Crete Birding

November 2012

30th November

Weather 21oC ....0900....Sea, calm....Visiblity 20+ miles....Wind 0...Cloud, 95%....`1008mb  mostly cloudy a few drops of rain

Species, Kaliviani....Linnet....Italian Sparrow....Hooded Crow....Goldfinch....Chaffinch.... Kestrel....Common Buzzard 5....Robin....Sardinian Warbler.... Great Tit....Cetti's Warbler.... Bonelli's Eagle 1...Rock Dove..Yellow-legged Gull 100+....Chiffchaff....Raven.... Sparrowhawk  Griffon Vulture 3....Black Redstart....Greenfinch  

29th November

Weather....0900....20.2oC....Visibility 20+miles....Cloud 90%....Wind, S 4B....1010mb.         By 1200 the winds had increased to 23m/s, gusting 28.5m/s

 No real birding today a few griffons and our local buzzards

28th November

Weather....0900....Sea, calm....Visibility 20+ miles....Cloud 90% high and thin....Wind 0... 1015mb... Mostly cloudy.

We spotted a wader along the beach and headed off to identify it, our first wader along this stretch of coast for some time ! a short while later a Common sandpiper was all we found. Otherwise another quiet day.

Kaliviani list....Sardinian Warbler....Cetti's Warbler....Blackbird....Chiffchaff ....Crested Lark.... Hooded Crow....Greenfinch....Robin....Stonechat....Goldfinch....Common Buzzard.... Shag 1.... Black Redstart....Kestrel....Griffon Vulture 4.

Beach road....Serin 2....Common Sandpiper 1...Shag 1....Yellow-legged Gull 10.... Goldfinch..  White Wagtail 3....Greenfinch....Linnet....Crested Lark....Black Redstart....Common Buzzard

                                              Common Buzzard....Buteo buteo

                           

                                      Common Sandpiper....Actitis hypoleucos

                                                  Serin....Serinus serinus

      

 From Alan....

A quick look around Lake Kournas shoreline today, and more black-necked grebes have arrived.  There were c65 in one flock, and two smaller flocks further out.  One great crested grebe seen with coots.  Returning via Kalivaki, I had a surprise sighting of wryneck - very close.  No time to get the camera on it, and I looked for it for some time after too, but no luck.  Yesterday, I photographed a flock of jackdaws, and a separate photo of a distant pair on overhead wires. 

                                    Black-necked Grebe....Podiceps nigricollis

 

                                     Great Crested Grebe....Podiceps cristatus

     

                                               Jackdaw....Corvus monedula

                          

27th November

Weather...0900...17.6oC....Sea. calm....Visiblity, 20+ miles....Cloud 0....Wind 0....1017mb... Sunny

Nothing special today, we took a walk from east of Kissamos towards Nopigia checking out the fields and sea ....hardly anything today , very poor !!!

Yellow-legged Gull 150+, following afishing boat , Black Redstart....Crested Lark.... Stonechat....Starling 30+....Hooded Crow....Sparrowhawk 1....kestrel 2....White Wagtail.... Linnet...Greenfinch....Chaffinch....Chiffchaff....Goldfinch.

West of Kissamos ...4 Shag ...Common Sandpiper 1....

Kaliviani....Stonechat....Cetti's Warbler....Hooded Crow....Common Buzzard...Kestrel.... Yellow-legged Gull....Sparrowhawk.... Chiffchaff....Chaffinch....Robin....Black Redstart....  Greenfinch....White Wagtail....Bonelli's Eagle 2....Red Kite 1.....Linnet....Blackbird

We have added a sub page to the "Our Crete Bird List"  "Species seen from the House "

26th November

Weather....0900....16.1oC....Sea, calm....Visibility 20+ miles....Cloud 50%....Wind, 0 later NE 2B....1019mb....Mostly sunny.

A day of prunning the olive trees, with a little birding included  !!!

The highlights for today ... Our first Serin from home, the long-legged buzzard puts in another apperance along with golden eagle and short-toed eagle, three sparrowhawks and male hen harrier. The Serin takes our species seen from the house to 142.

Species list Kaliviani....Common Buzzard 2.... Sparrowhawk 3....Hooded Crow.....Robin.... Stonechat.... Raven 11....Long-legged Buzzard 1....Short-toed Eagle 1.... Kestrel.... Serin.... Sardinian Warbler.... Yellow-legged Gull 12....Crested Lark....Black Redstart....Goldfinch.... Greenfinch.....Chaffinch....Italian Sparrow....Hen Harrier 1....Griffon vulture 1...Golden Eagle 1

                                                 Serin....Serinus serinus                                 

                             

                                        Long-legged Buzzard....Buteo rufinus

                                     

 

 

                         

 From Alan.....

