Showing posts with label Eleanora’s Falcon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eleanora’s Falcon. Show all posts

Monday, September 21, 2015

Skiathos Birding

Sue and I are in Skiathos, Greece so there’s no local news. Instead here are few views of Skiathos together with one or two birds which can be seen in Skiathos during the month of September. 

Skiathos is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, the westernmost island in the Northern Sporades group, east of the Pelion peninsula in Magnesia on the mainland, and west of the island of Skopelos. Much of Skiathos is wooded with Aleppo Pine and a small Stone Pine forest at the Koukounaries location where there is a lagoon and a popular beach. The island's forests are concentrated on the southwest and northern parts, but the presence of pine trees is prevalent throughout the island. 

Skiathos

The name of the island dates back to ancient times. Skiathos took part in wars against the Persians and in 478 BC, became a part of the Athenian Alliance. Later the island was occupied by Alexander the Great and then by the Romans. During the Byzantine period it sank into oblivion. In 1204 was conquered by the Venetians and in 1583 by the Turks. It was then that the inhabitants of the old town Chora, abandoned it and constructed on the north side of the island on a nearly invisible rock, the fortress known as Kastro. 

The now derelict Kastro is famous as a place where the rare Eleanora’s Falcon is guaranteed. September is one of the best months to see this spectacular falcon by way of a dusty, bumpy ride over mountainous tracks followed by a trek on foot to the remote cliffs where the Eleanora’s nest. 

Jimny to Kastro

Eleanora's Falcon

Kastro, Skiathos

During the Greek War of Independence of 1821, many warriors from Thessaly opposite, took refuge on the island. Skiathos was liberated in 1823. In 1830, the local people, left the historic Kastro and rebuilt Chora (now Skiathos Town). 

Life in Skiathos has changed a great deal since those days. Luxury hotels slowly began to be built along its lovely sand beaches, tourist activity continually grew and Skiathos became one of the most cosmopolitan islands in Greece. The island of Skiathos has no villages and strangely as it seems, Skiathos Town is the only true settlement of the island. 

Skiathos Town

The coastal settlements were created in more recent years with the boom in tourism leading to the building of modern hotel complexes, rooms to let, shops, restaurants and cafes, close to the most beautiful beaches of the island. The town, which was built around 1830 on the remains of the Old Town, follows the traditional architecture influenced influence from the architectural style of mainland Pelion. Small whitewashed houses with tiles, balconies and small yards with flowers create the traditional neighbourhoods of Skiathos. 

In our small but perfectly formed hotel we awake to the sound of tinkling goat bells, free-range chickens and the resident Little Owl, but some days the Scops Owl. We take a cup of tea out to the garden to watch Red-rumped Swallows, Barn Swallows and House Martins swooping over the dewy grass. Up above there are more hirundines, often a Bee Eater and always an Alpine Swift or two. In the rows of vines, peppers, tomatoes and pomegranate trees are Blackcaps, Spotted Flycatchers, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers. And there’s a seemingly permanent a Red-backed Shrike on the perfect fence. Birding pre-breakfast - what could be better? 

Spotted Flycatcher

Hotel, Skiathos

Red-backed Shrike

"Mikey" and his aubergines

Bee Eater

Pomegranates

With just a smartphone on hand for 2 weeks it is unlikely I will be able to devote too much time to blogging, but I promise to return all visits and comments as soon as possible. 

In the meantime enjoy the photos, don’t forget to “click the pics”, and log in soon for more from Skiathos.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

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.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

On The Rocks

What a surpise! It's raining hard again so here's another post about Greece.
 
In Skiathos we took a ride out one morning over the island peaks, crashing over rough, dusty unmade tracks to distant Cape Kastro, the ancient fortified settlement located on high rocks at the northernmost point of the island. (Kastro is the Greek word for castle). It was here in the mid-14th century that the inhabitants of Skiathos moved to when their previous fortress The Bourtzi proved ineffective in protecting the island from pirates. 

The Bourtzi is now a major element of the Skiathos Town scene, where weddings take place and tourists sit to drink coffee whilst watching the world go by and marvel at planes flying into the airport just half a mile away. 

The Bourtzi, Skiathos, viewed from Skaithos Old Harbour

A day or two earlier there had been brief views of an Eleanora's above an island near to Skiathos Aiprot where Hooded Crows drew attention to the falcon, mobbing it mercilessly until the falcon flew off into the distance. Also briefly we saw one alongside the cliffs on the boat journey to Skopelos. 

Apart from the hairy ride in the battered old Jimny, the attraction once at Kastro was the chance of seeing more than one Eleanora’s Falcon, Falco eleonorae. Eleanora’s Falcon is unique in that it is one of the few species that breeds during early autumn, feeding its chicks with other migratory birds in abundance during that period. It is also one of the few falcon species that creates breeding colonies. 

The species breeds on islands in the Mediterranean particularly off Greece where two-thirds of the world's population breeds, but also in the Canary Islands, Ibiza and off Spain, Italy, Croatia, Morocco and Algeria. With its long pointed wings, long tail and slim body Eleonora's Falcon is an elegant bird of prey similar in shape to a large Eurasian Hobby or a small slender Peregrine Falcon. The call is a typical call of most falcons, a high-pitched kek-kek-kek, calls we would hear continuously when we finally arrived at Kastro after our bone-shaking journey. 

Suzuki Jimny

Looking Back - Skiathos

After trekking up and over the rocks then through the ancient remains we reached the topmost point of Kastro from where we could see and hear the Eleanora’s, still a hundred yards away on their secluded and insurmountable stacks of rock. The birds were extremely active and obviously in the throes of breeding, with as many as eight in the air at once and perhaps 15 or more flying above and about the still mountainous rocks beyond our spot. We watched as at least one bird visited rocky ledges where youngsters were located. 

There was much calling amid spectacular headlong plunges and interaction between individual birds as they dived towards the rocks and the sea before disappearing out of sight or climbing back to eye level to cruise along the cliff face once more.. All the time the birds kept their distance from the well walked paths of the tourists but there was no way to get any closer to these magical falcons. It is impossible to describe how wonderful it was to watch so many Eleanora’s Falcons in action at once, but I found a video on You Tube, a video also shot in Greece.  Unfortunately it dosn't have the sounds of the falcons.

Eleanora's Falcon
 
Kastro, Skiathos

Eleanora's Falcon

Kastro, Skiathos

Eleanora's Falcon

Fortress - Kastro, Skiathos

Eleanora's Falcon

In such a hostile environment it was not surprising to find few other birds and although Yellow-legged Gulls were abundant, other birds here were limited to Chaffinch, Sardinian Warbler, Blackcap, Common Kestrel and European Shag. 

Sardinian Warbler

European Shag

Common Kestrel

You can’t go far in Skiathos without encountering a taverna, and here seemingly at the end of the earth was a less than trendy one, but welcoming indeed after our tiring thirsty hike through Ancient Greece. 

A taverna - Kastro, Skiathos

 

More birding adventures soon from Another Bird Blog. Now go back and 'click the pics' to revisit Skiathos. Linking today to Anni's Blog .

Thursday, September 12, 2013

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.
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