Birding in Crete

These are photos taken during the trip to Crete with the Hellenic Ornithological Society

The most common of the countryside birds yet it is so beautiful in song and appearance. This was a rare chance where the male chaffinch allowed me to get very close and get a detailed picture

Σπίνος/Fringilla coelebs/ Common chaffinch

 Thanks to the large numbers of livestock there is always a carcass for the scavengers so the Griffon vultures are thriving in Crete

  

 

Όρνιο/Gyps fulvus/griffon vulture

Σταχτοκουρούνα/Corvus cornix/ Hooded crow

Καλόγερος/Parus major/ Great tit

This was my first time I took a picture of a linnet. It seems to be a male that is has still to grow all of its summer plumage.

Φανέτο/Linaria cannabina/ Common linnet

The Red-billed chough was singing while also opening its wings each time it made a sound.

Κοκκινοκαλιακούδα /Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax/ Red-billed chough

Βραχοχελίδονο/Ptyonoprogne rupestris/ Eurasian crag martin

The Sardinian warbler is a shy bird that I can hear often but it is very rarely sitting in a spot that is good for taking a picture. This was my first time that I manage to find one that is not hiding inside foliage or is perching at the shadow of a branch.

Μαυροτσιροβάκος/ Sylvia melanocephala /Sardinian warbler

Κατσουλιερης/ Galerida cristata/ Crested lark

The European stonechat is also extremely common in Crete and it could often be seen singing from a perch.

Μαυρολαίμης/Saxicola rubicola/European stonechat

Blue tits are some of the most strikingly beautiful birds one can see in Greece. It is a shame that they are not as common as their cousins the Great tits

Γαλαζοπαπαδίτσα/Cyanistes caeruleus/Blue tit

Barn swallows are among my favorite birds, their diet is beneficial to humans, their song is lovely, they are cute and very common in Spring and Summer.

Σταβλοχελίδονο/Hirundo rustica/Barn swallow.

This was my second visit to the Rafina stream estuary. It seems to be a place that is frequented by several bird species in spite of its small size and rumors of sewage dumping.

 Egretta garzetta/ Small egret holding a fish

Charadrius dubius /Little ringed plovers. I had not expected that they would allow humans so close to them

Cettia cetti/ Cetti's warbler. A shy bird species as usual. They are easy to hear but really hard to photo

 Motacilla flava/ Western yellow wagtail. I originally mistook them for their  grey cousins but there were several of these in the estuary

A species of pipit. I will look into what species it is.

At Sounio, near the archeological site you can meet an a rather unexpected bird, the Chukar partridge /Alectoris chukar/ Νησοπέρδικα.

They are such a beautiful birds, it is almost like if they are dressed in their formal clothes and wear make-up
It seems that they are being protected there and so nobody harms them so they seem to see humans as a potential source of food such as bread crumbs of biscuits.
I never expected that a game bird would feel so willing to get close to a human.

A few weeks ago I had visited the wetland at Oropos where I encountered several water birds and to my surprise a Cetti's Warbler that had the courage to show itself to humans.

Cetti's Warbler / Cettia cetti /Ψευταηδόνι

 Water pipit/Anthus spinoletta/Νεροκελάδα

This cormorant was very distant but nonetheless very interesting cause it had caught an eel  which was resisting being eaten with all its might. It took the cormorant about 10 minutes to subdue it and eat it.

 Cormorant /Phalacrocorax aristotelis /Κορμοράνος

Crested lark/Galerda cristata/Κατσουλιέρης

 Reed bunting/ Emberiza schoeniclus/ Καλαμοτσίχλονο

Great egrets/Ardea alba/ Αργυροτσικνιάδες

On this year's trip to Western Thrace I took less photos than I expected but some of them are extraordinary.


I had been wanting for a long time to get a good picture of a buzzard but they were usually siting too far away or the light conditions were not good. This time I was lucky and I encountered this lovely fellow during the boat ride.

Γερακίνα / Buteo buteo / Common buzzard
Δέλτα Έβρου/ Evros Estuary

On our first day we encountered a particularly brave Βουνοτσίχλονο/ Emberiza cia/ Rock bunting which kept feeding on the ground in spite of several dozens of noisy humans being within 20 meters of it

Later most of us had our first ever encounter with a φασιανό/ Phasianus colchicus/ pheasant male in the wild. Sadly the bird was so far that I could not record enough of its details other than its unmistakable colors and shape

 A couple of hours before sunset we found out a flock of Φλώρους /Chloris chloris/European greenfinches were perching near our location

 The next day we went to the Evros river estuary and we were greeted by a family of dogs whose youngest member is in this photo

After we boarded the riverboats I encountered a couple of birds of prey. One is this  Καλαμόκιρκος /Circus aeruginosus/western marsh harrier while the other one is the buzzard at the start of this post.

We also saw in the hunter cabins a pair of (hunting?) dogs

While we saw other several bird species  that day the ones that came close enough for a nice picture were these Αγριόκυκνοι Cygnus cygnus/ whooper swans.

I did not met many different bird species in today's walk in Pefki, however I was lucky enough to take a picture of a common chifchaf/ Phylloscopus collybita/ Δεντροφυλλοσκόπο while it was standing on an exposed tree branch. At least in my experience these birds normally hide in the inner branches of the trees for safety which makes them harder to take pictures of.

After the chifchaf I spotted a magpie/Pica pica/ καρακάξα who flew into a nearby pine tree. When I went closer to find that magpie, another bird popped out of the pine's foliage. It was a female blackbird /Turdus merula /κοτσύφι and she seemed quite displeased by the intrusion of the magpie in her tree. (she had her tail raised up high while looking at the direction the magpie went at)

Finally I managed to get a close up photo of a male common chaffinch/Fringilla coelebs/σπίνος  who was feasting on a piece of bread.

The first day of the year started as what would had been an unimpressive day for bird photos, but I ended up encountering a few unexpected birdies.


During the morning walk the only bird that stood in a nice bright place was this female Common chaffinch/Σπίνος (Fringilla coelebs). The of the birds were either standing in shadows and or behind obstructions such as branches and fences.

Later I decided to bring my camera along during a walk at Stavros Niarchos Park and here as well the majority of the birds appeared to be singing from the safety of thick bushes. The first bird that stood in the open was this female Black redstart/Καρβουνιάρης  (Phoenicurus ochruros).

I had started thinking that I would not find any better birds to take pictures off so I turned my lens to the sky and I tried my luck with one of the distant Caspian sea gulls/ Ασημόγλαρος (Larus cachinnans)

Then I suddenly notice that there was something sitting on top of one of the cypress trees and I decided to investigate. So I found these three Common starlings/Ψαρόνια (Sturnus vulgaris) basking at the sun!

 

I decided to get closer for some better pictures. Fortunately the starlings seemed to be quite used to humans passing close to them so they were not bothered by me and my camera.

After that I went back home and I noticed some unusual chirping from the tree of the neighboring house and I was surprised to find an a group of about 10 or more Eurasian siskins/Λούγαρα (Carduelis spinus)! Here is the photo of a male one of which I had a clear view of.

I seem to recall seeing one of them in the same tree a few days ago so it might be a place they like to perch at.