Lesvos, May 2019
After the success of last years trips with Gary Edwards to The Gambia and Fuerteventura, we decided to plan a trip to Lesvos (also called Mitilini), a Greek island situated in the Aegean Sea to the east of the mainland, although it is actually next to the west coast of Turkey. It is a very popular destination with birders during spring when large numbers of a wide variety of birds migrate through the island.
Gary and I flew with Thomas Cook direct from Manchester and stayed in a beautiful villa called Ilyda Residence situated in the small village of Skala Kallonis, meaning the port of Kallonis. This is the main area that birders visiting the island tend to base themselves. Here you have direct access to Kalloni salt pans and the Tsiknias river, both excellent locations for birding.
The numbers of passage migrant birds usually peak in the second half of April which just happens to coincide with the usual arrival period of breeding summer visitors. However Thomas Cook does not provide direct flights from Manchester until the 11th of May so in reality Gary and I missed the major movements of migratory birds and by the time we arrived things had slowed down.
Day 1
Corn Bunting: When we landed and collected our hire car and then checked in with Alex (the apartment manager) a top bloke who couldn't do enough to make us feel welcome before we headed out to explore Metochi Lake and pick up some new birds.
Short-toed Eagle: One bird that seemed to be literally everywhere was corn bunting with their repetitive metallic sound, usually likened to jangling keys heard from every lamppost, every tree and every bush.
Painted Lady: Metochi Lake is a small fresh water inland lake situated north of Killoni, we parked in a lay by at the top of the main road and walked there and back.
Eastern Olivaceous Warbler: This was a pleasant walk surrounded by wild flower margins, fields and olive groves.
Metochi Lake particularly good for little bittern, short-toed eagle, great reed warbler, cetti’s warbler, masked, black-headed bunting, nightingale and Eastern olivaceous warbler.
Whiskered Tern: After ticking a few new birds around Metochi Lake and getting our best views of the small, shy Eastern olly and nightingale we moved on to Kalloni salt pans.
Leaving the main road between Kalloni and Mytilini you can drive around the pans, the road is quiet, except for large trucks delivering the salt from the pans to the factory, but typically you can take your time driving around the edge of the canals that surround the salt pans or visit the several raised bird hides.
Kalloni salt pans and bay is an absolute hotspot for birdwatchers, this seemed to be the main place for birders to spend most of their time.
Black Winged Stilt: We could see large flocks of flamingos and black storks from the road and one of the first birds we had was a cracking white-winged black tern hawking in front of us.
The salt pans quickly became one of my favourite places on the island and a place Gary and I often finished each day.
Black Stork: There is a sharp bend in the road that creates a muddy edge and exposed slit, its here that we had most of the waders such as black winged stilt, wood sandpiper, Temminck's stint, little ringed plover and ruff.
Also in this area we came across a small flock of 5 black stork feeding in the shallows.
I was amazed to see how different black stork feeding behaviour is to white stork, they appear to march through shallow water with the long red beaks dredging through and occasionally stabbing at it.
Much more frantic and bizarre behaviour than the more elegant looking white storks.
Wow, we were blown away to how close these huge impressive, odd looking birds came.
Black Terns: On our first day we had a very large flock of around 30 black tern pass through the salt pans. We never saw numbers like this during the rest of our time on the island.
Day 2
Stone Curlew: The next day Gary and I had organised a guided day trip with the fantastic Eleni Galinou.
Rough-legged buzzard: Eleni is a well respected and knowledgeable bird guide, she picked us up at 9am and arrived with a smile.
Little Owl: Like most birders the minute that I set foot on Lesvos, I was dying to see the Kruper’s Nuthatch. So our first stop was to Achladeri forest a large area of pine forest home to Krüper’s nuthatch and short-toed treecreeper.
Needless to say, I was excited.
Cretzschmar's Bunting: We passed by the salt pans and the nearby Mesa wetlands when Eleni pulled over and pointed out first distant stone curlew.
