Spring migration is at its best and a full day around Athens is certain to yield a good number species.
Chris and Pam from Washington DC had a day free while in Athens and the initial arrangement was for Saturday, April 6 but we had to change it to Friday, 5 because the weather forecast was not very optimistic about Saturday.
We started very early on Friday morning (05.45) because we searched for the Scops Owl at Lycabettus Hill, a quite easy task actually as by 06.15 we were already heading to our next stop: Mt Hymettus.
On Mt Hymettus, we visited the Aesthetic Forest of Kaisariani to look for the Tawny Owl and passerines like the Short-toed Treecreeper and the Firecrest. We managed to get great views of all three along with lots of Blackbirds, Jays, Great Tits and a couple of Cirl Buntings.
It was time to move to Vravrona Wetland, the very beautiful site of the east coast. Two Little Crakes were seen for a while as they were foraging in the river Erasinos flooded banks. Mute Swans, along with Great, Little Egret, Grey and Night Herons were also seen at the estuary. The most interesting passerine seen was the Eastern Bonelli's Warbler, while several other warlblers (Cetti's, Sardinian, Sedge, Willow and Chiffchaff) were also present.
Spata Fields was the next destination; a very rainy winter and early spring has transformed large part of the cultivated area to a vast freshwater lagoon. Dozens of Ruffs and Wood Sandpipers were there, along with Garganeys, Little Grebes, Coots and Moorhens. The surrounding dry land was full of migrants like the Yellow Wagtail, the Tawny Pipit and wheatears (Northern and Black-eared). Two Short-toed Eagles passed through and a pair of Great Spotted Cuckoos passed overhead.
It was time to leave Schinias and make a quick pass on Mt Penteli to look for the Cretzschmar's Bunting; we found it quite easily and headed to Mt Hymettus again, this time to the top of the mountain for the Ruppell's Warbler. The Ruppell's was, again, very cooperative and a Chukar was the last bird to be seen by us. The total number of bird species was 86, a full day indeed!
TRIP CHECKLIST
Chris and Pam from Washington DC had a day free while in Athens and the initial arrangement was for Saturday, April 6 but we had to change it to Friday, 5 because the weather forecast was not very optimistic about Saturday.
We started very early on Friday morning (05.45) because we searched for the Scops Owl at Lycabettus Hill, a quite easy task actually as by 06.15 we were already heading to our next stop: Mt Hymettus.
On Mt Hymettus, we visited the Aesthetic Forest of Kaisariani to look for the Tawny Owl and passerines like the Short-toed Treecreeper and the Firecrest. We managed to get great views of all three along with lots of Blackbirds, Jays, Great Tits and a couple of Cirl Buntings.
It was time to move to Vravrona Wetland, the very beautiful site of the east coast. Two Little Crakes were seen for a while as they were foraging in the river Erasinos flooded banks. Mute Swans, along with Great, Little Egret, Grey and Night Herons were also seen at the estuary. The most interesting passerine seen was the Eastern Bonelli's Warbler, while several other warlblers (Cetti's, Sardinian, Sedge, Willow and Chiffchaff) were also present.
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| Little Crake |
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| Eastern Bonelli's Warbler |
The next destination was even richer in birds. Schinias National Park, the most importand freshwater wetland of Athens was full of waders: Greenshanks, Spotted Redshanks, Black-winged Stilts, Black-tailed Godwits, Wood, Green and Marsh Sandpipers were easily seen in the area. Migrant Garganeys and breeding Ferruginous Ducks were also widespread along with Little Egrets, Purple Herons and Glossy Ibises.
