Sunday, 1 October 2017

Weekends That Were - October 2017

31.10.17

 Anstead & Moggill Swamp
A bit windy, but at least it wasn’t too hot and humidity was down to an acceptable level. There were a lot of Pied Currawongs hunting through the trees so small passerines were few and far between. A total of 32 species for the two hours was pretty pathetic. I did get a recording of a very vocal Leaden Flycatcher and the two Fraser’s Banded Snails were still under the same lump of timber, but other than that nothing to write home about. Bird of the morning – a Black-faced Monarch.

I drove to Moggill Swamp afterwards but didn’t even get out of the car. The left hand side was completely dry and the right hand side completely overgrown. Then it was just getting home through the business and school traffic……

 29.10.17

 Minnippi
Went late to Minnippi more for something to do than with any great birding expectations.
Pretty average morning. The Whiskered Terns were still on the lake and I heard a Brush Cuckoo calling on the M1 track. Pheasant Coucals were calling throughout my visit too and Channel-billed Cuckoos somewhere over the woodland. In the tree near the bridge an adult Tawny Frogmouth sat up with two well developed chicks – obviously the same bird we saw last weekend. There was no sign of any around the Raptor Lookout. I did the Airfield Track but that was pretty quiet apart from a handful of Common Crows and Dainty Grass-blues.

By 9.00 it was 28 degrees in the car and about 80% humidity………welcome back!

 28.10.17

 Trotter
I gave Mr D the choice of destination and at 6.00 we headed for Trotter.
Overall the morning was a normal Trotter morning, although we did add a new bird for our site lists – a juv Black-faced Monarch putting in an appearance.

Other than that it was much same, same – but hot and very humid and we were happy to get back to the car by around 8 and head off to Belesis for breakfast.

 25.10.17

 Oxley
On site at 6. A fair bit of activity – including a cuckoo I saw at fairly close range, but against the light.
I thought it was a Fan-tailed, but now, reviewing the photos I’m not so sure….I don’t think it’s a Brush, but could it be a Pallid? It didn’t call – none that I heard anyway and am happy to hear from anyone with an opinion. I am deferring to Fan-tailed, but it seems very pale, no chestnut underparts and the tail looks a bit different. It’s been a long time since I saw a Pallid and posture wise this looks like a Fan-tailed- comments via txt maybe? (I know the photo isn't great....)



A Glossy Ibis left the scene when I reached the lake and there wasn’t anything else beyond the usual.
As I walked back I met another birder/photographer and he claimed he’d seen White-winged Trillers – I found 2 females and a male myself a few minutes later.
Back near the car a small Stick Mantid appeared on the back of my neck – my first for this site.

Butterflies: a single Monarch.

Stick Mantid Archimantis latistyla

 24.10.17

 Norman Creek, Holland Park West
Needing a little exercise I went for a short walk down the road to the wasteland around the creek. Not much going on beyond the usual.

 21.10.17

 Minnippi

Determined to minimise the potential jet lag and get back into a normal way of life ASAP, I talked Mr D into doing Minnippi despite the threat of heavy rain.
I woke up at 3.30am after 5 hours sleep craving a beer and chips, so I got up and satisfied my body’s demands, feeling bright and alert when Mr D picked me up in spitting drizzle at 6.15. We beat the rain to site and began our usual perambulations towards the parklands.
A Buff-banded Rail sat out on the low tide mud in the creek and bathed for a few minutes before stalking back into cover. 

Buff-banded Rail
6 Whiskered Terns were a pleasant surprise in the dull, wet morning swooping and insect catching over the water. 
Whiskered Tern
As we watched them Mr D heard a call he believed might be Black-chinned Honeyeater so we walked clockwise around the lake to check it out. On the way we spotted a Tawny Frogmouth sitting on what appeared to be 3 juveniles on the remains of an apparent nest – 3 seemed a bit unusual, but it was hard to discern exactly how many there were.
We were unable to locate any sign of a honeyeater and, as the rain increased, decided to head straight up to the raptor lookout shed. As we approached up the slope we could see a large number of Crows and Magpies on the ground in a group. Getting closer we found another adult Tawny Frogmouth poised in protective mode over a charming fluffy juvenile. Somehow the youngster had fallen out of a tree and, unable to fly, was basically stuck in the open. The adult flew up into the nearby trees and, after some effort, we managed to get the juvenile onto a branch and, hopefully, out of immediate harm’s way.
juv Tawny Frogmouth
Heading back through the now persistent drizzle we checked out the M1 path and, again, Mr D thought he heard the honeyeater call. But despite repeated efforts we were unable to locate any likely culprits – it remains a mystery. Other birds heard or seen – Pacific Koel, Channel-billed Cuckoo and Oriental Dollarbird – all my first for this season, of course.
Butterfly: Common Grass Blue.

We finished up back at the car around 8.00 and Mr D drove us to a new venue for breakfast in the Morningside area where we had breakfast and spent a pleasant two hours drying out and discussing our respective trip experiences.

 A note on birding in Greece
I have to say birding in mainland Greece was not easy. 
The birds were generally elusive, flighty and thin on the ground. While neither Mr H nor I are what one would call 'world-wide' experienced birders, we do have over a century of birding between us and have birded a range of locations including, of course, Australia and Ireland, the UK, Norway, France, Spain, Papau New Guinea, the USA Malaysia and Thailand and it was freaking hard in Greece! 
I can't put it down to the time of year - although that may well explain the scarcity in general - but nothing was close. Anything on open ground or water was a scope job, passerines were very secretive and discreet and took a lot of patience and effort to get onto. Everything flew and refused to come out, nothing, absolutely nothing, responded to playback - possibly because it was outside the breeding period, but even then most resident species will react in some way -  sorry, the Owls were the exception, both the Tawnys and, unexpectedly, the Eagle Owl, reacted appropriately. It was tough going! Maybe its the shooting culture? Most spots we stopped at were littered with empty shotgun cartridges, possibly that's the reason, I don't know. But if you go - bring a scope!

 19th & 20.10.17

 Dubai to Brisbane
Dubai to Singapore (Common Myna from the departure lounge window), Singapore to Brisbane, arriving at 1.00am.
Got my bags, cleared security and broke my Uber virginity to arrive home at 2.30.

Crashed.

