Catch Up

Out of action for a few weeks I am only now beginning to catch up. Here’s a few pictures from Greece where we enjoyed probably our best ever holiday on the fantastic island of Skiathos despite the weather of 14/14 days of sunshine and very few birds. The island of Skiathos is simply not on a major migration route whereby it attracts a small number of waifs and strays and has a limited range of breeding species.

Click the pics for the best experience. 

For me after so many visits came the infrequent experience of a tick on the Skiathos list - 2 Cattle Egret sharing the tideline with hundreds of Yellow-legged Gulls, the egrets caught against the bright blue sky and the blue/green water. 

Cattle Egret

Yellow-legged Gulls

It’s always good to see the last of the Eleonora's Falcons before they head off to Africa in pursuit of the hirundines that make up some of their diet. Red-rumped Swallows put in an appearance, as did common Barn Swallows but neither of them in big numbers. 

Eleonora's Falcon

As usual Hoopoes, Spotted Flycatchers, Whinchats, Yellow Wagtails, Chiffchaffs and Red-backed Shrikes proved fairly numerous although both Scops Owl and Little Owl were usually heard and not seen. 

Little Owl

Red-backed Shrike

Yellow Wagtail

Whinchat

 

Seeing few birds is not a problem when we go back to our beloved island time after time. We have both May 2025 and September 2025 booked in the diary to revisit favourite birding spots, places to eat, relax and to say “Kalimera” to our lovely Greek hosts. 

Akrogiali - authentic taverna -The best Sea Bass in all of Skiathos 

Mari and Christos - Foodie Cafe - The best coffee in all of Skiathos

Our special friends Litsa and beautiful daughter Sofia.

Dad Makis

View to Skiathos Town

Most photographed in Skiathos Town

Fast Ferry

Slow Boat

Early clouds, stunning light Skiathos Town

Mylos Taverna

Aselinos 

Donkeys at Aselinos

Mylos with a telephoto

Plane spotters

Aselinos beach

Back home there would no ringing when sidekicks Andy and Will were indisposed with hospital and looking after elderly parents respectively. My own mobility issues limited outings to forays with a camera, so no birds in the hand, just birds in the frame. 

Is there anything more uplifting than a watching and listening to flocks of Lapwings tumbling across an autumn sky? I found a flock of 400+ feeding in a field of recently cut maize where rains had puddled the ground. Just perfect conditions for Lapwings that like to eat insects, worms and spiders, but also small amounts of seeds and grains, easily found following a maize harvest. 

Lapwings

Lapwings

 

Late September and early October saw a movement of both Reed Buntings and finches, they too found something to eat amongst the maize stubble. Best counts were of 160 Linnets, 15/20 Reed Buntings, 40+ Greenfinch, 8/10 Goldfinches and small numbers of Skylarks. Pretty quickly the farmer ploughed and drilled the field and the birds moved on to find new sources of food. It was good while it lasted. 

Upon playing close attention to the many Linnets I managed to single out a few likely looking “Scottish” types especially during one morning when the first Scottish snows and frosts were predicted. Scottish types are noticeably dark on the crown, ear coverts, nape and underparts than their more southerly counterparts but close views or in the hand is the best way of seeing these distinctions. 

"Scottish" Linnet

 

Linnet

Reed Bunting

Reed Bunting

Goldfinch

Linnets

Meadow Pipit

Greenfinch

Greenfinch

Greenfinches can be a feature of September and October mornings, some mornings none and then one morning when they seemed to fall from the sky and eager to mop up seed placed on photography fence posts.  Our Greenfinches don't travel far during the autumn and winter as ringing recoveries point to their moving up and down the west coast according to food availability and weather conditions. However it is good to see a revival in the fortunes of this often overlooked and/or ignored species.

And of course “mipits” will be around on most morning to happily pose for a picture and can hang around most of the day if there is food available. 

Meadow Pipit

 

Thanks for looking folks. Back soon with more views, news, pics and  more catch ups.

Skiathos Birding

Sue and I are in Skiathos, Greece so there’s no local news. Instead here are few views of Skiathos together with one or two birds which can be seen in Skiathos during the month of September. 

Skiathos is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, the westernmost island in the Northern Sporades group, east of the Pelion peninsula in Magnesia on the mainland, and west of the island of Skopelos. Much of Skiathos is wooded with Aleppo Pine and a small Stone Pine forest at the Koukounaries location where there is a lagoon and a popular beach. The island's forests are concentrated on the southwest and northern parts, but the presence of pine trees is prevalent throughout the island. 

Skiathos

The name of the island dates back to ancient times. Skiathos took part in wars against the Persians and in 478 BC, became a part of the Athenian Alliance. Later the island was occupied by Alexander the Great and then by the Romans. During the Byzantine period it sank into oblivion. In 1204 was conquered by the Venetians and in 1583 by the Turks. It was then that the inhabitants of the old town Chora, abandoned it and constructed on the north side of the island on a nearly invisible rock, the fortress known as Kastro. 

The now derelict Kastro is famous as a place where the rare Eleanora’s Falcon is guaranteed. September is one of the best months to see this spectacular falcon by way of a dusty, bumpy ride over mountainous tracks followed by a trek on foot to the remote cliffs where the Eleanora’s nest. 

Jimny to Kastro

Eleanora's Falcon

Kastro, Skiathos

During the Greek War of Independence of 1821, many warriors from Thessaly opposite, took refuge on the island. Skiathos was liberated in 1823. In 1830, the local people, left the historic Kastro and rebuilt Chora (now Skiathos Town). 

Life in Skiathos has changed a great deal since those days. Luxury hotels slowly began to be built along its lovely sand beaches, tourist activity continually grew and Skiathos became one of the most cosmopolitan islands in Greece. The island of Skiathos has no villages and strangely as it seems, Skiathos Town is the only true settlement of the island. 

Skiathos Town

The coastal settlements were created in more recent years with the boom in tourism leading to the building of modern hotel complexes, rooms to let, shops, restaurants and cafes, close to the most beautiful beaches of the island. The town, which was built around 1830 on the remains of the Old Town, follows the traditional architecture influenced influence from the architectural style of mainland Pelion. Small whitewashed houses with tiles, balconies and small yards with flowers create the traditional neighbourhoods of Skiathos. 

In our small but perfectly formed hotel we awake to the sound of tinkling goat bells, free-range chickens and the resident Little Owl, but some days the Scops Owl. We take a cup of tea out to the garden to watch Red-rumped Swallows, Barn Swallows and House Martins swooping over the dewy grass. Up above there are more hirundines, often a Bee Eater and always an Alpine Swift or two. In the rows of vines, peppers, tomatoes and pomegranate trees are Blackcaps, Spotted Flycatchers, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers. And there’s a seemingly permanent a Red-backed Shrike on the perfect fence. Birding pre-breakfast - what could be better? 

Spotted Flycatcher

Hotel, Skiathos

Red-backed Shrike

"Mikey" and his aubergines

Bee Eater

Pomegranates

With just a smartphone on hand for 2 weeks it is unlikely I will be able to devote too much time to blogging, but I promise to return all visits and comments as soon as possible. 

In the meantime enjoy the photos, don’t forget to “click the pics”, and log in soon for more from Skiathos.

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.