13 & 14 May, full-day birding

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Rock Sparrow (Petronia petronia)

I had two days of birding with Janet from the USA. We enjoyed finding together Squacco Heron, White and Black Stork, Pied Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, White-winged Tern, Bee-eater, Laughing Dove, Yellow Wagtail, Sardinian Warbler, Black-eared Wheatear, Kruper’s Nuthatch, Black-headed, Cretzschmar’s and Cinereous Bunting, Short-eared Owl, Short-toed Eagle and many more. Birdwatching was our main goal, so I only have a few good photos from the trips worth posting here.

Scops Owl (Otus scops)

May 7, full-day

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We had a full day around the whole of the island with Paul. P from Canada, that wanted to make the best of his single day birding on the island.

Here are some record shots from our birding:

Sombre Tit (Poecile lugubris)

Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)

Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides)

Little Owl (Athene noctua)

Cinereous Bunting, female (Emberiza cineracea)

White Stork (Ciconia ciconia)

Also had Kruper’s Nuthatch, Cretzschmar’s Bunting, Laughing Dove, Scops Owl, Masked Shrike, Black Stork and many more!!

27-30 April full-day birding

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Ruppell's Warbler;Lesvos;Lesvosbirding;Lesvosbirdwatching

(with Jean-Paul from France)

During this series of four full days around Lesvos, we got the main target species to take photos from (Kruper’s Nuthatch, Olive-tree Warbler, Cinereous and Cretzschmar’s Buntings) and had a great time birding around all parts of the island.

Here are some of my record shots from our birding:

Kruper’s Nuthatch (Sitta krueperi)
Olivaceous Warbler (Iduna pallida)
Bee-eaters (Merops apiaster)
Spotted Crake (Porzana porzana)
Squacco heron (Ardeola ralloides)
Black-headed Bunting (Emberiza melanocephala)
Cretzschmar’s Bunting (Emberiza caesia), female
Cretzschmar’s Bunting (Emberiza caesia), male
Isabelline Wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina)
Cinereous Bunting (Emberiza cineracea)
Scops Owl (Otus scops)
Little Owl (Athene noctua)
Laughing Dove (Spilopelia senegalensis), at its 1st confirmed breeding site in Greece

26 April full-day birding

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(with Fabrizio, Mario and Sandro from Italy)

I helped this group of friends photograph the Kruper’s Nuthatch, Cinereous Bunting and Cretzschmar’s Buntings, Masked Shrike, Black-eared Wheatear, Scops Owl, Stone Curlew and several more species.

Here are some of my record shots from our birding:

A pair of Eastern Black-eared Wheatears (Oenanthe melanoleuca)
Raven (Corvus corax)
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
A flock of Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) out of nowhere!
Temminck Stints (Calidris temminckii)
Masked Shrike (Lanius nubicus), female
Black-headed Bunting (Emberiza melanocephala)
Starred Agama (Stellagama stellio)
Fields by the Kalloni gulf

16 April full-day guiding

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(with Guinderno and Paola from Italy)

During this full day around the Kalloni Gulf and Western Lesvos, we got all lifer targets Guinderno had when coming to Lesvos: Kruper’s and Western Rock Nuthatch, Masked Shrike, Sombre Tit, Cinereous and Cretzschmar’s Buntings and I got a Common Rock Thrush!!

Here are some record shots from our birding:

Squacco Herons (Ardeola ralloides), Black-winged Stilt, Flamingos, Ruffs, Wood Sandpipers.
Black Stork (Ciconia nigra)
Common Rock Thrush (Monticola saxatilis)
Isabelline’s Wheatear (Oenanth isabellina)
Eastern Subalpine Warbler (Sylvia cantillans)
Kruper’s Nuthatch (Sitta krueperi)
Masked Shrike (Lanius nubicus)
Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis)
Cinereous Bunting (Emberiza cineracea)
False Apollo (Archon apollinus)
Starred Agama (Stellagama stellio)

2nd half of October birding

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Cirl Bunting;Lesvos

I had 5 half days out with Fiona a very experienced “globe-birder”. We were around the most representative habitats of the island with lovely weather and good birds, even with zero summer visitor species.

The highlights were the Kruper’s and Western Rock Nuthatches, Dalmatian Pelicans, Black Stork, Ruddy Shelduck, Slender-billed Gulls, Marsh Sandpiper, Sombre Tit, Cirl Bunting, Blue Rock Thrush and late Red-backed Shrikes and Northern Wheatears, Ring Ouzel, Long-legged Buzzard etc.

Here are some photos of our birding:

Dalmatian Pelican; Lesvos
Dalmatian Pelican among Cormorants

Black Stork and Shags;Lesvos
Black Stork and Shags

Ruddy Shelduck Lesvos
Ruddy Shelduck

Middle-spotted Woodpecker; Lesvos
Middle-spotted Woodpecker

Robin Lesvos
European Robin

Osprey;Lesvos
Osprey

Cuckoo;Lesvos
Common Cuckoo

June 4th, half-day around Central Lesvos

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Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus): Lesvos birds

Our morning with Annick and her friends did not start well as we had to stay in the car for the first half-hour because of sudden rain! As I explain to visiting birders, rain is never a problem on the island as it usually lasts for short and you get to see even more birds afterward! Our birding area was the Kalloni Pans and the Agia Paraskevi village and we found an interesting variety of wetland (Flamingos, Black-winged Stilts, Avocets, White Stork, etc) and pasture land bird species (Masked and Woodchat Shrikes, Sombre Tit, Rock Nuthatch etc).

Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides); Lesvos Birds
Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides)

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)
Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

Little Owl (Athene noctua); Lesvos Birds
Little Owl (Athene noctua)

 

May 12th, full-day all over the island!

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Cinereous Bunting (Emberiza cineracea): Lesvos birds

Gary E. and Austin M. were excellent birders and good friends for years and the day was really enjoyable! We started very early from the central parts of the island for the Kruper’s Nuthatch and then headed West for the other island’s specialties.

Black-eared Wheathear (Oenanthe hispanica): Lesvos birds
Black-eared Wheatear (Oenanthe hispanica)

You can find out more (species and photos) at Austin’s blog:

http://austinmorley.blogspot.com/p/lesvos-greese-2019.html

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May 8th, half-day around Central Lesvos

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Ruppell's Warbler (Sylvia rueppelli); Lesvos birds

Mark B. has been on the island for a few days already and had a few more species that he needed on his Lesvos list. So we were out early in the morning to find Rock Nuthatch, Cretzschmar’s Bunting and the Ruppell’s Warbler and had successfully found them by 11:00.