extricate ourselves from the airport we managed to see a few Scopoli Shearwater on the sea plus the obligatory Yellow-Legged Gulls, Ads also saw 3 Audouin’s Gulls (the only ones of the holiday) flying close inshore and some Yelkouan Shearwaters (he managed to extricate himself from the airport before the rest of us). Also around the airport we saw Red-rumped and Barn Swallows together with House Martins and House Sparrow. Overnight we heard the local Barn Owls at the apartments, with Ads complaining bitterly that they kept him awake half of the night whilst screeching on the roof of his room!
May 3rd
Well Sam told us that it would be light by 5am (lesson learned the hard way) Paul, myself and Sam were outside by the pool at 4.30am eagerly awaiting first light, it finally arrived at appx 5.45am, when we were joined by Ads, Alan and his wife Yvette (a good birder herself as we shall discover within the first two hours). We set off for Kavaki with certain members of the party already anticipating their first “lifers” of the week. The two cars eased into the layby at just before 6am and within two minutes we had the desired bird, a male Ruppell’s Warbler sat on the top of a nearby bush. It has to be said that the birds were not as showy as Sam had reported in previous years. We visited the site daily as it was only a matter of two miles from our accommodation, yet did not see the birds every day. Also here that morning and principally on every subsequent visit were Blackbird, the ubiquitous Hooded Crow, Yellow-Legged Gull, Barn Swallow, Black-eared Wheatear, Blue Rock Thrush (pair), Great Tit, Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Linnet, Eastern Orphean Warbler, Black-headed Bunting, Sub-Alpine Warbler and Red-rumped Swallow. We also saw a male Whinchat and Cretzschmar’s Bunting, although these were certainly not present on each subsequent visit.
Lots of people seem to visit the site in the evening, for all those planning a visit to this beautiful island in the future a quick tip – the sun shines into your eyes in the evening, not great for birding or photography, try to get there earlier in the day!
We then headed for the Petra reservoir and the track that wound up the valley from the Vafios road, this was Sam’s first shock, he had not been on the Island since 2005 and discovered much to his shock that his beloved track had now been tarmacked (not sure if that is a word!). Anyway we parked at the junction at 6.45am and started walking uphill towards the reservoir with birds everywhere. This was definitely the experience that i had been hoping for since i had wanted to visit the island for over a decade and children of school age had prevented this until now. Due to the wet winter (apparently the wettest for 51 years) there was water still running in the small river beside the road, the low bushes were full of warblers early in the morning and included 2 Great Reed Warblers. The walk towards the reservoir produced an array of birds that would be repeated on a daily basis and were made up of Spanish Sparrow (a flock of appx 100 birds that has disappeared by the end of the week), Turtle Dove (probably at least ten per visit), Jay, Corn Bunting, Black-eared Wheatear, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher (the island was covered in these during the week), Collared Dove, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Cirl Bunting and Blue Tit. On that first morning on our way up the valley we had a flock of 55 Bee-eaters roosted in the trees 200yds up the road, 6 Red-backed and 6 Woodchat Shrikes.
Halfway up the road to the reservoir we met a pair of birders walking back down the road, they informed us there was nothing of any great interest further on, but they had certainly had a good day “out west” the previous day, including a Great Snipe at Faneromeni Ford. They were extremely unlucky, since we met them again three days later and they confirmed they had checked the reservoir on the way down the valley. Suffice to say when we got there an interesting addition had arrived and was sat nonchalantly within the gull roost! We quickly saw the 2 common sands and the pair of Ruddy Shelduck with their two young (present all week), then there was the additional bird a Pelican sat on the bank within the gulls.
