Moving on day once again and we added three Curlews alongside the road as we drove out. With far weather Dancho opted to give us that extra Isabelline Wheatear chance and made our way back to the Komesatos and this time we soon heard a male in fizzy song and tracked him down where he performed for us without a care in the world.
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| Isabelline Wheatear |
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| Isabelline Wheatear |
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| We did not attempt to cross this torrent over the bridge |
Cuckoos did their thing and at least six Hoopoes were seen
as we headed back out. There were now 18
Red-footed Falcons on the wires along with Bee-eaters, two Rollers and several
Turtle Doves. East towards Türkiye driving trough another Lesser Kestrel filled
village on the way.
We wended our way through a changing countryside and found
ourselves in Maronia and its cliff top scrub.
A very pleasant few hours was spent walking the trails. Warblers were singing everywhere with Eastern
Orphean, Subalpine and Sardinian but we could not find a Ruppell’s. There were Nightingales, Woodchats and Cirl
and Corn Buntings and a female Ortolan grovelled on the limestone pavement. We found Eastern Black-eared and Northern Wheatears
and a pair of Tawny Pipits and a Wryneck was singing but never showed. Booted Eagles put on a low level performance
but were eclipsed by the Swifts with Pallid, Common and Alpine all careening
pat our ears.
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| Eastern Black-eared Wheatear |
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| Alpine Swift |
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| Woodchat Shrike |
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| Anemone hortensis |
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| Sand Catchfly - Silene conica |
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| Toadpoles |
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| Annual Clary - Salvia viridis |
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| Common Blue |
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| Erodium ciconium |
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| Thymus sp? |
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| Big Scarab |
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| Spanish Salsify - Pseudopospermum hispanicum |
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| Aegaean Stock - Malcolmia chia |
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| Astagalus incanus |
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| Dyer's Alkanet - Alkanna tinctoria |
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| Sand Catchfly - Silene conica |
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| Kermes Oak - Quercus coccofera |
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| Booted Eagle |
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| Booted Eagle |
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| I am not sure where this failed lunch stop was but the murals were fantastic and the girth on the Oriental Planes immense |
On again and I think I may have been doing a good impression
of a nodding dog until we arrived at Alexandroupoli and found some lunch. The heavy rains had made most of the tracks of
the western regions of the Evros Delta somewhat damp and dodgy in a van but we
did some exploratory pushes into the marshes which were amazing. Clouds of Little
Gulls and Black Terns fed over the lagoons with a few Whiskereds and
White-winged Blacks and literally thousands of hirundines.
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| Whiskered Tern |
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| Whiskered Tern |
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| Little Gull |
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| Little Gull |
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| Little Gull |
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| Little Gull |
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| Little Gull |
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| Little Gull |
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| Black Tern |
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| Black Tern |
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| Black Tern |
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| Little Gull |
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| Little Gull |
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| Little Gull |
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| Little Gull |
Purple Herons had a preference for striding up and down the tracks and the usual other herony things were all present and correct. Water Rail was a new bird and we heard at least six squealing away and two ran across the track. There were flocks of Common Shelduck and a single smart male Ruddy Shelduck and we found several Garganey and 12 Ferruginous Ducks.
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| Purple Heron |
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| Spoonbill |
Clouds of Ruff and Glossy Ibis drifted between the pools and Spotted Redshanks and Wood Sands were seen too along with another Common Snipe and a Green Sandpiper. Our path was blocked by another water filled track so we took a long loop round the black passing wires with Turtle Doves and Rollers and worked our way back out to try and get closer to the beach. A Golden Jackal trotted ahead of us and then a Spur-thighed Tortoise blocked our way.
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| Ruff |
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| Ibis & Egrets |
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| Ibis & Egrets |
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| Turtle Doves |
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| Roller |
Shelduck
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| Common Snipe |
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| Black-winged Stilts |
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| Spur-thighed Tortoise |
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| Calandra Lark |
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| Calandra Lark |
I got out to move it and we noticed that the track was once
again under water so Smiffy suggested that we try to get to the beach where we
could hear terns. The others walked on
ahead while I relocated said Tortoise and was very shortly being beckoned. Dancho had a huge grin and told me to look in
the scope. I looked and calmly said – ‘That’s
nice…’
A fine White-tailed Lapwing was just in front of us striding
around with a pair of Spur-winged Lapwings.
It was a Rainham Marshes moment all over again. It was Dancho’s 300th Greek
species, self-found and a major country rarity being just the 20th
record.
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| White-tailed Lapwing |
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| White-tailed Lapwing |
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| White-tailed Lapwing |
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| White-tailed Lapwing |
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| White-tailed & Spur-winged Lapwing |
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| White-tailed Lapwing |
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| A very happy Dancho |
We watched it circle around us and drop back into the marsh and
we left with big smiles for the last bit of the journey to our hotel around a
lake in Ticheron where Pygmy Cormorants whiffled into roost on the
islands. Sleep came easy although I am
sure Dancho just had visions of a lanky yellow legged wader in his head.
Another superb day! Fantastic memories come back when reading the blog! Hope we will repeat this trip next year with more exciting birds to see.
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