BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="foresttwitcher" data-source="post: 2986488" data-attributes="member: 97625">Thursday 1st MayHaving heard of a large mixed wader flock that I had missed so far, an early visit to the Kalloni Saltpans proved fruitless on this front due to the still locked tower hide & not being able to see over the bunds.So I parked upstream of the road bridge over the Tsiknias River & wandered back over the bridge & down the east bank. It was quite 'birdy' with plenty of the usual suspects & notable sightings including: a fly-over Short-toed Eagle; a Black Stork flying up-river; 5 Black-crowned Night Heron roosting in a tree on the opposite side about half-way to the lower ford; a couple of Little Bitterns amongst the Squacco Herons; Sand Martins over & on the mud-banks; a Little Owl on the wires by the farm just south of the lower ford; a flock of Bee-eaters hawking along the river course; numerous Wood Sandpiper; a Great Reed Warbler croaking in the water-side bushes & a briefly seen Yellow Wagtail in a stock field that was probably a flava.Not wanting to walk back up the same side of the river I waded across the ford (after seeing a 4-WD go through to gauge the depth), to the apparent amusement of the Dutch birders on the other side, & continued south to the beach. On the way a couple of Brit birders kindly put me on to a fine female Little Crake. A Cormorant sat at the river mouth & on the spit looking out to sea sat a small group of Common Terns along with at least 2 Gull-billed Terns & a Black Tern whilst a Little Tern plunged in a few metres off-shore.The walk back up-stream on the west side was much the same as the other direction.In the afternoon a walk around the Potamia Reservoir & various stopping points & walks up the Potamia Valley did not produce any new species for the trip. But I did see another, or the same, Black Stork feeding in the river just upstream of the main road bridge & new for the day were: a Long-legged Buzzard over the ridge from the track above the Reservoir; Eastern Orphean & Subalpine Warblers in the scrub; & Black-eared Wheatear, Red-backed Shrike & better, more prolonged views, of Rock Nuthatch in the rocky areas. No luck again with Olive Tree Warbler but was again tricked by Masked Shrikes singing a couple of times.</blockquote>

Verification