Lesbos Spring 2025 27th April - 4th May

 

Lesbos

Having had a good time last year on Lesbos and meeting some lovely people back in August I started making plans for another trip in 2025. With five of us who met up last year plus a couple David and Valerie friends of Carol and Clare we had a group of 7. I tried to find a local bird guide but those were already booked up. So I asked an old friend if he would be willing to guide us if we paid his expenses and so the trip was confirmed.

Saturday 26th April I left home 2.00pm and headed to Shoreham to pick up Paul and his wife Bridget and headed for Stansted Airport. After parking the car we checked in our luggage and headed to the Hampton by Hilton Hotel next to the airport terminal our accommodation for the night.

Previously arranged, we then met up with the rest of the group at the Radisson Blue Hotel.

Radisson Blue Bar

A drink in the bar then dinner and an early night.

Sunday 27th,  A quick grab of a bacon roll off the breakfast buffet and on to the terminal for our 06.00 flight with Jet2 to Mytilene. I couldnt resist stopping at the Duty Free and purchasing a litre bottle of Tomatin 12yr malt whisky. Boarding was early and we left more or less on time arriving at Mytilene around 11.30 Greek time. After a lengthy wait at immigration we collected our luggage and headed for the car hire.

Due to our mini bus allegedly being damaged by the previous hirers we had to settle for two cars and another small 7 seater car which was to be called Postman Pat's.

 Rather than drive through Mytilene I opted for a quieter and scenic route out of the capital  via Chiramida a known site for Ruppell's Warbler. Stopping on the side of the road where a birder was he put us onto a Ruppell's although it took some time to finally show itself.

Looking for Ruppell's Warbler

Cretzschmar's Bunting

Also seen was a male Sardinian Warbler and a Cretzschmar's Bunting. An Ortolan Bunting was heard but couldn't be seen and our first of many Crested Lark.

Crested Lark

A quick stop at the Hiramida Marsh we saw an Eastern Olivaceous Warber, Grey Heron, Buzzard and Marsh Harrier. Our plan was to stop at Loutra for lunch, and see the Laughing Doves but they weren't around and all the restaurants were closed. Heading towards the hotel I took a wrong turning and ended up in a dead end at Skala Loutron where a taverna was just opening up for the season, they had food and we enjoyed a lovely lunch looking out to sea and seeing our first Black Stork of the trip.

Skala Loutron

An hours drive and we arrived at The Malemi Hotel our base for the week, after unpacking we took a walk to the Kalloni pools which were overgrown and very little water visible, then onto the Christou river opposite the Aegeon Hotel which also had very little water in and was devoid of waders compared to last year.

We enjoyed a good dinner and of course a couple of drinks at the bar before retiring for the night.

Monday 28th April

 Every day before breakfast a birding walk was the norm, today we headed for Metochi Lake along with all the other birders on the island but still managed to find some parking spaces. Highlights were a female Little Crake, a Wood Sandpiper, Pygmy Cormorant, Little Bittern and several Squacco Heron

Little Crake

Wood Sandpiper

Pygmy Cormorant

Little Bittern

 

Squacco Herons

Squacco Herons

From the lake we took a walk up the track where we saw 2 Hoopoes, a Great Reed Warbler, a Masked Shrike, Woodchat Shrike and a fly over of 16 Bee-eaters.

Great Reed Warbler

Masked Shrike

Woodchat Shrike

We returned to the hotel for breakfast, and then headed for the Kalloni saltpans. The water levels here were much higher than last year and far fewer birds. However by the pumping station a small stream held Ruff, Wood Sandpiper, Black-winged Stilts, Temminck's Stint, and a Spur-winged Plover however the highlight and probably my bird of the trip was a confiding Red-throated Pipit.

Spur-winged Plover

Red-throated Pipit

Red-throated Pipit

Red-throated Pipit

Temminck's Stint

Near by at the Alykes wetland 3 Red-footed Falcons and a Montagu's Harrier were seen.

Red-footed Falcons

 

Montagu's Harrier

By now it was getting near lunchtime so we headed south west hoping to keep out of the wind, stopping at the taverna in Apothika for lunch only to find they weren't serving food only coffee and biscuits. So we made do with that and continued south west along the track to Makara.

At the river mouth highlights were Little-ringed Plover, Little Stint, 3 Curlew Sandpipers, Wood Sandpipers and a couple of Little Bitterns

Curlew Sandpipers

 

Little-ringed Plover

Little Stint

On a walk up the hill we saw Red-backed Shrike, Woodchat Shrike, Lesser Grey Shrike,  Black-headed Bunting and a couple of Whinchats but the highlight was a flock of 18 Levant Sparrowhawks come in off the sea and head north sadly they were a bit distant, another lifer having dipped on them in Bulgaria last year.

