Another Bird Blog: Greece Skiathos birds

Friday, May 19, 2023

Greek Delight

Back home now from our favourite Greek island. Here’s a picture or two of birds and Skiathos the place. Click the pics for close-ups.

The locals told us that this May had been the coldest Skiathos for forty years. For us the northerly breezes meant cool mornings and chilly evenings but the days stayed dry. A number of cloudy days meant that photography was often in poor light but on sunny days Skiathos was as captivating as ever. We took full advantage of every single day with some on the beach, wandering around Skiathos Town or simply enjoying the landscape.

The Bee Eater fest of Week One continued into the second week. Every single day we would either see or hear gangs of European Bee Eaters overhead, sometimes so high that they were barely visible, other times in view at moderate height but still too high for photos. Just one day I got lucky when a gang of 80 or more spent time around the area of Aselinos beach and when I grabbed a couple of shots into poor light.

Bee Eaters

I am not sure if Bee Eaters breed on Skiathos. It seems more likely that many thousands pass through this part of Greece in the spring and autumn as part of the estimated European population size of 78-90 million individuals and a distribution area extending over 55.7 million km². While a single Bee Eater can eat as many as 250 bees a day, 80% of their overall diet, it is thought this mainly bee diet has little or no impact upon the bee populations. With the species so numerous and widely distributed is is surprising that they don't occur in the UK more than they do currently. Perhaps that final flight across the English Channel is too much after travelling from deepest Africa?

Distribution of European Bee Eaters

Shrikes continued to be a feature of the scrubby fields, scattered trees and even roadsides where there is roadkill or insect activity. We had one or two sightings of Woodchat Shrike but multiples of Red-backed Shrike. The female shrikes seemed much more likely to hang around for a photo while the males proved very unwilling to be pictured.

Red-backed Shrike

Woodchat Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Mid week brought a bird I’d not seen in many a year, a Lesser Grey Shrike. It’s a species rarely seen in the UK but one that is widespread in Central and Eastern Europe.

I spotted a grey shrike on a post some 200 yards ahead while driving to Aselinos beach and thought it could be either Great Grey Shrike or Lesser Grey Shrike. On closer approach and because the bird was fairly obliging, I could name it as the Lesser Grey Shrike after its deep chunky bill, white feather patch in the tail, pinkish breast and long primary feathers. Black eye in a black mask = always a difficult one!

Lesser Grey Shrike

Closer to our base of Spiti Oneiro/Dream House we found a Little Owl, a common enough bird of the island but infinitely shyer than the UK equivalent. The Scops Owl is the most common of the Skiathos owls, one heard and seen at dawn and dusk, the Little Owl less vocal and very difficult to see.

After a few clicks of the camera our Little Owl would sometimes disappear into the confines of the dilapidated shed upon which it sat. And when a noisy dog protested at our parking close to his property is it my imagination that the owl was not pleased to be disturbed from its afternoon nap?

Little Owl

More pictures below of the island landscape, views around town together with time spent at the boatyard. You see, Skiathos the island and Skiathos Town are places of work and normal life that the islanders are happy to share with tourists from far and wide who are eager to experience this unique and beautiful island.

Skiathos Town, Papadiamontis Street

View from Plakes

View from the hills above Skiathos Town

View from the boatyard

Mending Nets

More Tourists

A dead Leatherback

Don't attempt this at home!

Boatyard scrapyard

Making a new mast

Likewise

Dino's Skiathos Town

Goat Dog

Meating point café

Bourtzi, Skiathos Town

Aselinos

At the airport

Hull

30 Euros a day

Aselinos

Supply Ship

"A knapsack on my back"

Shoring Up

View from Plakes

Skiathos Trails

Greek Delight

Other birds seen - Nightingale, Turtle Dove, Sardinian Warbler, Little Bittern, Little Egret, Roller, Whichat Black-headed Bunting, Hobby Collared Dove, Yellow-legged Gull, Barn Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, Marsh Warbler, Reed Warbler, Scops Owl, Buzzard.

Back soon. Don't go away

Linking this weekend to Eileen's Saturday Blog and Anni in Texas.

Thursday, September 30, 2021

Trip Over

We’re back from Greece. I’m catching up with the world as Sue unpacks suitcases while being careful I hope not to drop the two bottles of ouzo packed between the sun towels. There’s a question for Mr Sunak. Why is Ouzo 12 just £9 a bottle in Skiathos and £16.50 or more in the UK?

An offer to help with emptying the cases is met with “You will just get in the way”. Outside its raining and will do so all day. Welcome back to Britain.

Being absent for two weeks, I decided to revisit the blogging world and post a few photographs. In Skiathos we had 14 days of glorious sunshine marred one morning by a couple of hours of dark cloud and intermittent rain before the sun reappeared as temperatures rose to their normal early thirties. The wealth of sunshine and clear nights led to little in the way of bird migration, just small numbers of the usual – shrikes, wagtails, chats, swallows, Chiffchaffs, Spotted Flycatchers and Blackcaps.

Red-rumped Swallow

The “best” bird of the two weeks may have been a single Magpie, glimpsed one morning flying overhead. Although Hooded Crows are common and Ravens less so, other members of the crow family are very rare. In any case, birdwatching and bird recording is not a pastime of the average Skiathan resulting in a poor bird list for this unwatched island.

Red-backed Shrike and Spotted Flycatchers dominated our mostly casual birding during trips to various beaches and viewpoints.

Red-backed Shrike

It seems that the only shrikes left in late September are juveniles of the year and perhaps females as adult males have by now all left for Africa. The shrikes are mostly wary and difficult to bring into photo range except for the occasional and innocent youngster like this one near Aselinos beach. Aselinos is located in the rugged north of the island, and while it can be wild and windswept, it is simply beautiful.

Aselinos

Likewise, Spotted Flycatchers were difficult to approach until we found this very confiding one in the same location, Aselinos.

Spotted Flycatcher

Wheatear

Late in the day the goatherd brings his goats down to Aselinos and corrals them for the night so that this valuable stock cannot roam and revert back to their wild ancestry.

Aselinos

It was here at Aselinos that after brief morning showers we found a flock of forty and more Yellow Wagtails. The same species plus occasional Grey Wagtails could be seen and heard on a numbers of days in this and other locations but only where a semblance of water could be found.