LOTZARIA TRACK TO KALLONI SALT PANS – ALYKES WETLANDS – SKALA KALLONI TO TSIKNIAS RIVER TRACK – PETRA ROAD RAPTOR WATCH-POINT – PETRA TRACK AND TOWN CENTRE – PERASMA RESERVOIR – SKALA KALLONI TO TSIKNIAS RIVER TRACK
WEATHER; yet another perfect day, I can’t tell how much we are enjoying these glorious sun-shiny days. Top temp 25C
I just love birding on Lesvos, and if I ever start to doubt that, I think of mornings like this one!
It was another fantastic sunrise at 6:30am, we were watching the bird life on the Kalloni Marsh just outside the hotel as the sun rose up over the horizon, spreading warmth and rose-coloured light across the land. We clocked a male Garganey, a Little Bittern in flight, several Glossy Ibis, Black Stork and some Greater Flamingos flew over and the sky was full of hirundines and swifts as usual. A Nightingale sang from high up in a Eucalyptus Tree in the car park, a pair of Olivaceous Warblers chased one another around the tamarisk, Great Reed and Reed Warblers sang from the Reedbeds, it was just wonderful.
Kalloni Marsh at dawn today
We dashed off to the Lotzaria Track, it joins the salt pans to the Tsiknias River, we went to look for two or three waders missing from our list. The usual pool towards the beach was almost dry and devoid of birds, we saw a Common Whitethroat, a Whinchat and a Red-backed Shrike there. But further along the track towards the salt pans the whole area was flooded and covered in birds, thousands of them!
distant waders and others: Eurasian Spoonbill, Common Shelduck, Grey Heron, Black-winged Stilts and just left of the shelduck is a Spotted Redshank
It was an absolute joy sifting through hundreds of Wood Sandpipers looking for Spotted Redshank. The light was magical, the birds looked as though they had been painted, the variety was mind boggling. Greater Flamingos mixed with Glossy ibis, Grey Herons, Black Storks, Eurasian Spoonbills, Ruddy and Common Shelducks. We found Ruff, Little Stints, Black-winged Stilts, a single Spotted Redshank which flew off, into Alykes Wetlands.
the flooded fields along the Lotzaria Track
We drove round to the salt pan perimeter track and viewed the wetlands from there. We found our first Marsh Sandpiper and then two Spotted Redshanks, but the Black-tailed godwit eluded us.
After breakfast we drove across the village to the track leading to the Tsiknias River to look for a rufous Bush Robin, one had been sighted yesterday and other birders were already on site. No-one saw the bird whilst we were there, so we dipped on that one.
Next we drove up to Band-Stand Raptor watch point on the road to Petra. We stayed for about 45 minutes and saw a few birds. The best of the raptors was a single Eleanora’s Falcon, we also saw both Common and Long-legged Buzzard, Short-toed Eagle and lots of Ravens. Cretzschmar’s Bunting sang from a bush close to us and we also saw Stonechat and Black-eared Wheatear.
the Military Orchid
a close up of the orchid
A quick stop up the hill from the Band-Stand produced a lovely Military Orchid and further along the main road we stopped to look for Middle-spotted Woodpecker. We saw two, a pair, they were returning to the same cluster of trees but we could not locate a current nest hole.
We ate our lunch sitting on the beach wall in the centre of Petra. We searched the town for Laughing Doves ( a recent invading species) but only two of us saw three of the doves in flight.
our view at lunch time
The rest of the birding day was spent at the now defunct Reservoir at Molivos. Hundreds of Yellow-legged Gulls sat on the water and banks, with a few ruddy Shelducks on the water. We were hoping for a Great-spotted Cuckoo sighting, three were seen earlier, in fact we missed one by 10 minutes. We watched Subalpine Warbler, Olivaceous Warbler and heard Orphean Warbler. Then a flycatcher was seen, it turned out to be a first winter male or female type Red-breasted Flycatcher, wowza! That was brief, but nice. A pair of Black-eared Wheatears frightened the flycatcher off.
female Black-eared Wheatear
Further searching for the cuckoo up the valley produced several Woodchat Shrikes, Red-backed Shrikes, Turtle Dove, Common Cuckoo (heard), Hoopoe (heard), two Sombre Tits working their way along a fenceline and a flyover Short-toed Eagle.
Red-rumped Swallow picking up mud for nest building
We left the area around 4pm and drove back to Skala Kalloni, we re-visited the Bush robin site, but the wind had come up and we saw very little, just lots of European Bee-eaters, Corn Buntings and Crested Larks. We finished for the day around 5:30pm.