With a full complement of guests at last we struck out after
breakfast for the magic West and stopped just once en route as we wended our
way, at the hillsides just beyond Agra. Sombre Tit was seen as soon as we got
off the bus and an Eastern Orphean Warbler popped up and scolded while Easter
Subalpine Warblers parachuted down in flutter display. It did not feel like it
took too long to get to the start of the track in Eresos which was as usual
bedecked by a floral starting gate of orange-yellow Crown Daisies.
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| Crown Daisies - Chrysanthemum coronarium |
It was a journey of many stops but by the time we had
crested the ridge we had managed excellent views of most of the target species
with Beethoven singing Cretzschmar's, almost tropical sounding Cinereous
Bunting whose grey and yellow green plumage allows them to blend in so well
with their surroundings and boulder hopping Western Rock Nuthatches.
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| And then there were four... |
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| Western Rock Nuthatch |
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| Western Rock Nuthatch |
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| Cinereous Bunting |
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| Cinereous Bunting |
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| Cinereous Bunting |
The
plateau is normally quiet but it was full of Wheatears with smart Eastern
Black-eared in both forms, the strikingly slim local race of Northern Wheatear
and to my surprise several pairs of bold Isabellines with their fizzing light
sabre battle song and hovering display. I can't remember ever seeing them up
here before.
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| Isabelline Wheatear |
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| Northern Wheatear - O.o.libanotica |
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| Isabelline Wheatear |
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| Eastern Black-eared Wheatear - Clive Harris |
Peregrine, Long-legged and a very good candidate for a fox-brown
Steppe Buzzard were overhead with Ravens and Common Swifts and a Little Owl
glared at us from some wires.
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| Little Owl |
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| Long-legged Buzzard |
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| Steppe Buzzard |
The track down into Meladia added more quality Bunting
encounters along with increasing numbers of Stonechat including several broods
and the delightfully sad songs of Woodlarks. It was clear that there was no big
fall of migrants though as Spotted Flycatchers and Lesser Whitethroats were the
only passage birds noted along with the local breeding Eastern Orphean Warblers
but once down at the Magic Trees of Happiness (Olive leaved Pear by the way) we
started to find a few more birds with three Pied Flycatchers, Chiffchaff, both
Whitethroats, Wood Warblers and two Icterine Warbler. One of the latter was in
melodious song and was a good comparison with the Eastern Olivaceous and
Subalpine present.
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New Rock Nuthatch nest with presumably Short-toed Eagle feathers
and the little dark spots are individual sheep poo pellets!! |
The 'chuck chuck chuckaaa'' of another key species allowed
Clive's keen eye to pick up a plump Chukar on a boulder before it suddenly lay
flat as a Buzzard drifted over. I scanned for raptors but only found a Hobby
and Alpine Swift.
Another musical familiar song guided me to the first male
Black-headed Bunting of the season and the doors will soon be open for this
charismatic species. The Ford has been completely opened up and the river
mechanically excavated since I last saw it in September and the lack of any
vegetation was disappointing but a flock of four Hoopoes just around the corner
was ample recompense. Two Tawny Pipits got up in front and the Fig Grove held
another Icky, Sedge Warbler, Turtle Doves, Spot Flys and a female Collared.
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| Obliterated |
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| Almost no leaves in the Fig Grove |
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| Have to have a pic of the first Black-headed Bunting! |
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| Hoopoe |
Lunch at the chapel was unusually bird free and the next
section of the track only offered up three Rock Doves, Woodchat Shrikes and the
usual Sylvias. The Little Owl at the next farm obliged and more Northern
Wheatears were seen around it.
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| Roman Nettle - Urtica pilulifera - do not even brush against these!! |
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| Starred Agama |
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| Snake Eyed Lacertid |
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| Little Owl |
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| Another striking male local race Northern Wheatear |
I love the view once you get to the top here and start the
decent towards what we used to call the Sigri Sanatorium but now know was in
fact a Cheese Dairy! I may well just call it the Cheese Sanatorium. The hoped for Lesser Kestrels hovered along the ridge with
Short-toed Eagle and Common Buzzard before we stopped near Steve and Gina's vans for a
look around. They had found a male Sardinian Warbler and I was pleased we got
to see it too along with another green and yellow Icterine. We ambled up the
valley a way and Clive picked up a male Golden Oriole and then a Common
Starling which is always a scarce spring bird out here. There were families of
Linnets in the dry gully and a female Sylvia with a Common Whitethroat drew my
attention and after some close scrutiny we were happy to call it a Ruppell's
Warbler. This was especially satisfying given the lack of any birds at Kavaki
so far this season. Perhaps they are just late getting in like the Cinereous
Buntings seem to be this year?
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Small Copper
|
After stopping for the traditional scenic Sigri town photo
we poodled down to the beach and Lower Ford at Faneromeni passing obliging
males of both Collared Flycatcher and Masked Shrike on the way.
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| Sigri |
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| Masked Shrike |
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| Masked Shrike - Clive Harris |
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| Collared Flycatcher on the beach |
There were
three Flycatcher species in the Oak Grove along with gleaming Wood Warblers and
Lesser Whitethroats and eight Golden Orioles erupted like yellow and green
fireworks from a fig tree a little further along.
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| Sigri Oak Grove |
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| Sigri Oak Grove on 1st March this year |
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Female Pied Flycatcher with hint of upper wing bar
AND optical illusion that white goes around tail tips. |
Yet another Icterine Warbler was seen and down at the Ford
there were two male Little Bitterns, a snaky necked Purple Heron and some
bathing Wood Sandpipers.
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| Little Bittern |
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| Violet Carpenter Bee |
We talked about the route home and decided to retrace our
steps which resulted in some more quality Eastern Orphean encounters and now at
least five singing Black-headed Bunting! The Barred Warbler did not show but
the Little Owl was even more photogenic and a Woodlark with food for the nest
landed right alongside the van.
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| Little Owl - the slight annoyance in the left eye that the fly disturbed his stare... |
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| Glass Lizard through windscreen |
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| Ruddy Shelducks where once there were bushes |
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| Black-headed Bunting |
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| Ruddy Shelducks |
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| Woodlark just a few feet from the van window |
We bid farewell to the Buntings and Wheatears and cruised
the winding road back to the hotel in time for dinner after a very successful
introduction to birding out west.
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| A Willowherb Hawkmoth that Steve caught the previous evening |
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