Now interestingly my first thoughts were identical to Sam’s “Is this a bird that the fishermen have caught and released here?” Well i had seen no mention of it on Steve Dudley’s excellent Lesvos Birding website in the days leading up to our holiday. After the initial excitement logic started to kick in, this was an immature bird, making capture and subsequent release unlikely and then Yvette piped up “i think its a Dalmatian”, a desperate search for a Collins’ Birdguide and the question from Sam “what colour is it around the eye?”. Well there was no sign of any red, it was definitely a Dalmatian Pelican. Now at home i would have phoned RBA, what could we do here? I immediately texted Steve Dudley (later in the week we discovered it took over two hours for the text to be delivered!) and everyone we saw after that during the day was told. I understand that quite a few people saw the bird, but that it departed at 10.45am not to be seen again. We found it at appx 7.30am and based on the other birders report it could not have been there at 7.10am, the bird did not fly up the valley from the north so we presume it had flown in from the south. If anyone knows anything else about this bird i would be delighted to hear about it ([email protected]).
We continued up the road beyond the reservoir hearing a blackcap which would not show itself (its ok we saw one of them later in the holiday – actually lots at Ipsilou but that is a different story – and then the next lifer for some of my friends. Again we saw this bird intermittently all week here, appx 400yds beyond the reservoir, a Sombre Tit, then a croaking call above us drew our attention to a Raven and time to head back down the valley (we did not reach the top of the valley on this occasion, it was only later that we discovered that the road ends at the top of the valley, and much to Sam’s delight his beloved track returns!). The girls were expecting us back for breakfast at the apartments by 10am, it was now 8.30am and we wanted to tell people about the Pelican. On the way back down, just below the reservoir we had our first Sedge Warbler and Marsh Warbler of the holiday.
We drove back to Kavaki, stopping in the “second” layby on the way, due to the fact that i was driving the first car and made a mistake thinking it was where we had been 2.5 hours earlier. A pleasant error since we had a pair of Masked Shrike here. There were quite a few people at the Ruppell’s site by the time we returned (appx 9.15am) who all strangely set off hot foot for Petra Reservoir, i hope they all saw the Pelican. We quickly added Sand, House and Crag Martin to our rapidly increasing day list and headed back to Petra for a well earned breakfast. Incidentally we saw Crag Martin at Kavaki every day and this seemed to me to be the most reliable place to see them. We also heard Chukar here, but our sighting of them is again another story for which Mr Dudley can claim a certain responsibility later in the week!
Well my introduction to birding on Lesvos had certainly not been disappointing, but we had all agreed that the ladies were not to be ignored (well most of us anyway!), could they be persuaded to go “sightseeing” after breakfast?
The holiday rep had said the previous evening that he would be back to see us at 4pm and if the ladies wanted to undertake any of the excursions we would be free to “bird” without our consciences bothering us. Well no problem on the first score, of course they wanted to see the Island, so after breakfast and 2 Pallid Swift flying high over the apartments we set off over the mountain in the general direction of Kalloni. There was a Shag in the harbour at Petra as we set off and fortunately for me a Middle Spotted Woodpecker flew across the road en route to the raptor viewing point known as “The Bandstand”. We were to have greater success here later in the week, but for now we spent 30 minutes at around midday and were treated to 4 Short-toed Eagles a Long-legged Buzzard, 3 Black Storks (a long awaited bird for me), a male Goshawk and a pair of Western Rock Nuthatch visiting their nest appx 50yds beyond the Bandstand. We also had Cretzschmar’s Bunting here on each visit and on this occasion another male Whinchat.
Now following a minor directional error we arrived in Skala Kalloni (White Stork seen in flight just north of Kalloni) and a first viewing of Kalloni Pool. Now i must admit this was a disappointment, the pool desperately needs some of the reeds removing from it, there is currently little open water to view and consequently little chance of the flocks of marsh terns that apparently were regularly seen here in the past. There were a pair of Black-winged Stilts here, a Squacco Heron, a Nightingale singing in the bushes and a pair of Little Grebe. Anyway it is now 1pm and time to park by the harbour and walk into the square for a drink and some delicious ice cream. It was great to sit in the cafe with numerous pairs of Barn Swallow nesting above our heads! Oh and i forgot to mention a “tame” Great White Pelican that was sat on the harbour wall, a little ironic after the day’s earlier bird!
