Lesvos Day One: 23rd April 2016

Day 1 : 23rd April : After a ridiculously smooth journey we touched down in a sunny Lesvos raring to go and after a warm welcome from Alison and Costas we picked up our cars and made or first ever attempt to navigate our way through the narrow streets of the capital. After a couple of misplaced turns we popped out the other side and hit the open road for Skala Kalloni.

It seemed a little odd not being in a coach but it did not inhibit the mobile birding with the usual Short-toes, hirundines and even three Glossy Ibis en route. After a quick drop of the gear at the Pela and a hug with Thekla we headed out for the salt pans.

It was nice to be back on the bumpy road with the windows down and the sound of Nightingales, Eastern Olivaceous Warblers and Corn Bunting wafting through while the ubiquitous Crested Larks scampered along in front of us.

We stopped above the Lower Ford on the Tsiknias River and I could hear a Penduline Tit calling from the willows where they nested last year but it would not reveal itself. A male Red-backed Shrike was perched up and two Great Reed Warblers gurked from the stands of mega reed along with both Reed and even a Sedge Warbler. A scan of the margins revealed the expected Wood Sandpipers (including an oiled bird) and a couple of creeping Temminck’s Stints while both male and female Little Bitterns tried not to be seen despite being in the open.  Black-headed Wagtails were coming down to drink and Little Ringed Plovers were cryptically lurking on the gravelly bits. 

Little Bittern

We headed across the ford and through Lotzaria with not another birder in sight and were able to pull over and watch 11 Bee-eaters hunting from the big Mulberry on the way through. A Quail called from the adjacent field and a male Whinchat perched up on some thistles.   

Bee-eaters

A couple more Black-headed Wagtail were on the fragrant Pumping Station Pool but the Salt Pan Channel was pretty quiet but the Black-winged Stilts were good in the evening sunshine and they were joined by a motley assortment of un-ruffed Ruff. 

Black-winged Stilt

Black-winged Stilt

Little Ringed plover

Ruff

Up on the corner two Zitting Cisticolas were bounding round with energetic abandon and two each of Black Stork and Great White Egret were on the prowl. You forget just how big a Black Stork is until it flies low over your head!

Black Stork

A Ruddy Shelduck and several Little Ringed Plovers and Wood Sandpipers were on the pool behind the pumping station and our first Lesser Grey Shrike gave some excellent views from the wires. That black forehead and chunky bill always makes them look the toughest of the shrikes I feel.  Both Black-headed Bunting and Red-throated Pipit flew through and a few more wagtails were down for a drink before we decided that dinner beckoned and returned the way we had come with seven circling Ibis for company. 

Lesser Grey Shrike

 

Glossy Ibis

This gave us the chance to look for the crakes from the east side of the river and it did not take too long to collect a chunky Spotted Crake and diminutive male Baillon’s!  The former looked enormous compared to its little grey cousin.  

Spotted Crake

Baillon's Crake

Baillon's Crake

We bounced back for dinner and bed at the hotel pleased with an afternoon well spent and the first batch of memories stashed away.

Of Pelicans, Moorlands and Sessile Oaks...

A week after my return from Lesvos, what should turn up in Britain but a fine adult Dalmatian Pelican;  so let’s clear up one little thing before we get started... the one I saw on the island was an immature bird and therefore any suggestions that my hand luggage may have been a tad overweight on the way home are completely unfounded... 

The provenance of this bird is interesting and I suspect that despite the fact that this exact individual was in Poland at the start of April and is generally accepted as being of wild origin there, it will struggle to get beyond category D when the BOURC get their hands on it as there is some ‘cloudiness’ surrounding free flyers from France and Germany.  

A week went by and I had resisted the urge to head to Lands End to chance my luck that this behemoth would flyover us whilst we stood on some high point or other but when the news broke that the even more mind boggling Gwent Lammergeier that was videoed last Thursday near the Severn Bridge had been seen over Dartsmeet in Devon, the game changed and with the Pelican now seemingly a good bet roosting at Drift Reservoir the twitch was now on. 

I managed to blag a lift with James Lowen, Will and Phil and my Dad dropped me off at Waltham Abbey at 0030 on Tuesdays morning as they passed through on their way down from Norwich for the first leg of the journey to Wellington in Somerset where we met up with Rob and transferred from Phil’s little Skoda Fabia to a Subaru of chunky proportions.

