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!!

May 18th, full-day around Western Lesvos

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Chukar (Alectoris chukar); Lesvos Birds

Petra and her friend wanted to get some good photos of several target species during her week on Lesvos and used my help for one day. We had a very pleasant day out spotting and photographing the usual breeders around Sigri (Cinereous and Cretzschmar’s Buntings, Sub-alpine Warbler, Rock Nuthatch, Rufous Bush Robin, Eastern Orphean Warbler etc) and discovering so many more migrants (shrikes, Rose-coloured Starlings etc).

Rufous Bush Robin; Lesvos Birds
Rufous Bush Robin (Cercotrichas galactotes)

Black-eared Wheatear (Oenanthe hispanica); Lesvos birds
Black-eared Wheatear (Oenanthe hispanica)

Eastern Orphean Warbler (Sylvia crassirostris); Lesvos birds
Eastern Orphean Warbler (Sylvia crassirostris)

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.

May 4th, half-day around Eressos

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Orphean Warbler

Our meeting point was Eressos village and Don M. and I had only a few morning hours available for our birding. Nevertheless, we had a great birding morning!

Cretzschmar's Bunting; Lesvos birds
Cretzschmar’s Bunting (Emberiza caesia)

The great views of nest providing and singing Cinereous and Cretzschmar’s Bunting and Rock Nuthatch would be just enough for us but we got even more: a female Orphean Warbler providing its 3 recently fledged chicks, Black-headed Bunting, Bee-eaters, Eleonora’s Falcon, Crag Martin, Ruddy Shelduck, Long-legged Buzzard!

May 2nd, half-day around Western Lesvos

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Cinereous Bunting; Lesvos birds

A lovely day in the West with Yon and Chara H. from Holland. A slow but very productive birding mostly by walking around Sigri and Eressos villages. Interesting birds we had together were: Cinereous, Cretzschmar’s and Black-headed Bunting, Isabelline and Black-eared Wheatears, Rock Sparrow, Bee-eaters at a nesting site, Golden Orioles (more than 25!), Masked and Woodchat Shrikes, Lesser Kestrel, etc.

 

Spotted Flycatcher; Lesvos Birds

Black-headed Bunting; Lesvos Birds

Beginning of May, half-day trip around Central Lesvos

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A fine half-day trip around Agia Paraskevi, with Rex and Hanneke, walking among pasture land and olive-groves. Here are the high-lights: a pair of ROCK NUTHATCHES providing to their nest, MASKED SHRIKES, Red-backed and Woodchat Shrikes, Turtle Doves, SOMBRE TITS, Little Owl, Peregrine Falcon, LONG-LEGGED BUZZARDS, a SHORT-TOED EAGLE resting on a small tree (!), Bee-eaters, several HOOPOES, Middle Spotted Woodpecker etc. Oh, and Persian Scuirrels!

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Poecilimon mytilenensis: a basic food for most passerine nest providers!

End of May 2016, half-day trip around CENTRAL LESVOS

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Rose-coloured Starling; Lesvos

The highlights of this half-day (07:30-13:30) guided birding and BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY trip around Agia Paraskevi, Kalloni and the wetlands of the North coast of the Kalloni Gulf were:

ELEONORA’S FALCONS, Scops Owls, Squacco Heron, BLACK TERN, Bee-eaters, family parties of Hoopoes, Sombre Tits and Middle Spotted Woodpeckers, singing males RUFOUS BUSH ROBINS, Black-eared Wheatears, EASTERN ORPHEAN and SUBALPINE WARBLERS, Rock Nuthatches, MASKED SHRIKES, ROSE-COLOURED STARLINGS, several Black-headed Buntings and of course Flamingos, Black Storks, Ruddy Shelducks, Black-winged Stilts etc.

(photo © Vic Duncombe)

Mid-May 2016, half-day trip around WESTERN LESVOS

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Isabelline Wheathear; Lesvos

The highlights of this half-day (08:30-14:30) guided birding trip around SIGRI and ANTISSA areas were:

Short-toed Eagles, CHUKARS, AUDUIN’S GULL, Bee-eaters, ISABELLINE and Black-eared Wheathears, many Red-backed Shrikes, BLACK-HEADED BUNTINGS, Cirl Buntings (a family!), Spanish Sparrows etc and of course CRETZSHMAR’S and CINEREOUS BUNTINGS.