Makara looking up the hill from the river

Lesser Grey Shrike

1 of 18 Levant Sparrowhawks

Back at the beach out of sea we saw a Shag and several Yelkouan Shearwaters and a couple of Alpine Swifts flew over. 

An excellent day, and a few enjoyable drinks of a good measure at the bar in the evening after dinner.

Now that's a proper measure of Whisky.

 

Tuesday 29th April.

This mornings pre breakfast walk started at the mouth of the Tsiknias River where a Dalmation Pelican was being fed by a fisherman, and a flock of Flamingos flew over. Also seen was a pair of Kentish Plovers.

Dalmation Pelican

Flamingos

Leaving the cars at the view point (also known as the dogging place) we walked up the river to the ford and had good views of a Spotted Crake, Black-headed Yellow Wagtail, and a Black-headed Bunting, and a flyover flock of 11 Bee-eaters

Spotted Crake

Spotted Crake

Bee-eaters

Black-headed Yellow Wagtail

After breakfast we headed to the salt pans again, highlights being four Red-footed Falcons in off the sea,

6 Short-toed Larks which flew the moment we stopped bar 1, a Little Stint, Gull-billed and White-winged Black Terns.

Red-footed Falcon

Short-toed Lark (taken through the windscreen)

Little Stint

Gull-billed Tern

Our next stop was to Achladeri Forest to look for a Lesbos special the Kruper's Nuthatch. There was a known nest site and after parking at the forest a Heatherlea guide put us in the right direction. The adults were busy feeding young.

Kruper's Nuthatch

Kruper's Nuthatch

After watching we went to another site where we were told we could see them, and unknowingly parked up right next to the nest site where we were able to watch another pair.

Achladeri Forest

Kruper's Nuthatch

In the vicinity there was a pair of Masked Shrikes and a singing Orphean Warbler that couldn't be found.

Masked Shrikes

It was now late morning so we went into Polichinitos for a coffee and next door on a chimney was a Stork's nest with a parent and I'm sure I saw a chick but it hid for the camera.

White Stork

We headed for the Polichinitos Salt Pans, they were far quieter than those at Kalloni but we did see Black-winged Stilts, Avocets, Ruff, Curlew Sandpipers and 3 Sandwich Terns. After eating our packed lunches we made our way slowly back towards the hotel driving through some olive groves where we  found another Masked Shrike.

Masked Shrike

 Stopping on the way at the Mesa Lagoons where there were some Red-footed Falcons and a Black Stork. Finally our last stop before the hotel was back at the Kalloni Salt Pans where some Collared Pratincoles had been reported. I managed a quick glimpse of 2 and they disappeared. A White-fronted Goose was also present. A Spotted Redshank was along the adjacent channel and some White-winged Black Terns were over the fields.

Spotted Redshank with Black-winged Stilt

White-winged Black Tern

Another look at the Tsiknias river before heading back for dinner found Little Crakes, Little Bittern and Black-headed Bunting and a small flock of Bee-eaters.

Bee-eater

Wednesday 30th April

Pre breakfast walk was to the Christou river where the highlights were a pair of Red-footed Falcons together and a flock of 30 Flamingos.

Red-footed Falcons

 

Greater Flamingo

After breakfast we went to Faneromeni on the western side of the island where it was still quite windy. Birds initially hard to come by but gradually things improved in finding a Hoopoe, Woodchat and Red-backed Shrikes and a Whinchat plus a group of 10 Turtle Doves feeding on grain

Red-backed Shrike

Whinchat

Turtle Doves

Our walk took us out to the beach where I had possibly the worst ever  Greek coffee in the beach bar. From there we scoped the sea and found some distant Yelkouan Shearwaters, it was still cool enough to keep our jackets on.

Clare on Faneromeni Beach

Heading back to the cars the sun was beginning to break through and bird activity increased finding 3 types of flycatchers Spotted, Collared, and a female Pied. A Wood Warbler was found by Colin and then a flock of Bee-eaters and 3 Golden Orioles with a supporting cast of an Eastern Orphean Warbler and a Black-headed Bunting were seen before heading on to Sigri.

Collared Flycatcher

Female Pied Flycatcher

Colin's Wood Warbler

Golden Oriole

Bee-eaters

Golden Oriole

Eastern Orphean Warbler

Black-headed Bunting.

