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Tuesday 19 May 2015

Lesvos in Spring


Crested Lark - abundant on Lesvos


I recently led two week-long tours to the Greek island of Lesvos with Naturetrek. I was in good company with two lovely groups and co-leading with top birder Chris Murphy. What follows is a summary of the birding highlights over the two weeks that I was on the island.


Lesvos is situated close to the Turkish coast in the northern Aegean, where it attracts a range of spring migrants as they make their way north from Africa, to breed in Europe. The island also has some special breeding birds of its own, including Cinereous Bunting and Kruper's Nuthatch. A variety of habitats can be visited in under two hours from Skala Kallonis and different birds move through the coastal hot-spots every day, so the birding can be every exciting! We stayed at the comfortable Hotel Pasiphae in Skala Kallonis, which is centrally located at the head of the Gulf of Kalloni. This hotel is a good place to meet other birders and has a logbook of sightings maintained by the author of A Birdwatching Guide to Lesvos, Steve Dudley. Steve provides an excellent service for visiting birders, including a website with daily summaries of bird news.







Skala Kallonis, Christou River and Metochi Lake
It was great to be able to walk out at any time and find good wetland birds on the reedy pool just across the road from our hotel: Garganey, Glossy Ibis, Great Bittern and Little Bittern were all seen regularly and often gave close views. A few minutes walk along the coast is the mouth of the Christou River, where we saw a good range of birds during the second week, including Lesvos' first ever Demoiselle Crane. Just a short drive away, Metochi was a delightful little lake which we visited several times before breakfast. With the soft morning light behind us, we had stunning views of several Little Crakes as well as Little Bittern, Purple and Squacco Herons and Great Reed Warbler.

Great Bittern at Skala Kallonis Pool


Kalloni Saltpans and Alykes Wetlands
A magnet for migrating waders and other birds, this was my favourite buirding location. We visited several times and enjoyed fantastic views of some beautiful birds: highlights included a Pallid Harrier, a Great Spotted Cuckoo, flocks of Red-footed Falcons and stunning White-winged Terns in pristine breeding plumage. Waders included lots of Marsh Sandpipers and Temmick's Stints, as well as a very rare bird for Europe, a Spur-winged Plover. By the end of the first week, Eastern Olivaceous Warblers began to set up their territories and we also found Tawny and Red-throated Pipits.

Tsiknias River
Lying between the Saltpans and Skala Kallonis, this was another site that we visited throughout the two weeks. It attracts migrating shrikes, warblers, and flycatchers as well as wetland species like Little Bittern and Glossy Ibis. This year, there was a breeding pair of Penduline Tits and we were able to watch through the scope as they put the finishing touches to their suspended nest. Near the river mouth we saw Collared Pratincoles and during the first week, five beautiful Slender-billed Gulls.

Glossy Ibis on the Tsiknias River


Limonas Monastery
This monastery is a short drive into the mountains north of Kalloni and has an impressively large 17th Century building, with many small chapels scattered around the hillside. It is a very peaceful place with some interesting wildlife; we saw Persian Squirrels and several lizards, including a big Balkan Green Lizard living in an old tree stump. Birds included Red-rumped Swallow, Middle-spotted Woodpecker and Ortolan Bunting, the last being a very scarce migrant on Lesvos.

Balkan Green Lizard



Platania
This is part of the Napi Valley, north of Agios Paraskevi; the small grazing fields are interspersed with dry stone walls, scrub, scattered trees and copses. We saw some great birds including Golden Oriole, Hoopoe, Bee-eater, Sombre Tit and Orphean Warbler. This is also a good place to find raptors; we had Marsh Harrier, Goshawk and Red-footed Falcon.

Sheep grazing in Platania


North Coast
Between Molivos and Eftalou is the maquis habitat preferred by Ruppell's Warbler. At Kavaki, we had prolonged views of singing males in the scrub either side of the coastal road. In the first week we saw Blue Rock Thrush whereas in the second week, there were hundreds of Yelkouan Shearwaters milling around off-shore. Just inland from here is Perasma Reservoir; in the first week we saw a flock of Alpine Swifts and in the second week, we found a first summer Citrine Wagtail.

Aghios Ioannis
Having followed the western shore of the Gulf of Kalloni, the road to the west turns inland into the hills towards Eressos, with scattered trees and rocky outcrops. Above the road is small chapel, from which we had good views of Rock Nuthatch, Sombre Tit and four species of Bunting including Cinereous Bunting.

Sigri Area
The west coast provided some really exciting birding and we saw different birds on each visit. Driving through the Meladia Valley in the second week, we found Black-headed Buntings, which was only the second sighting on Lesvos this year. Both groups saw Lesser Grey Shrike at Sigri Sanatorium and lots of Lesser Kestrels too. Sigri fields were good for migrants; we had great views of Golden Oriole, Collared Flycatcher, Wood Warbler and during the second week we also saw a flock of Bee-eaters and several Rollers. During the first week we visited Faneromeni ford, where we found several Little Bitterns and a Little Crake feeding out in the open.

Sigri


Lardia Valley
Our route back from the west coast took us through Antissa and the Lardia Valley, where we made several stops for special birds like Chukar and Isabelline Wheatear. At a precipitous gorge, we had good views of Crag Martin, Rock Nuthatch and Eastern Bonelli's Warbler. This was also the only place where we saw Rock Sparrow.

Achladeri Forest
This is the place to find Kruper's Nuthatch and we saw this enigmatic little bird during both weeks; it's a species I had only previously seen in Turkey. The forest also held Short-toed Treecreeper, Serin and in open areas, we saw Red-backed, Woodchat and Masked Shrikes. We also appreciated the mellifluous song of Woodlark.


Main places on Lesvos

Lesvos is an outstanding birding destination, where you can truly appreciate the progress of Spring migration. I have summarised the key species seen in the main locations but we enjoyed watching a wide range of birds everywhere around the island. The constant ebb and flow of different species as the season moves on is fascinating to witness. I could have stayed much longer and will relish any opportunity to return! Thanks again to everyone with whom I travelled, your company made the whole experience even more special.

Corn Bunting



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