Lesvos Birding - Part 1 of 2

We have just returned from two weeks on Lesvos, luckily Thomas Cook managed to keep going and brought us home! On the unlucky side for out first week there we were quite poorly, but thanks to the local pharmacist in Skala Kallonis, and a rest day we managed to get out and about.

Because of being under the weather we kept things pretty local for the first few days, but that's the advantage of staying in Skala Kallonis there is lots on the door step. The Salt Pans, The Christou & Tskinias Rivers, Metochi Lake and the Potamia Valley & Reservoir.

Before I go on I have to say firstly that for those who haven't been and are thinking of going for the birding, Steve Dudley's book, A Birdwatching Guide to Levos is a must, also joining the Lesvos Birders Facebook and Whatsapp Groups are also a good idea.

So to start off we had a great couple of weeks amassing 112 species of birds, plus loads of other stuff, I am going to keep it simple and just post a few photos, with what and where, rather than a detailed day be day account. Firstly we were staying in the Kalloni Bay Hotel overlooking the Kalloni Pools that are now sadly rather overgrown and silted up, but there us still some good birding to be had there...this first batch of photos were taken from our hotel room balcony.
Great Egret & Grey Heron,

 Squacco Heron,

 House Martin, (one of three actives nests on our balcony)

the Squaccos liked to roost about 5:30pm on the far side of the Kalloni Pools, this time joined by a Night Heron, (if you can find it!)

and if you found the Night Heron, now find the Purple Heron!

Only a 10-15 minute drive from the hotel are the Salt Pans, we visited these regularly, these are some of the highlights.....
Corn Bunting,

 White Stork,

 Common Tern,

 Black Stork,

 Ruff,

 Curlew Sandpiper,

 Wood Sandpiper,

 Black-winged Stilt,

 Avocet,

 Greater Flamingo,

 European Bee-eaters,

 Little Tern,

 Ruff en-masse,

 Squacco Heron,

 White-winged Tern,

 Whiskered Tern,

 and Little Stint

That's not the lot but it gives you the idea how fantastic the Salt Pans are.

Again near Kalloni are some other great sites, Potamia Valley and Reservoir, Metochi Lake, Tsiknias River, Achladeri Forest and the Christou River, we visited them all. So here are some more good bits from those visits.
Bee-eater,

 Little Ringed Plover,

 Black-headed Bunting,

 Krüpers Nuthatch,

  Kentish Plover,

 Cettis Warbler,

 Marsh Frog,

 Little Bittern, (if you can find it!)

 Little Grebe,

 Crested Lark,

 Jay,

 Woodchat Shrike,

 Little Owl,

 Nightingale,

 Black-eared Wheatear,

 Masked Shrike,

 Sand Boa,

 Long-legged Buzzard,

 Olive-tree Warbler,

 Long-eared Owl,

 Short-toed Treecreeper,

 Poppies!

 Scops Owl,

 Middle-spotted Woodpecker,

 Short-toed Eagle,

 Yellow Wagtail

 and Crested Lark.

So that covers a lot of the birds close to Skala Kalloni, in part 2 we will go further afield.

A Few Days in Cornwall

Last week we took advantage of a Groupon offer and had 4 nights down in Cornwall in Harlyn Bay just outside Padstow. It's six years since we were down that neck of the woods, so it was nice to visit some of favourite places and walks.

We started off with a walk around Pentire Head and the Rumps, which we had done a two or three times in the past and have our favourite coffee stop at the Rumps where we sit and watch. What we had forgotten is that to get there from the NT Lead Mines Car Park is quite up and down and that we are six years older, but we managed it and completed the circular walk back via Polzeath.

Of course along the way there were some birds! Unfortunately for some inexplicable reason I had left the camera in our hotel room! What a plonker! Only realised just before we got to the car park and didn't want to turn back, so just have to make do with a list of what we saw and a scenic snapshot taken on my phone.

The birds..... 

Blackbird, Blackcap, Buzzard, Cormorant, Fulmar, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Pied Flycatcher, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Rock Dove, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shag, Skylark, Swallow, Twite, Wheatear, Willow Warbler, Wood Pigeon and Wren.

The view....

So next day I did remember my camera and we went for a walk from Harlyn Bay along the coast towards Padstow, a nice flat walk, with quite a few birds about..

Oystercatchers,

 Jackdaw,

 Skylark singing,

 Nice views,

 Fulmar on approach!

 Bee, sorry don't know what sort,

 and Rook

In addition Pipits, Goldfinch, Greenfinch and Stonechat were about. We then went into Padstow for an obligatory Cornish Pastie, but the weather was now turning nasty, so other plans were shelved and we did some coastal driving for what scenery we could see through the rain!

Last day took us to Trevose Head for a walk down to Booby Bay and back again  fantastic scenery and more birds too...

Our destination ahead,

 and on the way, A Skylark or two,

 and where we started from,

 Linnet,

Beetle.... any offers for what species?

 Herring Gull,

 Meadow Pipit,

 Crazy Surfers

and a look back to where we had been.

After this we went to the National Trust at Lanhydrock for another Cornish staple, a cream tea and it was very nice thank you! With only a Buzzard (with a dodgy feather) troubling the camera.

Haden Hill & Corngreaves NR Last Week

Well  we haven't done ant birding for three weeks for a number of reasons, so it was nice last Wednesday to get out for an hour and take a stroll around our local patch Corngreaves NR and a bit of Haden Hill Park for an hour or so in the spring sunshine.

It always seems quite when we first enter the reserve, but we soon started to see a few things;
Treecreeper,

 Robin posing nicely,

 Green Woodpecker,

 Grey Squirrels everywhere of course,

 a few Long-tailed Tits

 and a Jay looking for a bite to eat.

The lower pool didn't produce anything exciting, just the usual Mallards, Coot, Moorhen and a couple of Canada Geese. Elsewhere of course the obligatory Crow, Jackdaw, Woodpigeon, Blue, Great and Coal Tit, Blackbird, Chaffinch and Dunnock.

The final sighting was a Sparrowhawk, just as we returned to the Corngreaves Car Park. So a nice hour in the sunshine and thankfully not too many dog walkers down in the reserve.