Migration gathers pace

Highlights - 6th April

Although there were only modest numbers of migrants about it felt that there was more happening today - with birds in some of the bushes, pipits and wagtails in the open areas, a marked arrival of wheatears and a small movement of raptors (kestrel just reached double figures).

We also logged  several firsts for the year: Bee-eater, Great Reed Warbler and an early Garden Warbler.

Grounded Migrants: the lighter winds allowed a few birds in and made those that were still here easier to see. 'Chats' in particular had a good day with 17 Whinchat, 24 Redstart, 3 Isabelline Wheatear, 16 Northern Wheatear and 27 Black-eared Wheatear. There was an increase in flycatchers with 9 Pied and 5 Collared. Subalpine Warblers are still the dominant warbler species, 60 were counted. Other birds in improved  numbers: 17 Hoopoe and 10 Wryneck.

There were several firsts for the year including the first party of Bee-eaters heard heading north over Porto Kagio, the first Garden Warbler (caught and ringed) and the first 8 Great Reed Warblers, five of which were in the gardens at Porto Kagio.

Visible Passage: Swallows stole the show with 190 logged, there were a few flavas, including a party of 7 late afternoon, and another respectable showing of 23 Tawny Pipi and a good count of 46 Tree Pipit.

Raptors: the best day yet with 10 Kestrel, 1 Montagu's Harrier and a harrier sp

Bird Ringing: another good session saw 80 new birds ringed: 13 Blackcap, 13 Subalpine, 9 Whitethroat, 8 Willow Warbler, 5 Sedge Warbler, 4 Tree Pipit, 3 Nightingale, 3 Collared Flycatcher, 3 Pied Flycatcher, 3 Wryneck, 2 Eastern Orphean Warbler, 2 Redstart, 2 Robin, 2 Wood Warbler and single Ortolans Bunting, Linnet, Song Thrush, Linnet, Hoopoe, Ruppell's Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Chiffchaff and an early Garden Warbler.

Weather: The first calm (well almost calm) day in over a week. Winds light N or NE, hazy with moderate to fair visibility

Other Wildlife: the most unexpected today was of a Whinchat trying to devour a Worm Snake, it eventually gave up and the snake provided a photo opportunity before slithering into cover

Eastern Orphean Warbler - one of two ringed today

Wryneck at ‘swallow hollow’

Swallow at Porto Sternes - part of a major arrival today

Toothed Orchid on the path to the Lighthouse

Worm Snake near Paliros 

Ortolans are here !!

Highlights - Tuesday 4th April

A seemingly poor day was rescued by the efforts of the ringing team who caught 109 new birds including the first Ortolan Bunting and Reed Warbler of the spring.

Grounded Migrants: A slightly odd day with most of the headland all but devoid of migrants, the only exception being the central valley and adjacent hillsides where a steady stream of migrants kept the ringing team busy and birds were visibly passing north at Beehive Pass and Windy Gap. Numbers to follow.

Visible Passage: Limited - just 6 flava flew north, a few parties of Linnets appeared to be migrants and 8 Ortolan Bunting (in addition to the one ringed) dropped in briefly at Paliros early afternoon.

Raptors: an Osprey stole the show as it headed north soon after 08.00; there was also a single Kestrel and a Buzzard that behaved more like a migrant than one of the local birds.

Bird Ringing: 109 new birds - breakdown to follow - Subalpine (44) and Nightingale (15) dominated.

Weather: NE7-8 overnight, dropping by first light and moving to E5-6 in afternoon.

Bright but hazy, visibility fair. 

The first Ortolan Bunting of the year

Black-eared Wheatear at Marmari

The local Red-rumpled Swallows have returned to Marmari

Ortolan Bunting at Paliros

Bushchat Delight !!

Highlights - 4th April

The change in the weather delivered a modest but interesting arrival. The star attraction was a Rufous Bushchat (= Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin) found at ‘swallow hollow’ just north of the lighthouse late morning, this is our first record for the headland.

Also of interest were 11 Serin (a surprisingly irregular migrant at Tenaro), a Scops Owl trapped by the ringing team - who also caught 2 Eastern Bonelli’s Warblers - and a very early Spotted Flycatcher (seen at Porto Kagio).

Grounded Migrants: an increase in some species with Redstart (12) and Wood-chat Shrike (16) both breaking in to double figures for the first time this year. Other notable totals: 10 Hoopoe, 2 Golden Oriole, 19 Blackcap, 9 Whitethroat, 2 Wood Warbler, 14 WillowWarbler, 8 Sedge Warbler, 15 Nightingale, 2 Black Redstart, 3 Whinchat, 2 Isabelline Wheatear, 3 Collared Flycatcher and 1 Pied Flycatcher.

