On 11 May we travelled west across the island heading towards the monastery of Ipsilou, but we first called in at Metochi lake just outside of Skala Kalloni as this is a very reliable birding site close to the hotels used by many of the birders. Metochi is a fairly small lake and it’s possible to park on one side close to a farm and then have views across to the reeds on the other side and see birds emerging from the reed bed. It’s a little too far for frame-filling photography but it’s still possible to get reasonable shots. On this visit the highlights were a Little Bittern fishing from a horizontal reed and a Little Crake that appeared for a short time on the edge of the reeds.
After Metochi to drove west along the road to Sigri and stopped at a lay-by in a gorge close to Antissa. We’d read that this site was good for Rock Sparrow so spent time looking for the bird in the immediate area of the lay-by. After a few minutes we spotted the sparrow, although it was at quite a distance making photography difficult, although we did at least get a record shot. While there we got better views of a Masked Shrike on a horizontal branch by the road.
We then moved on to Ipsilou Monastary perched on its isolated hill overlooking a large area of central Lesbos. We’ve had mixed success here as while birding on the winding road you are either looking up towards the top of the hill or down a very steep slope, with few birds being close, which doesn’t help with photography. This visit started well with a sighting of a Golden Eagle, although it was very distant and we only got a poor record shot. One of the few birds close by was a female Pied Wheatear, which posed well for a few good shots, including one where it had caught a bug. Nearby we also saw a European Stonechat, while overhead we had House Martins and Barn Swallows.
Friday 11th May was our last full day on the island of what had been a very enjoyable week of birding. On the following day, on the way to the airport, we stopped briefly on the eastern edge of Kalloni to see a Great Snipe that we’d heard was regularly seen in a pool just off the main road. We were lucky in seeing it emerge briefy from the reeds and felt that this was a very good end to the holiday.