No birdwatching today, but detoured around quayside at Georgioupoli on the way home, and found two plain tiger butterflies.  I couldn't get images of the one we found in east Crete earlier this month, but just managed it today.  Also along the river, the mute swan was busy shepherding the resident geese.  With its wings slightly raised to show aggression? - it calmly ushered them onto the bank; very interesting to watch.  We hadn't seen the swan for a couple of weeks and thought it had moved on - must have been down river somewhere.  Kingfishers always to be found in this area - often in the trees, like this one.

                                                Kingfisher......Alcedo atthis

              

                                                   Mute Swan....Cygnus olor

      

                                           Plain Tiger....Danaus chrysippus

               

               

 

25th November

Weather....0900....17.1oC....Sea,rough....Vis 20+....Cloud 70%....Wind, NNE 4....1019mb mostly sunny.

A good raptor day again , with highlights being two spotted eagle flying in together from the south, they turned near the house one mobbed by our resident buzzards took off towards Kissamos, the other headed out onto Gramvousa, also a golden eagle and a male hen harrier.

Report from Alan added to 23rd and yesterday's report added

Species list, Kaliviani....Hooded Crow....Sparrowhawk....Griffon Vulture 6 ....Great Tit.... Greenfinch.... Crested Lark....Goldfinch....Spotted Eagle 2....Raven....Kestrel.... Robin.... Blackbird....Peregrine Falcon....Yellow-legged Gull....Hen Harrier  (m)

                                          Spotted Eagle....Aquila clanga

                                     

                

                                      Buzzard looking like to land on its back !!!

                                

                                          Golden Eagle....Aquila chrysaetos

             

                                             Kestrel....Falco tinnunculus

             

                                             Hen Harrier ....Circus cyaneus

                                  

24th November

Weather....17.9oC....Sea, choppy....Vis, 20....Cloud 80%....Wind, NE 3....1019mb .... mostly cloudy

One of the short-toed eagles is still hanging around the one with damage to its right P6.

Reports of female Hen Harriers near Moronis

Species list, Kaliviani....Common Buzzard 4.... Hooded Crow....Raven....Short-toed Eagle.... Goldfinch....Chaffinch....Shag 1....Yellow-legged Gull....Griffon Vulture 2.... Blkackbird....Kestrel....

                     Short-toed Eagle....Circaetus gallicus mobbed by Common Buzzard

                                  

          

     

               

23rd November

Weather....0900....22.5oC....Sea, rough.... Wind, N 6-7B....ClouD, 80%....Visibilty, 20 miles... 1018 mb

Today's highlight , a juvenile Bonelli's Eagle that flew in low from the west, heading east to the coast over what Nikos calls our "Magic Balcony" where it was immediately chased off by a yellow-legged gull !! ....The same group of griffon vultures as yesterday, again passed by several times.

Species were again few, maybe because of the sparrowhawk lurking in the vicinity .

Hooded Crow.... Booted Eagle (dark morph)....Sparrowhawk 1....Bonelli's Eagle 1.... Robin.... Griffon Vulture 3....Common Buzzard 4....Goldfinch....Crested Lark.... Yellow-legged Gull 1.... Italian Sparrow....Chaffinch....Black Redstart....Kestrel 1.

                                         Bonelli's Eagle....Aquila fasciata

 

 

                                         Griffon Vulture....Gyps fulvus

 

From Alan.....

The weather was drier today and we took ourselves off to see what was about.  We had a coffee stop south of Ano Mallaki (a favourite area of ours) and had griffons, ravens, common buzzard, kestrel, sparrowhawk, peregrine and two lapwings all within about 15 minutes.  We continued on towards Plakias and found two turnstones on the beach, along with little egret and common sandpiper.  The former were surprisingly approachable.  Further along the coast we came across two shags - the juvenile was within distance for a photo.

                                              Lapwing....Vanellus vanellus

                           

                                           Turnstone....Arenaria interpres

             

             

                                            Shag....Phalacrocorax aristotelis

                         

22nd November

 

Weather....0900...15.7oC....Sea, rough....Visibility 10 miles....Wind 5B NE ( later increased 6-7B) ....Cloud 100%....1013mb Heavy rain showers.

A juvenile golden eagle took us by surprise as we worked outside between the showers, it flew in from the south very low and fifty metres away, flying between the house and the small church, it was hotly pursued by a common buzzard that saw it out of sight and around the nearby ridge onto Gramvousa a five second sighting at the most.

A very poor days birding due to the high winds and showers, as shown by the list !

Species list Kaliviani... Crested Lark....Peregrine Falcon....Hooded Crow.... Raven.... Common Buzzard 2....Griffon Vulture 3+4 ( the same groups battled through the winds on several occasions throughout the day)....Golden Eagle 1...Hooded Crow.