 18.10.17

 Dubai UAE
Landed safely in Dubai at 11.00 local time (8.00 Irish time/6pm Brisbane time) and after a long walk through the huge airport emerged into 35 degree, high humidity heat. Buses transported us to the 3 star Emirates Copthorne Airport hotel in Dubai city. It all went very well, but didn’t seem organised. Took a while to check in then I had a shower and relaxed in room 7025, twin beds, en suite, cold air con, really quite nice.
At 14.00 I went down for the complimentary buffet lunch, which was OK, then decided to go for a walk. I enquired at the desk as to exactly where we were on a tourist map I picked up, then asked what direction I should walk to get to what appeared to be a park.
I was advised that I couldn’t, not wouldn’t, not can’t, not shouldn’t, but couldn’t walk anywhere “because you can’t cross the streets”. WTF? Total bullshit as it turned out, but when I did emerge and walked the block it was so fecking hot I didn’t want to walk any further anyway.
(I could have got a taxi, but I didn’t have any local currency and was reluctant, under the circumstances, to go too far from the hotel).
I saw heaps of Collared Doves and House Sparrows and one unidentified Myna type that sat singing deep in a tree. Ending up behind my hotel I found my way into a grassy area beside a swimming pool, kids play zone and…………. nearly fell over.
Out on the middle of the short lawn grass among a flock of House Sparrows was a freaking HOOPOE.
I was so excited I think I wet myself.
We had searched Greece for three weeks and seen only one, and that poorly, and here, on a small lawn surrounded by high-rise hotels, tourists, building sites and screaming kids, out in the open, was another one.
I mean, sorry, I know its just a Hoopoe, but f..k me!!  It’s really such a stunning bird, I mean look at it!
Hoopoe
My first 50 shots were all blurred cause my hands were shaking so much, but I did eventually take a deep breath – and take another 50 before being distracted by a call from a nearby bush (look at me, hearing calls!) which turned out to be White-eared Bulbul (per Collins Field guide). By the time I had taken another 100 photos of that so I could identify it, the Hoopoe had fecked off and, once again, I missed it in flight.

White-eared Bulbul (Lifer!)
It was quite pleasant in the shade and there were, obviously, birds around so I sat down, took off my boots and socks to distract the flies and let the birds come to me.
I ended up with:
An as yet unidentified dove (like a Turtle Dove, but different, don’t think its Oriental TD).
Now identified as Laughing Dove (Lifer)
An unidentified Bulbul (a bit like a Black-headed with a red vent, may well be Black-headed, not sure), 

Now identified as Red-vented Bulbul (Lifer)

House Crow. (not a lifer)


and Common Myna.
After a couple of hours the unidentified 'myna' I’d seen in the tree earlier put in a brief appearance and I got some usable shots. 

Not a Myna - uhhhh duhhh - but Asian Pied Starling (not a lifer!)
The White-cheeked and other Bulbul were around all the time – quite easy to see and photograph. The U/K Dove very tame and very cute. Not sure if House Crow is a tick either? (P.S. No, it's not, had it in KL in 2010)
I gave it away at 17.00 and retreated to my room and a second shower. I had taken 468 photos! I burned that down to 109….
Pretty tired, but planning on having dinner around 19.00, then relaxing till the ‘wake up’ call at 23.30 to go back to the airport and carry on home.

Not a bad stop over! Three lifers to add to my trip total and that Hoopoe…….far out!

 17.10.17

 Last day in Ireland - West Pier ect
After yesterday’s storm, I felt like a last hurrah outing and thought the coast might be worthwhile. There had been several reports of Little Gulls in large numbers around the south Dublin bay coast so I headed down to the West Pier in Dun Laoghaire to start off with. Walked the pier – at least 35 Great Crested Grebes in winter plumage in the waters outside the harbour – as they usually are in the winter months, 1 close Red-throated Diver, several Common Guillemots, the usual gulls (no Little) and a handful of Ruddy Turnstones. I also had 1 Common Tern fly past and a Grey Seal in the harbour itself.
I drove to the base of the East Pier where I found heaps of Black-headed, but no other species of Gull. On then to Sandycove and a few Mediterranean Gulls sitting offshore, but again no Little Gulls.
Checked Bullock Harbour (100 LGs last night) and the Dalkey coastline without success.
I did remember a friend’s advice from a previous visit – Mr C told me that the LGs feed offshore and come into roost – I assume that’s what’s happened here today. The weather and sea was very calm and the only wind a slightly gusty offshore which would have helped push them back out to the offshore sandbanks to feed. No worries, it just would have been nice to see them again, but I wasn’t interested in seeing them far away, if they’d been in the harbour it would have been nice.
Headed home, packed my bag, went to lunch with Mum and rang Emirates to find out that they intend to put me up in a hotel in Dubai for my 15 hour lay over. Happy about that!

Left Dale Rd at 20.45, dumped the car - no problems - checked in - no issues - and enjoyed the benefits of the 7 euro complimentary snack voucher Emirates handed me for the inconvenience of a delayed flight!

 16.10.17

 Dublin
Didn't do much today either - Storm Ophelia hit the south-west coast and caused havoc across the whole country. A Red alert was issued by the government and everyone was encouraged to stay indoors. Schools, businesses and universities all closed. Public transport ceased and 360,000 homes were without power as a result  of the 150km+ winds. 
The east coast was least affected, but the wind has been howling all day and rain on and off. Three people were killed, mainly by falling trees, so far. An expected calm, clear day tomorrow, but all schools will remain closed as the situation is assessed.
Needless to say all flights from Dublin were either cancelled or have been delayed. As a flow on from that, my flight from Dublin to Dubai has been pushed back a couple of hours tomorrow night. 
As a follow on from that it appears I will be spending 15 hours at Dubai waiting for the next connection to Brisbane and not getting home till 1.00am on Friday morning.
Bloody hell........15 frigging hours?

15.10.17

 Dublin

 Didn't do much today - family stuff, no birding.

