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WINGS Birding Tours – Photo Gallery

Greece: Lesvos

Spring Migration Through the Aegean

Lying in the sparkling Aegean Sea, the unspoilt island of Lesvos is home to some special birds that can be hard to see elsewhere, such as this beautiful Cinereous Bunting,…
…and the range-restricted Kruper’s Nuthatch
Steeped in the history of ancient Greece, Lesvos is dotted with gleaming white villages and sleepy coastal harbours, all with their own tempting tavernas – a great place to take lunch.
At the time of our visit the island is awash with wildflowers
Including some rare species such as this Serapias orchid
But for many birders the main attraction is the wonderful procession of migrants returning to their breeding grounds, perhaps best typified by the European Bee-eater
And the stunning European Roller
The numerous wetlands are home to some classic Mediterranean species such as Black-winged Stilt…
…and Squacco Heron
But they also pull in lots of migrants, like White-winged Black Terns
And flocks of Whiskered Terns
Various shorebirds take advantage of the wetlands as well – here a Wood Sandpiper (back) and Green Sandpiper (foreground)
While a Temminck’s Stint shares a pool with a White Wagtail
There could be elegant Collared Pratincoles hawking insects over the marshes
And they might be joined by the much scarcer Black-winged Pratincole
The assemblage of herons and egrets should include the beautiful Purple Heron
And bronze Glossy Ibis
We may find Little Crake creeping around the edge of reed-fringed pools
Or a smart Citrine Wagtail picking its way along a small stream
There will also be several races of Yellow Wagtail, such as the distinctive ‘Black-headed’ Wagtail
Or the delightful ‘Sykes’s Wagtail, en route to the steppes of Central Asia
It’s important to keep an eye to the skies as birds drifting overhead could include Black Stork,…
…Short-toed Eagle
Or a mighty Griffon Vulture
While along the coast we may catch sight of an Audouin’s Gull
And further out, flocks of Yelkouan Shearwaters stream past
The sound track to our days out is bound to include the jangling song of Corn Buntings,…
…the distinctive rattle of Cirl Buntings
and the mellifluous tones of Easten Orphean Warbler
It can take some work to find the wonderfully camouflaged roosting Scops Owl
Whereas the local Little Owls are usually much easy to locate
Lesvos is covered in wild, bushy areas and shady olive groves,…
…which are ideal habitat for local specialities such as Ruppell’s Warbler
And also for shrikes such as this Masked Shrike freshly arrived from it’s wintering grounds in East Africa
Or these Woodchat Shrikes which scan for prey from the bush tops
One of the real pleasures of birding during Spring migration is not knowing what is going to pop up next. It could be a dapper Collared Flycatcher
or the equally smart Eastern Black-eared Wheatear
There’s a good chance of bumping into a dainty Red-breasted Flycatcher
Or finding a Red-throated Pipit heading for its Arctic breeding grounds

 

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