Day 15: 5th May:
Time to head for home but not before
a final early scoot down to the saltpans for a look from the north east tower
hide. For the first time there was no sunrise with cloud covering the glow but
I had an enjoyable half hour scanning through the multitude of waders. The duo
of
Broad-billed Sandpipers were still probing around on the back edge and the
flat light reduced some of the plumage detail but the shape was always a
giveaway. The Battleship Pelican cruised into view,
with a bow wave preceding it and a Hoopoe sang in the groves uphill.
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| Dalmatian Pelican - Steve Bird |
The water was now steadily dropping in the main
channel and 15 Black Storks and 26 Little Egrets were actively fishing along
with a host of Common and Little Terns. A single brown headed first summer
stork was among them and a female type Montagu's Harrier quartered Alykes. The
Bee-eaters accompanied me back through Lotzaria and Mr Pink was at the top of
the Mulberry.
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| Black Stork |
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| Black Stork |
Breakfast and then final packing before the drive
to the airport with a final turn down the track where I picked up our rosy
friend singing a little further up the Tsiknias where he wheezed and whistled
at just a few metres range. What a stunning pink punk.
A male Little Bittern was seen further along and a
quick comparison with my images of the rescued male seems to suggest that they
are one and the same and he is doing ok which was a nice way to sign off on
another eventful Lesvos adventure.
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| Little Bittern - glad to see he made it! |
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| Very happy Chafers... |
A mini detour into the side road alongside the airport added Sardinian Warbler to the trip list to bring up a nice round 190.
The Athens airport wait was a full five hours this
time but it whizzed by whilst watching the runway and hillside from the air
conditioned McDonalds on the upper floor. We could hear a thunderstorm but saw
no rain. Kestrels and a pair of Montagu's Harriers were hunting the runways and
a couple of Magpies flew up to chase off a Buzzard and added themselves to my
Greek list!
Thank you once again to the
wonderful Greek hospitality that coupled with fiends old and new make my annual
pilgrimage back here such a joy.
Wow, we only managed 176 in 4 weeks and we thought that was good.
ReplyDeleteI see there's a semi collared on there too.
Nice one!
Mick
Very nice to read your daily reports, Howard. It was nice meeting you again at the Pela. Hope to see you next spring!
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Leo Tukker