birding-aus

Birding on Lesbos, Greece

To: <>
Subject: Birding on Lesbos, Greece
From: "Wim Vader" <>
Date: Wed, 11 May 2005 09:42:34 +0200
                A SUNBIRD BIRDING TRIP TO LESBOS, GREECE

>From 22-30 April I had booked a birding trip with Sunbird to the Greek island 
>of Lesbos (or Lesvos, as the greek beta now is more pronounced as a v. Lesbos 
>is situated in the northern Aegean sea, very close to the coast of Turkey. We 
>were based on Kalloni, in the centre of the island, at the bottom of the 
>large, almost landlocked Gulf of Kalloni, and from there we could reach the 
>whole island, along good, but very curvy roads, within a radius of ca 60 km or 
>so, so that the amount of driving was restricted and more time remained 
>avalaible for the actual birding. We were 14 participants and two leaders, who 
>were driving the two minibuses we had at our disposition. Generally we had a 
>pre-breakfast excursion from 6 30 to 8 am, and later were out all day (9am to 
>7 30 pm), with an excellent picnic lunch somewhere out in the free. The 
>weather was fair to excellent during most of the week, and we only had a few 
>hours of rain.

 In general, the island was just what I had hoped for: a not all too large, 
very varied area, with many migrants coming through, and some specialités de la 
maison, in the form of the Cinereous Bunting and the Krüper's Nuthatch, both of 
which we duly got to see, although the bunting at a distance where a telescope 
was very handy. Fortunately our excellent leaders, Killian Mullarney and Ian 
Lewington, both carried a telescope all the time, and there were at least 6 of 
the participants who had brought their own, so that we always got a chance to 
peep in somebody's telescope. The nuthatch, which is a little bird with a 
personality, we found after a quite long search in the pine forests;  John, the 
eldest participant (beat me with a few years), discovered the bird at a new 
locality, at what clearly was a nest site in a pine stump.

  During this trip I discovered again, that I am pretty hopeless when it comes 
to bird spotting, hopefully mostly due to my weak eyes and diminishing hearing. 
Therefore a guided trip just as this one, with leaders who take great care that 
everybody sees all the birds they discover, and a few participants with eagle 
eyes, is for me a great boon and I see almost twice as many birds as I would 
have seen on my own. And then it is easy to forget the slight disappointment 
every time somebody has to point out the birds to you, and you don't find them 
yourself. I had also bought a book of Mediterranean flowers for the occasion, 
and had great pleasure of that (flowers are easier to spot and don't fly away), 
but I shall keep to the birds in this short report

 Our hotel was Kalloni II, situated behind the Kalloni pools, now heavily 
overgrown, and thereby not quite as fantastic maybe as before, but still good 
in the mornings for a large concerto of Sedge, Reed and Cettis Warblers, 
mingling with the ever active jubilant Nightingale from the garden behind the 
hotel. Stilts were always present, and litterally 'stood out'when scanning the 
pool, but a search usually also revealed the many Moorhens, the few Coots and  
Little Grebes, and the Garganeys . A flock of Glossy Ibises came and
went, and on the nearby sea Common Terns fished, Yellow-legged Gulls were 
always present and now and then an Black-necked Grebe could be found if one was 
early up, i.e. before the pre-breakfast excursion.  Many of the others also 
heard Water Rails  at night from these pools, but on the days I walked there in 
the late evening, I heard only Marsh and Tree Frogs and the Moorhens.

Something which really was a pleasant surprise from me, who comes from northern 
and colder shores, was the enormous amounts of swallows everywhere; the reeds 
in the Kalloni pool, and also in the Kalloni inland pool, where we went one 
morning in beautiful light in a (successful) quest for Little Crakes and Little 
Bitterns, were often bent down by thousands of swallows, the majority probably 
Sand Martins, but with also large numbers of Swallows and House Martins. In the 
low sun of the early mornings this is one of the sights that maybe made the 
most lasting impression upon me of the whole week. During the day there were 
swallows hunting everywhere on the island, to the highest hills. In addition to 
the above mentioned most common three, there were also regularly Red-rumped 
Swallows (who fly just a little differently, and therefore can be picked out at 
a  distance even for armadillo-eyed me), and in rocky outcrops in the hills and 
also along some sea cliffs there were Crag Martins. Swifts became more and more 
common during the week; they were mostly Common, but also regularly  the large 
Alpine Swifts.

 Close by the hotel was also the East River, where there were somewaht bumpy 
tracks on both sides, and where we had the chance to see both wading birds and 
migrants in the bushes (a lot of tamarisk), and where Nightingales and 
Olivaceous Warblers always sang, whiloe the last days also the Black-headed 
Buntings were back in force. In the fields  behind fat, juicy Crested Larks 
walked around (often dust-bathing on the tracks itself, together with the 
enormous numbers of sparrows (House and Spanish)), while Corn Buntings 
scratched from the wires and bushes. In the river---which had little water 
already--- there were again stilts, often also Common and Wood Sandpipers and 
Little Ringed Plovers, as well as larger waders, such as Little and Great 
Egrets, Squacco Herons and the occasional Black Stork (there were more Black 
than White Storks on the island). The first day we also saw a Kingfisher, and 
the very first morning, before I was up, the most intrepid people of the group 
(we had arrived that morning at 2 am!) had the only Osprey of the trip. Among 
the migrants Great Reed Warblers were common, while the singing Whitethroats 
may already have been summer guests. One of the last days we chased and finally 
found a recently arrived Rufous Bush-Robin, one of the many instances where our 
leaders did not rest before we had found the bird and everybody had seen it. A 
bumpy track through fields led from the East River to the Kalloni Saltpans; 
along the way there was usually a Little Owl or two (This species was common 
and conspicuous everywhere on the island, while we only saw Scops and 
Long-eared Owls at a roost stake-out).