Sadly we didn't find any Rollers that had been reported earlier.

Carol, Valerie, David and I decided not to follow the others that were going to explore the track from Sigri to Eressos up to the Chapel of Tsichliontas, so we went to look for the Petrified Museum. Where I thought it was - it wasn't. So after eating our packed lunches we went into Sigri for a coffee and a wander around the town.

Sigri from the coastal part of the Petrified Forest

Carol

Sigri Windmill

Eventually we found the museum, however it was going to close in 30 minutes so we decided we would try and visit another day and headed back to the hotel.

Tonight we had planned to eat out for a change rather than at the hotel, Mikaela suggested a couple of restaurants in Skala Kalloni and we opted for Mimi's which was really busy but we didn't have to wait too long to be served. We had a selection of starters, several carafes of wine and I chose the Moussaka for main course which was very good. A big thank you to Colin who paid the bill.

Dinner at Mimi's

With the meal over David, Valerie and Carol went back to the hotel by car. The other 4 of us opted to walk back and call into the Paradise Bar for a final drink or was it a couple? Here Maria the waitress who we remembered from last year looked after us putting on music of our requests.

Thursday 1st May.

As arranged the previous evening this morning's pre breakfast walk was at the eastern edge of the Kalloni salt pans. Apart from Paul and Bridget only David, Carol and I attended. A bit of a tight squeeze in the car park but we headed out towards the sea seeing Grey Plover, Turnstone, Zitting Cisticola, Lesser Grey Shrike, Red-backed Shrikes, Bee-eaters, Glossy Ibis  but the highlight for me was the 6 Collared Pratincoles.

Collared Pratincole

Collared Pratincole

Collared Pratincole

Lesser Grey Shrike distant!

After breakfast we went to the Kalloni raptor viewpoint but only saw Cirl Bunting, Red-backed Shrike, Black-eared Wheatear, Cratzschmar's Bunting, Woodchat Shrike plus 4 Ruddy Shelduck flying over.

A but further up the road past Filia we stopped and walked a track through some olive groves where we saw an Eastern Subalpine Warbler, heard a Woodlark and Clare and Carol found a pair of Sombre Tits of which the rest of the group missed out on.

We headed further north towards Molivos Reservoir, but both David's and Postman Pat's car were unsuitable for the rough track so Paul jumped into Clare's car and they drove the track. Myself and Bridget, David and Valerie took the tarmac road to Skala Sikaminia where we had a coffee and visited the the fisherman's chapel on the harbour.

Skala Sikaminia

Inside the Chapel

We agreed to meet up again with the rest of the group at the Napi Valley, but just as we arrived it started to rain. Thirty minutes later the rest turned up and we spent a few minutes looking at the hillside which was totally devoid of birds (a shame as last year it was teeming)

Napi Valley 

As it was still raining we decided to head back south where the weather may be better, and it was where we returned to the salt pans seeing the usual waders, Dalmation Pelicans a couple of Black Storks and a mixed flock of Whiskered and White-winged Black Terns.

Black-winged Stilt

Ruff

Whiskered Terns

Dinner was back at the hotel, and a couple of drinks in the bar.

Friday 2nd May

Paul, Bridget, Clare, Colin, and Ken left early before breakfast to return to the Sigri - Eressos track. I had a pre breakfast walk along the river while the others had a lay in. On my walk highlights were a couple of Purple Herons, a Little Crake and a female Black-headed Bunting the first I've seen plus as usual an Eastern Olivaceous Warbler

Purple Heron

Purple Heron

Female Black-headed Bunting

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler

With news of a Rufous-tailed Scrub-Robin on the race track at the salt pans I opted to head there first after breakfast. Despite there being a few people looking for it it was not to be seen so the four of us headed back to Sigri stopping at a site known as the Grand Canyon. Our hope was to see some Crag Martins although we saw a large flock of hirundines high up we couldn't determine what species. Also seen there were Black-eared Wheatear, Cirl Bunting, Blue Tits carrying food and a Short-toed Eagle.

Black-eared Wheatear

Cirl Bunting

Short-toed Eagle

On arrival in Sigri we checked with a taverna that we could have lunch later and drove the track towards Eressos seeing several Red-backed Shrikes an Eleonora's Falcon plus other birds.

Red-backed Shrike

A view from the Sigri - Eressos track

We continued to the Meladia Chapel where we met the other half of the group where they were watching 2 distant Rollers.

A distant Roller

We did a U turn here and headed back into Sigri for our fish lunch at the taverna "Australia" the other group continued to Eressos. 