Visible Passage: Flavas, Pipits and Swallows - totals were 53 flava, 17 Tawny Pipit, 33 Tree Pipit and 17 Swallows

Raptors: 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Montagu’s Harrier, 2 Kestrel, 1 Lesser Kestrel, 2 Kestrel Sp

Bird Ringing: 58 new birds comprising: 18 Eastern Subalpine Warbler, 7 Blackcap, 5 Tree Pipit, 5 Nightingale, 3 Woodchat Shrike, 3 Sedge Warbler, 3 Whitethroat, 2 Eastern Bonelli's Warbler, 2 Rüppells Warbler, 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Redstart, 1 Scops Owl, 1 Robin, 1 Pied Flycatcher, 1 Greenfinch, 1 Hoopoe, 1 Chiffchaff

Weather: NE 5-6 increasing F7 in afternoon, bright and sunny but hazy after mid morning. Visibility good early on, we could see Antikythira for the first time since we arrived, but fair later.

Other Wildlife: a Mirror Ophrys near Paliros (found yesterday by some Swiss friends) is only the second record for the headland - the last one seen was in 2003!

 

Scops Owl

Rufous Bushchat - Cape Tenaro - 4th April 2022

Rufous Bushchat - Cape Tenaro - 4th April 2022

Ophrys speculum - only our second record for the headland

Windy Weather

Highlights - Sunday 3rd April

Windy then windier still. A frustrating day as the few migrants that were present were hard to see, both numbers and variety were down on the last couple of days.

A northward trickle of wagtails and pipits again was the best evidence of northward migration. On the land just a scattering of common migrants, with some areas of the headland seemingly devoid of bird life.

Grounded Migrants: included 5 Hoopoe, 2 Wryneck, 18 Blackcap,14 Subalpine Warbler, 6 Willow Warbler, 10 Nightingale, 3 Redstart, 2 Black Redstart, 8 Black-eared Wheatear, 3 Isabelline Wheatear,

Visible Passage: 20 Tawny Pipit, 9 Tree Pipit & 13 flava wagtails

Raptors: just a single Marsh Harrier through

Bird Ringing: Total = 19: 1 Wryneck, 5 Tree Pipit, 4 Subalpine, 7 Blackcap, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Sardinian, 

Weather: WNW 5-6, freshening F6-7 in afternoon, clear with slightly hazy blue skies. Visibility fair (for the first time in a week) 

Other Wildlife: With the warmer sunshine Lizards are out basking on the rocks more - photo below

Collared Flycatcher at Marmari

Wryneck near Kokinoghia

Hoopoe on the path to the lighthouse

Peloponnese Wall Lizard

Wagtails and Flycatchers

 Summary - Saturday 2nd April

Pipits, wagtails and hirundines were clearly on the move however most other migrants remained in poor numbers.

Grounded Migrants: no real substantive change in numbers however there were a couple of firsts for the year in the form of a Pied Flycather at Kokinoghia  (and two more later at Paliros) and a Wood Warbler in the ringing site.

There are still at least 5 Isabelline Wheatears preset, all on Pipit plateau. In the same location a highly mobile Sardinian Warbler was perhaps itself a migrant and is the first one we recall seeing anywhere south of Kokinoghia.

Visible Passage: small numbers of flava wagtails (48) heading north, also some Swallows (43) and a Sand Martin. There was also the highest count of the year of Tawny Pipit (12).

Raptors: 1 March Harrier, 1 Montagu’s Harrier and a Kestrel

Bird Ringing: just 16 ringed: 9 Subalpine, 1 Ruppell’s, 1Wood Warbler, 1 Sardinian, 1 Willow Warb, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Blackcap and a Chaffinch.

Weather: W7 to start though dropping W5 later. Mostly sunny though some haze and visibility remains moderate.

A ‘flava' Wagtail on Pipit Plateau

The first Pied Flycatcher of the year (at Kokinoghia)

The first Wood Warbler of the year 

Little Bunting Surprise - where did he come from?

Summary - Friday 1st April

The first full day of ringing, which started slowly, generated a huge surprise in the form of an adult male Little Bunting caught mid morning; a great way for the ringing team to kick off! 

Little Bunting is a real rarity in Greece, with only a handful of records as far we can tell, so a spring record is even more extraordinary, a real treat.

Numbers of migrants were otherwise poor with Subalpine Warbler (31) being the most abundant. A count of 6 Wryneck is probably a genuine increase as none were seen the day before, as was a count of 14 Hoopoe (8 on 31st) and 10 Black-eared Wheatear. Numbers of other migrants remained low so hard to gauge the extent of new arrivals and departures.

