KERAMI - FILIA RADIO MASTS - LAY-BY NEAR VATOUSSA - LARDIA VALLEY - ERESOS CROSSRAOD - IPSILOU MONASTERY - PETRIFIED FOREST - SIGRI TOWN AND FIELDS
WEATHER: thick mist covered lowland coastal areas to start with, then bright sunshine all day. Temp 25C with a nice breeze.
We had a terrific day today, we didn’t see any mega rarities but we saw plenty of the Lesvos specialities and a few migrant species thrown in. We started after breakfast at 8:15am and drove the short distance to the adjoining village called Kerami. There we saw a Long -eared Owl, an adult bird sitting out in the open, wowza! What a lovely start to our birding day.
Long-eared Owl seen in the next village called Kerami
Our destination today was the Ipsilou Monastery which is perched on the top of a pinnacle in the mountains just above Sigri in the western part of the island. We headed off via Kalloni and stopped on a track near the Radio Masts above the village of Filia. We were hoping for a sighting of Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler but we never had a sniff of one. We did see Subalpine Warbler, Cirl Bunting, Masked Shrikes, our first Turtle Doves and plenty of common finches. A Long-legged Buzzard flew over us and a Eurasian Sparrowhawk dashed a cross the hillside as we reached the bus.
Masked Shrike
Another stop further to the west near the village of Skalachori produced a few more sightings, we heard Woodlark without seeing one and we had much better views of Subalpine Warbler. Plenty of Ravens were flying around as were Common Swifts, Red-rumped Swallows and Bee-eaters. We saw Black-eared Wheatears, they were very common and masked Shrikes seemed to be everywhere.
Eastern Subalpine Warbler
Just passed the village of Vatoussa we stopped in a rocky valley called Lardia. There we saw our first Crag Martins and high above us we watched Short-toed Eagles. Eastern Black-eared Wheatears appeared as did Rock Sparrows, but we never found a Blue Rock Thrush.
we saw the Starred Agama Lizard in several places today, also the Green Balkan Lizard shown on the banner above
Our final stop before we reached the Monastery was near the crossroads above the village of Antissa. There we searched for Isabelline Wheatear, but we found none! We did see Red-backed and Woodchat Shrikes, Lots of Black-eared Wheatears, our first Woodlark and several butterflies including Black-veined White. Above us we listed Common Buzzard, Raven, Hobby and a scraggy looking male Peregrine Falcon.
Isabelline Wheatear
We finally reached the Ipsilou Monastery, we parked at the roadside at the base of the hill and spent some time birding the area., We found Rock Sparrows, Northern Wheatears and Isabelline Wheatears, Linnets, Goldfinches, Woodlark and another Long-legged Buzzard.
A couple of the group were not very mobile so we decided to drive to the top of the hill and walk down, then some of us would walk back up to retrieve the bus. We had lunch at the top just below the monastery entrance. There we enjoyed watching Blue Rock Thrush, Alpine Swifts, another Short-toed Eagle and more Common Buzzards and Ravens. Golden Orioles seemed to be the bird of the day, we saw and heard plenty of those, the beautiful golden-coloured males were absolutely stunning.
record shot of a Golden Oriole, one of many seen today.
Our walk down produced very little as far as migrants were concerned, we saw another Woodlark, more Golden Orioles and one of our most wanted species the Cinereous Bunting. Near the bottom of the hill we found a nest of the Western Rock Nuthatch, an adult bird was in attendance.
Cinereous Bunting
A Western Rock Nuthatch standing above its mud nest, built at the base of the rock
Three of us walked back to the top and discovered nothing new, we saw plenty of activity of the species we had already listed today.
A trip to the Petrified Forest museum site was called for in order to see Cretzschmar’s Bunting, so we entered the 5km-long approach road, stopping at a small roadside pool. I knew from previous visits that the Bunting comes to drink and bathe at the pool and after 10 minutes of waiting that is exactly what a male bird did! We also watched Linnets and Corn Buntings doing the same, several Marsh frogs were calling and the water’s edge was strewn with hundred of small tadpoles.
Pied Flycatcher
We drove towards the Petrified Forest Visitor’s centre and parked about 200 meters from the car park to view a series of bushes and trees. There we had a great time, we found our first Pied Flycatcher, we saw Stonechat and Whinchat, Golden Orioles and to our great surprise Denis got onto a RUPPELL’S WARBLER! This rare breeding species is confined to very small pockets elsewhere on the island and was not expected to be found there! Before we left we found a second Pied Flycatcher, Cretzschmar’s Bunting and a male Orphean Warbler.
The Ruppell's Warbler found by Denis
It was now getting on for late afternoon, we drove down into Sigri, picking up Jackdaw along the way. In Sigri we sat down outside a café and had a lovely cup of coffee before driving to the fields of Sigri. This well known track leads to the Faneromeni Fords, we didn’t have time to go that far but we went far enough to enjoy some more great birding. We saw more Golden Orioles, Turtle Doves and a good number of Bee-eaters.
European Bee-eaters seen in Sigri fields
Denis picked out a Common Cuckoo, we found three Spotted Flycatchers, two more Pied Flycatchers and a pair of Ruddy Shelducks. A stunning male Montagu’s Harrier drifted over the fields and out of sight. An Eastern Olivaceous Warbler sang behind us as we watched the bee-eaters and flycatchers. We called it day at 5:30pm, the drive back to Kalloni now only takes 45 minutes, whereas before the new road was built it took twice that long!
The day ended on a sad note, my football team Aston Villa, were well and truly beaten in the semi-final of the FA Cup, boo,hoo!!