 14.10.17

 Carnsore Pt and Tacumshin revisited
I’ve always had faith in Carnsore Pt - ever since Mr H and I ‘discovered’ it and saw some of our first seabirds there in the late 60s.
So at 6.40 I left Dale Rd and hammered down the motorway in the dark, wet, windy morning. I reached the point at 8.30 and there was only 50 meters of visible sea thanks to the fog/mist bank rolling in on the howling southerly wind. It wasn’t very cold, nor was it even damp and within 15 minutes the fog started to lift, eventually, an hour later, clearing completely.
I settled myself down in a hollow in the grass and watched Northern Gannets, Black-legged Kittiwakes, Razorbills and Common Guillemots stream west in good numbers. Through the next two hours I also had 15 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Artic Skuas, 4 Common Scoter and 5 Eurasian Wigeon. I had been hoping for a larger shearwater, but it is late in the season and the movements were more local feeding birds rather than genuine passage.
I left the point, picked up two coffees for my travelling mug at Lady’s Island village and found my way, via Maps Me, through the warren of small, look alike roads to the Forgotten Corner of the Tacumshin wetland. I found the Belgian birder from yesterday just leaving and, after donning my blue wellies, Killian M, Oran O’Sullivan and another birder round the corner scoping the waders and waterfowl.
They left after 15 minutes or so and I continued to scope the hundreds of duck looking for the two Garganey they had seen. I failed in that quest – not surprisingly, with my low skill level, the number of ducks on the water, mostly bum up feeding, and the howling wind – however, it was a pleasure to see Northern Shoveler, Common Shelduck, Northern Pintail, Northern Mallard, Tufted Duck and Eurasian Wigeon in the numbers that were there – something almost completely missing from Australia. (There may have been other ducks that I didn’t recognise – the effort not helped either by the moulting plumage of some of the individuals). There were also about 300 Mute Swans with 20 or so Whooper Swans among them – they were really nice to see too. Unfortunately the waders were over on the far bank and mostly asleep so identifying anything unusual was well outside my capabilities.
After a half an hour or so I gave it away and, changing back into my hiking boots, headed back to the main road intending to check the Rosslare Backstrand, believing it to be more sheltered, and the little harbour Mr H and I had been at a month ago for the Curlew Sand.
I drove around for the next hour and a half trying to find that harbour and never found it. I checked the mudflats out on the peninsula north of Rosslare Harbour – but the tide was full so all in all that was a bit of a waste of time and fuel.

Finally at 14.00, I gave that away and headed home, reaching Dale rd at 15.40, having had a good, fast run – the motorway is excellent, its hard to believe the speed you can do on Irish roads now…..

 13.10.17

 Kilcoole
Got up late and took Mum for her first ever breakfast at MacDonald’s, in Stillorgan shopping centre. She enjoyed the pancakes and maple syrup, then we headed down to Kilcoole. While I took the two hours to walk to the Narrows and back she read the Irish Times and had a snooze.
Strong southerly wind and grey clouds, but it wasn’t particularly cold. The sea was pretty flat and there wasn’t much flying around. A couple of Northern Gannets did pass by and at least 4 nice Red-throated Divers still in partial breeding plumage sat not too far off shore.
In the reserve – Eurasian Wigeon, Eurasian Teal, 3 Northern Shoveler, ~ 100 Northern Lapwing, a couple of Eurasian Curlew, a solitary Common Greenshank – and later a single Common Redshank - the usual Little Egrets, Grey Herons and Mute Swans. It was pretty average. I did scope a single Northern Wheatear in the reserve and flushed several Meadow Pipits along the track.
Bumped into a Belgian birder also on holiday – he claimed two Whopper Swans, a Hen and a Eurasian Marsh Harrier – I didn’t see any of those.
Back at the car herself was still in the land of the living. I had speculated on how I would explain her passing after her first ever Macker’s breakfast, but, thankfully, the need didn’t arise.
We drove down to Wicklow harbour – basically I was checking for Little Gulls reported ‘south of Greystones’ yesterday – but not a gull in sight.

Back up to Greystones village and lunch, then a quick check of the disaster they have made of the harbour and home for afternoon tea!

12.10.17

 I just spent the afternoon loading videos of the trip. The internet at Mum's place rocks!

 21.9.17 - Getting out of the parking in Keramidi

 22.9.17 - Middle-spotted Woodpecker

 24.9.17 - Vulture feeding station

 28.9.17 - The Lake Kerkini pelagic

 29.9.17 - Driving into Ammoudia

 2.10.17 - Driving Mt Timfi

 3.10.17 - Mountain driving around Ioanina

 4.10.17 - That Bloody Trek & a Red Squirrel

 5.10.17 - Cafe Scene in Ioanina

 6.10.17 - Crossing the bridge to the Peloponnese

 7.10.17 - Monemvasia

 10.10.17 - The Corinth Canal

 12.10.17

 Dublin again

 Had a lie in, then breakfast, then headed into the city to pick up some last minute take home 'stuff'.
On the way a Grey Squirrel attracted my attention - burying his nuts for the coming winter. The battery in my camera died so its a bit shorter than I would have liked...

https://youtu.be/2ztuf4A4fWs

Grey Squirrel

11.10.17

 Athens
We wanted to get to the Acropolis early to avoid the crowds – it opened at 8 and we were there at 5 past. 20 euro entry and we spent the next 2 hours wandering around taking photos, marvelling at the structure that is so famous there’s no need to describe it. By 10 the place was getting crowded so we got out. (We had the Alpine Swifts again, a Blue Rock Thrush, a Eurasian Kestrel perched up on an ancient pillar and several singing Sardinian Warblers)

360 degree of the Acropolis and Athens
Yeah well, you gotta do it really.....
Alpine Swifts
Eurasian Kestrel
A patrol of soldiers had just raised the flag and were marched back down through the tourists:

 https://youtu.be/WUDrcOa0HzE
Back into the shopping and walking and we checked out Monastiraki and Syntagma Squares (the latter where the riots took place a few months ago as people protested the austerity program) and bought some more take-home stuff in the markets, then back to our apartment again for a rest before lunch in a small bar/tavern and the return trip to the airport.
In one of the squares we saw a parakeet just above us in a tree - pretty sure it was Monk Parakeet, an introduced species in Athens that has a well established feral population.






The flight left on time at 20.15 (Athens time) and was uneventful, landing at 22.30 (Dublin time). Mr H grabbed his bags and took off to get the 22.55 bus to Belfast while I got my hire car and, after I’d worked out how to get the handbrake off, arrived at Dale Rd just before midnight.


Day list – 16 species; Trip list - 175 species; Trip lifers – 43 (1).

