I’ve just returned from a successful week on the island of Lesvos in Greece. We experienced no large falls of migrants during the week which was not a surprise as we enjoyed mostly pure blue skies from dawn to dusk throughout the week.
The highlights included Dalmation Pelican, Pygymy Cormorant, Black Storks, Little Bitterns, Baillon’s Crake, singing Spotted Crake, Collared Pratincole, a roosting Nightjar, Scops Owls, Bee-eaters, Citrine Wagtails (2), Collared Flycatchers, Eastern Orphean Warblers, Ruppell’s Warblers; plus breeding specialities such as Long-legged Buzzard, Kruper’s Nuthatch and Cinerous Bunting. We also found a Merlin which is rare there with less than 20 records.
The season was later than usual so we only saw a few Black-headed Buntings and saw no marsh terns, Rollers or Olive Tree Warblers.