After a delicious and filling lunch feeding our left overs to the local cats we walked up the hill and spent an hour or so in the Petrified Museum. 

Cats everywhere!

It was now time for a coffee so we took the tarmac road to Eressos where a Roller landed on the road in front of the car. In the village all the bars were closed so we headed down the road to the seaside resort of Skala Eressos where a coffee was enjoyed before heading back to the hotel.

Saturday 3rd May.

Again there was news of a Rufous-tailed Scrub-robin but a bit nearer this time so our early morning walk was around the old Skala Kalloni night club. We walked towards the beach and Paul spotted one sitting on top of a tree.

Rufous-tailed Scrub-robin

I was rather pleased with that as it was a lifer, and I dipped by one day on one that was at Stiffkey several years ago. It was flushed by a couple of photographers so we then drove up to the ford of the Tsiknias River where we saw both Spotted and Little Crakes plus a couple of Black-headed Buntings, one really close.

Little Crake

 

Black-headed Bunting

We were a bit later returning for breakfast, but managed to get away again by 9.30 for our trip to Ipsalou Monastery. We had left this trip until today as we were hoping the winds would be lighter and so did many other birders as on arrival there were many cars parked along the roadside. We parked up and ascended the sheltered side. Cretzschmar's Bunting, Western Rock Nuthatch attending a nest,  Black-eared Wheatear, and an Eastern Subalpine Warbler were all seen plus a distant Persian Squirrel.

Cretzschmar's Bunting

Western Rock Nuthatch

Black-eared Wheatear

Eastern Subalpine Warbler

At the top of the hill, we walked around the monastery and all but myself went through the escape door to view the slope below where a Blue Rock Thrush was seen. Descending on the other side we finally got our first and only view of a Cinereous Bunting another lifer for me as I didn't see one here last year.

Cinerous Bunting

Back in the cars we took a slow drive along the road to the Petrified Forest. In the car park a group of birders pointed out a Little Owl.

Little Owl

A walk around the Pertrified Forest was quieter than last year probably due to stiff breeze but we still saw a flock of Bee-eaters, a stream of Swallows northwards, a Short-toad Eagle, more Cretzschmar's Buntings and a Long Legged Buzzard another lifer for me.

Cretzschmar's Bunting

Cretzschmar's with a Starred Agama Lizard

Starred Agama Lizard

Bridget noticed a pink blob on a bush in the distance but Paul couldn't be sure of it's ID. Up on the road looking down there were several birders looking in the same direction, we went and joined them to see this Common Rosefinch at a distance. This was an unusual record for the island.

Common Rosefinch

Common Rosefinch

I went back to the car park to collect the car and found a Collared Flycatcher that had been mentioned by the birders who pointed out the Little Owl.

Collared Flycatcher

News of a Red-necked Phalarope on the salt pans sent myself, Paul and Bridget there. An hours drive and with only one other birder looking for it we drew a blank. A stop at a supermarket to get Paula some olives and another stop in Papiana to look for Long-eared Owls also drew a blank then our third blank was at the disused Night Club where a Great Spotted Cuckoo had been seen, although we did see a Hobby and a Black-crowned Night Heron.

It was arranged that we would all meet up again on the beach for a drink but despite looking we couldn't find the other half and headed back to the hotel. A phone call from Clare and they tell me they had been looking at Long-eared Owls and where they were now.

Paul wanting to go and look for the Great Snipe that had shown recently, he drove and dropped me off in Skala Kalloni and I enjoyed a couple of beers with them in the early evening sunshine.

Drinks at the beach

Our last night at the hotel and we had dinner there, plus a couple of drinks and we paid our bills. Not satisfied with a couple of drinks Colin, Clare and I wandered down the road to the Paradise Bar where a couple more were enjoyed.

Sunday 4th May

Breakfast was arranged a little earlier today as we were leaving, but we still managed another visit to the Tsiknias River in hope of seeing the Great Snipe but it wasn't to be and made do with a Spotted Crake and three Little Bitterns.

Little Crake

Little Bittern

Little Bittern

We left the hotel and went back to Papiana where Carol found one of the Long-eared Owl chicks and one of the adults.

Long-eared Owl (adult)

Long-eared Owl (chick)

We made good time back to the airport, handed back our hire cars without any problems. Our mid day flight was delayed by 40 minutes but we arrived back at Stansted Airport only a few minutes late.

It was a great trip with lovely company, the weather could have been better but we saw far more birds than we did last year. Will it be 3 years running next year lets see.