Another Bird Blog

Sunday, July 26, 2026

Europe, But Not As We Know It.

Many years ago and after learning of the wholesale slaughter and/or capture of migratory birds through the island of Malta I vowed to never ever go there. I kept that promise as did others.

Over the years wife Sue and I made dozens of trips to Spain, The Balearics, Cyprus and Greece; weeks and days of enjoying everything that sunny Europe offers the traveller with suntan cream, binoculars, camera, a field guide and a thirst to explore.

But I have yet to see an Ortolan Bunting.

It is a common enough species in warmer less northerly countries than The British Isles. As one whose days of chasing a tick list is long gone I never felt the absolute urge to see an Ortolan Bunting even on those very rare past occasions when a vagrant was discovered in the UK, a find rare enough to always generate a twitching frenzy.

However when a Facebook page about Ortolan Buntings and Europe popped up on the PC it aroused my interest. I quote here the page, word for word, a very disturbing, extremely sad, but mercifully short story with a trigger warning to all bird lovers.

“The Ortolan Bunting, which is a very rare species here, is a highly sought-after target for poachers in the Mediterranean region. When caught alive and kept in a cage, the bird doubles its weight to up to 50 grams within a short space of time if well fed. Known as the ‘fat ortolan’, it has been a favourite ‘delicacy’ among gourmet diners since ancient times. this day, this brutal practice continues sporadically in south-western France, where people pay over €200 for a single roasted ortolan!

In Lebanon, Ortolans are specifically hunted and eaten, and there are similar cases in northern Italy. In Malta, on the other hand, poachers trap the bird using clap-nets to keep it as a cage bird. It is estimated that more than 30,000 Ortolan Buntings are illegally shot or trapped each year in the Mediterranean region.

Through longstanding campaigns, the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) has almost brought ortolan trapping in France to a standstill – with more than 200 Ortolan trapping sites were shut down within a few years. In Malta, too, the practice has now become rare.”

The pictures show a CABS activist with an ortolan decoy and also live ortolans collected in France.

Decoy

CABS is involved in many campaigns and bird protection camps throughout Europe that keep up the fight for migratory birds. CABS is almost exclusively financed with private donations, from nature and animal lovers, as well as foundations and nature conservation associations.

In order to stay independent, CABS do not receive public funds and refuse business sponsorships. CABS is recognised as non-profit, thus, donations are tax-deductible. You can read about their fantastic work, donate to their cause and even volunteer to help at CABS.

#committeeagainstbirdslaughter #birdprotection #antipoaching #komiteegegendenvogelmord #ortolan

Saturday, July 11, 2026

Καλές μέρες. Part Four

I found more Good Days pictures for another blogging visit to Skiathos 2026, I even included a few from previous visits that until now lay unpublished, undisturbed in a forgotten folder. Stay with it. This might be a long one but don’t forget to click the pics.

Skiathos is mostly unchanging, the people, the views, the special places we visit, the mostly cloudless blue skies that stretch to the horizon whereby a photo from years ago can fill the space needed to make a relevant point.

Skiathos has more than 60 beautiful beaches. It is said that many tourists aim to visit every single Skiathos beach during their stay, a holiday that can be as short as a weekend or as long as you like; beach twitchers, ticking off a new beach or two every day before heading home non the wiser about Skiathos or Greece except for an encyclopedic knowledge of the price of sunbed hire. It’s a way of life that sounds familiar to an old-school British birdwatcher.

Sue and I are not beach bums, we can take or leave them in favour of integrating into the daily life of Skiathos, enjoying real Greece, a someplace found if only people search and investigate rather than indulge in instant Internet fixes.

Early morning May can be quiet along Papa Street in Uptown Skiathos as we head to Foodie Cafe to see Christos and Mirella, the loveliest, most genuine and friendly people you could ever wish to meet. Their double cappuccino and breakfast pastries are well known throughout Skiathos and probably the whole of Greece.

Papadiamantis Street

Christos and Mirella

As we head off to explore the north of the island one of our first stops is Troulos Bakery and supermart situate at the T Junction of the coastal road where staff include two gorgeous hard working girls who greet us with their cheery smiles. Trying not to look at the incredible display of muffins, donuts, cheesecakes and sundry bakes, we order another two coffees, sit outside in the shade and watch the comings and goings of a Troulos morning.

Troulos bakery

Troulos Bakery Girls

Troulos bakery

Continuing north and just beyond Troulos from the open car window we hear Golden Orioles, Nightingales, Cetti’s Warbler and a Turtle Dove but choose not to stop. All three are incredibly difficult to see in any part of the world, not least in the lush growth of a Skiathos forest.

