The birds of Skiathos Island - Greece

At the middle of august I was in Skiathos for holiday. I had some time to look for birds. So here I will post some photos & info with the species I found during this trip.

The best birding spot was the medieval Kastro from the northern are of the island. I found there 6 species of birds : 

        Eleonora's falcon (Falco eleonorae) : 

        Alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba, formerly Apus melba):

        Pallid swift (Apus pallidus):

        Red-rumped swallow (Cecropis daurica):

 

         Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica):

 

        Blue rock thrush (Monticola solitarius):

 

 In many places of the island I found the common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)

and Yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis):

 

I also saw a common buzzard (Buteo buteo)  but I don't have photos with it. 

In Skiathos town I saw sardinian warblers (Curruca melanocephala, formerly Sylvia melanocephala) and I also don't have photos with it.

In Skiathos town, in the old port area, I saw a lot of common swifts (Apus apus) : 

 

 I also saw a Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) at Limni Strofilia Lake and 2 mute swans (Cygnus olor) on Troullos beach:

 

As a conclusion, there are not so many species of birds in Skiathos. I don't think Skiathos it is a birding destination, the island is rather famous for its beautiful beaches and nice colorfull reefs fish. 

But if you go there in vacation, and want to invest some time in birding, you can find a few species of birds. Go out very morning when the temperature is low and the birds are active.

I will finish my post here with a few more pictures Eleonora's falcon (Falco eleonorae) : 

 

 

 

 

 

Wildlife in Eilat - Israel

The south of Israel is known as one of the best birding places during migration when milions of birds cross the country.

This year I was there for one week in the first part of march. Most of the time was strong wind and probably this had an negative  impact on migration. But I had enough opportunities to make nice photos.
I had with me Olympus E-M1 MK II + 300mm F/4.0.

One of the best moments in my trip was the second day when I saw hudreds of  steppe eagles (Aquila nipalensis) in migration.

It was morning, some of the eagles were still resting on the sand in the desert.

The distances were in general big (60..100..150m). Olympus 300mm F/4.0 provided very good details and allowed me to post here 100% crops or nearly 100%.


20 km away from Eilet is the Red Canyon, a place with nice geological forms caused by erosion. It's an arid area with just a litle vegetation.
I found there a few rock hyrax, a roughtail rock agama, a blackstart, desert larks and white-crowned wheatears.

In the city Eilat there is an ornithological park with salty and fresh water lakes, alleys to walk and even wooden hides from where to observe the birds. This is a good place for birding or wildlife photography.

A few pictures I made in this park:

Every where in Israel there is a chance to find interesting species of animals.
This is an egyptian vulture I found 30km north Eilat. Maybe this bird is relatively common in Israel, but in my country is a very rare bird.

30 km away from Eilat it is Yotvata Hai-Bar Nature Reserve - a place which is the home for some rare desert animals.

I enjoyed my trip in Israel, this is for sure a good place for wildlife.