 10.10.17

 Monemvasia to Athens
We packed up and hit the road as dawn broke. Basically a long boring drive mainly using the motorway and paying the tolls (236 kms from Sparta to Athens, E16.25 paid through 7 toll booths, bringing out total tolls to E87.25 or $Au132.40.)
We stopped off at an ancient ruin – Mycenae – which seemed like a good idea until I baulked at the E12 ($Au 20) entry fee and let Mr H go ahead alone.  Instead I had a coffee and wandered around the car park filming grasshoppers and butterflies. I mean, I don’t mind seeing historical stuff, but this place was a real ruin and I just didn’t feel I’d get the value. The whole countryside is dotted with ruins like this, you could spend your whole life looking at them.
Mycenae

 We crossed the Corinth Canal - its a bit now you see it, now you don't!

Heading on we reached the turnoff for the airport at 13.30, but decided it was a bit early to drop our bags off so we bypassed the airport and went down to a small fishing port on the coast where we tried to find an Audoin’s gull, but were successful only in having lunch on the quayside near some hanging octopi.
Back to the airport for 15.30 (dumped the car, total mileage in three weeks = 5,083 kms) dropped our big bags in to Bagsafe (E13 each for 24 hours) and headed for the Metro to Athens. E22 return each – an efficient, fast service that dropped us off 45 minutes later with a 10 minutes walk to our next Air BnB sleep over. (Might all seem a bit extravagant – i.e. dropping the car off a day early, cost for Bagsafe and metro tickets - but when we saw how narrow the Athens streets were, how crazy the driving and how tight the parking was etc we knew we had made a sensible choice)
We hooked up with the owner and dumped our stuff in the very cute, zany apartment he and his sister renovated recently. Oh Joy – a shower that hangs on the wall – and a decent sized cubicle even if there’s no door! Bliss!
After a suitable sit down we went for a walk and ended up in the major shopping area/bazaar/flea market. Brilliant!! Lots of activity, colour, noise, people, interesting shops – it really was excellent. The Acropolis high about all lit up – just as one expects to see it, we also had a flock of about 20 Alpine Swifts and 10 Pallid Swifts overhead.
We bought a few bits and pieces than stopped at a restaurant near our apartment and I treated Mr H to dinner in thanks for doing all the driving. Dolmados, Feta, chicken, falafels, coffee and quite a bit of red wine and we staggered home to crash at about 22.00. I was pretty knackered but it seemed that Athens was only coming to life – bars and cafes open and full of noise and music. It was a bit of a pity we were both a little past it…..well, maybe more than a little……


Day list – 22 species; Trip list - 174 species; Trip lifers – 42 (0).

 9.10.17

 Monemvasia peninsula - north
Today we headed north on the peninsula from Monemvasia. We were targeting that old Gull again and vagrant land birds, hopefully….
The scenery was pretty good along the coast, but the birds were generally disappointing. A few ks north we stopped and walked in on a rough track through the rocks and low scrub towards a cliff with a huge cave in the face. Here we had European Stonechats, Corn Buntings, Sardinian Warblers, 2 Common Kestrels and a pair of Rock Nuthatches high on the cliff face – nice to catch up with them again.
We drove on stopping randomly along the way over the mountains again – Mr H reckoned it wasn’t a normal day unless he was driving hairpins. One spot we stopped at was crawling with Eurasian Blackcaps and Sardinian Warblers – in excess of 20 of each species, although, again, no really close views of the latter – they really are a bitch to see easily. At another spot we scoped another pair of Rock Nuthatches – these were proving much easier to see than I had thought – even if they were several hundred yards away.
We came down to the coast again and drove along it, stopping again here and there to check the rocks, harbours, beaches etc – but only found 2 Yellow-legged Gulls in the whole stretch.
Molaoi - we stopped to get the car washed in preparation for the drop off tomorrow – 8 euros and a half an hour relaxing while another dude did the work saw the vehicle look good as new.
Arriving back in Monemvasia we had a coffee and availed ourselves of the free wifimin the café, this time much more successfully than yesterday. Then we walked out to the causeway-connected island and wandered round the old town for a couple of hours. It’s a big tourist attraction with narrow streets and old buildings, but my main interest was a seawatch off the front of the island – we did one for a short time but saw nothing.
We did have yet another pair of Rock Nuthatches on the cliffs above the town and a flash view of a Blue Rock Thrush lower down near the water.
Just some shots of the still occupied part of the old village:







A comment on the water – I have been really impressed by the clarity and cleanliness of the sea – its absolutely crystal clear everywhere along the coast. Very inviting - but I never did get wet. Whether this means it is less productive – evidenced possibly by the complete lack of any waders or gulls along the shore – or whether it is simply because no major rivers run into it, I don’t know. We surmised that the lack of gulls and shorebirds in general maybe due to the very small intertidal movement, therefore no rock pools or weed encrusted rocks are exposed to provide feeding. Whatever - barren it was.

We headed home and packed our bags. The plan is to drop the car off at the airport tomorrow, a day early, leave our check-in bags in the left luggage area and get the metro into Athens itself. We plan to do some sightseeing in the city on Wednesday before flying home late Wednesday night. This was to avoid the hassle of driving in the city itself, parking etc. Hopefully it will all work out…….

 Day list – 32 species; Trip list - 174 species; Trip lifers – 42 (0).