A quick Sos Egg McMuffin at Hayle and then through Penzance to Drift where we leapt from the car to clap eyes on an iceberg drifting across the middle of the reservoir.  The Pelican was still here.  The next hour was spent watching it swim to and fro across the water with its recurved coif and intense stern white eyes and delight us with four good fly rounds before settling down for a preen using that frankly ridiculous bill. We even got to see a couple of full open yawns and an inside-out pouch moment which suddenly changed from vibrant orange to dark brown. 

Drift reservoir in the murk

 

Dalmatian Pelican

And a little video...

With some late news emerging on the Lammergeier from yesterday suggesting that it had been seen again late evening, we started to head back east and save for a short stop at Mounts Bay made good time and were deep in the murk, low cloud and light rain to the north of Princetown in the Postbridge area by about 10am. 

Mount Bay

The visibility was very poor and there was no way that any vulture had been flying round in such conditions.   

Galloping Dartmoor Stallion

North west from Postbridge

Ancient wonky cross

...with amazing lichen and moss growth

The weather slowly improved and the next seven hours were spent scouring the Tors, ridges and valleys of Dartmoor for and huge dark gliding shape but to no avail although we did see numerous Buzzards, Ravens and a tatty Red Kite and encountered dumming Snipe, Wheatears and countless Meadow Pipits and Skylarks.

As the weather improved the views became expansive but if the bird was still in the area then it was undoubtedly in the vast MoD area to the north-west as every Tor we looked at had human occupants by lunchtime. 

From Haytor

There were plenty of small birds to absorb while scanning including bubbling Garden Warblers, Bullfinches and Siskins, two singing male Redstarts and the usual assortment of woodland species while there were plenty of plants in flower and the verges and Devon Banks were covered in Violets, Wood Sorrel, Bluebells and Stichwort.

Wood Sorrel

Stonecrop

Penny Wort

Bilberry

New Bracken fronds

Marsh Marigold

 

Violet

Common Lousewort

By 3.30 we were all flagging and so a visit to the nearby Yarner Woods was required to sooth squinting eyes and add a little bit of magic to the day. We only walked about 100m from the car park but in that area we found several singing Pied Flycatchers (in varying degrees of piedness!), Spotted Flycatcher, trilling Wood Warbler high in the Oak canopy, ‘tsicking’ Hawfinches, Lesser and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, butterfly flighting Siskins, a male Redstart and two resplendent male Mandarins.

Mandarin

Pied Flycatcher

And a little video here...

My favourite in the shape of an amorous male Grey Wagtail who was giving it his all to woo his mate with whirring display flight, contorted posturing and a delightful song that always reminds me of clear fast running water.

Displaying Grey Wagtail - still my favourite bird

Wild Strawberry

Mesembrina meridiana

Feeling revitalised (at least for a while) we headed back up to Haytor for a final hour in the sunshine before calling it a day and heading for home.

Not as warm as it looked...

A final look from Haytor

Was this day a frivolous waste of time, money and effort? Not at all. I have not been part of a long, over night twitch in some time and although no sleep and plenty of car time is always tough, it is the thrill of expectation, hope and chance coupled with good likeminded company and the desire to make the most of the day that make it memorable. 

And who knows perhaps we shall get another pop at the mighty vulture from the Alps?

It's not over yet...

Well it has been quite a first week back from my adventures in Lesvos...

It started on Monday morning with a quick look at Aveley Bay before work in the slim hope that a stray Sanderling may condescend to appear and add itself to my reserve year list.  So I scanned the bay and counted nine plump Ringed Plovers, had a look round and scanned again, ten Ringed Plovers – oh no.. hang on a minute, that one is a Sanderling...  thanks you very much.

There was plenty of warbler, Skylark and Meadow Pipit song and Common Terns were fishing the foreshore. It was a nice day and a relaxed way to get back into work and nine Whimbrel and a Greenshank over the high tide welcomed me back.

Whimbrel - Lawrence Rogers

Goose goslings and baby Lapwings were everywhere and there were even some Redshank chicks to be seen and Tony O'Brien even captured the momet when the parent removed the spent eggshell...

Redshank Family - Russ Sherriff

Lapwing chick - Joan Burton

 

Redshank removing eggshell - Tony O'Brien

The weather deteriorated very quickly over night and by dawn on Tuesday it felt like it was going to be a river day with waders and terns on the menu and we were not to be disappointed with one of the best spring visible passage days that any of us could recall and by the time we packed up and called it a day we had counted 44 mostly summer plumaged Grey plover, 17 scampering Sanderling, 12 black-bellied Dunlin, 14 Ringed Plover, 14 Dunlin, 7 very dapper  Turnstone, 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Whimbrel, 14 Redshank,  2 Greenshank, a single red Knot, Snipe, Common Sandpiper,  4 adult Med Gulls, 6 Black Terns, 65 Common Tern, 4 Arctic Tern, 2 Sandwich Tern over the centre ‘eriking’ and two diminutive Little Terns. We were all as exhausted as you probably are from reading it!