A group of 3 griffon vultures repeatedly came by slowly battling into the NE wind sometimes very low on the same track that the golden eagle took

                          Griffon Vulture....Gyps fulvus  flying low past the house

21st November

 

Weather....0900...20.0oC....Sea, calm....Visibility 20+ miles....Wind 0....Cloud 30%....1012mb Later in the afternoon we had thunderstorms all round us with warm air from the south

We took a trip to Agyia and Moronis via the north coast to include Kolymbari, Tavronitis. We missed a message from Panos to say he would come over to try to see the short-toed eagles, sorry Panos !!! We later met him and Nikos at Agyia and went on to Moronis with Nikos who told us that at lake Kournas he saw a Spotted and Booted Eagle and the Black-necked Grebe (c30) are on the lake.

Image by and © Nikos Samaritakis

                  Spotted Eagle....Aquila clanga and Booted Eagle....Aquila pennata

       

At Moronis we had the great sight of a flock of starlings trying to outwit both a peregrine falcon and a sparrowhawk.    

Species Lists....

HOME....Woodlark....Black Redstart....Crested Lark....Sardinian Warbler.... Great Tit.... Goldfinch....Common Buzzard 2....Hooded Crow....Sparrowhawk.

ON ROUTE, whole day,  includes along north coast Kolymbari, Tavronitis, through Chania and suburbs....Red Kite....Mallard 4....Teal 6....Grey Heron...Meadow Pipit....Lapwing 1.... Stonechat.... Great Tit....Hooded Crow....Raven....Goldfinch....Collared Dove.... White Wagtail....Kestrel....Linnet....Chaffinch....Greenfinch....Sparrowhawk 3.... Italian Sparrow.... Serin....Tree Sparrow....Barn Owl...Ring-tailed Harrier ( ? Hen ) Little Egret.

                                    Red Kite...Milvus milvus over Kissamos

      

               Mallard....Anas platyrhynchos and Teal...Anas crecca on the north coast

    

                                             Meadow Pipit....Anthus pratensis

                           

                                             Stonechat....Saxicola torquatus

                             

                                                 Lapwing....Vanellus vanellus

         

AGYIA RESERVOIR....Cormorant 7....Shoveler 10....Ferruginous Duck 1....Mallard 8.... Little Grebe.... Teal 3.... Gadwall 2.... Pochard 11....Grey Heron 1....Griffon Vulture 1.... Common Buzzard 4.... Sparrowhawk 1.... Booted Eagle 1 dark morph....Marsh Harrier 3.... Cetti’s Warbler....Coot....Moorhen....Barn Swallow 3...White Wagtail...Yellow-legged Gull 6 Hooded Crow.

                                          Barn Swallow....Hirundo rustica

 

                                            Marsh Harrier....Circus aeruginosus

     

                                             Cormorant....Phalacrocorax carbo

        

MORONIS....Little Egret 4....Great Egret 1...Little-ringed Plover 1...Common Sandpiper 1.... Wood Sandpiper 1....Redshank 4.....Yellow-legged Gull....Peregrine Falcon 1...White Wagtail  Sparrowhawk 1....Hooded Crow....Meadow Pipit....Collared Dove

                                              Great Egret....Casmerodius albus

         

                                             Little Egret.....Egretta garzetta

          

      

                                                 Redshank....Tringa totanus

          

                 Starlings grouping up, a Peregrine falcon is coming in to from the left

          

                                      The ball tighten, like a shoal of fish 

         

         The peregrine  appears in shot and somewhere to the right is a sparrowhawk !!

  

    

Finally a picture from Alan taken at Giorgopouli whilst we were at Moronis whilst we were watching the above unfold

Image by and © Alan Hargrave

 

20th November

 

Weather....0900....18.3oC....Sea, light chop....Wind 0....Vis 20+....Cloud 50%....1012mb     A sunny morning, later thunderstorms with heavy rain from the west.

We were joined by Manos who was hoping to get pictures of the short-toed eagles. He originally headed for Falasarna where he spotted three maybe four birds rise up and go high,  we contacted him as we had a bird sat nearby. Five minutes before he arrived it rose came towards us and dropped out of sight thirty metres away. We went up the outside steps to the roof to see  if we could spot it and it again lifted up and came straight towards us then circled over our heads only 5-10 metres above us, this is where we really got the size of the bird, the views were amazing. Snapping off a few shots we just stood mesmerized for 11/2 minutes. The bird flew further off and Manos arrived and managed to get some images of the bird sitting with his 500Canon lens and 2 times converter. We also saw a lesser spotted eagle some way off and high and just after Manos left us we spotted  high out on Gramvousa a couple of interacting juvenile Golden Eagles.

News from Alan for the 19th added

Species List.... Woodlark....Hooded Crow....Common Buzzard....Crested lark.... Robin Sardinian Warbler ....Short-toed Eagle 3.... Lesser Spotted Eagle 1.... Griffon Vulture 4.... Peregrine Falcon 1.... Sparrowhawk 2.... Golden Eagle 2.... Kestrel 1.... Corn Bunting.... Linnet.... White Wagtail.... Italian Sparrow....Stonechat.... Cetti’s Warbler.... Chaffinch.... Greenfinch....Blue Rock Thrush....Great Tit....Booted Eagle, pale morph.

