TRANSFER TO MYTILINE AIRPORT WITH A STOP AT KALLONI SALT PANS The banner picture shows the Ruppell's Warbler not seen this year due to the weather!
WEATHER: windy, cloudy, wet and cold!
Our last morning was ruined by the weather, it was very windy and very cold. None of the group opted to go out before breakfast and I don’t blame them.
We assembled after breakfast at 9am, the luggage was loaded onto the bus and we set off to the airport with a planned stop at the Kalloni Salt Pans.
We noticed the extraordinary number of Swallows, Martins and Swifts, many were flying very low to the ground to get out of the cold wind. Apparently, hundreds of ‘downed’ hirundines and swifts we found on roads across the island, they just couldn’t cope with the windy conditions and the cold. Many were taken into care and released later.
On ‘Stilt Corner’ at the salt pans there were over 50 Black-winged Stilts, the most I have ever seen there. We stopped at hide 3 on the west track and scanned the nearest pans, the only birds visible were Greater Flamingos (the Lesser Flamingo was still present but we never searched for it), we also saw Avocets, Little Terns and a few Wood Sandpipers.
Glossy Ibis - archive picture
In the sheep fields behind the hide we found a single Cattle Egret with a flock of sheep and a Common Pheasant? Never seen a pheasant before on Lesvos!
Alykes Wetlands was still brimming with birds although they too we hunkered down. We saw Black Stork, Dalmatian Pelican, Eurasian Spoonbill, Grey Heron, Purple heron, Great and Little Egrets, Glossy Ibis and several waders. Spotted Redshank, Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper and Little Stint.
Spur-winged Plover - there was three of these beauties on Alykes Wetlands but unfortunately we never saw them - archive picture taken in 2025
Further along the track near the salt mountain we had close views of Whiskered Terns and White-winged Terns, and we had better views of the birds mentioned above.
female Red-backed Shrike - we saw hundreds of them on this trip
It was soon 10am and we needed to set off to the airport, it was the end of the tour, it’s a shame that the weather spoiled the last couple of days. The weather gave us a send off, it rained all the way to the airport!!
Despite the last couple days, the group loved the trip and so did I, can’t wait to be back next year.