Grey plover & Dunlin - Andy Tweed

 

Mixed wader flock - Alasdair Wilcock

Everything came in from the west and for the most part continued east although some of the waders headed north after a brief wash and brush up on the pools. This suggested that despite the light easterly breeze these birds had actually come overland before hitting the river and heading out of town before re-orientating and turning back north once again.  Two of the Black Terns even spent part of the afternoon dipping around on Aveley Pool.

Black Terns - Alasdair Wilcock

Damp Short-eared Owls and vocal Cuckoos added distractions and the Swifts were hunting very low all day. After we had all got home Fraser Simpson headed out after work to do the river wall and look for those Black Terns but he was not expecting a Collared Pratincole to appear from nowhere (it has probably been sitting out the weather on the marsh) and glide over his head before flicking off over Purfleet and away from the marsh! What a great end to a special day.

Short-eared Owl - Jo Gates

Wednesday saw us diligently checking the marsh for sneakily returned Pratincoles but to no avail. I started at Aveley bay again but there were no waders at all but I was very happy with my three jingling male Corn Buntings and oblivious Brown Hare on the landfill!   

Corn Bunting

Male Linnet

Oblivious Brown Hare

The weather soon turned very nasty and heavy showers pulsed through leaving us with our first delicate Wood Sandpiper of the year and a nice mixed flock of Dunlin and Ringed Plovers totalling 76 birds.  The second new bird of the day came in the shape of an immature male Garganey with adult body feathers and a brown first-year head – a most odd creature that has been seen in the Ingrebourne valley and in fact was back there for breakfast the following day.

Wood Sandpiper

Very grotty Garganey

Back to nice again on Thursday and it stated very well with a strapping summer plumaged Great White Egret found by Jerry Hoare out on the Target Pools. I got lucky in that it was actually visible from the visitors centre and I managed to get a few people on to it before it stalked out of view. From here it moved out onto Wennington and spent the rest of the day tantalizing people with infrequent sorties into the open.

 

Great White Egret - Jerry Hoare

Two adult Black Terns arrived on Aveley Pool and provided plenty of entertainment during the day once again.  Shortly after Jerry’s find, Andy Tweed picked up a resting colour-ringed Stone Curlew from the Serin Mound and this goggle eyed wader obliged with all comers till dusk along with the Egret making for a nice after work double for many people although not me as the traffic coming back down the A13 would have meant some serious queue time to get back home again so in a fit of pique I drove to Abberton Reservoir instead to see a very smart second winter Franklin’s Gull that was bobbing around out in the middle before some glorious Nightingale, fluky Badger action and a glorious sunset at Fingringhoe rounded up my day.

And so we get to Friday with different weather yet again as a northerly breeze had picked up and the temperature had dropped and cloud was always threatening.  The Great White Egret was seen by Ricky Blackman and Bill Stallard out on Wennington lurking in and out of the reed edges once again but was even more tricky today and then at just after 10am, Bill radioed in to ask confirmation on a mystery bird and sure enough I put my bins up and straight onto a Glossy Ibis on Purfleet Scrape! Cracking stuff and very nice for the people on his walk! It showed well on and off till just before midday and then decided for no apparent reason that it did not like our lovely bit of marsh and climbed high and headed south into Kent. 

Glossy Ibis - Alan Reynolds

Glossy Ibis

Glossy Ibis

Cuckoos were everywhere today and the Grasshopper Warbler were quite vocal at times while the Hobbies came close to the centre for a change which gave the desk bound me a chance to get some cracking views of this most agile of hunters.

A nice smart male Reed Bunting...

This morning was absolutely freezing and I have to admit that the shorts – sandals thing was a bit misplaced and I never actually got beyond the visitors centre today despite getting in at 0630! However, it was still productive with the Ingrebourne Valley immature male Garganey returning and being joined a much smarter adult drake and both then spent most of the day out on Purfleet Scrape. Twelve Arctic Terns bounced along the saltmarsh first thing before spiralling up and climbing high to the north while a couple of Black Terns mooched around on the river.

After work I nipped down to RSPB Vange Marshes in the hope of connecting with the two Black-winged Stilts and female Red-footed Falcon but it was to be a frustrating visit with the falcon disappearing a whole minute before I arrived and the Stilts departing towards Bowers a few minutes after that!  Oh well...

Bye Bye Stilts...