Lesvos
Spring Migrants in the Aegean
Thursday 24 April - Thursday 1 May 2008 (8 days)
Just a few miles off the Turkish coast, the attractive Greek isle of Lesvos is now firmly on the map as one of the best places, not just in Greece, but in the whole of Europe, for watching birds on spring migration. Add to this wonderful scenery, lovely flowers in spring, and resident birds including Krüper's Nuthatch and Cinereous Bunting in their only European breeding location, and you can see why the island is proving so popular!
© Keith Grant/Nature Portfolio
Black-winged Stilt
The green isle of Lesvos is Greece's second largest, after Crete. Its hills are covered mostly in pine-woods and olive groves, and these and the open fields are covered with drifts of flowers in spring, notably the deep red poppies that are so distinctive. The geology is fascinating, with the evidence of volcanic activity everywhere, from ancient lava plugs, some dramatically topped with churches and monasteries, to the Petrified Forest, where, in a cataclysmic explosion similar to the one that overwhelmed Mount St. Helens, the trees were smothered in volcanic debris. Today we can actually see these ancient relatives of our modern trees preserved in stone, while we listen for the Cinereous & Cretzschmar's Buntings that breed amongst them!
The island is best described as amoeboid in shape, with two huge, almost enclosed gulfs that cut deeply into its coastline. Aristotle, arguably the world’s first naturalist, wrote about and probably stayed on the shores of one, the Gulf of Kalloni, and it is at the head of this gulf, amongst a remarkable set of wetlands and centrally placed for our trips on the island, that we shall make our base.
But probably more than its distinctive habitats, it is the island’s location, a few miles off the continental landmass of Asia Minor that makes it such a good place for migrant birds. As locals will tell you, on a clear day in the north of the island, you can hear the cockerels crowing in Turkey! Birds on migration are pouring northwards towards Eastern Europe and Russia, or southwards towards Africa and India, and find a stopover in Lesvos very much to their liking. The wetlands always hold much of interest, and we expect to see Squacco and Purple Herons, Little Bittern, White Stork, Garganey, Black-winged Stilt and splendid flocks of Whiskered and White-winged Black Terns - and that’s just from our hotel balconies!
Flowers in spring can also be stunning, and although most orchids will probably be over during the best time for bird migration, one, the spectacular Komper’s Orchid, should be out, together with other specialities including Fritillaria pontica.
The trip is decidedly relaxed, with plenty of time at the end of each day to watch birds in the local marsh - or to appreciate the hotel swimming pool!
Price: £ 1,295
Single supp.: £ 130
Deposit: £ 300 per person
The price per person includes return flight London - Mytilene including on-board meals as appropriate, airport taxes, accommodation, all meals, incidental tips, coach transport and the services of the leaders.
The price excludes holiday insurance, optional tip to the driver, drinks, and other personal expenses.
Principal Leader: Rebecca Nason
© John Muddeman/Nature Portfolio
Masked Shrike
Day 1
We take an early morning flight London-Mytilene, arriving at our hotel in the afternoon. We’ll start by looking at the pool right outside the hotel, with its migrant herons, waders and marsh terns, and Eastern Olivaceous Warblers and Spanish Sparrows in the surrounding bushes.
Days 2 - 7
Within easy walking distance, the West River estuary is a great place to start the day, and may hold breeding Stone-Curlew, lots of other waders, and maybe a Black Stork or two.
The nearby Kalloni salt pans and surrounding fields provide one of the very best sites, and one that we shall return to several times. We watch the telegraph wires for birds, including Lesser Grey Shrike, Red-footed Falcon, Bee-eater, and possibly Roller on passage, while the surrounding fields can hold Collared Pratincole and Red-throated Pipit. The salt-pans themselves should hold a mass of Greater Flamingos and Avocet, together with hundreds of waders, including Curlew Sandpiper, in spring wearing their lovely breeding plumage. Raptors in the area can include both Montagu's and Marsh Harriers and Short-toed Eagle.
Other wetlands nearby can hold crakes, Glossy Ibis, Great White Egret, and Ruddy Shelduck. In spring, Rufous Bushchat should be singing from the scrubby hillsides in this area. The Potamia and Napi valleys near the town are excellent places to walk, swathed in olive groves, interspersed with oaks, and a good place to look for Middle Spotted Woodpecker and Sombre Tit, alongside some of the Aegean specialities, including Masked Shrike and the large, but elusive Olive-tree Warbler.
The west of the island has a rugged landscape of garrigue vegetation and rocky hills. Long-legged Buzzard soar overhead, while both Black-eared and Isabelline Wheatears flit about the rocks, together with Rock Nuthatches & Cretzschmar's Buntings. But the prize bird by far of this wildest part of the island is Cinereous Bunting, of which several hundred pairs breed. This represents a significant percentage of the world population of this little-known species, making the island one of the best places in the world to see it. Raptors in the west include Lesser Kestrel, which breeds on the offshore islands.
The north coast has cliffs, with fine views, and coastal scrub which harbours Rüppell's and Subalpine Warblers. Cretzschmar's Buntings are also found here, and it will be worth keeping an eye open for the first Eleonora's Falcons returning to their cliff nesting sites in spring. We also take time to visit some of the delightful villages in this area, and take a walk amongst the remnants of ancient volcanoes.
Much of the island is clothed in pine forest, and this is home to the delightful Krüper's Nuthatch. This tiny bird is never easy to see here at the western limit of its range, but we hope that its calls will betray its presence here. In the past we have been lucky enough to watch a pair feeding young. On one day we’ll also go up into the mountains with excellent flowers and delightful groves of Sweet Chestnut, oddly reminiscent of an English woodland.
In the evenings we are just a short stroll from the local village with its breeding Barn and Scops Owls.
Day 8
We catch an early afternoon flight back to the UK.
Accommodation: We stay in a good quality hotel at Skala Kalloni with all rooms en suite. Lunches will be a mix of picnics and taverna meals.
Transport will be by minibus.
Walking: Easy-paced walks of 1 - 2 miles on easy trails and paths.
Numbers: Max. 14 clients