                                     Short-toed Eagle.....Circaetus gallicus

                                  Just before taking off and heading our way

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                          Golden Eagle....Aquila chrysaetos                            

  

                                           Booted Eagle....Aquila pennata

    

                                      Lesser Spotted Eagle ....Aquila pomarina

 

19th November

Weather....0900....18.0oC....Sea, calm....Vis 15 miles....Wind 0....Cloud 100% ...1011mb... a dull day with rain late afternoon.

Two short-toed eagles put in an appearance with one staying until 5pm, hunting from the rocks to the west of us giving fantastic close views (30-40 metres) from the boundary of our property.

Species list....Woodlark....Crested Lark....Black Redstart....Robin....Yellow-legged Gull ... Kestrel 1....Hooded Crow....Peregrine Falcon 1....Common Buzzard 2....Short-toed Eagle 2... Blue Rock Thrush 3....Greenfinch....Italian Sparrow....Chaffich....Great Tit....Goldfinch....Sparrowhawk....Raven....

 

At the risk of boring you 14 images !!

                                      Short-toed Eagle....Circaetus gallicus

                         

                          

 off for food...........

                           

                                           

                            

                     

 

     

 

 

 

 

From Alan....

Haven't been about much over the weekend, but today, a few sightings from the house and our close locality.  First, what I think is a lesser spotted eagle.  It was high, so definition not good, but I think that diagonistically it's lse.  Two griffons in same air space and a sparrowhawk interested in everything bigger than itself.  At the Viewpoint, singles of little crake (juvenile) and common snipe.  This afternoon, near Kavros, we had what we think was a hobby.  It was catching insects - legs dangling most of the time, but again the light not good enough for an identifiable photo.  Lastly, we have our first (known) hedgehog in the garden.  Practically all previous sightings have been roadkill.

                                     Lesser Spotted Eagle....Aquila pomarina

       

                                    Hedgehog....Erinaceus concolor sp nesiotes

              

 

18th November

Weather....0900....15.7oC....Sea, swell....Vis, 20 miles....Wind 0....Cloud 100%....1012mb.... Rain through the night stopped about 9am .

Nikos decided to join us just around lunchtime in the hope of seeing the short-toed eagles again, they were about not as close but good views again also the Long-legged buzzard  did a close flyby, we were all facing the wrong way as it disappeared north low across the garrigue !!! lapwings 3 and a black kite also paid us a visit

Species list ( for Nikos ....from the balcony ).... Goldfinch....Sparrowhawk 1.... Black Redstart.... Hooded Crow....Common Buzzard 2....Great Tit.... Griffon Vulture 1.... Lapwing 3 Short-toed Eagle 3....Blue Rock Thrush.... Crested Lark.... Black Kite....Long-legged Buzzard Pewregrine Falcon....Stonechat....Raven....Yellow-legged Gull

                                         Short-toed Eagle....Circaetus gallicus

                           

                                               Black Kite.....Milvus migrans

      

 Images from Nikos ....some taken on route to us

                                             Goldfinch....Carduelis carduelis

                 

                                                  Raven....Corvus corax

         

                                          Common Buzzard....Buteo buteo

                

                                        Short-toed Eagle....Circaetus gallicus

         

         

                                         Long-legged Buzzard....Buteo rufinus

         

17th November

Weather.....18.0oC....0930....Sea, swell and choppy....Vis 20 miles....Cloud 90%...Wind NE - E 2B...1012mb sunny intervals and occasional thunderstorms

Due to the thunderstorms last night we were unable to post yesterday's blog, due to lightning hitting a junction box that supplies us we were without power from 10pm last night until 1030 this morning, however its now on with lots of images of a day that I said couldn't get better !!!

Well it did we had 6 short-toed eagles, a pale and dark morph booted eagle, the long -legged is still present and we also had another not very common red kite and a black kite all hunting around the house from 8am to dark, even when the rain was throwning it sown they were still up there hovering and hunting. We managed even better images of the long-legged as it came up from the direction of the sea level with our front veranda as did a rather nice plumaged sparrowhawk. Once again small birds were absent after 8am staying close under cover.

Absolutely fantastic to watch as the short-toed eagles were strung out to the north and south of the house and nearby, not distant views.