When we arrived at the forest we had masked shrike and black-eared wheatear from the car before setting off in to the woods.
After a long search we had finally heard and saw our first Kruper’s, albeit high up in the canopy. I was happy but wanted better views.
From the forest we embarked on the long trip across the island to Napi Valley near Mantamados.
Black-eared Wheatear: This valley was excellent, home to tonnes of breeding birds. We had rock nuthatch feeding young close to the car on a fence post.
Black-headed Bunting: On the higher areas we had dozens of Cretzschmar's and black-headed buntings.
Spotted Flycatcher: Migratory spot fly's were numerous too.
Wood Lark: The Napi Valley is a huge mountainous areas of rocky outcrops, short scrub and open areas. This habitat is a migrant passage route and one of the main cross-island routes for raptors and other large migrating birds.
Ruddy Shelduck: We drove over the bumpy, rocky roads - perhaps I'm being too generous calling these dusty tracks 'roads' as there were times I thought the car wouldn't make it up the hills.
Long-legged Buzzard: Eleni knew the precise areas to be looking and in no time Gary and I were in double figures.
Black-headed Bunting: We would regularly stop and walk a short distance checking the trees and shrubs for warblers, sparrows and buntings while keeping an eye on the sky for raptors.
Cinereous Bunting: This is a gorgeous, understated bird that has become an icon of Lesvos birding. Breeding in southern Turkey and southern Iran, and winters around the Red Sea in north-eastern Africa and Yemen. A few isolated populations just about maintain a foothold within European borders, on islands in the Aegean Sea
Northern Wheatear & Crested Lark: After driving through the mountainous regions and down the valleys we traveled across to Ipsilou Monastery.
Chukar: A long and winding road took us up to the ancient building which is surrounded by a small thick wooded area. A good place to see Sardinian warbler, blue rock thrush, alpine swift and chukar.
We also witnessed more bird migration and had two honey buzzard flying over the valley and across to Turkey.
Isabelline Wheatear: We ended up seeing three species of wheatear, Northern, black-eared and Isabelline.
Black-eared Wheatear: Out of the three I enjoyed seeing the black-eared variety the most, firstly its a stunning bird and secondly I hadn't seen one before.
Chukar: I cant recommend Eleni enough, if you visit the island and it's your first time get her booked in you won't regret it.
Turtle Dove: Not only do you get to see some very good birds, from rock sparrow, cinereous bunting to rock nuthatch and Isabelline wheatear you also get to see more of this stunning island and really get to grips with what areas are the best.
https://lesvosbirdwatching.gr/
lesvosbirdwatching@gmail.com
Day 3
Rüppell's Warbler: On our third day we considered our options and decided to go see a the Rüppell's at Kavaki at the north of the island.
Eastern Subalpine Warbler: The male Rüppell's was reported singing continuously and showing well from the car overlooking a picture postcard bay.
We weren't disappointed. This area of the island was stunning and the bird showed well.
(Orchis sancta) Holy Orchid: After spending some time with the warblers we had some lunch in the nearby village of Molivos where we had some of the best food during our stay at a taverna called 'friends', seriously, the food was great.
Once we had stuffed our faces we explored the valley close to Molivos reservoir, an area that was reported to be good to Audouin's gull and great-spotted cuckoo.
There were plenty of yellow legged gull but no Audouin's and we didn't do well with the cuckoo either.
But we walked on through the valley where we spotted our first orchid of the trip - a holy orchid.
Theses orchids are larger and variable in colour and they have a lip that lacks any spots, and by the time the flowers open the basal leaves of the plant have died back almost completely.
Orchis sancta is by far the most common orchid on the island and we saw several spikes from the east, right across to the west, but many were brown and dried out. So I was pretty pleased to see a hand full at Molivos that were in good shape.
On our way back to the car we spotted a spur-thighed, also known as the Greek tortoise crossing our path.
Fresh out of a stream he was a little bit soggy and a little bit smelly.
