A westish sort of day that saw us
heading out along the coast after breakfast stopping briefly to watch a Grey
Heron, Great White Egret and two Flamingos feeding in the calm shallow bay
before entering into the dry, almost desert-like terrain.
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| Great White Egret |
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| Great White Egret |
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| Great White Egret & Grey Heron |
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| Great White Egret & Grey Heron |
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| Greater Flamingos |
Rock Nuthatches,
Eastern Black-eared Wheatears and Crested Larks were frequent roadside birds
along with a small party of Rock Sparrows and the odd Red-backed Shrike and
Spotted Flycatcher. As the road started to drop down into the valley below Agra
a stunning dark juvenile Honey Buzzard appeared at eye level alongside the car
as it steadily flopped inland. One of the best views I have ever had of this
enigmatic species.
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| Agra |
Not long before Eresos I took the track up to Pithariou
Reservoir in the hope of a repeat of last September and sure enough three
energetic Eleonora's Falcons were ruling the skies and striking terror into the
masses of hirundines present. They were frustrating to photograph as they
always seemed to show best at the spot I had just vacated.
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| Pithariou Reservoir |
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| Pithariou Reservoir and Monastery |
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| Pithariou Monastery |
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| Eleonora's Falcon |
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| Eleonora's Falcons |
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| Eleonora's Falcons |
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| Eleonora's Falcon |
At least 35 Crag
Martins were amongst the three other species present and this subtle bird is
always one of my favourites. Two Ruddy Shelduck were new for the trip list and
a throng of Cormorants were feeding en masse while two Black Storks and Grey
Herons were on the edges.
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| Cormorants |
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| Cormorants |
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| Cormorant, Grey Heron, two Ruddy Shelduck and a Black Stork |
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| Violet Dropwings |
From here it was up through the middle to Ipsilou where the
new roundabout at the junction for the monastery and Andisa was causing some
consternation with the local drivers! Lunch was taken on top of Ipsilou where
Ravens tumbled and Short-toed Eagle and two juvenile Montagu's Harriers circled
South.
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| Ipsilou looking down to Faneromeni |
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| Ipsilou looking towards Turkey with Gavathas to the right and Molyvos beyond |
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| Ipsilou looking down to Faneromeni |
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| Ipsilou looking down the Meladia Valley |
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| Two different Montagu's Harriers - both with vaguely Pallid head patterns but classic clinching Montagu's underwing pattern including the all dark primary tips |
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| A Short-toed Eagle playing in the wind |
I wandered through the old paths and Oaks and found a few Sylvia
Warblers including my first autumn Eastern Orphean, Willow Warblers, Sombre
Tits, Middle Spotted Woodpeckers and to my surprise a pair of Wood Nuthatch
that after showing well in one of the big Oaks proceeded to fly up to the Monastery
roof and search under the eaves for inverts more in Rock Nuthatch manner. This
is the first time I have seen our Nuthatch away from trees or wood of some
sort. I saw my first Lesvos ones here ten years ago but never since and only
usually at Agriosikos.
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| Willow Warbler and Spiny Burnet |
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
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| Wood Nuthatch |
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| The original cobbled track to the Monastery |
Rock Nuthatches were encountered alongside the road and
Small Copper and Great Banded Grayling were the only butterflies. There was a distinct lack of reptiles with
just a few young Snake Eyed Lizards scurrying ahead of me while two Persian
Squirrels did their best to avoid me getting a good look.
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Persian Squirrel - got and eye on you
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Snake-eyed Lizard |
| Snake-eyed Lizard |
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| Carthamus lanatus |
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| Quercus macrolepis |
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| Small Copper |
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| Small Copper |
The northerly route was followed home with nothing
ornithological of note but the views are always appreciated.
An early dinner and then down to the Eastern salt pans to
meet Eleni for an evening walk. It was good to finally catch up after years of
odd hellos here and there. As the sun dropped the light improved and there were
eight sleepy Dalmatian Pelicans in their usual spots along with 16 Spoonbills,
three Black Storks and numerous Great White and Little Egrets. Spotted Redshank
was added on call to the list and three Grey Plovers, five Curlew and a few
Greenshank and Redshank were seen.
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| Eleni... |
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| Dalmatian Pelican with Spoonbill flock behind |
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| Dalmatian Pelicans and friends |
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| Greater Flamingos |
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| Mount Olympus |
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| Dalmatian Pelicans and friends |
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| Dalmatian Pelican |
Slender-billed Gulls were patrolling the
margins and a female Marsh Harrier was quartering although I did not see the
Osprey Eleni had seen just before I arrived. Several hundred flava Wagtails
headed off to roost and a Hoopoe flopped across the main channel. Corn Buntings
were gathering and Willow Warblers, Whinchat and Red-backed Shrike were seen on
the fences as we walked back in the twilight.
We bid our farewells and headed off after a very pleasant
couple of hours. The bump back through the middle was a Bat haven once again
and Green Sandpiper and Stone Curlews were heard. Amazingly a Nightjar was out
hunting once again and then a male was seen just too late on the path side
before taking flight, flashing white in the wings and tail!
Just before the Ford an Eastern Hedgehog stopped me in my tracks
and I had to gently move it on so that I could proceed and then I had to avoid
both Green Toad and Levant Water Frog before finally getting back to the Pela
where a Scops Owl started up over the backdrop of easy listening
reggae Dire Straits.
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| A very large Scarab that bounced off the bonnet! |
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| Eastern Hedgehog |
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