ARRIVAL IN MYTILINE AND TRANSFER TO SKALA KALLONI - ONE STOP AT THE MESA MARSHES
WEATHER: light cloud but mnostly susnshine temp 17C
I have not a lot to write about for this first day which was spent travelling from London to Athens and then across to the Island of Lesvos in the Aegean Sea.
the Italian Alps seen from the 37,000ft
Our first birds seen as we disembarked from the plane at Mytilini were Red-rumped Swallows and Barn Swallows. Whilst waiting for the paperwork to be done as we collected our minibus we scanned the sea and found Yelow-legged Gulls and quite a few Scopoli's Shearwaters.
Along the route from Mytilini to Mesa we saw House Sparrows, Collared Doves, Feral Pigeons and Hoopded Crows (wow! this is gonna be a 'mega' trip with those kind of sightings!!).
At Mesa we stopped for 15 minutes and found a few birds but not a lot. My two most "loved" species of lesvos: Crested Lark and Corn Bunting, were seen well and frequently! Ha! We also saw a flock of 15 European Bee-eaters, a few yellow-legged Gulls, Little Egret, Common Coot, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (heard), Blackbird, Chaffinch and a Common Kestrel.
Our first Orchid of the trip - mTongue Orchid Serapias Lingua
We drove past the Kalloni Salt Pans we saw many waders and identified only Black-winged Srtilts and Avocets. Greater Flamingo was also seen as well as half a dozen White Storks.
The Kalloni Marsh was once a large open pool. It still attracts many species.
After dinner we walked out to the edge of the Kalloni Marsh ich was just outdie of the hotelk gates, we saw E Olivaceous Warbler and heard Common Nightingale, Reed Warbler, Cetti's Warbler and a Moorhen. A few bats were flying around as walked back into the hotel to finish our first day. I think we listed 15 species in all, it going to get better, watch this space!!