Now we needed to be back in Petra by 4pm to meet the holiday rep, well Sam and i would take the ladies back in two cars, these were hired from Lesvoscarhire.com in Anaxos and a small car was available for 100 Euros for the week, additionally they would permit three named drivers per vehicle at no additional charge unlike all other hire companies i came across. Very useful when you have a group of birders and wives and you never know who is going to want which car, they also delivered the cars to our hotel at 8pm on Saturday evening so we could start first thing the next morning at no additional charge, Costas met us at the apartments after we arrived with Anthony calling him after we had settled in – an excellent service. The three others and Yvette decided to stay out longer, strangely we were to gain a bird later that day unseen for the rest of the holiday, whilst everything they saw was repeated later. I like to think a little poetic justice!
Anyway we all headed for the Kalloni Saltpans, driving out of Skala Kalloni after our lunch via a now abandoned Stork nest by the church in Skala Kalloni, anyway as i was driving i could not see the damn thing anyway. Well the saltpans were i guess exactly what i expected and during a 90 minute period from 1.45pm to 3.15pm produced the following birds which again repeated all week on our numerous visits to this excellent site:- Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Little Tern, Ruff (large numbers), Wood Sandpiper (again numerous), Flamingo (appx 300 all week), Common Tern, Great White Egret (2), Little Egret (1) by entrance to the pans, Grey Heron (appx 10), Glossy Ibis (3+), Whiskered Tern and Squacco Heron (usually up to 10 on the pool opposite the salt work before the turning to the cafe).
In addition to what was to become the regular birds referred to above we also saw on this occasion a Red-backed Shrike and a Lesser Grey Shrike in a bush just beyond the entrance on the right hand side of the road, together with a number of Bee-eaters which much to my delight seemed to be everywhere. If there is a more striking and beautiful bird in Europe i have never seen it. Also on the first island after entering the saltpans a first year Little Gull
We stopped briefly at the raised hide, this only appears to be open at weekends, where we were delighted to find a pair of Slender-billed Gulls on the saltpans, well more accurately Ads found them and we all admired them despite the accursed heathaze. Further on, opposite the salt workings on the pool a well hidden Purple Heron in the reeds and another one from the elevated hide. A pair of Shelduck were also on the saltpans viewable distantly from the elevated hide. We headed on to the “sheep field” with time for me and Sam fast evaporating and another new bird for the trip as a female Marsh Harrier appeared overhead. Parking the cars we crossed the bridge and started to wander towards the flood to see what waders were about.
Suddenly a sandy coloured bird shot across us and i immediately thought and said Tawny Pipit. It flew across the path to a sand dune and as we carefully approached there it was stood in the sand, however a problem, where was Paul? He was 100yds away watching who knows what. Despite frantic signalling and an impressive run he got there too late, the bird decided it had given sufficient views, flew over the dune never to be seen again. We then wandered over to the flood where there were 32 Little Stint and a pair of Kentish Plover. The surrounding area had various types of Yellow Wagtail flitting around and time had now expired if we were to make Petra by 4pm.
Sam and I took two cars, leaving the others with a vehicle and set off for the apartments. However, with me following as we exited the saltpans a very yellow headed bird flitted off the fence in the field opposite the entrance to the saltpans. A male Citrine Wagtail, however try as i might i could not attract Sam’s attention as he drove off, oh well a single person sighting, but tomorrow would produce more of them so nothing to worry about. Indeed the four we had left behind had another Citrine Wagtail at the other end of the saltpans later that afternoon.
After the excursion sales pitch (actually David was very good and not pushy at all) the girls decided they would go Donkey riding on Monday for most of the day and to Turkey on Thursday. So we had two whole days birding, plus as it would turn out they would go to the mud baths on Tuesday, so good news there!