This was a nice walk but not anywhere near as good as the book says, we had peregrine over, ruddy shelduck, Sardinain warbler and Eastern olly's.
Temminck's Stint: Back home and back to Kallonis we spent the last few hours along the tracks around the salt pans.
Squacco Heron: This time we had several squacco that were stopping off before moving through.
We didn't see many of these during our trip and nor any as close as they were that evening.
Temminck's Stint: We got lucky again as there were a couple of Temminck's feeding along the edge of the canal close to the road.
Having only seen these small waders in the UK at a distance and usually in poor light, it was a thrill to see them close up and in great detail just from the car.
Ruff: It was a real joy watching the waterbirds include marsh terns, waders, herons and storks, and the adjoining fields and field boundaries great places to look for chats, shrikes, buntings and raptors.
European Bee-Eater: Plenty of bee-eaters were foraging above the wild flower fields and above the salt pans.
Crested Lark: Like mini road-runners these were numerous across most of the sites we visited.
Rose-coloured Starling: Another area we visited was Faneromeni beech in Sigri a well known area for bird migration.
Golden Oriole: We hit the jackpot, we had our first flock of 20 rosy starling and 5 golden oriole.
Day 4
Eastern Bonelli's Warbler: When we were out with Eleni she tipped us off and gave us some details on a decent site called Potamia Valley, this place is good for sombre tit and Eastern Bonelli's warbler, two target birds.
It wasn't long until we saw both birds.
The Bonelli's is a small, long-winged leaf warbler that's has recently been separated from the closely related Western Bonelli's Warbler by range and vocalizations.
Similar to commoner leaf warblers such as common chiffchaff and willow warbler, but plainer facial pattern, prominent yellowish-green wing panel and outer tail feathers, and very white underparts aid in identification.
Olive Tree Warbler: Gary and I walked a little further down the valley where it changed from mountain scrub to dense oak forest.
I was getting too warm and wanted to go back to the car when Gary pointed out the call of an olive tree warbler!
Thrilled but unsure I grabbed my scope and we searched for the singing warbler.
He was spot on, high up in a tree was a brilliant singing male olive tree.
For a bird that is famed for being very elusive and hard to pin down we were surprised how easy this bird was to observe.
Cretzschmar's Bunting: Having our fill of this area we pushed on and I drove over to the higher mountains of Ipsilou and the petrified forest track.
Black-headed Bunting: En route we stopped at another area that Eleni pointed out, a small valley that was a perfect place for crag martins. Another decent bird to add to our list.
Cinereous Bunting: I loved this area, it seemed to be full of good birds.
Red-backed Shrike: The rocky hillside good for rock nuthatch, we saw at least 6 and several black-eared wheatears and a couple of stonechats.
Eastern Orphean Warbler: We had some spectacular views of the valley and surrounding hills and acts like a good area to see raptors. We saw 2 common buzzards, a long-legged buzzard, 1 peregrine, 2 ravens, plus an Orphean warbler that was attending a nest close to the road.
This was a great little bird, very distinctive with its dark grey, almost back head and upper parts.
Rock Nuthatch: We drove back down the desiccated forest track where we got our best views of rock nuthatch.
This is the second largest nuthatch in west Palerctic with upright stance enhancing size, particularly in comparison to our local (wood) nuthatch.
They have a longer and stouter bill, longer head, and deeper body, crown, back, rump, tail, wing coverts, and inner flight feathers pale blue-grey, upperparts marked only by long black eye-stripe and blackish primaries.
Scops Owl: Another area that we came across via the Lesvos Whatsapp group was a small wooded area full of eucalyptus trees. This area was known as scops copse the best area on the island to see these tiny little scops owls.
Long-eared Owl: By chance while we were standing in the shade of the eucalyptus trees the Whataspp group pinged in my pocket with a message that there were two showy long-eared owls back near Kalloni pools.
We packed up and shot off and were rewarded with some of the best views I've ever had of LEO's.
