Cover photo: Cinereous Bunting (Emberiza cineracea)
Eric and his group from America were here for a week’s birding (13 to 18/04). We went around all the great spots in central and western Lesvos and had all the breeding species and an amazing variety of migrant ones. We had three photographers and an avid bird sound recorder in the team.
Here are some record photos of mine:
The highlights of this afternoon trip around Eresos with Hilary, Nicola, Heather and Margaret were: Cretzschmar’s, Cirl and Black-headed Buntings, Oliaceous Warblers, Western Rock Nuthatches, Bee-eaters, Woodchat Shrikes, Short-toed Eagle, Long-legged Buzzards etc.
Let’s not forget that the whole island of Lesvos is designated as a Global Geopark by Unesco!
Participants in the International Summer School of Global Geoparks visited the Kalloni salt Pans on the morning of June 24. They were presented about the wetlands of the Aegean and Lesvos and birdwatched at the East parts of the Kalloni Pans. We watched together: Flamingos, 5 DALMATIAN PELICANS, 15+ Slender-billed Gulls, nesting Black-winged Stilts, a magnificent Short-toed Eagle that flew low over us all, Black Storks, Common and Little Terns etc.
The summer school that was entitled “Unesco Global Geoparks”was hosted by the Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest and the Geography Dept of the University of the Aegean. It had participants from all parts of the world (Iran, Brazil, Indonesia, France, Greece, Cyprus, Portogal, Senegal etc.).
The previous evening Lesvos Birdwatching participated in a panel discussion about the alternative activities on the island of Lesvos.
For more about the summer school see here.
Field trip with students of the Petra High School at the Molivos reservoir for birdwatching (2/3).
We had a great time birding with: 7 RUDDY SHELDUCKS, 65 MEDITERRANEAN GULLS, 14 LITTLE GREBES, 1 BLACK-HEADED GREBE (in full summer plumage!) etc. and beautiful Molivos at the background!
Members of the Japanese Geopark together with Ass. Prof. N. Zouros, Director of the Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest attended a presentation of the Kalloni Pans birds and discussed the Lesvos case of ecotourism based on birdwatching.
The Geography Institute of the University of Kiel (Germany) has chosen Lesvos Island as an annual educational destination for its students, supervised by Prof. A. Vafeidis. They participated in a presentation about the birds of the Kalloni Salt Pans showing great interest on the species recorded.
Lesvos Birdwatching 