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| Spotted Redshank |
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| Glossy Ibis |
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| Ferruginous Duck |
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| Ruppell's Warbler |
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| Chukar |
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| A last-minute 'selfie' |
| Mute Swan - Cygnus olor |
| Garganey - Spatula querquedula |
| Northern Shoveler - Spatula clypeata |
| Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos |
| Eurasian/Green-winged Teal - Anas crecca |
| Ferruginous Duck - Aythya nyroca |
| Chukar - Alectoris chukar |
| Little Grebe - Tachybaptus ruficollis |
| Rock Dove - Columba livia |
| Collared Dove - Streptopelia decaocto |
| Great Spotted Cuckoo - Clamator glandarius |
| Common/Pallid Swift - Apus apus/pallidus |
| Water Rail - Rallus aquaticus |
| Common Moorhen - Gallinula chloropus |
| Eurasian Coot - Fulica atra |
| Little Crake - Zapornia parva |
| Black-winged Stilt - Himantopus himantopus |
| Little Ringed Plover - Charadrius dubius |
| Black-tailed Godwit - Limosa limosa |
| Ruff - Calidris pugnax |
| Common Snipe - Gallinago gallinago |
| Green Sandpiper - Tringa ochropus |
| Spotted Redshank - Tringa erythropus |
| Common Greenshank - Tringa nebularia |
| Marsh Sandpiper - Tringa stagnatilis |
| Wood Sandpiper - Tringa glareola |
| Yellow-legged Gull - Larus michahellis |
| Caspian Tern - Hydroprogne caspia |
| Grey Heron - Ardea cinerea |
| Purple Heron - Ardea purpurea |
| Great White Egret - Ardea alba |
| Little Egret - Egretta garzetta |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron - Nycticorax nycticorax |
| Glossy Ibis - Plegadis falcinellus |
| Short-toed Eagle - Circaetus gallicus |
| Western Marsh Harrier - Circus aeruginosus |
| Eurasian Sparrowhawk - Accipiter nisus |
| Common Buzzard - Buteo buteo |
| Eurasian Scops Owl - Otus scops |
| Little Owl - Athene noctua |
| Tawny Owl - Strix aluco |
| Eurasian Hoopoe - Upupa epops |
| Common Kestrel - Falco tinnunculus |
| Peregrine Falcon - Falco peregrinus |
| Ring-necked Parakeet - Psittacula krameri |
| Eurasian Jay - Garrulus glandarius |
| Common Magpie - Pica pica |
| Hooded Crow - Corvus cornix |
| Woodlark - Lullula arborea |
| Crested Lark - Galerida cristata |
| Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica |
| Coal Tit - Periparus ater |
| Great Tit - Parus major |
| Long-tailed Tit - Aegithalos caudatus |
| Short-toed Treecreeper - Certhia brachydactyla |
| Common Firecrest - Regulus ignicapilla |
| Cetti's Warbler - Cettia cetti |
| Eastern Bonelli's Warbler - Phylloscopus orientalis |
| Willow Warbler - Phylloscopus trochilus |
| Common Chiffchaff - Phylloscopus collybita |
| Sedge Warbler - Acrocephalus schoenobaenus |
| Great Reed Warbler - Acrocephalus arundinaceus |
| Zitting Cisticola - Cisticola juncidis |
| Eurasian Blackcap - Sylvia atricapilla |
| RΓΌppell's Warbler - Sylvia ruppeli |
| Subalpine Warbler - Sylvia cantillans |
| Sardinian Warbler - Sylvia melanocephala |
| European Robin - Erithacus rubecula |
| European Stonechat - Saxicola rubicola |
| Northern Wheatear - Oenanthe oenanthe |
| Black-eared Wheatear - Oenanthe hispanica |
| Song Thrush - Turdus philomelos |
| Eurasian Blackbird - Turdus merula |
| Western Yellow Wagtail - Motacilla flava |
| Tawny Pipit - Anthus campestris |
| Meadow Pipit - Anthus pratensis |
| Common Chaffinch - Fringilla coelebs |
| European Greenfinch - Chloris chloris |
| European Goldfinch - Carduelis carduelis |
| European Serin - Serinus serinus |
| Eurasian Siskin - Spinus spinus |
| Corn Bunting - Emberiza calandra |
| Cirl Bunting - Emberiza cirlus |
| Cretzschmar's Bunting - Emberiza caesia |
| House Sparrow - Passer domesticus |
| Eurasian Tree Sparrow - Passer montanus |
