Scops Owls and Sombre Tits are often target species for birders visiting Athens, Greece
Scops Owl (Otus scops) is a common species of
owl that can be heard at nights all around the country, however it is extremely
difficult to watch it, since it prefers to be perfectly hidden in the tree
canopy.
Andrew S.,
an avid birder from Australia, requested to see several lifers, such as Scops
Owl, Sombre Tit, Cretzschmar’s Bunting, Black-headed Bunting. So we organized a
tailor made trip for his needs on May 21rst.
In order to
see Scops Owl we started as early as
5am, arriving at 5:30 at one of the known breeding sites in Mt Hymettus.
Shortly after, 3 birds were heard, and as the sun started to rise we had very
good views and tried some pics with high ISO. We stayed for an hour, listening
to their monotonous call, followed by the song of Nightjars that were calling
from the nearby rocks.
Scops Owl in a cypress tree, at the city of Athens.
Picture taken with ISO 16.000, speed 1/25sec (no flash was used)
Our next
target was the Sombre Tit. So we moved to the north east of Attica, at
Grammatiko. It took us some time to spot 2 Sombre
Tits, that were moving between the olive trees. We managed to get good
views, but photographing them proved to be a very hard task. Birding around the
area revealed a breeding couple of Subalpine Warblers, Cirl Buntings and soaring
Short-toed Snake Eagle, the first for the day.
We drove
back to Marathonas, towards Schinias National Park. The highlight birds were
Temminck’s Stints, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Turtle Doves, Sardinian Warbler.
As we entered the Rowing center, Great Reed Warbler made their appearance with
their very loud song. Ferruginous Ducks were not so numerous, however we got a
small flock of 6 Whiskered Tern. Looking through the spotting scope we observed
at least 8 occupied nests of Black-winged Stilts, in the main wetland area.
Short-toed Snake Eagle at Schinias National Park
After
having a light brunch with typical greek gyros and souvlaki, we started to hike
the Rapendosa damn. Alpine, Common and Pallid Swifts were seen over the sky,
and a Black-eared Wheatear was calling from the breathtaking rocks. We also saw
a few more Subalpine Warblers, Chukar and another Short-toed Snake Eagle.
Short-toed Eagle at Schinias National Park
Next location
were the lower slopes of Mt Pendeli, the breeding area for Cretzschmar’s Buntings. Recent forest fires
moved the birds more to the north side of the mountain, so we had to hike for about 30-40min.
But the reward was very impressive: more than 5 Cretzschmar’s Buntings were
singing, displaying, posing at very close range. Another lifer for Andrew, and
great satisfaction for both of us.
Cretzschmar's Bunting breeding at Mt Pendeli, Athens
The “bunting afternoon” continued in Spata fields. Right in the grape yards, 3 Black-headed Buntings were very active, despite the heat. A pair of Great Spotted Cuckoos flew fast in from of our eyes, letting us only a handful of pis. A Peregrine Falcon was mobbing a Short-toed Eagle and that was the most spectacular way to end a successful birding day around Athens!
Peregrine Falcon at Spata fields
Black-headed Bunting at Spata fields
Birding at Mt Pendeli
Here is the
full bird list of the birding tour around Athens, for May 21rst 2022
Little Grebe
Ferruginous Duck
Moorhen
Coot
Little Egret
Squacco Heron
Little Bittern
Mute Swan
Black-winged Stilt
Ringed Plover
Wood Sandpiper
Little Stint
Temminck’s Stint
Ruff
Common Buzzard
Common Kestrel
Short-toed Eagle
Peregrive Falcon
Chukar
Yellow-legged Gull
Whiskered Tern
Hoopoe
Great Spotted Cuckoo
Collared Dove
Turtle Dove
Nightjar
Scops Owl
House Martin
Red-rumped Swallow
Barn Swallow
Crested Lark
Common Swift
Alpine Swift
Pallid Swift
Magpie
Jay
Great Tit
Sombre Tit
Blackbird
Whinchat
Stonechat
Black-eared Wheatear
Zitting Cisticola
Eastern Olivaceous Warbler
Segde Warbler
Great Reed Warbler
Cetti’s Warbler
Sardinian Warbler
Subalpine Warbler
Woodchat Shrike
Red-backed Shrike
House Sparrow
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Cretzschmar’s Bunting
Cirl Bunting
