Today we went out west to look for migrants and a few local breeders that are regionally scarce, we skipped the early morning jaunt and took an early breakfast at 7am. By 8am we were on the road, the weather was superb again, clear sky with little wind.
We made fast progress using empty roads and very quickly we were up in the mountains above the village of Filial. The track that leads to the radio mast has been found recently to hold a healthy population of Eastern Bonelli's Warbler so we decided to look for them. On arrival we saw a Middle Spotted Woodpecker fly from one tree to another in front of the bus and a Cirl Bunting sang from the wires as we got out of the bus. A pair or Woodlake was next on the list then Subalpine Warbler and Masked Shrike were added.
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| Woodard one of several seen today |
Next we made two stop in the gorge of Lardia where we found Rock Sparrow, Western Rock Nuthatch and Blue Rock Thrush, the second stop produced Eastern Bonelli's Warbler, Crag Martin and Black-eared Wheatear.
At the crossroads of Eresos we stopped to look for Isabelline Wheatear, it was quite windy by mow but we did find two birds, we also saw Crested Lark, Common Kestrel and Stonechats.
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| Isabelline Wheatear |
A couple of Ravens roamed the hillside and we saw another Rock Sparrow which was using the nest of a Western Rock Nuthatch, presumably without permission! A group of five Marsh Harriers flew high over us and both Common and Long-legged Buzzards showed well.
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| the Starred Agama a common sight on rocky slopes |
We drove next to the Petrified Forest entrance but birded the entire 5km approached track for Chukar. We saw dozens of Black-eared and Northern Wheatears, Whinchat, Crested Larks, Cretzschmar's Buntings, Linnets and Goldfinches. One highlight was a Little Owl that sat on a fence post.
At Sigri we spent the rest of the afternoon birding the fig plantations, open fields and hedgerows looking for warblers and Flycatcher. We found a couple of Orphean Warblers by the roadside and a couple of Greenshank in a pool. Then we watched the sheltered side of oak woodland and found many birds, lots of Spotted Flycatcher were joined by Pied Flycatcher, Common Redstart, Cirl Bunting, Whinchat, Tree Pipit, a Bonelli's Warbler and a superb Wood Warbler. More Whinchat fed in a field and Golden Orioles were seen in the oaks. As we pulled away we saw a Purple Heron in a field and a Woodchat Shrike on a fence.
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| Swallowtail Butterly |
We searched more fig trees and olive groves further down the track where even more Flycatcher were flitting about, to our great surprise we found a Collared Flycatcher too, what a great find. Hundreds of Yellow Wagtails fed in the grass under the fig trees and hundreds of Spanish Sparrows were swarming around the hedges.
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| Cinereous Bunting at Ipsilou Monastery |
The river and ford at Farenomena was pretty quiet but we did see a few Flycatcher, two Night Herons and a couple of Little Egrets. Back on the track to Sigri we stopped to watch a small group of Black-headed Buntings in a bush and our second Red-backed Shrike of the trip.
On the journey home we stopped to look at a flock of Lesser Kestrels and later a Peregrine. Also of note was three Eurasian Nuthatches that dashed across the road as we passed through Skalachori.
Well that ended our day we drove back to the hotel arriving at 6pm, we were all tired but it had been a great day out.
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