After a late return from Anaxos last
night, the plan to get to the Eastern Salt Pans went a bit squiffy. Breakfast was
somewhat more relaxed and interrupted by two immature type Marsh Harriers high
and south and a swirl of mainly young House Martins suddenly around the hotel that
even came in to check out old nests.
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House Martin |
I decided to visit the Turpentine trees at Parakila again
and had a pleasant couple of hours pottering up and down the lane to the
harbour. It was a little quieter but one of the Eastern Subalpine Warblers was
still gorging on ripe figs with a couple of Lesser Whitethroats and once again
there were both Wheatears, Spotted Flycatchers and several Whitethroats.
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Eastern Subalpine Warbler |
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Eastern Subalpine Warbler - a different bird to the 1w male imaged before |
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All Eastern Black-eared Wheatears |
Three
Common Redstarts were new arrivals though and each was defending a patch in one
of the Turpentine trees. Middle Spotted Woodpeckers bounded around and Cirl
Buntings were coming down to the pond to drink and a scaly Masked Shrike sat
under an olive tree. There were no Bee-eaters around the hives but I could hear
invisible flocks very high up.
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Common Redstarts |
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Huge Oak Apple Galls |
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Valonia Oak - Quercus macrolepis |
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Turpentine Tree |
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Masked Shrike |
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Spotted Flycatcher - also Berryeater |
Eyes to the skies did reveal a Short-toed Eagle
and Common Buzzard over the ridge and another large raptor circling slowly South. My
first thoughts were Black Kite as it looked very square tailed and I could see
paler carpal bars on the upperwing but as it came closer I could a white belly
and underwing contrasting with dark remiges. It was a pale Booted Eagle... I
watched it out of sight. A French group on the island had a dark phase bird at
about the same time high through Metochi so birds were obviously on the move and
just difficult to pick up in the unblemished blue sky.
Back for a coffee via five sleepy-eyed Stone Curlews on the
Christou by the two Tamerisks and then I went out and had a good look up and
down the Tsiknias during the middle of the day.
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Stone Curlew |
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The Pela Pool was inviting but... |
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but I got distracted by a close Cicada which I eventually found |
The Spur-winged Plover was
still at the Ford and up river I had a male Cretzschmar's and the first winter
Black-headed Bunting again come up from the river bed. It feels like there
should be more Crakes lurking in the still lush central channel but I only
found a Little Egrets and some Terrapins.
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Spur-winged Plover |
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At the junction where you come off the Tsiknias river track and into the Lotzaria Triangle there is a burnt stump. Even now I still think it is the back end of a black and white cow as I approach and thus it is now known as 'Cow Corner'... |
Two Short-toed Eagles and a Raven
circled high and South along with a flock of 31 Bee-eaters and I spent some
time watching Long-tailed and Lang's Short-tailed Blues and a couple of Millet
and Mallow Skippers nectaring on the Brambles and Chaste Trees before the heat got too much and
I headed down to the Salt Pans where a quick scan revealed dropping water
levels but still very few waders with just a Green Sandpiper, five Redshank,
Greenshank, Kentish Plover, four Little Stints and a lone long billed Dunlin.
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Knackered Small Copper |
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Meadow Brown sp |
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Millet Skipper |
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Long-tailed Blue - they seem to like feeding upside down |
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Red-veined Darter |
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Essence of Lesser Emperor |
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Common Digging Grasshopper -Acrotylus insubricus - it has red wings when it flies |
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The Mottled Bee Fly - what a beast - Thyridanthrax fenestratus |
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Lesser Caltrop - Tribulus terrestris |
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Whinchat |
The Lesser Grey Shrike was still on the wires as I bumped my way back. A proper
chill out afternoon before a final Saltpan circuit which added a solitary
juvenile Curlew Sandpiper to the list and an ever increasing flotilla of
Dalmatian Pelicans which reached at least 26 but I was viewing from the
Sheepfields and there could have been more.
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Salt Pan Channel Mouth |
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Distant Big Birds... |
I counted 19 Spoonbills and five
Black Storks and along the beach there were four Curlews and a few Gulls and ‘Mingos.
The day had one last bonus with a croaking adult Night Heron circling the hotel
at 7.50pm.
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