Thursday, 7 May 2015

Lesbos, Day 3

Mon.20th April

Woke up to a cold morning, 11 deg (according to the car as thermometer) as we left the hotel for the village shops. An abrupt halt on the road as I saw a smallish gull just off the beach - slender-billed gull, a good start. Making our way to the saltpans there were good views of the second summer pallid harrier, northern wheatear, red-rumped swallows and jay.


Slender-billed gull


 Pallid Harrier

Northern Wheatear

At the saltpans pumping station a common sandpiper and plus a starling, an unusual visitor! Another look over the sheep fields but nothing new although the first olivaceous warbler in the bush at the entrance was new. 

 Several Great White Egrets

Crested Lark, one of the commonest birds

Other birds here were 3 gull-billed terns and 3 red-footed falcons and a short-toed eagle. I drove up the upper E.River finding a redstart and hoopoe by the grain silos and calling in at the scops site found another 3 (7 being the record found here as far as I am aware). 


Scop's Owl

Then a quick drive into the Potamia valley finding two orphean warblers, black-eared wheatears, woodchat and grt tits.  Another visit to the inland lake at Metochi finding 2 little crakes, 1 night heron, little grebe and grey heron. 

 Little Crake

Woodchat

A cup of tea back at the hotel before I went back to the saltpans seeing; c20 whiskered terns, 1 white-winged black tern and 4 Temmink's stints. Spent some time photographing the swallows before seeing 14 collared pratingcoles then at 7.00 back to hotel.

One of four Temmink's Stints and Wood Sandpiper

 Barn Swallow

Yellow Wagtail

Collared Pratincole

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