 8.10.17

 The Monemvasia peninsula gull hunt
Our target today was Audouin’s Gull so we set off for the far side of the peninsula seeking ‘wave washed rocky platforms’, harbours, beaches, islands, ports, ships, trawlers, fishermen – whatever we figured might attract same.
Near the top of the road over the mountains we stopped at a couple of likely looking places – not for said Gull but for anything else that we hoped might be around. We had a few birds – European Stonechats, good views of perched up singing Wood Lark, several slightly better, if a little distant, Sardinian Warbler views and a Red-breasted Flycatcher were the highlights.
Red-breasted Flycatcher
We came down off the mountains and trolled along the coast heading in the general direction of the tip of the peninsula. We checked every rocky platform we could see, scanned harbours, islands, ports, ships, trawlers and even fishermen but couldn’t find even one GULL, never mind the target species. It was uncanny.
We go to the end of the road at a really cute little village and harbour but……no gulls. Great wave-washed platforms which, as I pointed out, if I was an Audoin’s Gull I would just fecking die for, but found only a Common Sandpiper who didn’t hang around long.
So we headed back and stopped at Neapoli for the usual 11.00 coffee. Then it was north along the coast once again gull-hunting. We ended up at yet another harbour. This one servicing a ferry service to an offshore island. From the wharf we saw gulls. Away out along a sandy spit a few gulls were milling around. We managed to find a side road behind the spit which turned into a hard-packed sandy track and followed it out to a spot behind the sand dunes where a number of camper vans had also parked up.
Trudged across the dunes to scope the 10 or so gulls 500 meters away directly in the glare, of course. We tried real hard to convince one of them to be an Audoin’s but, unfortunately, had to reluctantly admit they were only Yellow-legged.
Decided to check a salt lake behind the dunes for waders and turned up 6 Dunlin, 2 Ringed Plover, 4 Kentish Plovers, a Ruff and a Little Stint. Great views in the scope – specially the Kentish. Of course, my camera was in the car….
We headed back home then as Mr H was pretty knackered from all the driving and we needed to access wifi in the local eateries in Monemvasia for emails etc.
Our accom at Monemvasia (the white one in the middle....)
The Wind Star, a sail and solar driven cruise vessel, had docked offshore which was pretty cool and we checked it out as we sat and had some lunch and coffee and tried the wifi. Phones were OK but it wasn’t strong enough to handle the laptop so my blog has gone un-updated.
Wind Star
We went home and had a rest then hung around waiting for dusk. In the meantime Mr H found a Blue Rock Thrush perched up on the house behind ours and we tried to turn House Sparrows into Spanish without success.

After the rest we went owling. We’d targeted a spot up the road – a gully with a few trees that seemed to offer opportunity and we parked up just on dusk and started playback – within 5 minutes we had fantastic views of 3, possibly 4, Tawny Owls calling back, perched up and flying overhead. Stunning! No luck with any of the other species though – still want Scops, but no responses. We left the Tawnys to themselves (a Red Fox crossed the road as we headed back) and stopped off at a road side taverna within walking distance of home and had a great meal with enough local red wine to put us to sleep.

           Day list – 37 species; Trip list - 172 species; Trip lifers – 42 (0).

 7.10.17

 Katacolo to Monemvasia
Another day another road.
We had the breakfast that Yannis supplied as part of our Air BnB deal – a Greek breakfast of Greek coffee and small, very crisp slices of toast and apricot jam. It left Mr H feeling cheated as his stomach wondered what it had done to deserve this.
We headed south getting to the motorway to Kalamata (a la the olives) then across the mountains to Sparta (a la the Spartans….) On the way we stopped at a lake and had a couple of Black-necked Grebes.
The mountains were pretty cool, the road another twisting, spectacular seesaw with tunnels cut through the living rock like something out of a James Bond movie set, steep gorges and hanging cliffs. We stopped a couple of times to, once again, give that old Wallthingy the good college try, but came away tick-less yet again.
We stopped again further on to check a couple of circling raptors – Common Buzzards – and had fleeting glimpses of a pair of Sardinian Warblers at the edge of an olive grove. On down southeast to the coast where we arrived in the rather touristy, but very cute, village of Monemvasia, our final destination before Athens.  

We stopped in the carpark beside the harbour overlooking the bay and the very steep sided and picturesque island-attached-to-the-mainland-by-a-causeway while we looked up the details of our accommodation – and a very big Loggerhead Turtle poked its head up briefly off shore.


We located our Air BnB stay – a large, white painted modern house outside town, perched on the slopes of the mountains, overlooking the bay. On site were the elderly parents of the host, who, we discovered, was actually in Athens. They don’t speak any English, but were very friendly and welcoming, she chatting away 10 to the dozen, us smiling and saying ‘Great’, ‘OK’, ‘Thankyou’, etc.
We had a little drive around the rocky coastline looking for gulls with one particular species in mind, but found none - nada, zip, zero. Not ONE gull of ANY description – weird! Our target species was, of course, Audouin’s, but the search will have to be resumed tomorrow.
We settled down to rest on the verandah outside our rooms (2 bedrooms again, and a shower actually attached to the wall, but no door on the stall? WTF) with coffee and cigarettes and I casually set up the scope.
I scanned for a while, seeing absolutely nothing, took a break, then, as we chatted, scanned again and suddenly, there it was, a small, Manx-type shearwater heading right, against the wind a long way out, but the dark upperparts (looking browner in the bright sun than Manx), white underparts and general jizz defined it as a Yelkouan Shearwater.(T1) We watched for a while more, than Mr H went for a rest. I continued to seawatch until almost dusk, 19.00, but saw, literally, only 1 Great Cormorant fly past in the following 2 and a half hours! Maybe tomorrow?
We have no wifi here – the first stay without - so I’ll have to update the blog tomorrow at one of the cafes in town.


Day list – 29 species; Trip list - 172 species; Trip lifers – 42 (1).

 6.10.17

 Ioanina to Katakolo
We got up, packed up and locked up before hitting the frogging toad at 7.30.
It was a 300+ kilometre drive to Katacolo and we did most of it on a major highway at 100+ kms/hr. At least as far as the bridge from ‘Northern’ Greece to the Peloponnese – the Rio Antirrio bridge, one of the longest cable hung bridges apparently. The most impressive thing was the toll – 13.30 euros ($AU20).

(On the road I added up the tolls we had paid so far. Including today’s as far as the bridge we have paid 50.70 euros in tolls ($AU76.50).)
Rio Antirrio bridge
Anyway, after the bridge the roads reduced to a one way each way normal road with no more tolls.
We stopped off at a couple of sites. Firstly along the coast to Cape Araxos where we couldn’t reach the end as it is a military area and the military wouldn’t let us go all the way out. We saw 4 or 5 jet fighters take off from a nearby airbase too.
A little further on at a holiday style beach area with a fresh water lake nearby we scoped Greater Flamingos, Little & Great Egrets and other usual stuff before turning our attention to the Umbrella Pines behind us where we had at least 4 Sardinian Warblers and I, finally, got a less than perfect, but tickable view of a couple of individuals. (T1) (Mr H has heard them several times on the trip but we have, until now, been unable to see them). We also had Common Redstarts, Greenfinches, Greater Whitethroat and the ubiquitous Spotted Flycatchers. We had lunch them moved on.
To the Strofylia wetlands part of the Kotyhi National park. Several Western Marsh Harriers, more Greater Flamingos, a Northern Pintail and the usual egrets including for the first time this trip – Cattle Egret (flock of ~60) and a Squacco Heron, close enough to photograph, but still not really close enough.
Squacco Heron
We reached our destination, west of Pygros, at Katacolo, a small touristy village with a large harbour on a peninsula.
Our one night Air BnB accommodation consisted of a single room with two beds, a wash basin and a wardrobe. We had to park in the street and walk up 79 steps to get to it – we only carried up essential items! The view over the bay and the harbour was beautiful, but the effort almost did us in again – our calves are still aching and my knees aren’t working very well.



