No birding trip to Lesbos would be complete without a visit to Achladeri Forest on the eastern side of the Gulf of Kalloni since this is one of the best sites on the island to see the Kruppers Nuthatch, which has a very limited range in the eastern Mediterranean. We therefore visited this site on 9 May, first stopping at the lower ford of the Tsiknias river to see what was around before we moved on to the forest. At the river we saw Coot, Little Grebe, Little Bittern and Western Yellow Wagtail. As we walked along the river a Black Stork flew over.
A Little Owl was on a wire above a nearby field and we saw a Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin in a tree by the river.
Once we arrived at Atchladeri Forest we parked near the main road and set off down the well-marked track into the middle of the forest. We could hear chaffinches in the distance but the first bird we saw was a Short-toed Treecreeper, although it was quite distant making it difficult to get a good photograph. However, the photo we got shows clearly the longer bill that the short-toed has compared to the European Treecreeper that we have in the UK. Achladeri Forest is rightly famous for the Kruper’s Nuthatch that are regularly found there and we were lucky enough to see a couple and get a photograph, although we got better shots when we visited in other years.
After Atchladeri Forest we visited the Salt Pans and checked out the ‘race track’ where we had good views of a Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin. And on the drive back to the main road the Black-winged Stilt on the pans looked particularly good in the late afternoon light.