Day 5
Rose-coloured Starling: On the 5th day we stayed local and decided to hang around the salt pans and I'm glad we did. Almost as soon as we arrived on a person free road, we picked up a large flock of around 50 starlings.
They were the first to be reported in the Kalloni area. They came pretty close before flying off to find some mulberry trees.
I've seen plenty of rosy starlings back in the UK, but only ever single individual birds so to see a huge flock of pink starlings was just amazing.
European Bee-Eater: Plenty of local birds round, bee-eaters, skylarks, buntings, sparrows and the regular waders.
Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin: Another target bird and one we were hoping for back in Faneromeni near Sigri was the scrub robin and were thrilled to pick up a singing male on Kalloni beech.
Collard Pratincole: We ended up finding two more new birds and both birds we never thought we would see.
First was two Dalmatian, the first reported of the season. We found these loafing about with some flamingos in small pools at the back of Mesa wetlands viewed from the fence overlooking a sheep field.
White Stork: The second bird was collared pratincole and we had two birds fly over our heads from the fields. Gary and I have dipped several pratincole in the UK so we were proper made up we saw these two.
More storks were also around that day, with an increase in white storks.
White-winged Black Tern: We put our finds and the information on the Lesvos Whatapp group and a few early morning birders trickled down, many connected with the pelican but the starlings had moved on.
After lunch we moved on and drove across to Achladeri Forest where I was hoping to get better views of the Krüper’s.
I wasn't disappointed this time as we were given directions for a nest site! The only problem was the weather, as it was particularly overcast and drizzly which made getting any photos almost impossible.
Short-toed Treecreeper: We also came across a treecreeper nest right near the car park.
Day 6
Cephalanthera longifolia (Sword-leaved Helleborine):
My birthday, yeah it was on this day I turned 35 years young!
With each passing year, people find ways to make memories that they will always associate with a particular age. Turning 35 can be met with a mixture of joy and melancholy.
However, having the opportunity to live to see another year is one reason to be happy. Celebrating my 35th birthday by doing things that you’ve always wanted to do and enjoying these moments with the people in your life is what this birding trip was about.
I woke up with balloons and some presents that Gary secretively packed away at Dawn's request, which was a lovely thing to do.
I was also given a surprise day out orchid hunting!!!
I was thrilled!!!!!
Gary and Dawn have organised a trip with world renowned expert on the orchids of Lesvos Jan Van Lent. Born in Holland he has been living and studying the orchids of Lesvos for over 17 years.
He currently runs a popular orchid blog and details the species, varieties and locations of the orchids of Lesvos and is currently writing a book on the subject.
Cephalanthera longifolia (Sword-leaved Helleborine): Jan picked us up at 9am and he drove us up to the mountains near Mount Olympus (the largest mountain on the lsland) he took us to a pine woodland near Mikri Limni and where we found a very odd looking
Cephalanthera damasonium/cucullata, (white helleborine) the problem was this individual appeared to have a tiny spur emanating from the back of the flower head. Also there was only one spire and typically
C. longifolia come in two or three spires.
Ophrys homeri (Homer Orchid): The next orchid Jan found was the sword-leaved helleborine. This grows up to about 40 cm in height and is distinguished by the shape of it's leaves, which are long and narrow. Both the Latin name
longifolia which means long-leaved and the English common name 'sword-leaved' refer to the distinctive shape of the leaves.
The flowers are white, and there is a distinctive yellow patch on their lips.
The next orchid Jan pointed out was
Ophrys homeri. This orchid is extremely variable and easily confused with its close relative
O. calypsus, an orchid which shares a similar range and many of its characteristics
.
A beautiful tall O
phrys that was first described in 1997 from Chios but since that time has been found on the neighbouring islands of Lesbos and Kos.
A distinguishing feature is the band of submarginal hair around the lip of the flower, this is thick and typically very pale in color that contrasts with the dark brown lip itself. Speculum markings vary but can be both elaborate and extensive, often covering the entire lip and extending along basal swellings.