However, we caught our breath, regained our poise, wiped our sweaty brows…..and headed back down to street level again and, of course, like the mountain two days ago, that was worse…..Jesus Christ….
A cup of coffee in a harbour side café sorted us out and we went for a drive around the headland looking for a place to seawatch. Most of the coast was dominated by rich looking, security heavy, private holiday homes and hotels, but we managed to find a spot to look at the flat calm, heat hazed ocean. Pt Lookout it wasn’t BUT at a great distance we did see ~6 Cory’s Shearwaters loafing along just below the horizon. As there are only two possibilities as far as shearwaters in this area are concerned – Yelkouan and Cory’s – it was more a matter of elimination rather than identification, but their large size and slow flap, glide, flap jiz had us happy with the ID.

We returned to home – well I did, Mr H had a swim – followed by dinner - Greek beer, grilled sardines and fried squid, tzatziki dip and bread and a Greek salad – then crashed in our tiny room.
5.10.17

 A Day Off
As planned yesterday we took a day off birding, well, more or less.
Got up late, had breakfast, then drove through Ioanina to the south end of the lake (we’re staying nearer the north end) and parked up near the old fort on the lake’s edge. We went into the ruin and, while Mr H got himself an education on Ali Pasha and the fort’s history I enjoyed a quiet cup of coffee at the on-site café.
We then walked through the old town, groaning and twitching like old men following our mountaineering efforts of yesterday, which is an intense shopping area with touristy type souvenir shops and silversmiths (for which the town is famous) as well as ‘normal’ shops for clothes, bread, fruit and veg, fish, religious icons etc It was very busy but most people seemed to be locals. We wandered around for about an hour buying a few bits and pieces then sat at one of the many cafes for coffee and watched the world go by – it was very pleasant and a nice relax after the last two weeks.

After an hour or so we wandered again and ended up on the lake-front seeking a place for lunch. Just near the car a suitable taverna seemed the place to go and we had a long 2 hour lunch including a huge Greek salad, fried feta, bread and a plate of assorted meats to share. The waitress talked me into trying some sort of ouzo served in a small bottle that I drank with water and ice and felt all the better for it. (Mr H as designated driver only allowed himself a small taster.) As we left the tavern we had a Wood Warbler across the road in the trees by the lakeside.
We both felt a little sleepy after lunch so headed home and crashed for a while.
Once we had had our nana nap we headed down to the north end of the lake to see what was there and drove down a couple of unsealed roads ending up at a bike path and a bridge where we had several Common Snipe feeding out in the open, the first Wigeon of the trip and a small flock of Hawfinches as the highlights. Another rocky laneway and good views of a Cetti’s Warbler and that was it for the day.


Day list – 36 species; Trip list 168 species; Trip lifers – 40 (0).
4.10.17

 That Bloody Trek
Wallcreeper – we were really trying to find a good location. Were they still up the mountains above 2000 meters? Had they come down already for winter? We had NO idea. But decided that we’d try for the high altitude option as there were still birds at that level yesterday and it wasn’t very cold yet.
Now we needed cliffs. Not just any cliff, but a steep, high, fuck off type slab of sheer rock.
So, we, or should I say Mr H and make him responsible? chose a spot in the mountains (which are, of course, the Pindos Mountains), near the Vikos Gorge where it looked like we could ‘walk in’, and up, to really good cliffs that resembled perfect Wallcreeper habitat.
So, at 7.30 we left ‘home’ and drove to Mikro Papigo, a tiny village at the end of the bitumen and the start of what has now become known as That Bloody Trek. It took us two hours to get there so we set off in high spirits at 9.30, Mr H carrying my scope and his tripod (it’s lighter than mine) in a back pack with some food, me, just my camera belt as usual. 

Starting out
Cutting a long, looong story short, it took us 3 hours to climb 6 kms and about 1000 meters in altitude. It was really tough. I mean REALLY tough. We had to stop every 120 paces or so to catch our breath and relax our muscles. The track zigzagged across the face of the slope – which was OK, but was rough as guts and full of loose stones, rocks and dirt. I mean the footing was awful. Every time you put your foot down, it half slid from under you and our paces got shorter and shorter. At one stage I didn’t think I could go on, but managed to pull it together and drag my very sorry ass up that dam mountain.
(Note - in the videos I say 'feet' - I mean meters....)



We finally reached a refuge station where hikers can stay if they choose to book. It was at the top of the 6km slope – and on a ridge line. There was NO WAY we were going any further so we pulled my scope and his tripod out of the backpack to scan the cliffs, only to find my scope wouldn’t fit on his tripod screw…..Jesus, Mary & Joseph….anyway, we did manage to balance it on the tripod and scan away, but the cliffs were too far away really and unless we were lucky enough to see a little fecker in flight it was almost impossible to pick one up on the rock. 

View from the refuge 2000 meters
We did try, we really did, but had to admit defeat and, after resting for an hour, started the descent.
If we thought going up was hard, going down was hell.
Thigh muscles screaming, knees in bits, toes bunched up trying to hang on, my balance not everything it should be, Mr H found a stick and that helped, but I felt like Blind Pew on Treasure Island tapping along on the rocks. We both went down on our asses, once each, in the two and a half hours it took us to get down and limp into town. We were knackered, I mean I consider that I can put up with a lot, but That Bloody Trek nearly did for both of us. We really did deserve a Wallcreeper, but luck was not on our side - I must have been a bad child.
Birds? We had rather distant views of Northern Wheatear, Common Ravens, plenty of Black Redstarts, a few Rock Buntings and Eurasian Linnets. Oh and we did have a European Stonechat - the first for the trip, but as Mr H succinctly put it – “it was a long bloody way to go for a Stonechat” He also heard, but we couldn’t see, a Red-billed Chough, also the only one so far.
At certain points on the Bloody Trek there are ‘water stations’ which provide a trickle of water out of a pipe into a small trough arrangement. In one of these troughs I found two small toads – turned out to be Yellow-bellied Toad Bombina variegate (lousy photographs, but the best I could do under the extremely trying circumstances)