A bonus late morning was a singing Golden Oriole in the olive grove above the ringing site, this is our earliest date by 6 days (though the dataset is still limited).

Grounded Migrants: a Cuckoo, 5 Tawny Pipit, 21 Short-toed Lark, 12 Nightingale, 8 Northern Wheatear, 4 Redstart.12 Whitethroat.

The first Whinchat of the year was seen near Paliros.

Visible Passage: very limited ……

Raptors: a single Sparrowhawk, a Marsh Harrier and 2 Kestrel

Bird Ringing: 54 new birds: 22 Subalpine Warbler, 14 Blackcap, 3 Wryneck, 3 Ruppell's Warbler, 2 Robin, 2 Nightingale, 1 Little Bunting, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Chiffchaff, 2 Whitethroat, 2 Redstart, 1 Willow Warbler

Weather: A SE gale overnight, F8-9, dropping by first light then S and SW5-6 by mid morning. Hazy with extended periods of sunshine. Visibility moderate.

Little Bunting - Cape Tenaro 1st April 2022

Little Bunting - Cape Tenaro 1st April 2022

Little Bunting - Cape Tenaro 1st April 2022 

Wryneck at Mianes - Cape Tenaro 1st April 2022

Harriers in the Haze

Summary - Thursday 31st March

Another day with relatively few grounded migrants however Collared Flycatcher and Short-toed Lark were both new for the year and there was a marked increase in Nightingale (5 to 23).

Raptor watching proved frustrating with 3 Harrier Sp affording only poor views, although 2 male Hen Harriers were a treat.

The ringing team have now arrived and spend the day getting organised and ringed 15 birds during the course of the afternoon.

Grounded Migrants: A rather odd mix, migrants were again in short supply however there was a marked increase in Nightingale (23), Robin (5), Redstart (4) and Hoopoe (8). The star promise though went to the first Collared Flaycatcher of the year, a stunning male, at Pailiros. 

The Isabelline Wheatears had mostly moved on with just 2 being seen. The first 3 Short-toed Larks of the year were present on Pipit Plateau late in the afternoon. 

Visible Passage: very limited, a few flavas and an energetic, northbound, Hoopoe 

Raptors: another day of harriers, though different species, 2 male Hen Harriers and 3 Harrier Sp (either Montagu’s or Pallid) along with 2 Kestrels.

Bird Ringing: only a partial ringing session today as time spent clearing net rides and setting up nets, all birds caught during the afternoon: 6 Subalpine Warbler, 5 Blackcap, 2 Robin, 1 Nightingale, 1 Rüppell's Warbler = 15 in total

Weather: Overcast early on with a few short sunny spells, hazy all day with limited visibility. Wind mostly ESE mostly fresh F5-6 but dropping off occasionally.

Other Wildlife: The influx of Bath Whites continued for its third day, in addition there was the first Painted Lady since we arrived and several Clouded Yellows.

A fine Rüppell's Warbler caught this evening

Porto Sternes and today’s big swell

Greater Shirt-toed Lark on Pipit Plateau

Bath White at Paliros

Swallows at Porto Kagio

Isabellines Abound

Summary - Wednesday 30th March

A poor day for migrants redeemed by a notable count of Isabelline Wheatears (8) and a mini northward movement of Marsh Harriers (3).

Grounded Migrants: a further decline in the number of migrants present however this was compensated for by a marked arrival of Isabelline Wheatears with 6 found on ‘Pipit plateau' and another 2 on the narrows. This is our highest ever count for the headland, and presumably, as with yesterday’s Spectacled Warbler, reflects the striping south-easterly winds. It is possible that they had arrived yesterday as they were mostly in an area not covered then.

Other migrants of note today included 4 Wryneck, 32 Meadow Pipit and a single Skylark. Warblers were also down with just 22 Subalpines, 9 Blackcaps and 3 Ruppells. Only 1 Redstart was seen.

Visible Passage: Swallows were finally on the move with 19 seen heading north. A single 'flava' also went north

Raptors: some raptors at last!, 3 Marsh Harriers went north along with a Kestrel and there was also a Kestrl Sp above Kokinoghia.

Bird Ringing: Weather allowing ringing will start on 31st March

Weather: Sunny but hazy early on then overcast during afternoon. Calm or variable F1-2 all day. Humid with poor to moderate visibility.

Isabelline Wheatear on Pipit plateau

A dead shrew at Koureli  

 

Toothed Orchid near Pailiros

Greek Rick Lizard (we think!) at Paliros