Tokihiko 'Toko' Nagano is a veteran birdwatcher and tour guide from Japan. He's been birding for more than 50 years and his list is very impressive. As a guide, he has visited Europe many times but Greece was not on his visited countries' list. Not till this year, that is, as he went on a two-month trip around the globe to record at least 1,000 species. He had just one day to spend here and he wanted to see as many species as possible; contacting Greece Bird Tours was the wisest choice of course!
The weather was not good; rain and strong winds hindered our efforts but who dares wins. We managed to find more than 60 species.
We started at Vravrona wetland, where we saw lots of winter visitors like the Great Egret, the Mediterranean Gull and the Kingfisher but also early spring arrivals like the House Martin.
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| Great Egret |
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| House Martin |
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| Pygmy Cormorant |
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| Ferruginous Duck |
We also visited the surrounding hills to look for the Sombre Tit; we managed to find one individual despite the strong winds.
Last stop was Mt Hymettus. There, we added a few more species like the Hawfinch, the Woodlark, and the Linnet before the sunset. The total count was 61 species, another fine trip was over, another happy birder was taken a photograph!
TRIP CHECKLIST
| Mute Swan - Cygnus olor |
| Northern Shoveler - Spatula clypeata |
| Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos |
| Green-winged Teal - Anas crecca |
| Common Pochard - Aythya ferina |
| Ferruginous Duck - Aythya nyroca |
| Tufted Duck - Aythya fuligula |
| Little Grebe - Tachybaptus ruficollis |
| Great Cormorant - Phalacrocorax carbo |
| Gray Heron - Ardea cinerea |
| Great Egret - Ardea alba |
| Little Egret - Egretta garzetta |
| Eurasian Marsh-Harrier - Circus aeruginosus |
| Hen Harrier - Circus cyaneus |
| Eurasian Sparrowhawk - Accipiter nisus |
| Common Buzzard - Buteo buteo |
| Water Rail - Rallus aquaticus |
| Eurasian Moorhen - Gallinula chloropus |
| Eurasian Coot - Fulica atra |
| Black-headed Gull - Chroicocephalus ridibundus |
| Mediterranean Gull - Ichthyaetus melanocephalus |
| Yellow-legged Gull - Larus michahellis |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove - Streptopelia decaocto |
| Common Kingfisher - Alcedo atthis |
| Eurasian Kestrel - Falco tinnunculus |
| Peregrine Falcon - Falco peregrinus |
| Eurasian Magpie - Pica pica |
| Hooded Crow - Corvus cornix |
| Wood Lark - Lullula arborea |
| Crested Lark - Galerida cristata |
| Common House-Martin - Delichon urbicum |
| Sombre Tit - Poecile lugubris |
| Eurasian Blue Tit - Cyanistes caeruleus |
| Great Tit - Parus major |
| Eurasian Wren - Troglodytes troglodytes |
| Cetti's Warbler - Cettia cetti |
| Common Chiffchaff - Phylloscopus collybita |
| Zitting Cisticola - Cisticola juncidis |
| Eurasian Blackcap - Sylvia atricapilla |
| Sardinian Warbler - Sylvia melanocephala |
| European Robin - Erithacus rubecula |
| Black Redstart - Phoenicurus ochruros |
| European Stonechat - Saxicola rubicola |
| Eurasian Blackbird - Turdus merula |
| Song Thrush - Turdus philomelos |
| European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris |
| Dunnock - Prunella modularis |
| White Wagtail - Motacilla alba |
| Meadow Pipit - Anthus pratensis |
| Water Pipit - Anthus spinoletta |
| Cirl Bunting - Emberiza cirlus |
| Reed Bunting - Emberiza schoeniclus |
| Corn Bunting - Emberiza calandra |
| Common Chaffinch - Fringilla coelebs |
| Hawfinch - Coccothraustes coccothraustes |
| European Greenfinch - Chloris chloris |
| Eurasian Linnet - Linaria cannabina |
| European Goldfinch - Carduelis carduelis |
| European Serin - Serinus serinus |
| Eurasian Siskin - Spinus spinus |
| House Sparrow - Passer domesticus |