Yellow-bellied Toad Bombina variegate
We had coffee – GOD, did I need that coffee – then eased our painful way back to the car and set off for the nearby Vikos Gorge – reputedly the deepest gorge in the world although that seems to be a debatable point. According to Wikipedia "if you’re a gorge lobbyist you might think otherwise". A gorge lobbyist? WTF?
Moving on……..as we rounded a corner I saw and shouted ‘SNAKE’. Mr H rammed on the brakes and we ran back – well, hobbled quickly back, to see a meter long snake heading for the bush. I got one poor photo before it disappeared, but believe it was a (very common apparently) Eastern Montpellier Snake Malpolon insignias.
Eastern Montpellier Snake Malpolon insignias.
We drove around the valley and out to Vikos which is another tiny village that overlooks the northern end of the Gorge. It was pretty spectacular and, again, impossible to capture in a photo. We sat for a while and scanned the cliffs for that farking Wallcreeper, but again it was all too far away and we didn’t really have a chance. We did see a couple of very distant Alpine Choughs.


Vikos Gorge
As we walked back towards the car a Red Squirrel ran around in a walnut tree and sat up for photos (and video, but again don’t have internet strong enough blah blah blah). He, or possibly she, was super-cute in his/her darker winter coat and extra tufted ears.


Red Squirrel

 https://youtu.be/1ptjgvUfmFo
So ended our fruitless (so far) quest for the mythical (?) Wallcreeper. Mind you we didn’t do very well with Alpine Accentor either…..
We got home 12 hours after starting out and relaxed after hot showers, steak dinner and beers. Tomorrow we plan to just wander around Ioanina, i.e. no birding. The next two days after that will see Mr H doing a lot of driving so we plan to take it easy in preparation – and after today, we’ll need the break. 
I’m just getting too old for this shit.



Day list – 31 species; Trip list 167 species; Trip lifers – 40 (0).

 3.10.17

 A day in the mountains
We set off at 7.30 and found our way to the start of a mountain drive at Petrovouni, from there it was a torturous drive up and up, hair pin bends, narrow road etc. We eventually broke free of the up-thing, then it was down, down into the valley – and the cloud. Thick and fog like it made the trip even more exciting. Exciting? Well, maybe….




Once again it was up and up and this time when we cleared the cloud we were still climbing but around the side of a mountain, rather than directly up. 
The road was strewn with fallen rocks, on one occasion I got out and cleared the road ahead, just to make sure we didn’t catch anything under the car and so Mr H didn’t have to go too close to the edge. In places the road had fallen away, leaving the metal barrier hanging in space, in others patch work had been done leaving a rough unsealed section. Very tiring driving, every corner a mystery with a potential direct fall to the bottom without touching anything. Fortunately there were very few cars on the road again so using the whole road, for what that was worth, was safe enough. It was also very quiet, no wind, so hearing any oncoming vehicles was quite likely. 
Above the clouds at about 1200 m
We reached the village of Matsouki and negotiated the extremely narrow, paved roads through the buildings to again start driving perpendicularly up. We eventually reached our goal – at about 2000 meters at a crossroads, a spot called Baros, on the side of Mt Kikoutas, we parked and wandered around looking for our target birds – Alpine Chough (T1), Wallcreeper and Alpine Accentor. We failed on the latter two, but had great views of the choughs wheeling and calling and distant views on the ground. We also had Northern Wheatear, heaps of Black Redstarts (well, about 10) and 3 Water Pipits (T2). Towards the end of our local wander, scenery picture taking, an eagle glided over a ridge and provided enough of a view to determine it as a Booted Eagle (T3).

View from Baros at 2000 m.
Wallcreeper cliffs? not while we were there! Baros 2000m
Water Pipit
The scenery was amazing. Once again, very difficult to capture it in one photo. I took a few panorama shots but it just doesn’t really do it. I also took videos but haven’t the internet speed to update them. The silence was incredible too, considering how far we could see – absolutely still, not a sound. At most of our stops we could hear the tinkling of the goat and cow bells that the locals string around the necks of certain animals in the flock. It’s a lovely sound across the valleys but I couldn’t help thinking what it does to the wearer – must drive them scatty.
Do I really need a caption?
We moved on, now dropping down the far side of the mountain towards Metsovo coming across a small village called Anthousa (appropriate?). We stopped for coffee with the local tavern owner and two locals, whom I believe were shepherds. Language barriers prevented almost any conversation, but they were very welcoming and friendly and the coffee was some of the best we had tasted.

Heading on again, we stopped at the side of the road 30 minutes later and had our bread, cheese and ham while taking in yet another stunning view.
Lunch time view
On down the mountain, more switchbacks, flocks of goats, the occasional stop to look and listen, but nothing else of importance seen. In fact, the birds were very few and far between along the road, with almost nothing flying up in front of the trundling vehicle.

We finally reached Metsovo and got on a major highway, through long tunnels under the mountains we had been on all morning, arriving back in Ioanina around 15.30. Mr H was knackered so we had a quiet afternoon, during which we both had a nana nap, then discussed our options for the morrow.

  Day list – 26 species; Trip list 165 species; Trip lifers – 40 (3).

 2.10.17

 Nestoria to Ioanina
We were delayed leaving, having to wait for Maria to finish work in the service station across the road (owned by her husband, we believe) at 8.15, so she could then give us breakfast hence it was 9.00 before we left and headed out the back door of Nestoria. This proved to be a good choice of road – through the mountains with no other cars for the main part, good views of forested mountains as far as the eye could see, steep ravines and mountain tops – and a covey of about 8 Rock Partridges along the side of the road.
Once the road descended into the valley, we drove alongside a wide, rock-strewn river bed with a small creek in what was obviously a much bigger river when the snow melts. The road was in good condition and there was no traffic, we saw virtually no one at all for about two hours.
We arrived in Konista at about morning coffee time and parked up to have same. It was a medium sized village – very busy and, for the first time, we saw other tourists, though not many. We had our coffee, bought bread – I said ‘hello’ instead of ‘thankyou’ which crushed any confidence I might have started to gain using the local language. We fuelled up and were on our way (1.29.9 euro per litre diesel).
We decided to drive ‘the long way round’ Mt Timfi and headed off up a twisting mountain road.
It only got worse.
Or better, depending on your perception.......