So after a brief rest Sam, his wife Sandra and I headed back out to Kavaki and the reservoir for an evening visit. At Kavaki there were crowds of people (see above about evenings), after a brief look we crossed the road and walked up a track into the hills (Sam knew that the Great Spotted Cuckoos bred in the next valley so we intended to climb to the top and look down into the next valley). A steep climb for 100 yards was immediately rewarded as we found a number of birds just out of view over the first brow of the hill including at least another three Ruppell’s Warbler territories, lots of Black-eared Wheatears and a male Red-backed Shrike. Continuing up the path we found 3 Red-rumped Swallows nesting on the ground beside the path (excellent photo opportunities if we had a camera between us!). Reaching the top of the hill only brought a great view, a Woodchat Shrike and a return journey to the car.
We then headed on to the Petra Reservoir and saw similar birds to the morning, including about 20 Bee-eaters going to roost in the bushes. Then, appearing in the distance, some swifts, a quick check through, and yes 2 Alpine Swifts amongst the flock that then continued flying down the valley. However, there was one more find left to be made as we walked back from the reservoir to the cars we had left on the corner of the Vafios road. Sam spotted a bulky warbler flying across the road and fortunately landing in a nearby bush. I got it in the scope and could see all of the fine barring on its chest, our first ever spring Barred Warbler it sat there for maybe 15 seconds, then flew on leaving two very happy birders behind.
What an excellent way to finish my first ever full day on the beautiful and largely unspoiled island of Lesvos. Ninety two species (including two heard) on the first day.
To be continued.....................
Well inspired by Penny's report from last year i am going to try to chronicle our week in this beautiful island. I can never hope to write in the way she does:t:, but here is the first instalment of my report. I will add some pictures when my friends provide me with some!
LESVOS BIRD REPORT
SATURDAY 2ND TO SATURDAY 9TH MAY
Where birds were regularly seen at certain sites it will be indicated when the site is first visited, but not mentioned for subsequent visits, unless the number of a species present is particularly relevant.
We travelled to Lesvos with Thomas Cook on the Gatwick flight arriving at Mytilini airport at approximately 7pm local time with little light remaining, we had the opportunity to sea watch briefly before the coach left for Petra. We stayed in the Blue Sky Apartments in Petra run by a Greek Australian Anthony and his parents, this was an excellent arrangement, but would not satisfy some birders since it is situated in the north of the island, however my friend Sam had stayed in the village three times before and liked the area for early morning birding. Something that i will not be disagreeing with! We each paid £353 for the week’s accommodation and flights, the apartments were excellent and i would warmly recommend it to anyone.
Oh for those of you that separate Yellow Wagtail, unfortunately my notes do not include details of the taxa seen at each site, i shall try to remember as i type, but during the week we saw Ashy headed, Blue headed, Grey headed and Black headed.
We were a party of ten, five birders and their partners’, i won’t introduce them to you, but for simplicity of reference within the following text they are:
Richard “Sam” Hill
Paul Bowley
Adam “Ads” Bowley – Paul’s adult son
Alan Ford
Me – Ian Pitts
May 2nd
After the battle to extricate ourselves from the airport we managed to see a few Scopoli Shearwater on the sea plus the obligatory Yellow-Legged Gulls, Ads also saw 3 Audouin’s Gulls (the only ones of the holiday) flying close inshore and some Yelkouan Shearwaters (he managed to extricate himself from the airport before the rest of us). Also around the airport we saw Red-rumped and Barn Swallows together with House Martins and House Sparrow. Overnight we heard the local Barn Owls at the apartments, with Ads complaining bitterly that they kept him awake half of the night whilst screeching on the roof of his room!
May 3rd
Well Sam told us that it would be light by 5am (lesson learned the hard way) Paul, myself and Sam were outside by the pool at 4.30am eagerly awaiting first light, it finally arrived at appx 5.45am, when we were joined by Ads, Alan and his wife Yvette (a good birder herself as we shall discover within the first two hours). We set off for Kavaki with certain members of the party already anticipating their first “lifers” of the week. The two cars eased into the layby at just before 6am and within two minutes we had the desired bird, a male Ruppell’s Warbler sat on the top of a nearby bush. It has to be said that the birds were not as showy as Sam had reported in previous years. We visited the site daily as it was only a matter of two miles from our accommodation, yet did not see the birds every day. Also here that morning and principally on every subsequent visit were Blackbird, the ubiquitous Hooded Crow, Yellow-Legged Gull, Barn Swallow, Black-eared Wheatear, Blue Rock Thrush (pair), Great Tit, Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Linnet, Eastern Orphean Warbler, Black-headed Bunting, Sub-Alpine Warbler and Red-rumped Swallow. We also saw a male Whinchat and Cretzschmar’s Bunting, although these were certainly not present on each subsequent visit.