It doesn't get its name from a yellow fat alcoholic dad from the Simpsons cartoon but commemorates Chios's most famous former inhabitant, the ancient poet Homer.
Anacamptis mori (Small Green-winged Orchid): We eventually pushed on up to a small field before a town called Sanatorio.
Jan was frantically searching the road side verges and grassy banks for orchids. Jan was a real pleasure to spend time with, he was really engaging and funny.
Jan and Gary both found some stunning orchids and I even remember Gary finding the best looking specimen of
H. comperiana.
It was stunning up in these hills, the areas alongside the roads, the fields and the wooded areas were full of lunch green vegetation. It seemed hotter up here too, we picked a good day as the weather was brilliant.
I was worried that even though Gary helped organised this orchid hunting adventure in the Greek hills of Lesvos he wouldn't really get much from it. Us orchid fanatics are an unusual breed of human.
But I'm glad to say that I think he did enjoy the day, the orchids were pretty cool and Jan was great company, I was impressed that Jan had Gary running around on the hunt for some orchids.
Serapias orientalis (Small-flowered Serapias): Up on this grassy field Jan also pointed out
Serapias orientalis.
A short but robust plant growing to around 30cm tall that has 5 pointed leaves growing up the stem and further bract-like leaves higher up.
Each inflorescence carries up to 5 small flowers which are quite densely packed together. The sepals and petals are a pale pink-to-mauve and veined with dark red.
They form a 'hood' over the lip of the flower which is broad at the base and tapering sharply towards the pointed tip. The lip is coated in the center with long, dense white-ish hairs.
The overall color of the flowers is variable - some are pink and others a dull yellow or brick-colored orange.
Anacamptis pyramidalis (Pyramidal Orchid): Also in this area were the soft pink spikes of
A. pyramidalis.
Many of these orchids were on the edge of their flowering season and many were brown and not looking at their best
Ophrys homeri (Homer Orchid): This specimen we came across was again different. O. homeri are incredible variable.
This one had less flower heads and seemed shorter in relation to others we came across. It had a completely different almost less conspicuous labellum patterns, it was darker and not as prominent.
The purpose of these patterns and shapes is to mimic female insects to attract male pollinators is an important strategy in sexually deceptive orchids of the genus O
phrys, and some species possess flowers with conspicuous labellum patterns. The function of the variation of the patterns remains unresolved, with suggestions that these enhance pollinator communication.
Himantoglossum comperiana (Komper's Orchid): The etymology of H.
comperiana is particually interesting. After time spent in the Orchis genus
Orchis comperiana, and as a monotypic genus -
Comperia comperiana - it has now settled with the Lizard Orchid
Himantoglossum hircinum and the Giant Orchid
Himantoglossum robertianum in the
Himantoglossum genus.
With its distinctly hooded flowers H.
comperiana has much in common with the Lizard Orchid and the Giant Orchid, but even at its most robust it doesn't grow as tall, reaching around 65cm at best compared to the 110cm which is achieved by some specimens of the other two species.
Orchis quadripuntata (Four Spotted Orchid):
O. quadripuntata owes its name to the four little spots at the base of the labellum, but unfortunately these flower heads were going over and the first to go was the labellum.
The flowers of
O. quadripunctata can be rose, pink or purple-red. The white-flowered plants have been described as
O. quadripunctata F. albiflora. We only saw the bright pink versions during our hunt.
Cephalanthera longifolia (Sword-leaved Helleborine): A fairly substantial orchid, growing up to 60cm in height. It can easily be distinguished from its nearest relative, the white helleborine, by its very long, erect and narrowly-tapering, dark-green leaves which collectively appear in the shape of a fan.
Flowers have a fairly large and open hood. The petals and sepals point forwards partially obscuring an egg-yoke colored lip enveloped within.
These were by far the most common of the orchids we saw in the area, they were growing on the side of the road, along grassy banks and across woodland tracks.
Orchis tridentata (Toothed Orchid): Not many of these orchids around, although we did see a couple that were brown and about to go over.
