5 September 2022 - Skala Kalloni, Lesvos

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Bee-eaters, Greater Flamingoes, Little Stints, Short-toed Eagle, Slender-billed Gulls

I went for a stroll to the West River area before breakfast. There weren't too many birds around, but a couple of Crested Larks did their best to avoid being photographed. Two or three what I took to be distant Kentish Plovers may have been all Little Ringed, as the only photos I took were of the latter species. By the road bridge a Kingfisher showed briefly but distantly in the early morning sunshine. I walked down the west bank of the river towards the beach but soon ran out of time (I had to be back for 9:30 for breakfast). In the fields were a number of Corn Buntings and I came across a couple of interesting butterfly species: Southern Grayling and Long-tailed Blue (I think), as well as Hummingbird Hawk-moth. On the way back, Hooded Crows were foraging on the beach, and this was the only time I got reasonably close to any.

After breakfast we hired bikes and cycled up the East River and ultimately to the Salt Pans (via the main road) and back. It was very warm but slightly overcast so the light had a rather hazy and washed-out feel to it. En route we encountered a party of Bee-eaters feeding over the olive groves, and a couple of Short-toed Eagles that Joanne picked up but were always going away by the time I got onto them. Just on the main road to the Salt Pans we saw another Eagle soaring over the hill to our left so we stopped and I snatched a couple of photos before it too disappeared back over the hill.

At the salt pans, there were plenty of Greater Flamingoes and Avocets but fairly distant, and several Little Stints feeding in the bund area adjacent to the track, along with Little Ringed Plovers. It was quite windy, so difficult to hold the bins still to do any intensive searching for anything else. However, I took some photos of Black-headed Gulls among the flamingoes, and if you view the full-size image and zoom in, you can just see a couple of Slender-billed Gulls among them if you look closely!

Crested Lark, 1/640 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 6400 (view full size image)