Lesvos - Day 2: 1st September 2025

It is always good to wake up in Lesvos with the sound of the Grey Crowned Cranes bugling and the Peacocks greeting the day.  Breakfast with the Red-rumped Swallows chirping around us and a Cetti’s Warbler showing incredibly well as it scolded Elvis the cat.  Off to get Koulouri and then the supermarket before heading off to conduct a circuit of Metochi.  It was already seriously warm and I decided to have a look at the Kamares before the haze got to bad and counted 12 Kentish, two Ringed and a single Little Ringed Plover, two Little Stints, two Redshank and singles of Ruff and Greenshank while two Short-toed Larks flew over.

Kentish Plover

Kentish Plover

It was too hot at Metochi to conduct a full loop on foot so small pedestrian sorties were undertaken.  There were only three birds on the actual lake which was full of water with two Grey Herons and a Moorhen.  There were several Vagrant Emperors and Red-veined Darters and a single Eastern Willow Emerald tucked in the Oriental Plane trees. 

Eastern Willow Emerald

There were plenty of small birds to discover with a bit of patience and between there and the actual monastery I found four Red-backed and single juveniles of Woodchat and Masked Shrike, four Eastern Black-eared and six Northern Wheatears, three Whinchat, four Stonechat, six Spotted Flycatcher, two Tawny and a Tree Pipit, a brief Ortolan and a few warblers with Whitethroat, four Willows, two Lesser Whitethroats and a vocal Marsh Warbler that popped up out of some Fathen and showed very well in a fig for a couple of minutes.

Eastern Black-eared Wheatear

Eastern Black-eared Wheatear

Eastern Black-eared Wheatear

Red-backed Shrike - ACV

Red-backed Shrike

Nine Bee-eaters called quietly overhead and Red-rumped Swallows were the most numerous species encountered.  Black-capped Jays moved through the Olives and an Accipiter spooked the Swallows and peaked my interest as it felt interesting and was right to do so as it was a beautiful juvenile Levant Sparrowhawk.  Not my first autumn one but certainly my first good look at a juvenile.  I was very chuffed.  Oddly t was the only raptor I saw.

Hooded Crow

Red-rumped Swallow

Levant Sparrowhawk

Levant Sparrowhawk

Great Banded and Freyer’s Graylings were noted along with lots of Meadow Browns, Small Coppers, Tailed Blues and a single Common Blue while a Hummingbird Hawkmoth was nectaring on some tiny Chicory flowers.

Pomegranate

Huge Oak Apple Galls

Osyris alba

Oriental Hornet

Lang's Short-tailed Blue

Small Copper

Meadow Brown sp

Meadow Brown sp

Brown Argus

Common Blue

Okra 

The heat sent us back to the Pela passing two juvenile Marsh Harriers on the way and a little mixed pulse of hirundines contained two Sand Martins.  We went out again at 4.15 and drove straight onto a Caspian Tern heading east along the beach towards the Tsiknias. The first tern of the trip!

Around the coast to Parakila (passing a Short-toed Eagle on the way) and down to the little harbour at the end through the olives where oddly there were no Med Gulls at all – in fact only a Cormorant and zipping Kingfisher.  The two Turpentine Trees were have almost no berries and held no warblers at all but a look around allowed me to pick up three Spotted Flycatchers, three Eastern BEWs, two Cirl Buntings, two Turtle Doves, Middle Spotted Woodpecker and some thirsty Chaffinches and Tits that included a single Sombre. Two Persian Squirrels played chase in the road.

Short-toed Eagle

Short-toed Eagle

Persian Squirrel

Great Tit - I don't normally get to take pictures of one here!

A visit to Agios Ioannis chapel took me back into the sun and I could hear Cirl Buntings, Sombre Tits and Western Rock Nuthatches on the slopes but could only find EBEWs and a single Starred Agama.

Starred Agama

A Stigmella mine on Oriental Plane?

Chaffinches and Blue Tits were coming down to drink at a leaky pipe and two Ravens kronked above me. 

Back to base and then out onto Loutzaria where there was a good spread of migrants but certainly not the big numbers I see later in the month.  A fine male Black-headed and a similarly dapper Grey-headed Wagtail were amongst the flavours of flava and there were a few Whinchat and Wheatears but still only a couple of Willow Warblers.  Nine Short-toed Larks were with them in one of the fields waiting to be bailed and around the margins there were five Red-backed Shrikes including a smart male and two Woodchats.  Hundreds of mostly Spanish Sparrows were roving around. The first Common Buzzard was sat up on a telegraph pole and both Nightingale and Redstart were seen coming off the track as we crept back round the Triangle to the Tsiknias track.

Great Egret on a hot tin roof

Woodchat Shrike

Whinchat

Red-backed Shrike (ACV)

Black-headed Wagtail (ACV)

Mixed but mostly Spanish Sparrows

Hooded crows and Collared Doves

Time for dinner at the Dionysis and then back on the Tsiknias track for the loop in twilight through to Papiana.  I was hoping for Nightjar and was delighted to find three on red eye glow as they sat in the track but none allowed even a reasonably close approach but it was an excellent way to end the day.