Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Miles Away

Sorry I haven’t been posting much but I’m not at home, I’m in Greece, staying on the island of Skiathos to be precise. 

This is mainly a sun holiday for Sue and I although regular readers of this blog will know that binoculars and camera always go on holiday with us. 

Skopelos

I’m home in a day or two and will post news and pictures of our trip, birds and views of the beautiful Sporades islands of Skiathos and Skopelos. In the meantime here are a few photographs from the same place in 2013. It’s so good we decided to return. 

Flying Cat at Alonissos 

One of the highlights of our stay is day exploring Kastro in the north of Skiathos where Eleanora’s Falcons are guaranteed during the month of September, a time when the falcons feed on the millions of small birds migrating through the Greek islands. It’s a fair old bumpy journey to get to Kastro and then a trek over the rocks to reach the Greek flagged promontory. It’s well worth the effort to watch the magical and acrobatic Eleanoras in action. 

Eleanora's Falcon

Jimny
  
Kastro, Skiathos

There are lots of Alpine Swifts here and in fact all over the island where they tear across the sky at breakneck speed. There’s a good number of Bee Eaters around too and they often feed up high in amongst swifts, swallows and martins.

Alpine Swift

Bee Eater

Skiathos

We’re staying on the south coast where there’s often scrubby habitat, reeds and remnants of pine forest just yards from the tourist beaches. They make good spots for shrikes, wagtails, pipits and chats.

Red-backed Shrike

Woodchat Shrike

That's all for now, it's time to head off for our evening meal.

Taverna - Skiathos

I'm not blogging for a day or two so apologies if I don't catch up with everyone.  We are back home in a day in or two and I promise to do so then. 

Log in later for more news, views and photographs from Another Bird Blog in Greece.

9 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

congrats! looks awesome!

Germán Ibarra Zorrilla said...

Que envidia, gran viaje amigo Phil.

Bob Bushell said...

No need to say sorry, you're in Greece and having a great time. Lots of birds and was sailing.

Rohrerbot said...

Epic birds and epic trip!!! Jealous! That Swift shot is amazing! They are so hard to capture on the camera. Very cool birds. Safe journey back.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Damn! Life is tough huh?

eileeninmd said...

Looks like a great place for a vacation in the sun! Awesome birds and photos! Enjoy your holiday!

Wally Jones said...

It's a sad state of affairs which finds us both apologizing for not posting lately!

It appears your excuse is much better than mine. What an exquisite locale! I always get excited when I see our only Shrike species and here you go and show two beautiful representatives of the clan. What a great opportunity to see the gorgeous Eleonora's Falcon!

All of your images have certainly made my morning a better one. That Taverna seems like a great spot to share an Ouzo. For me, it was an acquired taste, but once acquired, became close to an addiction!

I suspect you're back home by now trying to catch up on your local birds and counting migrants.

Hope you stored up plenty of that Greek sunshine!

All the best, Phil!

Stuart Price said...

Hope you're enjoying the Med Phil...........

Mary Howell Cromer said...

More glorious images. One day, maybe we shall see an image of you and Sue. It is a charming thought to wonder for these past years of blogging what we would enjoy seeing if we could see your faces as well~

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