METOCHI LAKE - ACHLADERI PINE WOODS - COAST ROAD TO POLICHINITOS SALT PANS - VATERA - AGIOS FOCAS - RETURN TO ACHLADERI COAST ROAD
WEATHER: borken sunshine all day with strong breeze.
Today we took a more leisurely pace and went for specific species rather than a carte blanche approach. Our morning excursion was a visit to the small pool at Metochi, its sits in the most beautiful settings not too far from Kalloni. We were not disappointed, the pool was covered in a veil of mist which added to the atmospheric setting, it was flat calm not whiff of air disturbed it.
Metochi Lake at 6:30am this morning
Bird song rang out from all directions, it was magical out there. We quickly found Reed and Great Reed Warblers, we got our first glimpse of Cetti’s Warbler, Nightingales sang too and common birds such as as Great Tit and Blackbird joined in.
one of the 7 Squacco herons seen this morning
Little Bittern
Scanning the reeds we found Little Crake, 7 Squacco Herons and 2 Little Bitterns. After half an hour we found up to 5 Little Crakes, only one of them was the colourful male. Grey Heron and Black Stork flew over us, a large flock of bee-eaters settled in a far-off tree, we picked out a very distant Black-eared Wheatear, a Masked Shrike sat in a dead tree and found Woodchat Shrike and many Corn Buntings. As we walked back to the bus a Hoopoe flew over the far end of the lake.
a male Little Crake
Great Reed Warbler
Afdter breakfast we visited the pine woodlands at Axchladeri to look specifically for the Kruper’s Nuthatch, which very obligingly was nesting in the same place as last year. Other birds seen in the ‘open’ woodland were Cirl Buning, Serins, Short-toed Treecreeper, lots of Chaffinches and both Blue and Great Tit. Marsh Harrier and black Stork flew over.
Kruper's Nutchatch leaving the nest hole carrying a fecal sac
Along the coastal track towards Polichintos Salt Pans we stopped to view a field which apparently held a very rare Richard’s Pipit, the filed was well watched with many birders present. Dozens of birds were in the cut-grass of the fiel, we saw Red-throated Pipit, lots of Yellow Wagtails of several sub-species, a few Whinchats, a Common Whitethroat and we did find a large Pipit. The large pipit was duistant and with the heat quiver we could not tell what species it was!
a Cirl Bunting from the Pine Woods at Achladeri
The beach pool at Alicoudi was virtually bird-less, but we did see Little Ringed and Kentish Plovers and a single Collared Pratincole, this bird showed off its flying skills abovce the water before settling down to rest.
At the Salt Pans of Polichinitos we watched many terns, the Sandwich Tern is generally quite scarce in April on Lesvos but we saw over 50 of them! Also Little Terns and Common Terns. A few waders were feeding too, we saw Ruff, Avocets, Black-winged Stilts, Kentish Plovers and a single Temminck’s Stint.
Sandwich Terns at Polichinitos Salt Pans
We ate lunch in the little harbour in the village before setting off to the south coast at Vatera, we paused at a small stream at the outskirts of the this seaside village to look at Terrapins and a couple of Little Ringed Plovers. It was quite windy there and our search for other species went unrewarded.
European Pond Terrapins
The headland at nearby Agios Fokas was next on the list. We planned a short sea-watch from there, which provided a modicum of success. We saw singles of Yelkouan Shearwater fore we chanced upon a large group of them feeding out in the bay. They appeared to following a large shoal of Tuna Fish that was hunting Sardines! It was action packed and dramatic albeit quite a distance away. A separte flock of twenty plus Yelkouan Shearwaters flew by much closer.
6 Glossy Ibis flew past us at Agios Fokas
Peter picked out our second Black-eared Wheatear, a much closer one than this morning’s sighting. We then made our way back to Achladeri, stopping once to visit another pine woods where we found another Short-toed Treecreeper, this time everyone got to see it.
a very poor record shot of the distant Yelkouan Shearwaters
A second attempt to see the Richard’s Pipit was made on the way back, we were alone now and the heat haze had subsided somwwhat. All the birds were still there, we found two large Pipits but once again they were much too far away to get a proper identity of them. I would say that they looked more like Tawny Pipits than Richard’s.
As we pulled away from the cut-grass field we spotted another large Pipit in another field, this one was was much closer and, although it proved to be elusive in longer grass, I managed a few pictures of it and it too proved to be a Tawny Pipit. We got back to the hotel around 6:30pm, another long, but very enjoyable, day on Lesvos.