LESVOS - 7 DAY TOUR - DAY 7 MAY 4TH 2012

TISKNIAS RIVER - MADAROS - NAPI VALLEY - PLANTANIA - MESA - KALLONI SALT PANS - TSIKNIAS RIVER

BIRD OF THE DAY   -   GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO

Our last full day and another fantastic one, wall to wall sunshine, the wind had shifted to the north so it was a little cooler.

We set off at 8am in search of new species to add to our list, but before we did that, we visited the Tsiknias River to try to see the Spotted Crake for a second time because some of the group never had good views of it the first time around. Unfortunately the bird had gone, but we did see Great Reed  Warbler, Bee-eater and a good number of Wood Sandpipers.

RUFOUS BUSH ROBIN

 We then took a track from the Upper Tisknias river to Madaros where we searched for a Rufous Bush Robin. As soon as we got out of the bus we heard it singing and quickly located it on the top of a bush, great result, a smashing bird. We also had good views of Cirl Bunting, Black-eared Wheatear and a Long-legged Buzzard flew over.

 BLACK STORK

We then drove round to the Napi Valley and stopped just after the village of Napi. The air was full of bird song and it wasn't long before we found some good species. The best was, of course, Great Spotted Cuckoo, we found two of them and had great, extensive views of them. Other species seen were Hoopoe, Masked Shrike, Turtle Dove, Sombre Tit, Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Woodlark, Jay, Long-legged and Common Buzzard and lots of common species.

 Grass Snake

Following the excitement of the cuckoo we visited an area called Platania where we hoped to see Olive Tree Warbler. After an hour or so we gave up, not a single bird was seen or heard. The Olive Tree Warbler is a late arriving migrant which normally arrives during the first few days of May.

We drove back toi Kalloni and on to Mesa where we sat on a bridge overlooking the marsh whilst we ate our picnic lunch.The marsh held several species, Squaaco Heron and Purple Heron, Wood Sandpiper, Ruff, Little Stint, Ruddy Shelduck, Little Egret and a few pairs of Black-winged Stilts.

We then followed the road along the south of the Kalloni Bay passing Achladeri and into some olive groves where we stopped and looked for Olive Tree Warbler, again. However none were calling, we did see plenty of Masked Shrikes, Bee-eaters, Olivaceous Warbler and a Raven.

It was now late afternoon so we drove back to the hotel in Skala Kalloni where some of the group decided to call it a day. The rest of us decided to have a mini bird-race and set off to find 50 species in 3 hours and only visiting areas around Skala Kalloni.

We achevied our goal in 2 hours 30mins by visiting both the Tsiknias and Christou rivers and the Salt Pans. We had great views of Long-eared Owl one of our first birds.

At  7pm we concluded the birding for the day.