Larks, Pipits and Wagtails

The wind was a little less strong today though still stuck in the west for much of the day; there were also two heavy showers in the early afternoon. Plenty of sunshine meant that it felt a lot warmer today. 

There appeared to have been a distinct arrival of pipits and larks overnight with the main concentrations along the path out towards the lighthouse. Totals for the day were 56 Short-toed Lark, 30 Tawny Pipits and 11 Meadow Pipits. Flava wagtails appeared to arrive following the showers and a total of 65 had been logged by the end of the afternoon. 

Other conspicuous migrants today were 10 Hoopoe, 6 Quail and 10 Common Redstart. There were also 3 Wrynecks however none of these gave good views.

In addition to 49 Swallows there were 12 House Martin, 4 Red-rumped Swallow, 3 Sand Martins and a single Crag Martin. The other notable visible migrants were a party of 21 Grey Herons that flew north high up off the east coast.

A flava wagtail - Cape Tenaro 25th March 2016

Looking north to the olive groves at Koureli from the road to Kokinoghia

First Afternoon - an early Turtle Dove

We arrived at Cape Tenaro in the early afternoon (yesterday) to be greeted by near gale force westerly winds. There were however a few birds about including an early Turtle Dove, 3 Hoopoe, a single Woodchat Shrike, 7 Quail (all calling), 4 Black Redstart, 3 Common Redstart and small numbers of the commoner warblers.

An early Turtle Dove - Cape Tenaro 24th March 2016

Unexpected were several parties of Common Swift totalling 29 birds. There were also small groups of rather tired looking hirundines with 51 Swallows and 6 Red-rumped Swallows.

Swallows at Porto Kagio

A Red-rumped Swallow at Porto Kagio

The Evrota Delta - Is this Natura 2000 site at risk?

On our way to Cape Tenaro yesterday we spent an enjoyable enough morning at the Evrota Delta, a Natura 2000 site important for its population of migrant Gloosy Ibis and coastal sand dunes. The poor weather the previous night and during the day saw a good concentration of Swallows with over 700 feeding over the wetlands. There were also 5 Great White Egrets, at least 4 Marsh Harrier, a Hen Harrier, 2+ Penduline Tits and plenty of calling Water Rail (10+).

It was a shame however to see various development pressures nibbling away at the edges of this important wetland:

Rubbish dumping in an area once frequented by herons, egrets and waders

A solar panel farm constructed on an area of the wetland regularly used by Glossy Ibis in the past

An orange grove planted on an area of wet grassland formerly used by Glossy Ibis, egrets and herons

This pond was new a year ago however the site now has a caravan and other infrastructure, possibly associated with fish farming, in a previously undeveloped area of the Natura 200 site

Bird news to follow ...........

Just trying to resolve a software glitch with the blogging app ....... Post with bird news to follow later

Cape Tenaro 2016

The season has started ! We arrived yesterday and had time for a few hours birding. Posts on yesterday's observations and anything we see today will follow later.

This year year you can also follow any birding and wildlife highlights on Twitter @capetenaronews

 

Migration Summary - Spring 2015

• This was our earliest ever visit to Cape Tenaro and in terms of both the number and diversity of migrants proved to be one of the most enjoyable, with several good arrivals and only a couple of slow days. So an even earlier visit could well be worthwhile in another year.
• The variety of migrants was in large part due to our visit coinciding with both the departure of winter visitors (Song Thrush, Robin, Black Redstart) and the arrival of summer migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. In addition the variety of summer migrants was excellent with several species we had thought we might miss (as their migration peaks in late April or early May) such as Wood Warbler and Garden Warbler putting in an appearance.
• The passage of Subalpine Warblers (aka Raspberry Ripple - an 'in' joke) was particularly strong throughout our stay, with notably more birds than a slightly later visit in 2013. The other conspicuous migrant was Hoopoe with good numbers on all days but one and even more to be seen along the roadsides north of the headland.
• Other early spring migrants were also present in good numbers by Cape Tenaro standards inluding Wryneck, Willow Warber, Chiffchaff and Blackcap. There was also a good movement of Red-rumped Swallow during our first week.
• Raptor passage was excellent by Cape Tenaro standards and the peak day totals for Marsh Harrier (44), Kestrel (16) and Lesser Kestrel (6) were the highest we have ever recorded.
• The south-easterly gale that coincided with our arrival produced an unprecedented arrival of Isabelline Wheatear, we recorded at least 12 individuals on the headland, another 7 near Gerolimenas and 3 in the Evrota delta. This compares to just two sightings of single birds on the headland in the last 15 years (and a further 3 birds seeen near Gerolimenas in the same period).
• We added 5 species to the Cape Tenaro list during our stay. Great White Egret and Hen Harrier were both expected and arguably overdue. Oystercatcher and Golden Plover while not highly anticipated but were clearly contenders for a place on the list though the latter is rare in the Pelopennese (Birds of Greece). Richard's Pipit is a rarity in Greece and so the 3 birds we saw are exceptional.
• The other Greek rarity recorded was Northern Gannet with two individuals seen on different days. This species may well be under recorded in Greece (see Birds of Greece) although Cape Tenaro as the southernmost point on the greek mainland provides an ideal location for spotting such stray seabirds.

A Raspberry Ripple - Cape Tenaro April 2015

 

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Raptor Migration at Cape Tenaro - Spring 2015

Small number so raptors arrive at Cape Tenaro most days in spring; this was the case again this year however the weather conditions meant that we also had a more substantive arrival of Marsh Harriers on two days in March (44 on 27th and 25 on 29th). There was also a marked influx of Kestrels on one day (16 on 31st March) as well as small numbers moving through on most days during our stay. 


Raptor Migration at Cape Tenaro
26 March to 6 April 2015

Species	Number
Marsh Harrier	84
Hen Harrier	2
Montagu's Harrier	1
Pallid Harrier	3
Harrier Sp.	3
Sparrowhawk	1
Steppe Buzzard	2
Osprey	1
Lesser Kestrel	10
Kestrel	55
Total	162

Note: The table has sought to exclude birds that had apparently stayed off passage for one or more days, so any individual is only counted once.

In addition the resident raptors - Short-toed Eagle, Common Buzzard and Kestrel have also been excluded.

This year's observations serve to reinforce the importance of Cape Tenaro and the Mani peninsula as a whole as a landfall for migrant birds of prey. The estimate I made in an earlier post (11 April 2013) of 500 to 1000 raptors arriving each spring may well be too conservative. 

Bird news for 13th April

A short post with details of some observations from the Cape Tenaro headland on 13th April. Spyros Skareas (http://www.greekbirding.blogspot.com/) made a short visit to the area around Koginoghia and pipit plateau and saw a good selection of migrants including: Short-toed lark, Wryneck, Subalpine Warbler, Great Reed Warbler, Cretzshmar's Bunting, Eastern Orphean Warbler, Whitethroat, Pied Flycatcher and Turtle Dove.

Wryneck - Cape Tenaro 13th April 2015

 

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