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

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

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

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.

Return Leg

We’re back from Skiathos - eventually. More of that little saga later. Two weeks of unbridled sunshine left us browned off in the normal way with a healthy outdoor tan from our favourite holiday destination. 

As ever and due to unrelenting sunshine, clear skies and temperatures in the high twenties the birding was pretty poor. Nonetheless most would be happy with seeing raptors like Eleanora’s Falcon, Hobbies and Buzzards. Daily sightings of Spotted Flycatchers, wagtails, Whinchats, Sardinian Warblers and the ubiquitous Red-backed Shrike added to the feeling that a day spent in the beautiful countryside of Skiathos was equal to if not far better than a day of burning on Koukounaries beach. 

I returned with very few new bird photos but lots of scenes of Skiathos, the most photogenic of destinations. I am now catching up with two weeks post, business, news, and household jobs like gardening. And there are two new bird books to unpack and then review here on the blog. 

In the meantime here is a selection of photos from Skiathos September 2022. Sorry there aren’t too many birdy pics but I’m sure that regular readers will know how I like to take holiday snaps too. 

Enjoy the pics and don't forget to click for a better view.

Woodchat Shrike

Sardinian Warbler

Goats at Aselinos

Agia Paraskevi

Pomegranate

Morning Flight

A Spot of Rain

Milos Taverna

Bus Stop 

Dry Dock Time

Loading Up

Spotted Flycatcher

Grey Heron

Little Egret

Shop Window

Net Repairs

Windswept Tree

Unloading

The Bourtzi

Yammas

Red-backed Shrike

Feta

Skiathos Carob Tree

Waiting for The Ferry

Boat Repairs

Skiathos

The Bells

Hee Haw

Mini Sub

The Bourtzi

Plane Watchers

Skiathos Rainbow

Day Trip?

Waterline

Sunny Skiathos

And now for a rant about TUI, our flight provider. 

We arrived in plenty of time for our 1345 flight back to Manchester on Wednesday. We learnt that the flight was over two hours late in setting off from Manchester after early morning fog. Fair enough but this “ferry flight”, empty and solely to take a plane load of people back to Manchester then took one and a half hours to turn around. 

Tui

Worse was to come when the pilot announced to already grumpy passengers that our journey to Manchester needed for a “splash of fuel” that would entail a refuelling stop at Dusseldorf, a German hub of TUI where fuel is probably cheaper than topping up in Greece. A sceptic might say, “follow the money rather than TUI's customer service”.  

The “splash of fuel”  added two hours to the flight time and we eventually arrived at our front door over six hours later than anticipated. The joys of travel. This unexpected addition to our holiday rather took the gloss off our wonderful time in Greece. 

Back soon with local birds, ringing, birding and a couple of new book reviews. 

Linking at weekend to Eileen's Blogspot and Anni in Texas.