Lots of people seem to visit the site in the evening, for all those planning a visit to this beautiful island in the future a quick tip – the sun shines into your eyes in the evening, not great for birding or photography, try to get there earlier in the day!
We then headed for the Petra reservoir and the track that wound up the valley from the Vafios road, this was Sam’s first shock, he had not been on the Island since 2005 and discovered much to his shock that his beloved track had now been tarmacked (not sure if that is a word!). Anyway we parked at the junction at 6.45am and started walking uphill towards the reservoir with birds everywhere. This was definitely the experience that i had been hoping for since i had wanted to visit the island for over a decade and children of school age had prevented this until now. Due to the wet winter (apparently the wettest for 51 years) there was water still running in the small river beside the road, the low bushes were full of warblers early in the morning and included 2 Great Reed Warblers. The walk towards the reservoir produced an array of birds that would be repeated on a daily basis and were made up of Spanish Sparrow (a flock of appx 100 birds that has disappeared by the end of the week), Turtle Dove (probably at least ten per visit), Jay, Corn Bunting, Black-eared Wheatear, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher (the island was covered in these during the week), Collared Dove, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Cirl Bunting and Blue Tit. On that first morning on our way up the valley we had a flock of 55 Bee-eaters roosted in the trees 200yds up the road, 6 Red-backed and 6 Woodchat Shrikes.
Halfway up the road to the reservoir we met a pair of birders walking back down the road, they informed us there was nothing of any great interest further on, but they had certainly had a good day “out west” the previous day, including a Great Snipe at Faneromeni Ford. They were extremely unlucky, since we met them again three days later and they confirmed they had checked the reservoir on the way down the valley. Suffice to say when we got there an interesting addition had arrived and was sat nonchalantly within the gull roost! We quickly saw the 2 common sands and the pair of Ruddy Shelduck with their two young (present all week), then there was the additional bird a Pelican sat on the bank within the gulls.
Now interestingly my first thoughts were identical to Sam’s “Is this a bird that the fishermen have caught and released here?” Well i had seen no mention of it on Steve Dudley’s excellent Lesvos Birding website in the days leading up to our holiday. After the initial excitement logic started to kick in, this was an immature bird, making capture and subsequent release unlikely and then Yvette piped up “i think its a Dalmatian”, a desperate search for a Collins’ Birdguide and the question from Sam “what colour is it around the eye?”. Well there was no sign of any red, it was definitely a Dalmatian Pelican. Now at home i would have phoned RBA, what could we do here? I immediately texted Steve Dudley (later in the week we discovered it took over two hours for the text to be delivered!) and everyone we saw after that during the day was told. I understand that quite a few people saw the bird, but that it departed at 10.45am not to be seen again. We found it at appx 7.30am and based on the other birders report it could not have been there at 7.10am, the bird did not fly up the valley from the north so we presume it had flown in from the south. If anyone knows anything else about this bird i would be delighted to hear about it ([email protected]).
We continued up the road beyond the reservoir hearing a blackcap which would not show itself (its ok we saw one of them later in the holiday – actually lots at Ipsilou but that is a different story – and then the next lifer for some of my friends. Again we saw this bird intermittently all week here, appx 400yds beyond the reservoir, a Sombre Tit, then a croaking call above us drew our attention to a Raven and time to head back down the valley (we did not reach the top of the valley on this occasion, it was only later that we discovered that the road ends at the top of the valley, and much to Sam’s delight his beloved track returns!). The girls were expecting us back for breakfast at the apartments by 10am, it was now 8.30am and we wanted to tell people about the Pelican. On the way back down, just below the reservoir we had our first Sedge Warbler and Marsh Warbler of the holiday.
