Lesvos list 2022 May 5th to May 12th

Craig Shaw: Lesvos Year List 2022 IOC, All records Record(s) 1 to 141 of 141 total.

1 Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna

2 Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea

3 Common Pheasant Phasianus colchicus

4 Chukar Partridge Alectoris chukar

5 Alpine Swift Tachymarptis melba

6 Common Swift Apus apus

7 Great Spotted Cuckoo Clamator glandarius

8 Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus

9 Rock Dove Columba livia

10 European Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur

11 Laughing Dove Spilopelia senegalensis

12 Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus

13 Eurasian Coot Fulica atra

14 Little Crake Zapornia parva

15 Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis

16 Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus

17 Eurasian Stone-curlew Burhinus oedicnemus

18 Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus

19 Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta

20 Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus

21 Spur-winged Lapwing Vanellus spinosus

22 Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola

23 Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula

24 Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius

25 Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus

26 Eurasian Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus

27 Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata

28 Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa

29 Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres

30 Ruff Calidris pugnax

31 Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea

32 Temminck's Stint Calidris temminckii

33 Little Stint Calidris minuta

34 Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos

35 Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola

36 Collared Pratincole Glareola pratincola

37 Mediterranean Gull Ichthyaetus melanocephalus

38 Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis

39 Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis

40 Little Tern Sternula albifrons

41 Common Tern Sterna hirundo

42 Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida

43 White-winged Tern Chlidonias leucopterus

44 Scopoli's Shearwater Calonectris diomedea

45 Yelkouan Shearwater Puffinus yelkouan

46 Black Stork Ciconia nigra

47 White Stork Ciconia ciconia

48 Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo

49 European Shag Gulosus aristotelis

50 Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus

51 Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus

52 Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax

53 Squacco Heron Ardeola ralloides

54 Purple Heron Ardea purpurea

55 Great Egret Ardea alba

56 Little Egret Egretta garzetta

57 Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus

58 Short-toed Snake Eagle Circaetus gallicus

59 Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis

60 Western Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus

61 Long-legged Buzzard Buteo rufinus

62 Common Buzzard Buteo buteo

63 Western Barn Owl Tyto alba

64 Little Owl Athene noctua

65 Eurasian Scops Owl Otus scops

66 Eurasian Hoopoe Upupa epops

67 European Bee-eater Merops apiaster

68 Middle Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocoptes medius

69 Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni

70 Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus

71 Eleonora's Falcon Falco eleonorae

72 Eurasian Hobby Falco subbuteo

73 Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio

74 Lesser Grey Shrike Lanius minor

75 Woodchat Shrike Lanius senator

76 Masked Shrike Lanius nubicus

77 Eurasian Golden Oriole Oriolus oriolus

78 Eurasian Jay Garrulus glandarius

79 Western Jackdaw Coloeus monedula

80 Hooded Crow Corvus cornix

81 Northern Raven Corvus corax

82 Coal Tit Periparus ater

83 Sombre Tit Poecile lugubris

84 Eurasian Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus

85 Great Tit Parus major

86 Woodlark Lullula arborea

87 Crested Lark Galerida cristata

88 Greater Short-toed Lark Calandrella brachydactyla

89 Sand Martin Riparia riparia

90 Eurasian Crag Martin Ptyonoprogne rupestris

91 Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica

92 Common House Martin Delichon urbicum

93 Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis daurica

94 Cetti's Warbler Cettia cetti

95 Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus

96 Wood Warbler Phylloscopus sibilatrix

97 Eastern Bonelli's Warbler Phylloscopus orientalis

98 Willow Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus

99 Common Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita

100 Great Reed Warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus

101 Sedge Warbler Acrocephalus schoenobaenus

102 Eurasian Reed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus

103 Eastern Olivaceous Warbler Iduna pallida

104 Olive-tree Warbler Hippolais olivetorum

105 Icterine Warbler Hippolais icterina

106 Zitting Cisticola Cisticola juncidis

107 Eurasian Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla

108 Garden Warbler Sylvia borin

109 Barred Warbler Curruca nisoria

110 Eastern Orphean Warbler Curruca crassirostris

111 Sardinian Warbler Curruca melanocephala

112 Eastern Subalpine Warbler Curruca cantillans

113 Common Whitethroat Curruca communis

114 Eurasian Wren Troglodytes troglodytes

115 Krüper's Nuthatch Sitta krueperi

116 Eurasian Nuthatch Sitta europaea

117 Short-toed Treecreeper Certhia brachydactyla

118 Common Blackbird Turdus merula

119 Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata

120 Common Nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos

121 Blue Rock Thrush Monticola solitarius

122 Whinchat Saxicola rubetra

123 European Stonechat Saxicola rubicola

124 Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe

125 Isabelline Wheatear Oenanthe isabellina

126 Eastern Black-eared Wheatear Oenanthe melanoleuca

127 Rock Sparrow Petronia petronia

128 Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis

129 House Sparrow Passer domesticus

130 Western Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava

131 White Wagtail Motacilla alba

132 Common Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs

133 European Greenfinch Chloris chloris

134 Common Linnet Linaria cannabina

135 European Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis

136 European Serin Serinus serinus

137 Corn Bunting Emberiza calandra

138 Cinereous Bunting Emberiza cineracea

139 Cretzschmar's Bunting Emberiza caesia

140 Cirl Bunting Emberiza cirlus

141 Black-headed Bunting Emberiza melanocephala

Local stuff

Im still in the middle of my Lesvos blog, just too little time these days and a lot of pictures to sort through so ill update the patch blog instead for now.