Species list.... Hooded Crow....Black Redstart....Cetti's Warbler....Italian Sparrow.... Robin..... Greenfinch...Chaffinch....Great Tit....Stonechat....Yellow-legged Gull 1....Short-toed Eagle 6.... Peregrine Falcon 1....Blue Rock Thrush 2.... Booted Eagle 2 dark and pale morphs....   Crested Lark.... Red Kite....Black Kite 1....Griffon Vulture 5....Sparrowhawk 1....    Long-legged Buzzard 1....Common Buzzard 3....Barn Owl

                                           Sparrowhawk....Accipiter nisus

   

                                        Long-legged Buzzard....Buteo rufinus

                                                

             

                                        Short-toed Eagle...Circaetus gallicus 

 

                                       Hovering low over our courtyard garden

                                           Booted Eagle....Aquila pennata

                                        Being harrassed by a hooded crow                  

                         

                         

                                        Enlarged image of above picture

 

                                             Red Kite ....Milvus milvus

                         

                                           Black Kite.....Milvus migrans

              

16th November

Weather....0930....18.7oC....Sea, calm with swell....Vis 20....Wind 0 later E 3B....Cloud 100% later sunny intervals....1015mb....2000hrs thunderstorms.

It does not get much better than today, we never left the house, with views from the veranda's and the roof we had ....  ! 3 Short-toed Eagles, a  Long-legged Buzzard a Booted Eagle,       2 Peregrines and a Sparrowhawk all hunting around the house from about 1045 until dark no wonder the small birds were non existant after mid morning. We managed brilliant close views and images!

Species ....Golddfinch....Stonechat....Great Tit....Black Redstart....Hooded Crow....            Yellow-legged Gull 3....Common Buzzard 2....Peregrine falcon 2....Sparrowhawk 1.... Short-toed Eagle 3...Long-legged Buzzard 1...Griffon Vulture 2...Booted Eagle, pale morph 1

Lots of images today we do not often get short-toed  and Long-legged especially both on the same day.

                                       Short-toed Eagle....Circaetus gallicus

                            

                            

        

                            

                                         Directly overhead , watching us !!!                  

                    

                            

                                                         Disappearing behind the small church

              

                                                     Landing west of us            

                                            Booted Eagle....Aquila pennata

 

                                          Long-legged Buzzard....Buteo rufinus

    

        

 

   

                       

                                             Griffon Vulture...Gyps fulvus

       

 

14th November

Weather....0700...17.9oC....Cloud, 90%...Vis, 30+miles....Wind, N,2-3B....Sea, swell.... 1018mb... sunny intervals

Had word from Nikos that upwards of 150 Common Buzzards were spotted at the eastern end of the island near Sitia on the 12th

We finished olive harvesting at noon and finally got some birding in . A high golden eagle was spotted heading south off the peninsula, late pm a group of 10 griffons circled just east and overhead then headed onto gramvousa just before the sun set. A peregrine was seen flying up from the olive grove as it started to get dark with what looked like a greenfinch grasped in its talons.

Species list....Golden Eagle.... Peregrine Falcon 1....Sparrowhawk 2....White Wagtail.... Greenfinch....Black Redstart....Italian Sparrow...Hooded Crow....Raven....Chaffinch....Robin... Griffon Vulture 10.

                                   Griffon vultures ....Gyps fulvus, a little before sunset

       

                                                   being chased by crows

                                           

                       Peregrine Falcon....Falco peregrinus with possible greenfinch

      

   

 From Alan.....

Had a day out in the Topolia and Elos areas and got lucky again with lammergeier.  This one was flying eastward over Topolia.  We were on the road above the west side of the gorge, and again we were caught out with the bird coming overhead from behind us.  A cropped image for the record.  Not much else today, except the usual, but at the village of Limni, above Elos, there is a small pond.  We have visited/passed it several times over the years, but were surprised to find a concerted effort made to make the area attractive to visitors - and picnickers - with walk ways and seating.

At Kalivaki yesterday our first sighting this winter of reed bunting - a pair was seen.

                         Lammergeier/Bearded Vulture....Gypaetus barbatus

                         

                                     Reed Bunting.....Emberiza schoeniclus            

                         

                                  The pond and walkways at Limni near Elos 

       

13th November

Weather....0700....17,5oC....Sea, swell....Cloud, 90%....Vis, 20+miles....Wind, NE 2.... 1020mb. The wind died later and the afternoon turned out mostly sunny.

Nothing from us apart from Black Redstarts roosting on the pergolas and tonight on the way back from town a Barn Owl sat on a wire in Kaliviani. The olive harvest took priority and although we looked up occasionally all we saw were distant Griffon Vultures.

But Nikos was really succesful in today getting his bogey bird, the Short-toed Eagle, he found three over towards Falasarna hunting on the ridge. Well done Nikos !!

                                          Short-toed Eagle....Circaetus gallicus

  

 

12th November

Weather....0715....17.9oC....Sea,rough....Vis, 20+miles....Cloud 90%....Wind NE-E,5B.... 1019mb... mostly cloudy, wind decreasing.

Images from Alan and Nikos added for 11th

 150 Common Buzzards were spotted at the eastern end of the island near Sitia 

Highlight of the day, three Short-toed Eagles hunting aeound the house and ridges. The younger birds being targeted by Ravens, two of the birds stayed in the area from 1000-1500 hrs.