Mt Timfi, from near Konista
Mr H and one of the thousands of roadside shrines
For the next 4 or so hours we wound up and up and down and down and up and down a narrow twisting, sometime unsealed, half overgrown at times, potholed road with, oftentimes, a sheer drop on one side and a cliff on the other. Recent rockfalls had been partily cleared, barriers were missing or broken, blind corners and holes that would swallow Hannibal’s elephants – it was all there. It was a slow drive with little birding or birds even. At one point two Northern Goshawks broke cover out of the trees over the road and a quick stop gave us an extended view as they tumbled and twisted and soared over the valley below - a pretty good show. 

We stopped for lunch beside a river and had a White-throated Dipper and a Grey Wagtail and that was about it. 
Lunch stop - we sat under that tree!
The scenery was spectacular, no other words to describe it - and impossible to capture any sense of it in a single photograph. Steep gorges, cloud encrusted mountain peaks, forested or bare slopes, rocky outcrops, narrow streets through villages perched on the steep mountain sides, houses all whitewashed with, mostly, red tile roofs, although some used what looked like local slate. We didn't meet any cars until we were two thirds of the way through and the road improved, apart from the occasional shepherd, crook and all, herding goats or sheep. It was an awesome road in more ways than one. (I did take several videos of driving along the road, but haven't the internet speed to upload them at the moment)

We arrived on the outskirts of Ionina in the depths of the mountains, reputedly the most beautiful town in Greece, set in a valley beside a large lake, surrounded by awesome looking peaks and using MapMe on the iPad (it doesn’t require internet connection) found our way to a narrow backstreet and our unit accommodation for the next three days/4 nights. A lovely modern apartment – two bedrooms with double beds for the first time on our trip, a full kitchen, lounge, balcony etc. We had a rest then went for a walk, bought some food and relaxed for the evening.

                               Day list – 32 species; Trip list 162 species; Trip lifers – 37 (1).

 1.10.17

Prespa Lakes & Nestoria

We compromised with our host regarding breakfast time and sat down at 7.30. It was a frosty morning when we went outside and chased down a pair of singing Wood Larks in the field across the road.
We set off up the valley and through the mountains towards Prespa stopping off a couple of times at tracks into the oak forests blanketing the steep slopes. Our target today was Grey-headed Woodpecker. There were bear and wolf warning signs along the road but unfortunately we didn’t get lucky. Birds were a bit thin on the ground, but we did find a dead Beech Marten on the road – an overnight roadkill and it was in perfect condition.
Beech Martin
We turned off the main road and up again and down over the mountains to the lakes at Prespa village. This is the village closest to Albania and the two lakes form part of the border and with the Former Republic Of Macedonia – part of the old Yugoslavia. The water was flat calm and there was no wind, but it was cold (it had got down to 2 degrees as we crossed the mountain passes). 
We stopped just before the village to check on some buntings and could hear men on the far slope with dogs – obviously hunting parties. There were a few shotgun blasts and we thought we heard partridge in flight, but saw nothing, however, among the Barn Swallows hunting over the valley we had a number of Eurasian Crag Martins.
We parked up near the small, empty marina and walked along the lake shore, a rough cliff on our right, the water below us on the left. Small flocks of birds lifted and dropped among the bushes and rocks ahead of us and we eventually built a list of Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers, European Goldfinches, Common Linnets, Eurasian Blackcaps, Cirl Buntings, 2 Greater Whitethroats and, finally, Rock Buntings. A single Blue Rock Thrush showed for a short period 100 meters in front of us and Black-necked Grebes paddled around with Little Grebes below us. 
Black-necked Grebe
Rock Bunting
Oh, and we had a juvenile Common Gull on the marina among the Black-heads – unusual sight so far from the coast.
We returned to the marina area and had coffee in a charming outdoor seating area. It was all very lovely and I really enjoyed the location.
Mr H and Greek coffee, Prespa style
Prespa village
Heading back by the smaller of the two lakes we had a Eurasian Hobby we tried momentarily to turn into a Red-footed Falcon.....and went for a short walk to the lake's edge, where we had a couple of Common Greenshank and a Green Sandpiper and I caught one of many small lizards running around in the sandy soil - still to be identified, of course.
Unidentified lizard sp
We headed back over the mountains to the main road then turned left and up another steep winding road towards Florina. We stopped at the top near a ski lift, but didn’t reach the bare rock we had hoped for, so dropped back down a bit and had lunch.
Again we explored a few tracks from the road. One of these meandered along the side of a little stream, opening up into what appeared to be an abandoned farm area where plum and apple trees still produced fruit – we helped ourselves to a few. On the ground we found several large ‘dumps’ of what we believe were bear shit! There were obvious seeds from the plums in the deposits and the only animal that might have left cow patty-size shits with seeds in them was a bear – judging by the dump size, a big bear! Once again, however, no luck - enough to give you the shits, har har har……..
We did find a dead shrew of some species (seems to be the day of the dead) which I think may be a Common Eurasian Shrew, but have not finalised ID yet.
Heading back towards home we took a detour up, yet another steepish road to take a look at the Albanian border post, then it was head for home – or at least the turn off to Mesopatamia where we followed a long horseshoe-shaped road for about 25 kms to Nestoria.
We were looking for places to go owling later  - and still looking for our target bird. We didn’t turn up anything new but having 1 Long-legged and several Common Buzzards, a Lesser Kestrel and getting great views of Corn Bunting isn’t too bad.
Corn Bunting
Reaching Nestoria, I was gagging for another coffee and we found a part of the village we hadn’t seen before, a slightly trendy café/taverna supplied the welcome brew and we decided to return later for dinner - the German/Greek waitress spoke excellent English and that always makes it easier.
After a rest at home, we returned to the café and had hamburgers for dinner before setting off up the hills again to play for Little, Scops and Tawny Owls with absolutely no outcome. It was only 9 degrees with a cool breeze and we were both quite tired so gave it away after a couple of location attempts.
A second day with no lifers! What’s going on, Dermo’? Mind you getting excellent views of Rock Buntings, Corn Buntings and Black-necked Grebes etc isn’t a bad day out either.


Day list – 64 species; Trip list 158 species; Trip lifers – 36 (0).
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