 The saltpans---in active use, and therefore not generally accessible for the 
public--always had lots and lots of birds. There were tracks all around, from 
where one could see
quite a lot, and the telescopes were also here very useful. There were c 200 
wintering Flamingos here, and the first pan near the road held a similar number 
of my great favourite, the Avocet. Otherwise of course all kinds of shorebirds, 
among which a Marsh Sandpiper was the most exotic, while some Curlew Sandpipers 
were already in full coppery summer finery. Most common were Ruffs, 
Greenshanks, Little Stints, and Kentish Plovers, while the little dams between 
the pans held Stone Curlews, and one glorious day also a flock of Collared 
Pratincoles. There were always many tens of Common and Little Terns around, the 
latter fishing in their well-known spectacular style, and a few Sandwich Terns. 
Later in the week we enjoyed an increasing number of the White-winged Tern, one 
of the most elegant and beautiful birds I know, and also a few Black and 
Whiskered Terns, as well as small groups of Gull-billed Terns, with their at 
first sight 'small gull-like' direct flight (there was also a single Little 
Gull). In the course of the week first the cozy Red-footed Falcons appeared on 
the overhead wires, and still later also the dazzling Bee-eaters.

On the 'sheep-field', between the saltpans and the sea, and more or less a 
high-lying saltmarsh, with lots of sheep, there were Short-toed Larks 
songflighting on the sandy foreshore, lots of glistening yellow Yellow 
Wagtails--many subspecies-- with the sheep, and also regularly Red-throated 
Pipits (the Tawny Pipits kept more to bare sandy areas). Both here and on the 
saltpans themselves there were often pairs of Ruddy Shelducks, and more rarely 
also Common Shelduck. Harriers flew over and panicked all the birds, usually 
Marsh Harriers, but we also got Montague's and even a single Hen Harrier; also 
Peregrine Falcons visited the area regularly.


 I could go on and on and on, of course. About the higher hills, where 
Black-eared Wheatears and Cretzschmar's Buntings were the most conspicuous 
small birds, apart from the one area with Isabelline Wheatears, and where 
Short-toed Eagles and Long-legged Buzzards were the prominent raptors. Here the 
leaders also conjured up a Rock Sparrow, that I suspect them of having placed 
out there, as they stopped at exactly the right place. At the Ypsilou 
monastery, high on a hilltop, there were Sombre Tits ---last seen by me in 1959 
in Turkey, just as the Ruppells Warbler that also was around here--, while 
Persian Squirrels frolicked along the old walls. Here was also the place where 
we watched the Cinereous Bunting  ecstatically singing its simple typical 
bunting jingle, in spite of limited talent, and where I missed out on the 
Eastern Bonelli's Warbler. As usual in those areas, there were also Blackbirds 
and Cirl Buntings, while Orphean Warblers competed with the Blackcaps for most 
musical song, while Subalpine Warblers were more dependent on looks.

 Further on, at the coast near Sigri and Faneromeni, the olive and fig orchards 
were good migrant traps. One day there were many flycatchers (Spotted, Pied and 
Collared), another
day the trees were suddenly festooned with Wood Warblers, and on the last day 
we watched at leisure a Thrush Nightingale in a pile of half-burned wood. That 
day we already had been gladdened by a colourful Roller on a wire---always a 
spectacular bird to watch--, and had chased and found a reported Great Snipe in 
a small river bed with little water, but thousands of tadpoles. These 
Faneromeni orchards yielded, as did many other places on the island, many 
colourful shrikes, the first days only Woodchats and (my personal favourite) 
Masked Shrikes, but the last two days also an increasing number of Red-backed 
Shrikes; no Lesser Grey Shrikes as yet, though.

 From Faneromeni one could also seawatch and observe the long lines of Yelkouan 
Shearwaters, albeit at some distance, as well as the somewhat closer 
Mediterranean Shags.
(The only Cory's Shearwaters we saw, were at long distance.) At Sigri we also 
viewed our only Audouin's Gull of the week, but that one had learned its 
lessons very well, and circled around close to our lunch spot for a 
considerable time. Faneromeni was also one of two spots where we saw 
Mediterranean Gulls, in full summer dress. And this was also the area where the 
Lesser Kestrels hunted in a loose flock all day along the ridge, and where we 
saw several Eleonoras Falcons, migrating(?) over the last day, my third life 
bird of the trip.

 On the oak slopes,  the many Chaffinches and Blackbirds, as well as the 
calling Cuckoos,  gave an initial impression of 'home', but there were also 
flashes of gold from Orioles,  Hoopoes calling and a constant murmuring of 
Turtle Doves, the woodpeckers were Middle Spotted , Cirl Buntings took over for 
Yellowhammers, and Orphean Warblers for Blackcaps. It was here also that we 
finally got to see one of the target species for many, the bulky Olive-tree 
Warbler with its almost growling song. The bird led us a merry dance, but was 
finally seen well by all interested enough to hold out.

Probably more than you ever wanted to know about these birds, but hopefully 
sufficient to give an initial impression of the cracking good time I had, due 
in large parts to
excellent leadership, and also a most congenial group.  I can't wait to do 
something similar again, and am very grateful to Ian and Killian, and to all 
participants who made it happen and be such a success.

                                                Wim Vader, Tromsø Museum
                                                9037 Tromsø, Norway
                                                 (NB Note 
change)



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