Species list....Chaffinch....Robin....Black Redstart 2....Hooded Crow10+.... Sparrowhawk 1 Raven 8...Peregrine Falcon 1...Short-toed Eagle 3...Griffon Vulture 5+2...Common Buzzard 2 

                                      Short-toed Eagle...Circaetus Gallicus 

 First bird

                         

 2nd bird

                             

 3rd bird

                          

Note the different tail shape on the next three images taken in sequence as the raven chased

                           

                           

                           

                            

 

                            

                            

     

11th November

Weather....17,7oC....Sea, rough....Vis, 20+ miles....cloud, 50%....Wind, N 6B....1019mb         Mostly cloudy

FIRST SNOW OF THE WINTER SEEN ON THE HIGH MOUNTAINS

No birding for us today but pics in from Nikos and Alan.

From Nikos ....

DID KALLERGI TODAY...CHILLY! FIRST SNOW VISIBLE AT THE HIGHEST PEAKS...NOTHING BIG TO REPORT...

                                         Alpine Accentor....Prunella collaris

        

                                        Chough....Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax

         

 From Alan....

Spotted Eagletaken in Lake Kournas area, and this is the fifth consecutive day of sightings of this particular bird.  Again, the crows took exception to it being in their territory

                                             Spotted Eagle....Aquila clanga

            

          

                            

10th November

Weather....0730....18.6oC....Sea, choppy...Vis, 20+....Cloud 50%....Wind N-NE 3-6B.... 1012mb....Mostly sunny , wind increased late afternoon

For the next few days we will be working our socks off to get the olive harvest in. So little birding or anything else for us two. No doubt our friends on Crete will continue to supply us with their sightings and we will try to get them on site as soon as possible.

Thanks to Alan for his report for yesterday, a trip report to the East of Crete also from Alan added to the trip report 2012 page.

Our report added for yesterday  as well.

9th November

Weather....0900....17.9oC....Sea, rough....Vis, 20+....Cloud,70%....Wind N 6B....1015mb ... Mostly sunny.

Highlights of the day six Griffon Vultures low over the house heading onto Gramvousa and very high directly overhead a pair of adult Bonelli's Eagles, we were lucky to spot them and to get pictures as they circled in a thermal.

Otherwise it was fairly quiet only 13 species seen..... Griffon Vulture 6+3....White Wagtail....Black Redstart.... Hooded Crow.... Stonechat....Chaffinch....Great Tit....Robin....Sparrowhawk....Common Buzzard 3.... Raven Blue Rock Thrush....  Bonelli's Eagle

                                        Bonelli's Eagle....Aquila fasciata

 

           

         

                                              Griffon Vulture....Gyps fulvus

          

                        Sparrowhawk....Accipiter nisus flying over one of our resident                                                                 Common Buzzard....Buteo buteo

 

 From Alan.....

Brief visits to Agia and Moronis today with nothing "special" to report from either location.  Very little wind this afternoon probably the reason for lack of raptor activity, apart from a peregrine at Moronis.  Two images from Agia and Moronis respectively.

My daughter, Alison went looking for the greater spotted eagle near Kournas today and got lucky with sightings of two.  Possibly one was lesser spotted, but will have another look myself tomorrow.

                                    Little Grebe....Tachybaptus ruficollis

      

                                                Starling....Sternus vulgaris

                          

8th November

Weather.... 0900....18.8oC....Sea, Very rough....Vis, 20+ miles ....Cloud, 90%....Wind, N 8B  1012mb...Heavy showers

Today we were greeted by the strongest winds for some time and seas breaking up on the roads. We had our emissions test this morning at Chania and had hoped to get to Moronis and Agyia  but the weather beat us and we ended up at Chania harbour. Rough seas were breaking and washing into the tavernas and the stones were lifting from the edges, it looked a dangerous place today, the Yellow-legged Gulls were many and seemed to be enjoying the winds.

We got a few species our firsat as we left along the beach road was a Kingfisher and we even managed a photo !!

Species list.... Hooded Crow....Goldfinch....Robin....Great Tit.... Crested Lark....Stonechat.... Little Egret ( we passed this bitrd at 1000 in the morning it was still huddled down and had not moved at 4pm )....Sardinian Warbler....Collared Dove....Italian Sparrow....Tree Sparrow.... Common Buzzard

                                            Kingfisher....Alcedo atthis

          

                                             A few images of the storm 

                                           Gramvousa Bay at Trachilos

 

                                                Near Tavroitis river mouth

 

                                                      Chania Harbour

 

 

 From Alan....

A ghastly day weatherwise, but I explored the area where yesterday we saw the greater spotted eagle.  It was located again, near Kournas Lake, but photos were disappointing owing to the drizzly conditions while I was there.  One here for the record though.