The three-pronged orchid (also known as the Toothed Orchid) is different from most of our country's orchids in its dense, spherical bloom, at the beginning of the flowering from its conical structure.
Beautiful.
Himantoglossum comperiana (Komper's Orchid): More extraordinary than beautiful H.
comperiana was definitely the star of the day.
The orchids of Lesvos make for a great distraction for any birder, especially during the middle of the day if it’s hot or like with us towards the end of migration when things slow down.
In Turkey not only is H.
comperiana very rare indeed partly due to the confectionery industry which uses the starchy tubers of orchids to thicken and add taste to dairy desserts and drinks.
Yeah, that's correct in Turkey and other places people dig these orchids up to make a substance they can drink that they believe makes them more fertile!!!
Platanthera holmboei (Holmboe’s Butterfly Orchid):P. holmboei is a species of orchid native to the eastern Mediterranean (northern Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, the Greek Islands, and Cyprus).
Related to butterfly orchids
P. holmboei flowers are more strongly tinged with green, less fragrant, and with slightly larger perianth- segments.
They also has spurs 18-27 mm, slightly dilated at apex; anther- cells convergent above but widely separated below.
Orchis provincialis (Province Orchid): Here is one of the most stubble and prettiest of the orchids we found.
Creamy white with soft pink spots of the sepals.
Platanthera holmboei (Holmboe’s Butterfly Orchid): The major threats to these precious orchids populations here is Lesvos is grazing, primarily by goats. Many areas are restricted for goat grazing, but even so we saw plenty of areas grazed and orchids eater by goats even in these protected areas.
In the same area were more
C. longifolia, these orchids seems to be much more tolerant and could be found growing in a wide variety of habitats.
This beautiful plant like most orchids has a very distinctive way of becoming pollinated. The flower has an open mouth and on the lower lip is a 'landing pad' for bees. When the bee lands, the mouth is forced further open to accommodate the bee as he goes in search of some nectar.
Then the mouth closes and the bee has to turn around and force his way back to the opening, and in doing so he gets covered in pollen. When he is free, he flies off to another flower and in repeating his search for nectar, the pollen gets spread onto the next blossom.
Serapias bergonii (medium size Bergon’s Serapias):
S. bergonii is a slender and somewhat spindly-looking plant which grows to around 30cm tall. If you find one you will probably find several although the plants grow singly rather than in close groups or clumps.
The plant has 5 or 6 narrow pointed leaves which grow from the base, and several small bract-like leaves along the upper stem.
Although larger than
S. orientalis they were still relativity small and we and to tread carefully in order to not damage any of the flowering plants.
Driving across the mountains and through the valleys was breath taking at times. Jan drove us to a mountain ridge that was shimmering in the sunshine.
Millions of tiny shiny crystals littered the ground and were flashing at us as the sun bounced off them. We eventually reached a huge quarried area where the mountain had been mined for its crystals.
For me one of the highlights of the day was a tour of the chestnut forest and the quartz crystal quarry in the southern mountains of Lesvos.
Orchis italica (Naked-man Orchid): The Naked Man Orchid grows up to 50cm in height and has a rosette of distinctive wavy-margined leaves at the base of the plant. The leaves are sometimes flecked with brown. There are a further 3 or 4 small leaves sheathing the stem. The flowers are carried in a dense inflorescence and are usually pale to dark pink.
Himantoglossum comperiana (Komper's Orchid): Likes buses, after a long wait two come at once H.
comperiana appeared to sprig up right in front of us and come out of nowhere.
Lesvos has much to offer in the way of wildflower, orchids and birding. If I went earlier in the season I would have seen more
Ophrys.
Today there are over 90 species found on the island, but for a long time, the island has been known among birdwatchers as a very good place to watch birds during spring and autumn migration, but now also for orchid lovers.
If I went later in the season I would have seen
Himantoglossum montis-tauri/jankae the fantastically bizarre looking Balkan or Eastern Lizard Orchid.
