Trip Reports

Lesvos April 2013

What a fantastic week, wall to wall sunshine, a brilliant display of wild flowers, some superb birding and a great 
group of participants. This all made for a great holiday and a very enjoyable time for me too! The weather was a 
little too good at times with afternoon temperatures exceeding 25C, all the usual resident birds were in good form 
but the abundance of migratory species was quite low, especially warblers and flycatchers, with the exception of a 
couple of days it was hard work to find migrants.
Despite this we saw some smashing birds including the beautiful White Throated Robin, a rare visitor and 
sporadic breeder. We found a rarity for Lesvos in the shape of a Calandra Lark, the first recorded for 10 years, we 
had great views of Rufous Bush Robin, Collared Flycatcher, Cretzschmar’s and Cinereous Bunting, Kruper’s 
Nuthatch, Roller, Golden Oriole and many more species. Our total came to 152 seen with another 3 species heard 
but not seen, they were: Wren, Wood Pigeon, Common Cuckoo and the elusive Olive Tree Warbler.