I'm now wondering whether this is the return of the radio-tagged bird seen over Crete last winter, which I photographed at Kavros in March?  Could it be that we will be seeing this particular bird on a regular basis this winter?

Had a brief look at Lake Kournas in the rain.  Six grey herons resting at lake-side, a couple of cormorants, and I disturbed three common snipe

                                              Spotted Eagle....Aquila clanga

                      

7th November

Weather....)900....25.4oC ....Sea, calm....Vis, 20+ miles....Cloud 30%....Wind W2-3B.... 1016mb

Images from Nikos added to 3rd and a couple of species added to yesterday's list that I forgot about, how can you forget a Kingfisher and a Shag, the only species on the sea that we spotted  !!!

We rook another hike out onto Gramvousa today as Sue wanted better pictures of the Autumn Lady's Tresses, we found some other species also in flower.

Lizards, Insects and flowers feature today, we had good but short views of the resident pair of Bonelli's Eagle  and several Blue Rock Thrush.

Species List from Kaliviani and Gramvousa.... Black Redstart....Hooded Crow.... Stonechat.... Blackbird....Chaffinch....Robin.... Chiffchaff....Common Buzzard 4....Bonelli's Eagle 2 adult.... Raven....Sparrowhawk 1....Blue Rock Thrush 5....Kestrel 2....Crested Lark....Italian Sparrow  Yellow-legged Gull....Grey Heron 2....Scops Owl....

                                     Blue Rock Thrush....Monticola solitarius

                          

 

                                              Stonechat....Saxicola torquata

                           

                                   Autumn Lady's Tresses....Spiranthes spiralis

               

                                

                         

                                                Sternbergia  greuteriana

         

                                                    and Carpenter Bee

         

  

                                                      Narcissus serotinus

                             

                              

 

                                                     Colchicum cretense

        

                                            Autumn Squill.....Scilla autumnalis

                            

                            

                                                      Thymus capitatus

         

                                                      Erica manipuliflora

                            

                                           Southern Daisy.... Bellis sylvestris

                             

We are waiting to find out what this plant is, we found it trailing from another plant in a small gorge on Gramvousa, if you can ID it we would be very pleased to hear from you. 

Small pink what look like fruits on long leafless green stems

Result , again thanks to  http://www.birdforum.net

                                                      Ephedra fragilis

 

                          Aegean Wall Lizard....Podarcis erhardii sp cretensis

       

   

                                           Unknown cricket on windscreen

     

                                                 Another unknown cricket

                                                                     Unknown bug

                             

                                                           Dragonfly sp ?

                             

                                                            Tachina fera

            

                

            

 From Alan today ...

                                         Spotted Eagle ....Aquila clanga

     

         

        

       

 From Viv.... We were at Lake Agias yesterday and it was very quiet.  The grey herons
and a little egret gave good views and there was a quick view of a little crake as it rushed for cover atthe pump house.  However as we were leaving (camera safely stowed in bag!) 6 cormorants flew past almost at eye level.  It took me a moment to realise what I was seeing
and by the time my camera was out they were well up. This is the best photo I could get against the light.
 
The starlings were in 2 groups - around 60 in one and about 30 in the
other. I'd hesitate to call it a murmuration yet!

                                        Cormorant....Phalacrocorax carbo

       

6th November

Weather....0900....23.9oC....Sea, calm....Vis, 20+ miles....Cloud 70%....Wind, W, 3-4 B... 1016mb

Another quiet day for birding we went out for a walk onto Gramvousa Peninsula. On Sue's wish list was the Autumn flowering orchid, Autumn Lady's Tresse, we found just the one, which made the day for us. 

We also tried out our new Canon SX40 on the wildlife and were pleased with the results on the maximum telephoto, a bit more practice with Macro needed though !!

Species list....Saprrowhawk ....Stonechat....Hooded Crow....Robin....Goldfinch.... Greenfinch .. Griffon Vulture 2....Common Buzzard 3....Blue Rock Thrush 3....Chaffinch....Crested Lark....  Sardinian Warbler...Blackbird....Scops Owl....Barn Owl.....Kingfisher 1....Shag 1

                                  Autumn Lady's Tresses.....Spiranthes spiralis

                            

                                                   Narcissus serotinus

          

                                      Blue Rock Thrush..... Monticola solitarius  

                            

         

                                             Shag....  Phalacrocorax aristotelis   

       

 

5th November

Weather....0900....23.5oC....Sea, calm....Vis, 20+ miles....Cloud, 80%....Wind, NW 1-3 B... 1015mb

Another day of work , but keeping one eye on the sky did not produce much in the way of raptors !. We found our resident Cat Snake still present in our little herp habitat, we had not seen it for a few days, also with it a Green Toad that seemed to fancy walking along a narrow ledge, how it got up there we do not know.

