1st record for Greece: Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla tschutschensis) at Schinias National Park

This autumn, we had another first record for Greece, after Sabine's Gull at Lake Kerkini. This time, it was a rare wagatail, at Schinias National Park, a few km from the center of Athens. Read here the full twitching story.

On November 25th 2023, a group of birders was observing a flock of Meadow and Water Pipit at the Rowing Center of Schinias National Park. Among them, a single bird that looked like a Yellow Wagtail. It's sound was slightly different from the common migrant. After several recordings and further analysis, the bird was officially identified at a Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla tschutschensis), an extremely rare visitor in Europe and first record for Greece.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla tschutschensis)
at Schinias National Park

The news were spread instantly between birders from all over the country. A few days ago, we had the chance to see and photography the bird. Despite the shyness in the beginning, the bird seemed pretty cooperative, let us approach in relatively close distance, so we managed to take a few memorable shots.