We did search for these along the famous Megalochori track, but only found a few rosettes and a couple of spires that were not in flower yet.
Spending the day with Gary and Jan was most definitely a highlight of the trip, and sharing my 35th birthday with some of the most stunning and amazing orchids, surrounded by the hills of forests of Lesvos was a real joy, there's no better way to celebrate a birthday.
Fritillaria pontica: Now take a look at this little beauty, with its waxy bell-shaped, scented flowers of pale green, tinged maroon at the base, arise in April and May.
Found on the side of a shaded road when we were looking for more
Ophrys orchids.
Among the beautiful of all fritillarias,
Fritillaria pontica is native to mountains in Albania, Bulgaria, northern Greece and western Turkey.
Thanks so much to my good friend Gary and the best girlfriend I could wish for, Dawn for organizing this great trip.
Day 7
Greater Flamingo: Our last full days birding on the island and we still had a few things to fit in.
White Stork: These gregarious birds nest in the town of Kalloni, right in the centre near the tavernas and busy roads.
We even had lunch almost under the nest site. Great place to a bite to eat.
There amazing to watch as white storks exhibit behaviour exclusively at the nest site such as allopreening and beak clapping while throwing their long necks over their backs.
Krüper's Nuthatch: Last ditch attempt to get some images of the Krüper's and it really paid off, the sun was out and the light in the forest much better.
The Krüper's is the smallest of the three nuthatch found of lesvos and even more compact than our (wood) nuthatch, but with proportionately longer bill.
Really good to see this small bird close up and in detail, they appear to have an essentially slaty-blue above and white below, with sharply-patterned head and diagnostic broad reddish-brown chest-band.
No other west Palearctic Sitta has similar discrete chest band.
I can understand why this bird is so popular on the island, not only does this bird have a very restricted distribution, mainly in Turkey and the Caucasus as well as Lesbos, where its population is apparently stable and estimated at 50-100 breeding pairs, but its a little stunner!
It was a joy to see both male and female going in and out of their little hole that they have made themselves.
Eurpoean Roller: After the forest we drove across the island to Molivos to tick the new arrived roller.
Eastern Tree Frog: On our final evening walk around the salt pans we picked up Tom Bell a birder from London and West Ham fan (but don't hold that against him) who kindly showed us where the tree fogs are.
They were right outside his hotel, I think it was the Pasanine Hotel that overlooks Kalloni pools. Lesvos is home to several amphibians including the green frogs, tree frogs, the eastern spadefoot or Syrian spadefoot and the green toad.
We ended up, like most evenings down on the salt pans where we took Tom straight over to the sheep field's that over looked the pelicans, where two still remained.
In this area we were joined by another couple of birders who helped pick up pallid harrier, four stone curlew and keniths plovers.
Snake-eyed Lizard: We also had a mooch around the beach area for the scrub robin and Tom picked out a lovely lacewing and then a hoopoe and even on the way out he spotted two pratincole fly over the car! Good going mate, eagle eyes.
Thread Lacewing: The next day we were going home, Lesvos had been really good, even though we arrived during the latter part of the migration, the island still had a lot to offer and we saw birds I didn't think we would have done.
The beer was good, the weather was good and the people both visiting birders and locals were brilliant.
Short-toed Eagle: I can't recommend this brilliant book highly enough 'Birdwatching Guide to Lesvos' by Steve Dudley is a completely new site guide to the hugely popular Aegean island of Lesvos. We had some issues with our binding and pages but the content was great, this is the printers fault not the authors.
I also can't thank the admins of the local Whatapp groups enough, as it was here we got most of our information. Cheers fellas.
We ended on 121 species for the trip and I ended up with 16 new lifers and 17 orchid species.
http://lesvosbirding.com/guide-book/a-birdwatching-guide-to-lesvos/
http://www.janvanlent.com/blog/?page_id=519
https://www.facebook.com/ILyda-Residence-1065667780131933/