A few small birds graced one of our wildlife bath's and we managed our first of the season robin picture.

Species , Kaliviani....Stonechat....Italian Sparrow....Great Tit....Goldfinch....Hooded Crow.... Crested Lark....Robin....Chaffinch....Chiffchaff....Sardinian Warbler....Kestrel.....Grey Heron 3 Raven.... Black Redstart....Cetti's Warbler....Common Buzzard....Scops owl

                                              Robin....Erithacus rubecula

          

                                           Chiffchaff....Phylloscopus collybita

            

  

                                              Stonechat.....Saxicola torquata

                           

                                           Cat Snake....Telescopus fallax

        

                                              Green Toad....Bufo viridis

        

                    Yesterday afternoon we noticed the Friars Cowls were in flower.

                                            Friars Cowl.... Arisarum vulgare

         

                             

4th November

Weather....0900....Sea, calm....Vis 20 miles....Wind, N.... Cloud 10%, increased later.... 1017mb

Robins singing, what a way to wake in the morning !! as they proclaim their winter territories they can be heard all through the olive groves.

A nice group of griffons sat on a ridge north of us, they stayed for most of the morning we never got to see them go, there one minute and gone the next.

Species list Kaliviani .... Stonechat....Robin....Goldfinch....Black Redstart....Hooded Crow.... Sparrowhawk....Peregrine Falcon....Griffon Vulture 11....Common Buzzard 3....Crag Martin 2 Greenfinch....Crested Lark....Chaffinch....Corn Bunting

                        Eleven Griffon Vultures...Gyps fulvus on the ridge about a Km north of us

 

                                      Black Redstart....Phoenicurus ochrurus

                           

To finish off, we had a nice Ficus tree about twelve feet in height that was blown over in the recent winds, today we dug out the root and found eight we believe Cockchaffer grubs. These are massive grubs measuring 8cm ( 3 inches ) and the reason the tree was blown over, all the root system was riddled with their holes and totally rotten.

                              Cockchaffer.... Scarabaeidae family ...Melolontha sp

  

  

3rd November

Weather....0900....24.7oC....Sea, calm....Vis, 20+miles....Wind, NW 1B....Cloud 20%.... 1012MB

2nd Nov blog added

Nothing much today work needed to be done !!!

Kaliviani list.... Great Tit....Stonechat....Robin....Greenfinch....Goldfinch....Sparrowhawk 2.... Common Buzzard 3....Kestrel 1.... Black Redstart.... Raven 12....Hooded Crow....Scops owl

Nikos tells of a Wigeon seen at Moronis

Images from Nikos at Agyia

                                 Lesser Spotted Eagle....Aquila pomarina at Agyia

 

                                 Great Egret....Casmerodius albus at Agyia

 

2nd November

Weather....0900....27.8oC ( 29.2oC at1030 ) ....Sea, calm...Vis, 10+ miles.... Wind S 2-4B.... Cloud 80%...1008mb.

Our first sighting this autumn of a kingfisher, along the coast.

Kaliviani List,....Kestrel....Hooded Crow....Goldfinch....Griffon Vulture 3....Common Buzzard 2 White Wagtail....Robin....Corn Bunting....Raven....Kingfisher....Barn Owl ....Scops Owl

     Stranger in the camp ,a foreign juvenile buzzard sits on our electric pole staring us out

                     

                   Not as trusting as our local pair, it soon decided it did not like us !!!!        

                         

News from Agyia from Nikos ....AGYIA TODAY...THE REGULARS + THIS AQUILA...1ST PIC ADULT CLANGA I GUESS..TOO DISTANT, COULD NOT SEE UPPERPARTS.. AN HOUR LATER AT 2ND PIC.. THOUGHT SAME EAGLE BUT LOOKS TOO PALE OR...NOT?

           

     

                                         ( Common ) Pochard....Aythya ferina

     

                                          Grey Heron....Ardea cinerea

        

 

1st November

Weather....0900....22.4oC....Sea, calm....Vis, 20+ miles....Wind, S, 2-3B....Cloud 100%.... 1008mb

Today's highlight was a pair of Black Stork, spotted by Sue at 5pm as they came in from the north against the blustery south winds, they circled a few times settling in different areas before roosting in the Kaliviani area. They looked exhausted and we settled for distant photos and scope views rather than disturbing them.

Kaliviani List ...Poor today due to the southerly winds and thick cloud cover.

Stonechat....Goldfinch....chaffinch....Common Buzzard ....Kestrel....Hooded Crow.... Raven.... Sardinian Warbler....Crested Lark.... White Wagtail....Greenfinch....Blackbird....Great Tit....  Black Stork.

                                                Black Stork....Ciconia nigra

             Heading in from the sea against the strong late afternoon southerly winds

 

Coming in to land on the beach. They later flew inland to nice quiet and safer locations,  where, as darkness fell we observed them both settled for the night.