Birding in Lesvos 2024 - Part 1

So we have been back from Lesvos a couple of weeks now and I have finally finished sorting through my photos, so it's time to do a post!

It was a fabulous two weeks, we saw a record amount of bird species (for us!) Mind you some people take it very seriously and are up at the crack of dawn and go out for two or three hours before going back to their hotel for breakfast, then heading out again and not coming back until dusk,

That's not for us. We go down to breakfast as late as possible, after all we are on holiday. Then back to our room, sort coffee and snacks then head out, so most days we were out about 10.30. After a days birding we then like to get back and have a swim the pool, while the sun is still shining, the sun being out is a must as that early in the year the water is freezing!

Going back to the record for us, we recorded 137 species. This included two never before seen by us, which is a bonus, more of that in a later post. Also for some species we had the best views that we have ever had, although that doesn't always mean good photos (Sorry). For those interested I will do a full list in the end of the last post.

So where to start, chronologically I suppose;

The Tsikinias River just outside Skala Kallonis is always the first port of call and will be visited most days during the two weeks as its a nice way out of the village, it got us off to a great start, with a Purple Heron,

Little Egrets,

Yellow-legged Gull

and Glossy Ibis.

Unfortunately out first day was quite dull so the colours of the Glossy Ibis, don't stand out like they can, here's another photo of an individual,

hopefully it show the colours a little better.

From there its on to the Kalloni Salt Pans to see what's about:

A White stork,

Passing Ruddy Shelduck,

a Whinchat,

there are always Flamingos and Avocets,

Salt!

and a Reed Warbler.

Other birds would have been Wood Sandpiper, Ruff, Black-winged Stilt, Bee-eaters, Crested lark and Corn Bunting.

Despite what I said earlier we did do one pre-breakfast trip, as Tina couldn't sleep so we went out to Metochi Lake; 

It was a dull morning and there wasn't much about, so much for going out early, very over rated if you ask me. But we did see two scurrying Little Crakes in the reeds, getting a photo was nigh on impossible!

There were a few Squacco Herons about, but again photography was difficult as there was a mist coming off the water.

After Breakfast we took an all day trip to Makara and the nearby valley, this is one of our favourite drives, in places you would think your on another planet!. Here are some of what we saw:

Woodchat Shrike,

Little Owl,

Lizard!

Juvenile Stonechat,

a very distant Sardinian Warbler,

Grasshopper,

Wood Sandpipers,

Little Bittern,

Crested Lark,

Turtle Dove,

Rock Nuthatch

Tortoise,

Black-eared Wheatear and

Ruddy Shelduck.

I think I will leave it there for this post, it's a lot of stuff!

Part 2 to follow...............................

A Belated Sandwell Valley Report!

A couple of weeks ago we mad a trip to the Valley with our good friends Wendy and Tim. We started of from the Forge Mill car park and did the RSPB 'bit', sadly the hide was shut as there were works going on on the paths, so we detoured down the muddy paths cutting out part of the reserve.

Tufty's were showing well as usual,

 and it was nice to see the Black-headed Gulls back in their Summer plumage,

 a couple of Oystercatchers were sunning themselves,

 and if you look closely there is a single Snipe on the left of this photo, keeping the Lapwing company.

 I was surprised to find two Yellow-legged Gulls, keeping to themselves away from the hoards of Black-headed Gulls.

 Even though Buzzards are now a common sight, I still love taking photos of such a brilliant bird.

Other birds of note at Forge Mill were plenty of Goosander, although none came close enough for a decent photo, likewise a few Pochard were about, and a pair of Shoveler seen from one of the screens. The feeders at the visitor centre provided Bullfinch, Greenfinch, the usual Tits, but unfortunately no sign of Willow Tits this time.

So after a good walk we popped back in the car and went over to Swan Pool for another walk.
At first sight nothing to special, but like Buzzards, Great Crested Grebes are always worth a photo or three!

A pair of Goldeneye were out in the middle of the pool:

always worth seeing. We then saw our first Stonechats of the year,

 The pools through out the Valley held plenty of Tufted Ducks,

 Grey Heron

 and as we wandered back, this Cormorant was seen showing off.

 The finally a Song Thrush popped out by the Car Park.

 A total of 39 species were seen, so not great but not bad either!

Montenegro

Week two saw us in Montenegro staying just outside Budva in Becici, So would the bird sightings improve...... not a lot! We did quickly add Common Buzzard to our list, seen patrolling the mountain ridge visable from our hotel room.

Not a great photo, but it was a fair distance away. There seemed to be many more Hooded Crows here than up in Croatia,

Grey Wagtails were pretty common too:

But otherwise out and about not much else was seen, although going out for a walk we did find a Coal Tit and a female Blackcap, neither of which allowed me to photograph them.

On a visit to the old town of Kotor we again came across Grey Wagtail and 3 Common Kingfishers together which was great, but none of them would perch for a photo, this was the best I could get:

Our final day in Montenegro was an exdcursion to Lake Skadar bordering Albania, this included a couple of hours out on a boat on the lake, always a good thing, we were looking forward to this, with high hopes of adding Dalmatian Pelican to our life list.

Things got off to a great start as we chugged along a river before heading out onto the lake,
A Marsh Harrier (unless anyone tells me differently, not a great shot as it was in the sun and silhouettted)

 Greay Heron,

 Yellow Legged Gull,

 Great Crested Grebe, there were hundreds of these on the lake, never seen so many,

 Black-headed Gull,

 and our first ever Pygmy Cormorant,

 plus some very smart Great Egret.

But no sign of Dalmatian Pelicans! So just have to have a close up of a Pygmy Cormorant instead.

So eventually the boat made its way back, then many miles away I could see what looked like Storks circling over a hillside, on closer inspection they turned out to be Pelicans, miles away but it is our first ever glimpse:

We went for a stroll after the boat trip and found some Common Kingfisher, but they wouldn't stop for a closeup! We did find these which was very nice:

 This water snake scooted by us at speed and quickly disappeared into a crevice in the rocks

So that was Montenegro.... from a wildlife viewpoint!