We drove back to Kavaki, stopping in the “second” layby on the way, due to the fact that i was driving the first car and made a mistake thinking it was where we had been 2.5 hours earlier. A pleasant error since we had a pair of Masked Shrike here. There were quite a few people at the Ruppell’s site by the time we returned (appx 9.15am) who all strangely set off hot foot for Petra Reservoir, i hope they all saw the Pelican. We quickly added Sand, House and Crag Martin to our rapidly increasing day list and headed back to Petra for a well earned breakfast. Incidentally we saw Crag Martin at Kavaki every day and this seemed to me to be the most reliable place to see them. We also heard Chukar here, but our sighting of them is again another story for which Mr Dudley can claim a certain responsibility later in the week!
Well my introduction to birding on Lesvos had certainly not been disappointing, but we had all agreed that the ladies were not to be ignored (well most of us anyway!), could they be persuaded to go “sightseeing” after breakfast?
The holiday rep had said the previous evening that he would be back to see us at 4pm and if the ladies wanted to undertake any of the excursions we would be free to “bird” without our consciences bothering us. Well no problem on the first score, of course they wanted to see the Island, so after breakfast and 2 Pallid Swift flying high over the apartments we set off over the mountain in the general direction of Kalloni. There was a Shag in the harbour at Petra as we set off and fortunately for me a Middle Spotted Woodpecker flew across the road en route to the raptor viewing point known as “The Bandstand”. We were to have greater success here later in the week, but for now we spent 30 minutes at around midday and were treated to 4 Short-toed Eagles a Long-legged Buzzard, 3 Black Storks (a long awaited bird for me), a male Goshawk and a pair of Western Rock Nuthatch visiting their nest appx 50yds beyond the Bandstand. We also had Cretzschmar’s Bunting here on each visit and on this occasion another male Whinchat.
Now following a minor directional error we arrived in Skala Kalloni (White Stork seen in flight just north of Kalloni) and a first viewing of Kalloni Pool. Now i must admit this was a disappointment, the pool desperately needs some of the reeds removing from it, there is currently little open water to view and consequently little chance of the flocks of marsh terns that apparently were regularly seen here in the past. There were a pair of Black-winged Stilts here, a Squacco Heron, a Nightingale singing in the bushes and a pair of Little Grebe. Anyway it is now 1pm and time to park by the harbour and walk into the square for a drink and some delicious ice cream. It was great to sit in the cafe with numerous pairs of Barn Swallow nesting above our heads! Oh and i forgot to mention a “tame” Great White Pelican that was sat on the harbour wall, a little ironic after the day’s earlier bird!
Now we needed to be back in Petra by 4pm to meet the holiday rep, well Sam and i would take the ladies back in two cars, these were hired from Lesvoscarhire.com in Anaxos and a small car was available for 100 Euros for the week, additionally they would permit three named drivers per vehicle at no additional charge unlike all other hire companies i came across. Very useful when you have a group of birders and wives and you never know who is going to want which car, they also delivered the cars to our hotel at 8pm on Saturday evening so we could start first thing the next morning at no additional charge, Costas met us at the apartments after we arrived with Anthony calling him after we had settled in – an excellent service. The three others and Yvette decided to stay out longer, strangely we were to gain a bird later that day unseen for the rest of the holiday, whilst everything they saw was repeated later. I like to think a little poetic justice!
Anyway we all headed for the Kalloni Saltpans, driving out of Skala Kalloni after our lunch via a now abandoned Stork nest by the church in Skala Kalloni, anyway as i was driving i could not see the damn thing anyway. Well the saltpans were i guess exactly what i expected and during a 90 minute period from 1.45pm to 3.15pm produced the following birds which again repeated all week on our numerous visits to this excellent site:- Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Little Tern, Ruff (large numbers), Wood Sandpiper (again numerous), Flamingo (appx 300 all week), Common Tern, Great White Egret (2), Little Egret (1) by entrance to the pans, Grey Heron (appx 10), Glossy Ibis (3+), Whiskered Tern and Squacco Heron (usually up to 10 on the pool opposite the salt work before the turning to the cafe).
