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Posts
Scops Owl, Papiana © Steve Dudley
Many more birds around today including the first Olive-tree Warbler and Rufous Bush-robin, four Red-breasted Flycatchers out west and another Baillon's Crake.
Weather - Blue skies, light SW breeze, 23C
NEW - news on day trips (those with spaces remaining), events and other info (like what new cafes/tavenras might be worth trying) for the 2012 birding weeks - see here.
Event - Sun, 29 April - Talk on the the proposed Lesvos Geopark at the Hotel Pasiphae. 1800h, for 45 mins. All welcome. The Lesvos Petrified Forest is already a designated Geopark and the proposal is to extend this to the whole of the island. Highly recommended.
BIRD NEWS
Achladeri & Kruper's Nuthatch
One pair feeding young near last years nest site along the top. Park your car by the white building building, walk up the main track through the forest, bear left at the fork, then follow the track left past the rubbish pile on the next corner and up the straight section of track. After c200m look for a thick black pine tree with a sap scar and a pile of 4 sandy-coloured rocks at the base. From this tree look in to the forest at 90 degrees from the track and look for a sheep/rams skull at base. Nest is in this tree on left hand side between two very short broken branch stumps.
Kalloni Saltpans & Alykes Wetlands
BAILLON'S CRAKE - still present along reeded channel in SW corner near pumping station
Common Pochard - fem
Gull-billed Tern - 60+
White-winged Tern - 33
Whiskered Tern - 31
Curlew Sandpiper - 9
Ruff - 280+
Little Stint - 46
Marsh Sandpiper - 5
Stone-curlew - 1
Zitting Cisticola - 1
Vigla (nr Ipsilou)
Golden Oriole
Lesser Kestrel
Isabelline Wheatear
Cinereous Bunting
Platania
Olive-tree Warbler - 1(c.2km from the Napi road/0.5km from cattle grid site)
Thrush Nightingale - 1 at the cattle grid sight
Ortolan Bunting - 2
Golden Oriole - 18
Masked Shrike
Long-legged Buzzard - 6
Short-toed Eagle - 4
Black Stork - 3
Eastern Orphean Warbler
Sombre Tit
plus much more common stuff
NOTE - the Platania track is very rough in places and should only be attempted with extreme caution. I would advise parking after 1km from the road then walk in
Tsiknias River
Citrine Wagtail - 1
Kalami Marsh
Great Bittern 1
Sigri & Faneromeni
Icterine Warbler - 1
Collared Flycatcher- 1
Metochi
BAILLON'S CRAKE - along ditch up west side of lake
Spotted Crake - 1 on main lake
Little Crake
Little Bittern
Sigri Old Sanatorium
GOLDEN EAGLE 1
Red-breasted Flycatcher - male
Red-breasted Flycatcher - male
Red-backed Shrike - fem
Ortolan Bunting - 1
Meladia Valley
Rufous Bush-robin - 1 at chapel
Red-breasted Flycatcher - 3 females
Red-backed Shrike - male at chapel and male in fog grove by ford
Ipsilou
Eastern Bonelli's Warbler - 1
Honey-buzzard - 2
Papiana
Scops Owl - 1 in the back of the singe eucalyptus (which is to the right of a three-trunk eucalyptus) opposite playground at the school - view from pine tree to the right of the eucalyptus and look in back of tree up at 1 o'clock c.10m up
Dipi Larisos
Pygmy Cormorant - 2 still, ranging widely from river mouth, upstream (inc. getting in reeds up from the bridge) and bot hflew off and went down by the Mytilini road
Lardia Valley
Black Kite - 3
Goshawk - 1
Skala Kallonis Pool
Spotted Crake - one calling outside Kalloni Bay hotel entrance
Little Crake
Squacco Heron - 5
Soumouria Scops Copse
Scops Owl - no sign in 1.5 hr search today
Kavaki
Ruppell's Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Blue Rock-thrush, etc
Alikoudi Pool
Slender-billed Gull 11
Polichnitos Saltpans
Lesser Grey Shrike 1
Hoopoe, Platania © Steve Dudley
