Happy Holidays

Wednesday 15 September. Sue and I had jumped through hoops and clambered over obstacles to reach this point. There was no stopping us now as the jet finally climbed into the sky over Manchester Airport to leave England behind. We were on bang on time in our Boeing 737/800, along with 137 other hopeful holidaymakers on the way to Destination Skiathos.  

Three and a half hours later we arrived on the magical isle at 1355 local time to clear blue skies and 26 degrees. We trotted down the passenger staircase to waiting buses as the air crew wished us "Happy Holidays". We were set for 2 weeks in the sun, the crew to turn the plane around in an hour, fill it with fuel and more passengers, and then head back to Manchester. It's a hard life for some. 

We negotiated a few minor Greek hoops, (or maybe it seemed that way), grabbed our cases and quickly located Magda waiting at Arrivals with a Suzuki Jeep.  In high spirits if a little cramped by suitcases and photo gear, plus Sue's suntan creams & mossie sprays, we set off for Agia Paraskevi and Hotel Ostria, a 20 minute drive via Skiathos' Ring Road and the winding coastal route. 

 

Ostria Hotel

 

Agia Paraskevi is a tiny hamlet and tourist resort on the south coast of Skiathos at the start of the Platanias Valley, an unspoilt landscape that meanders inland through dusty unkempt tracks and scented pine clad hills to eventually reach the wild rocky north of Skiathos Island. That's for another day. 

The weather is hot, dry and sunny so not too good for birding or dropping migrants. The usual species crossed our path in small numbers – Red-backed Shrike, Yellow Wagtail, Whinchat, Little Owl, Chiffchaff and Red-rumped Swallow, Spotted Flycatcher.

Whinchat

Spotted Flycatcher

Red-backed Shrike

Aselinos

The highlight of Thursday was a a road runner, an Isabelline Wheatear at Aselinos beach. I call them road runners because of the characteristic way they run over the landscape in pursuit of prey rather than the wait and see feeding of Northern Wheatears. Unfortunately this one ran so fast that I couldn’t get a photo. 

Shopping and Skiathos Town today. Wish me luck.

 

Yammas

This is bliss. Two weeks without the incessant doom and gloom of TV, radio or newspapers. Two weeks of unbridled sunshine on a beautiful Greek island.  

With a spare hour while Sue readied herself for a night on the town I set to and composed a Blogger post for eager followers of Another Bird Blog. There are a few bird pictures, hopefully more in coming days. 

The fine weather, apart from Day One, has meant few birds in quantity but made up for in a degree of quality. Day one saw parties of 30/40 Bee Eaters contact calling overhead as they headed south and over the Aegean Sea, next stop who knows? The usual suspects are around the garden of The Ostria - willow/chiffs, Yellow Wagtails, Whinchats, Red-rumped Swallows, Spotted Flycatchers, and Red-backed Shrikes. 

Red-backed Shrike

 

Whinchat

 

On the Internet I found the answer to the puzzle I set myself with the finding of a strange looking plant above Xanemos beach. 

Squirting Cucumber

 

Ecballium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cucurbitaceae containing a single species, Ecballium elaterium, also called the squirting cucumber or exploding cucumber (but not to be confused with Cyclanthera brachystachya). It gets its unusual name from the fact that, when ripe, it squirts a stream of mucilaginous liquid containing its seeds, which can be seen with the naked eye. 

The thing looked harmless enough but as soon as I touched the lookalike cucumber out came a water pistol spray of liquid. 

Here at Xanemos were Rock Doves pursued briefly by a Peregrine. Two Blue Rock Thrushes stuck to vegetation where the raptor would not see them. Along the lane to Xanemos more flycatchers and Whinchats but sadly the nearby tomato farm was not operative and so held zero birds in the normally watered environment. 

One of the causalities of this sad year by way of not enough tourists to eat the produce and no work for producers, pickers or sellers. Maybe the grape harvest will survive as wine? 

Grapes - Skiathos

 

A few more pictures taken towards Skiathos Town where the lake held Little Egrets and a flash of Kingfisher. 

 

Red-backed Shrike

Airport ahead

 

Skiathos

Skiathos

Amaretto Taverna

Evenings we return to a few regular haunts as well as one or two new ones when we found both Platanias and Pegasus tavernas had decided there would be little gain from opening in 2020. 

Maistrali Taverna

Sea Bream - before

Sea Bream - after

Baklava

Stay tuned. I'm still taking pictures of 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.

Honey Honey

As you may have guessed we’re still in Greece, headed today for the old harbour in Skiathos where we took a leisurely boat trip to the other main islands of the Northern Sporades - Skopelos and Alonnisos. 

The town of Skopelos is very picturesque, previously honoured as a Traditional Settlement of Outstanding Beauty in 1978 by The President of Greece. The building code for new construction and renovation within the village stipulate that no new buildings shall be of more than two stories, there must be a sloped ceramic or stone roof in the traditional style, and doors, windows and balconies be made of wood. 

Skopelos

Agriculture is widespread on Alonnisos, predominantly mixed farming and vineyards. The main products are almonds, grapes, figs and olives, with a splash of the local speciality honey. Honey hereabouts is mainly pine honey from conifer trees and flower-honey from the nectar of fruit trees and wild flowers, the product forming a large constituent of the famous Greek sweets such as Bacalava. 

Alonissos

Baclava -  Photo credit: Steve Koukoulas / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

Housing traditionally consists of closely constructed houses with stone walls, which, until 1965, were centred around the capital. A small fortress protected against enemies and pirates. The island and the village were heavily damaged in the 1965 earthquake. Many inhabitants returned not to the village of Alonnisos, but to Patitiri.

The old village has been restored in recent years, with rebuilt houses now utilised for tourism. The Mediterranean Monk Seal (Monachus-Monachus) is common around the island, and in 1992 the Alonnisos Marine Park was created to protect these seals and other animals.

The boat trip proved quite eventful for birds, with sightings of Eleanora’s Falcons alongside the cliffs near the village of Glossa with several Gull-billed Terns close inshore as we approached Skopelos harbour. Gull billed Terns pass through this area about now on their way to winter in the Arabian Gulf. Yellow-legged Gulls hung about the jetty as we docked, no doubt waiting for hand-outs from the tavernas and restaurants dotted along the tiny waterfront.

Gull-billed Tern - Photo credit: barloventomagico / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

Yellow-legged Gull

With an hour or more to kill, we took a coffee and a piece of honey soaked cake before heading for a stroll through the village towards the pines beyond.

We did see a Honey Buzzard gliding over the hills behind the village, and it’s not surprising as there were lots of large flying insects for them to feast on. Honey Buzzards are specialist feeders, living mainly on the larvae and nests of wasps and hornets, although they do take small mammals, reptiles and birds. It is thought that Honey Buzzards have a chemical deterrent in their feathers that protects them from wasp attack.

Honey Buzzard - Photo credit: Sergey Yeliseev / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

The Hobby is a common raptor here and like the Eleanora’s Falcon, the smaller Hobby spends lots of time in the sky looking to grab a passing hirundine or a large insect. 

Hobby -  Photo credit: markkilner / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA 

As we waited for the boat back to Skiathos I noted a Common Sandpiper along the stretch of pebble beach. 

It’s not all milk and honey in Skiathos as there are more common birds too - Yellow Wagtail, Sardinian Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, Collared Dove, Hooded Crow, and even our UK garden birds, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch and  the humble House Sparrow.

Keep your comments coming as the house-sitter will be updating the blog with comments and I'll catch up with blogging pals very soon.