In Skiathos

Very soon we passed by land set aside for Skiathos donkeys by Donkey Club Skiathos, a non-profit sanctuary near the beautiful beach of Aselinos. A Donkey Club run by Panagiotis Kalogiannis (Peter), and his community of volunteers. Here, these beautiful animals are not used, exploited, or displayed, they are given the time, space, and care they need to live peacefully and with dignity.

Good thing we remembered to buy a few remaining carrots and green apples not yet plundered from Troulos supermart by other donkey enthusiasts who had learnt of the location.

A carrot please

More carrots please

Very soon we approached the northern beach of Big Aselinos, our favourite piece of heaven sometimes wild and prevailingly windy but almost always sunny with the odd surprise.

Cattle Egret

Yellow-legged Gulls

Jimny - Aselinos beach

The spring flowers here are quite a sight, millions of tiny flowers a botanist’s delight that carpet the landscape.

Amaranth – known since antiquity as “the flower that never fades” and symbolises immortality , timeless beauty and the strength of the souls. Combined with Helichrysum Mediterranean amaranth and Stoechas - butterfly lavender it creates a bouquet rich in symbolism and aesthetic intensity. Thank you Safari George for your expert advice

May at Aselinos

Amongst numerous red poppies and black-eyed daisies I found two yellow poppies, Glaucium flavum, bright, golden petals and distinctive, long, horn-shaped seed pods. Google told me it is a Mediterranean species commonly found only on shingle beaches, sand dunes, and coastal cliffs and does not grow inland or far from a coastal landscape.

Yellow Poppies

Goats

Goats and goatherd

Yellow Poppy

Red Poppies and Daisies

Amongst the many hundreds of common small butterflies we found a few very flighty Scarce Swallowtail Iphiclides podalirius which proved hard to photograph.

Scarce Swallowtaill

We stopped to chat with Panos (Panagiotis), a well known guy of these parts who we christened years ago as "Mister Jasteri" from his non-stop but humorous championing of Jasteri Restaurant in Troulos that just happens to be owned by his nephew.

Panos

Using local bamboo that grows in profusion Panos and helpers set about repairing and/or making from scratch sunshades that shield both tourists’ and their sun loungers from the sun! Using reeds which grow here is a very resourceful and eco-friendly way of avoiding the use of plastics and fabrics.

Reeds for sunbed umbrellas

Sunbed poles

It's hot work -Panos and team

Recycling

Nearby a couple of donkeys seemed curious as to someone with a carrier bag reaching into the bulging contents. “Carrots” they thought; donkeys learn quickly.

Not so fast my four-legged pals. Stefanos had carefully chosen his posies of Amaranth then tied each one with a piece of ready cut string and saved them in his carrier bag that would ride on the handlebars of his moped.

Stefanos

Any carrots mate?

Posies

I assumed the posies were for Stefano’s family. Maybe so, but I managed to ascertain that most were destined for a restaurant like Bakaliko or Akrogiali in Skiathos Town where flowers that never die would decorate diner’s tables for weeks and months to come.

Akrogiali

We waved Stefanos off along the track that leads back to the metalled road, Troulos and then Town some ten miles away

Aselinos

If there’s been rain or wind blown tides there is a natural water channel with vegetation where birds can be found. On this day the usual non shows of vocal Marsh Warblers but a couple of spectacular birds including a Common Sandpiper a new one for the Skiathos list in my head.

Whinchat

Squacco Heron

Yellow-legged Gull

Black-headed Bunting

Spotted Flycatcher

Night Heron

Sardinian Warbler

Our 19 days had flown by until we do it all over again in September. With that in mind we called into Hotel Ostria, Agia Parskevi to see our long-time friends Litsa, Makis and daughter Sophia.

The Ostria's grounds and gardens looked fabulous, neatly manicured and ready to go any day as the hotel opens mid-May, a little later than we like to visit Greece, It's a win-win in getting to stay with best friends in both May and September. Sophia's sister i.e. Makis' and Litsa's other daughter is Anna Mathinou of Hotel Almira, Troulos featured in Part One https://anotherbirdblog.blogspot.com/2026/06/part-one.html.

One of these days I hope to get a photo of all four together, Mom, Dad, Sophia and Anna.

Sophia showed us a huge olive jar she recently acquired from the basement of an old Skiathos property. The jar was obviously very ancient but a quick sniff at the top confirmed the contents of old. Oil jars also known as amphorae have a long and fascinating history dating back to ancient times. The earliest of amphorae dates back to around 3500BC in the ancient Near East. They were originally used to store and transport various goods including olive oil, wine, olives and grain. They would have had wooden tops to help with the preservation of the contents, however none have survived.