Amit Cohen is an over-enthusiastic teen birder from Israel. He is only 16 and yet his checklist is really impresive: more than 350 species just in his home country!
Being for vacation in Greece with his family, he contacted us because he wanted to add some new species like the Cirl Bunting and the Middle Spotted Woodpecker. Mt Parnassos was the ideal destination for his needs, as the woodland and alpine species found there are very rare or absent from Israel.
We started very early in the morning as we made a short stop at Kaisariani Aesthetic Forest to look for the Tawny Owl, another lifer. We heard one but didn't get to see it, unfortunately. We also found Short-toed Treecreepers, Common Redstarts, Spotted Flycatchers and lots of Jays before we headed for Parnassos.
The first lifer for the day was the Cirl Bunting. Very common and widespread, we found several birds at the Livadi plateau, along with Northern Wheatears, Woodlarks, Red-rumped Swallows, Sombre Tits and Red-backed Shrikes.
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| Cirl Buntings |
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| Sombre Tit |
When we entered the fir forest, we saw several Coal Tits, European Nuthatches, but our main targets were woodpeckers. The time of year is propably the worst as birds are silent. Nevertheless, we did manage to find a Middle Spotted Woodpecker, another lifer for Amit!
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| European Nuthatch |
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| Middle Spotted Woodpecker |
It was time to move higher up, to the alpine zone. We didn't have much time, as the search for the woodpeckers was very time-consuming. However, we did find a 1-st year Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush, lifer #3 for Amit!
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| Rufous-tailed Rock Thush |
The best, however, was kept for the end; while walking along a dirt track at an altitude of 1.900 m, two large raptors were spotted straight ahead; a few secs of observation were enough to tell the species: Golden Eagles! A pair of adults, a very rare sighting, was hunting right in front of us. One of the birds was very 'cooperative' flying quite close for several minutes. An unexpected fourth lifer for Amit and a spectacular sighting from every aspect.
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| Adult Golden Eagle |
It was time to head our way back to Athens, after a selfie shot at the alpine zone. Another great birding trip was over!
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| Happy birders! |
TRIP CHECKLIST
| Golden Eagle - Aquila chrysaetos |
| Common Buzzard - Buteo buteo |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove - Streptopelia decaocto |
| Tawny Owl - Strix aluco |
| Common Swift - Apus apus |
| Pallid Swift - Apus pallidus |
| Eurasian Kestrel - Falco tinnunculus |
| Red-backed Shrike - Lanius collurio |
| Eurasian Jay - Garrulus glandarius |
| Eurasian Magpie - Pica pica |
| Hooded Crow - Corvus cornix |
| Wood Lark - Lullula arborea |
| Eurasian Crag-Martin - Ptyonoprogne rupestris |
| Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica |
| Red-rumped Swallow - Cecropis daurica |
| Coal Tit - Periparus ater |
| Sombre Tit - Poecile lugubris |
| Great Tit - Parus major |
| Eurasian Nuthatch - Sitta europaea |
| Short-toed Treecreeper - Certhia brachydactyla |
| Eurasian Wren - Troglodytes troglodytes |
| Firecrest - Regulus ignicapilla |
| Willow Warbler - Phylloscopus trochilus |
| Lesser Whitethroat - Sylvia curruca |
| European Robin - Erithacus rubecula |
| Common Redstart - Phoenicurus phoenicurus |
| Black Redstart - Phoenicurus ochruros |
| Rufous-tailed Rock-Thrush - Monticola saxatilis |
| Northern Wheatear - Oenanthe oenanthe |
| Eurasian Blackbird - Turdus merula |
| Mistle Thrush - Turdus viscivorus |
| Cirl Bunting - Emberiza cirlus |
| Rock Bunting - Emberiza cia |
| Ortolan Bunting - Emberiza hortulana |
| Common Chaffinch - Fringilla coelebs |
| Eurasian Linnet - Linaria cannabina |
| European Goldfinch - Carduelis carduelis |
| House Sparrow - Passer domesticus |
