David Rupp is a fellow bird guide from Indiana, USA. He contacted us for a half-day tour around Athens and after a couple of emails everything was set for the afternoon of June 20.
Leaving Athens, we made our first stop at the still flooded in June Spata fields. Water levels this year were so high that Mallards, Ferruginous Duck and even Common Pochards nested, along with Coots, Moorhens and Little Grebes. Black-winged Stilts and many passerines, like the Great Reed Warbler were other birds seen.
Next stop was Artemis Lagoon; on the way, we saw a nice Hoopoe flying right in front of us. The lagoon's highlight was a Whiskered Tern, while more Black-winged Stilts and lots of hirundines were also present.
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| Whiskered Tern |
A quick visit to Vravrona added Little Egrets, Red-rumped Swallows and Zitting Cisticolas to our list but it was Markopoulo Fields that added a local specialty: the Rufous Bush Robin. There were also Black-headed Buntings and a nice Little Owl.
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| Rufous Bush Robin |
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| Little Owl |
We headed to Mt Hymettus and had a great collection of birds in late afternoon: Chukars, Ruppell's Warblers, Subalpine Warblers, Short-toed Treecreepers and Nightjars. At dusk, two Scops Owl also popped up, closing this trip the best way possible as the day's count was 40 species!
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| Chukar |
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| Ruppell's Warbler |
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| David on Mt Hymettus |
TRIP CHECKLIST
| Common Pochard -
Aythya ferina |
| Ferruginous Duck - Aythya nyroca |
| Chukar - Alectoris chukar |
| Little Grebe - Tachybaptus ruficollis |
| Collared Dove - Streptopelia decaocto |
| Eurasian Nightjar - Caprimulgus europaeus |
| Common Swift - Apus apus |
| Eurasian Coot - Fulica atra |
| Black-winged Stilt - Himantopus
himantopus |
| Yellow-legged Gull - Larus michahellis |
| Whiskered Tern - Chlidonias hybrida |
| Grey Heron - Ardea cinerea |
| Little Egret - Egretta garzetta |
| Eurasian Scops Owl - Otus scops |
| Little Owl - Athene noctua |
| Tawny Owl - Strix aluco |
| Eurasian Hoopoe - Upupa epops |
| Common Kestrel - Falco tinnunculus |
| Eurasian Jay - Garrulus glandarius |
| Common Magpie - Pica pica |
| Coal Tit - Periparus ater |
| Great Tit - Parus major |
| Crested Lark - Galerida cristata |
| Zitting Cisticola - Cisticola juncidis |
| Great Reed Warbler - Acrocephalus
arundinaceus |
| Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica |
| Red-rumped Swallow - Cecropis daurica |
| Common House Martin - Delichon urbicum |
| Cetti's Warbler - Cettia cetti |
| Long-tailed Tit - Aegithalos caudatus |
| RΓΌppell's Warbler - Sylvia ruppeli |
| Subalpine Warbler - Sylvia cantillans |
| Sardinian Warbler - Sylvia melanocephala |
| Common Firecrest - Regulus ignicapilla |
| Short-toed Treecreeper - Certhia
brachydactyla |
| Eurasian Blackbird - Turdus merula |
| Rufous-tailed Scrub-Robin - Cercotrichas
galactotes |
| European Stonechat - Saxicola rubicola |
| House Sparrow - Passer domesticus |
| Black-headed Bunting - Emberiza
melanocephala |
