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.
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| Kentish Plover |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Eastern Black-eared Wheatear |
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| Eastern Black-eared Wheatear |
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| Eastern Black-eared Wheatear |
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| Red-backed Shrike - ACV |
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| 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.
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| Hooded Crow |
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| Red-rumped Swallow |
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| Levant Sparrowhawk |
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| 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.
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| Pomegranate |
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| Huge Oak Apple Galls |
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| Osyris alba |
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| Oriental Hornet |
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| Lang's Short-tailed Blue |
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| Small Copper |
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| Meadow Brown sp |
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| Meadow Brown sp |
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| Brown Argus |
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| Common Blue |
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| 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.
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| Short-toed Eagle |
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| Short-toed Eagle |
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| Persian Squirrel |
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| 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.
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| Starred Agama |
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| 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.
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| Great Egret on a hot tin roof |
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| Woodchat Shrike |
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| Whinchat |
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| Red-backed Shrike (ACV) |
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| Black-headed Wagtail (ACV) |
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| Mixed but mostly Spanish Sparrows |
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| 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.
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