In addition to what was to become the regular birds referred to above we also saw on this occasion a Red-backed Shrike and a Lesser Grey Shrike in a bush just beyond the entrance on the right hand side of the road, together with a number of Bee-eaters which much to my delight seemed to be everywhere. If there is a more striking and beautiful bird in Europe i have never seen it. Also on the first island after entering the saltpans a first year Little Gull
We stopped briefly at the raised hide, this only appears to be open at weekends, where we were delighted to find a pair of Slender-billed Gulls on the saltpans, well more accurately Ads found them and we all admired them despite the accursed heathaze. Further on, opposite the salt workings on the pool a well hidden Purple Heron in the reeds and another one from the elevated hide. A pair of Shelduck were also on the saltpans viewable distantly from the elevated hide. We headed on to the “sheep field” with time for me and Sam fast evaporating and another new bird for the trip as a female Marsh Harrier appeared overhead. Parking the cars we crossed the bridge and started to wander towards the flood to see what waders were about.
Suddenly a sandy coloured bird shot across us and i immediately thought and said Tawny Pipit. It flew across the path to a sand dune and as we carefully approached there it was stood in the sand, however a problem, where was Paul? He was 100yds away watching who knows what. Despite frantic signalling and an impressive run he got there too late, the bird decided it had given sufficient views, flew over the dune never to be seen again. We then wandered over to the flood where there were 32 Little Stint and a pair of Kentish Plover. The surrounding area had various types of Yellow Wagtail flitting around and time had now expired if we were to make Petra by 4pm.
Sam and I took two cars, leaving the others with a vehicle and set off for the apartments. However, with me following as we exited the saltpans a very yellow headed bird flitted off the fence in the field opposite the entrance to the saltpans. A male Citrine Wagtail, however try as i might i could not attract Sam’s attention as he drove off, oh well a single person sighting, but tomorrow would produce more of them so nothing to worry about. Indeed the four we had left behind had another Citrine Wagtail at the other end of the saltpans later that afternoon.
After the excursion sales pitch (actually David was very good and not pushy at all) the girls decided they would go Donkey riding on Monday for most of the day and to Turkey on Thursday. So we had two whole days birding, plus as it would turn out they would go to the mud baths on Tuesday, so good news there!
So after a brief rest Sam, his wife Sandra and I headed back out to Kavaki and the reservoir for an evening visit. At Kavaki there were crowds of people (see above about evenings), after a brief look we crossed the road and walked up a track into the hills (Sam knew that the Great Spotted Cuckoos bred in the next valley so we intended to climb to the top and look down into the next valley). A steep climb for 100 yards was immediately rewarded as we found a number of birds just out of view over the first brow of the hill including at least another three Ruppell’s Warbler territories, lots of Black-eared Wheatears and a male Red-backed Shrike. Continuing up the path we found 3 Red-rumped Swallows nesting on the ground beside the path (excellent photo opportunities if we had a camera between us!). Reaching the top of the hill only brought a great view, a Woodchat Shrike and a return journey to the car.
We then headed on to the Petra Reservoir and saw similar birds to the morning, including about 20 Bee-eaters going to roost in the bushes. Then, appearing in the distance, some swifts, a quick check through, and yes 2 Alpine Swifts amongst the flock that then continued flying down the valley. However, there was one more find left to be made as we walked back from the reservoir to the cars we had left on the corner of the Vafios road. Sam spotted a bulky warbler flying across the road and fortunately landing in a nearby bush. I got it in the scope and could see all of the fine barring on its chest, our first ever spring Barred Warbler it sat there for maybe 15 seconds, then flew on leaving two very happy birders behind.
What an excellent way to finish my first ever full day on the beautiful and largely unspoiled island of Lesvos. Ninety two species (including two heard) on the first day.
To be continued.....................