Ill start 13th May just after i returned from Lesvos, all my patch year birds are late due to being away so Wheatear today was a patch year tick. Cuckoo, 2 Yellow Wagtail and 2 Egyptian geese on site also.  On the flash in front of the prison no Pectoral sand piper anymore but 5 Ruff and a Greenshank.  2 Coot was a good bird for here and a few Swift now about. 2 Common Tern over. A Fox was out hunting.

14th May 

Walked to Boyton from Hollesley, the highlights being a fall of Wheatear with no less than 9. Bearded tit pinging away at the Boyton end. 

15th May

1st Winter Kittiwake and Spoonbill the highlights of the day. 

21st May

A Glossy Ibis on the flash from Warren Hill prison side was a patch tick for me, it moved onto the main reserve for a short while later in the day. Seemed to be a few more Little Egret on site now. 2 Little Ringed Plover still so maybe here to stay for the summer. 

May 22nd

Sat in the sunshine outside Wantisden Park Cafe when 3 vocal Bee eaters flew over Boom.... awesome.

After this we headed to Winks Meadow for the stunning display of Green Winged Orchids. 

May 26th 

Ive not seen many birds so ill highlight the Moths i caught last night, im only doing this when i catch a mega moth these two Cream Spot tigers probably aint mega but the immigrant Silver Striped Moth is.

 May 28th 

Hollesley today. 1 adult Spoonbill. 2 Cuckoo. Egyptian goose flew over, the Greenshank is still around and max numbers are 95 gadwall, 55 mute swan,4 wigeon 4 pintail and a teal also 5 Coot.

29th May
So to today started at Upper Hollesley common for some more year ticks. It was great. As soon as as i got out the car i could here what i thought was a Tree Pipit and sure enough it was, Singing away further down the track. Plenty of woodlark, a singing Tree pipit, Dartford Warblers, 3 Common Redstart and plenty of goldcrest and chaffinch. Also Green and Great spotted woodpecker.

Moved onto Boyton Marsh where i spotted a Turtle Dove drinking off a roadside pool then a Cattle Egret was playing hide and seek in the pouring rain. Both patch year ticks.

Pectoral Sandpiper

Worked Saturday again so i could only get down to the patch Sunday, i was shattered so didn't get on the patch till 1030 when i did go. Headed for the screen but it wasn't looking that promising and i wasn't adding anything new to the list at this point. I continued around in a circle walking the river bank around to the front of Warren hill prison. This area looked good for waders as it wasn't so deep. I spotted a selection of waders straight away and the first one initially had me puzzled due to poor light and distance. It looked like a Pectoral sand, but wasn't overly confident at this point. Around the wader i started to count 2 Wood Sandpiper and 3 Greenshank. I went back to the mystery wader to grill it better. The light got a little better as the heat haze started to drop and i became more confident it was a Pec sand. So i put news out so others could come and see a very rare bird for the area and turns out to be a first for Hollesley. The more i grilled the bird and then saw it in flight the more confident i became. Other birders came along which helped clinch the bird 100%. The better the light became the more obvious the bird was. But for the poor light the bird was an easy one to id in the end. Now 3 Wood Sandpiper. 2 Little Ringed plover joined the waders giving me another year tick. Other birds of note were Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Cuckoos, lots of Yellow Wagtails and a Common Sandpiper. Jack Snipe was a massive bonus. Best i could do photo wise. 

Had today off, so went back for seconds where the bird was showing and looking better along with now 4 Wood Sandpipers 2 Greenshank. Did a Circle of the flash, 1 Little Ringed Plover and 2 New Wood sandpipers were the highlight. 

Bempton cliffs.

So Easter weekend has arrived and we don't normally go anywhere due to the busyness of everywhere, but we were desperate to get away and we got into a hotel in Scarborough fairly easy and it was cheap and accepted our 3 dogs. The Black-browed Albatross had returned to Bempton cliffs so that made the decision on our destination. 

We left Friday morning fairly early and arrived at Bempton cliffs early afternoon and straight away saw Tree Sparrow Corn Bunting and then the albatross in flight. job done time to go home...no not really the area was great and brought back many memories of the old days, its been some 10 or more years since visiting Yorkshire so we had to make the most of it. I also wanted to photograph the Albatross. We spent the rest of the afternoon at Bempton. The albatross didn't come back but still enjoyed the rest of 

the sea birds on site.

 

We headed to Scarborough just after 6 to check in but not before looking in south bay for anything. A Great Northern diver was a bonus in the bay. 

Saturday, Spent the morning at Bempton again watching the Albatross and managed distant record shots of the bird, the wind meant the bird was too fast and never lingered long enough for digiscoping.

The afternoon we had a look around different areas for Corn Bunting where we found a few single birds but none were photograph-able. Spent some time at Flambrough which was also great but just the Grey Seals of note. 

Sunday we headed for north Yorkshire moors looking for Red Grouse, Golden Plover and breeding Curlews. Added bonus were Ravens, Crossbills coming down to the steams to drink and a female Merlin. We did a circular of the Fylingdale moors through to North Yorkshire Moor railway Goathland, and had a nice afternoon sightseeing. 

We ended the day in Scarborough reminiscing via Whitby Abbey :-)

Monday it was time for home but not before meeting family at Filey Brigg for some rock pooling and fish n chips and a nice catch up with my sister and her kids. 

Lots of interesting stuff in the pools. Sea Hare, Star fish, Gobys and Rock Gunnels, some Common Scoter on the sea and 2 Common Tern in the bay. 

Just a few more of the birds of Bempton Cliffs, a superb area and we really missed the area and will be back soon.

A great weekend away and saw some amazing birds id not seen well for years. Oh and the Black Browed Albatross was a lifer ..... tick