Antikythera island: Europe's hot spot for migration

The reasearch station on Antikythera island (South Peloponese, south of Mani Peninsula) announced the records for 2006 autumn migrations of raptors species. The results are astonishing, proving the importance of such station. Islands of Kythera and Antikythera are highly recommmended for those who want to get a close view at raptors migrations. Numbers below will leave you speachless. Beyond birds of prey, other european rarities joined the "parade", such as the White Throated Robin, the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, and much more! The recording was carried out from Aug 18th until October 8th. It reached its peak on September 23th, when 854 individuals from 18 species of raptors were seen! The species listed are only birds of prey, accompanied by the number of individuals observed. Honey Buzzard 1091 Black Kite 117 Red Kite 6 Short-toed Eagle 13 Marsh Harrier 1081 Pallid Harrier 17 Montagu's Harrier 26 Sparrowhawk 42 Goshawk 10 Levant Sparrowhawk 88 Common Buzzard 480 Long-legged Buzzard 18 Imperial Eagle 2 Lesser Spotted Eagle 23 Booted Eagle 125 Bonelli's Eagle 3 Osprey 5 Lesser Kestrel 285 Kestrel 116 Red-footed Falcon 24 Hobby 43 Lanner Falcon 3 Peregrine Falcon 25 All recordings are available upon request. Special thanks to Theodoris Kominos, the ornithologist responsible for the research station, for all the available data.