Another fantastic day! It feels like we didn’t see many species but when I counted them we ended with 99 species. Not too bad for a travelling day.
We woke up at the usual time and the pre-breakfast walk produced rather good views of Eastern Olivaceous Warbler. Some of us managed to see the Black-necked grebes that were missed in the previous days.
After breakfast we hit the road to the north. The road was marked with at least two dozens of Rollers. Their display and rolling were stunning and unforgettable experience of my guests. Black headed Bunting, Hoopoe, Isabelline Wheatear, Woodchat Shrike, Turtle Dove was also around. It was a splendid morning.
Just before lunch we drove up a mountain pass to enjoy bird migration but there wasn’t any today and soon we left the area but stopped just down the road. At the next place we had some migrants including two Short-toed Eagles and Common Buzzards. A Wryneck and Barred Warbler made the stop productive. Than an unexpected bonus made the stop really worth it. A Woodcock flew from a dense thicket right by a small creek. Wow, this is really great. Woodcock is a bird that we usually see in coniferous areas and it was a pleasant surprise to see it here.
After a pleasant lunch in a quiet roadside café we continued our way to the north. Before reaching our hotel we had a few more important stops to do for Gull-billed Terns, Black Woodpecker, Eagle Owl and a Stone Curlew. All of them were successful. Three Gull-billed terns were in a flooded area not far from the place where we had lunch so it was a nice stretch instead of falling asleep in the van. Excitement overtook the atmosphere and everyone in the group was rather glad we saw this bird. The Eagle Owl breeds even closer the road so it is easier to see just from the van without disturbing the bird. The Stone curlew was at its usual place so no pressure there at all. Everything was up to schedule.
We arrived in our hotel early and everyone wanted to have a walk around a superb coastal area with steppe cover. The steppe was full with Calandra Larks, Greater Short-toed Lark and Tawny Pipit. Over the sea we had our first Yelkouan Shearwaters and more Black-throated Divers.
Thus we called it a day.
- Common Shelduck
- Black-throated Diver
- Black-necked Grebe
- Yelkouan Shearwater
- Black Stork
- White Stork
- Great Cormorant
- European Shag
- Great Egret
- Squacco Heron
- Short-toed Eagle
- Lesser Spotted Eagle
- Booted Eagle
- Eurasian Marsh-Harrier
- Levant Sparrowhawk
- Common Buzzard
- Stone Curlew
- Black-winged Stilt
- Northern Lapwing
- Parasitic Skua
- Black-headed Gull
- Mediterranean Gull
- Yellow-legged Gull
- Gull-billed Tern
- Sandwich Tern
- Rock Pigeon
- Stock Dove
- European Turtle-Dove
- Eurasian Collared-Dove
- Common Cuckoo
- Eurasian Eagle-Owl
- Alpine Swift
- Common Swift
- European Bee-eater
- European Roller
- Eurasian Hoopoe
- Eurasian Wryneck
- Great Spotted Woodpecker
- Syrian Woodpecker
- Black Woodpecker
- Green Woodpecker
- Eurasian Kestrel
- Red-footed Falcon
- Red-backed Shrike
- Lesser Gray Shrike
- Woodchat Shrike
- Eurasian Golden Oriole
- Eurasian Nuthatch
- Short-toed Treecreeper
- EurasianWren
- Cetti’sWarbler
- Willow Warbler
- Common Chiffchaff
- Eastern Olivaceous Warbler
- Blackcap
- Barred Warbler
- Lesser Whitethroat
- Greater Whitethroat
- European Robin
- Common Nightingale
- Semicollared Flycatcher
- European Stonechat
- Pied Wheatear
- Isabelline Wheatear
- Eurasian Blackbird
- Song Thrush
- Mistle Thrush
- European Starling
- Black headed Yellow Wagtail
- White Wagtail
- Tawny Pipit
- Cirl Bunting
- Ortolan Bunting
- Black-headed Bunting
- Corn Bunting
- Common Chaffinch
- European Greenfinch
- European Goldfinch
- Eurasian Linnet
- Hawfinch
- House Sparrow
- Spanish Sparrow
- Barn Swallow
- Red-rumped Swallow
- Houses martin
- Jay
- Jackdaw
- Raven
- Hooded Crow
- Crested Lark
- Calandra Lark
- Skylark
- Great Tit
- Blue tit
- Magpie
- Woodlark
- Greater Short-toed Lark
- Sand martin
- Woodcock