Luis is a Portugal birder who's been travelling the world for many years now. He managed to combine a business trip to China with a three day tour in Greece. As he wanted to see as many as local specialties as possible, we planned an itinerary that combined Messolonghi Lagoon, Mt Parnassos, Evvoia island and some of the Athens' hotspots.
DAY 1
The first birding we did was actually on the night of June 13th; we visited Lycabettus Hill to look for the Scops Owl and, despite the loads of people still on the hill at 22.30, we heard two birds and had fantastic close views of one of them.
On the 14th, we drove early in the morning to get the 08.15 ferry from Agia Marina port to Evvoia island. On our way, we saw six Scopoli's Shearwaters and at least 80 Yelkouan Shearwaters; we also saw Shags, Rock Doves and, of course, hundreds of Yellow-legged Gulls.
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| Scopoli's Shearwater |
Reaching Lake Dystos, we first searched the adjacent groves for the Olive-tree Warbler, the Black-headed Bunting and the Sombre Tit. All three were found, along with Cirl Buntings, Greenfinches and Eastern Olivaceous Warblers.
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| Sombre Tit |
Lesser Kestrels were foraging in the fields, lots of herons were seen in the lake, along with Mute Swan families; a White Stork also visited the area, coming from Krieza village where its nest (the sole in the whole of the island) is found. Short-toed Lark and Crested Larks, Zitting Cisticolas and Woodchat Shrikes were also seen in the open fields closer to the lake.
We also visited Mt Koskina, west of the lake and saw Ruppell's Warblers, Black-eared Wheatears, Rock Nuthatches and Cretzschmar's Buntings, among many other species. Turtle Doves, Tawny Pipits and Subalpine Warblers were a few more of the species seen.
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| Black-eared Wheatear |
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| Cretzschmar's Bunting |
Early in the afternoon, we left Lake Dystos and headed to Delphi to stay overnight.
The total list for the day (including the night of June 13th) was 48 species, nine of which were lifers. A perfect way to start a trip!
DAY CHECKLIST
| Mute Swan - Cygnus
olor |
| Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos |
| Rock Dove - Columba livia |
| European Turtle Dove - Streptopelia
turtur |
| Collared Dove - Streptopelia decaocto |
| Alpine Swift - Apus melba |
| Yellow-legged Gull - Larus michahellis |
| Cory's Shearwater - Calonectris diomedea |
| Yelkouan Shearwater - Puffinus yelkouan |
| White Stork - Ciconia ciconia |
| European Shag - Phalacrocorax aristotelis |
| Grey Heron - Ardea cinerea |
| Short-toed Eagle - Circaetus gallicus |
| Western Marsh Harrier - Circus
aeruginosus |
| Common Buzzard - Buteo buteo |
| Eurasian Scops Owl - Otus scops |
| Lesser Kestrel - Falco naumanni |
| Common Kestrel - Falco tinnunculus |
| Woodchat Shrike - Lanius senator |
| Common Magpie - Pica pica |
| Hooded Crow - Corvus cornix |
| Common Raven - Corvus corax |
| Greater Short-toed Lark - Calandrella
brachydactyla |
| Crested Lark - Galerida cristata |
| Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica |
| Red-rumped Swallow - Cecropis daurica |
| Common House Martin - Delichon urbicum |
| Sombre Tit - Poecile lugubris |
| Great Tit - Parus major |
| Western Rock Nuthatch - Sitta neumayer |
| Cetti's Warbler - Cettia cetti |
| Eastern Olivaceous Warbler - Iduna
pallida |
| Olive-tree Warbler - Hippolais olivetorum |
| Great Reed Warbler - Acrocephalus
arundinaceus |
| Zitting Cisticola - Cisticola juncidis |
| Ruppell's Warbler - Sylvia ruppeli |
| Subalpine Warbler - Sylvia cantillans |
| Sardinian Warbler - Sylvia melanocephala |
| European Stonechat - Saxicola rubicola |
| Black-eared Wheatear - Oenanthe hispanica |
| Eurasian Blackbird - Turdus merula |
| Tawny Pipit - Anthus campestris |
| European Greenfinch - Chloris chloris |
| Common Linnet - Linaria cannabina |
| Black-headed Bunting - Emberiza
melanocephala |
| Cirl Bunting - Emberiza cirlus |
| Cretzschmar's Bunting - Emberiza caesia |
| House Sparrow - Passer domesticus |
