Lesvos

11th-18th May 2006

Petra

Along the coast road just north of Petra are the territories of several breeding pairs of Rüppell's Warbler. One of the most reliable places for seeing them is from a large layby. Unfortunately, getting good photos is not so easy as it is a popular spot and the birds tend to stay quite distant. We found that with a bit of patience closer view could be obtained by walking up the hill away from the crowds of birders at the layby, but even up there they never came close enough to allow me to get a full frame photo (the photo below is considerably croppeds and shows only about 1/4 of the full frame).

Rüppell's Warbler (Sylvia rueppelli)

Black-headed Buntings were not so shy, and I had to back up a couple of metres to get far enough away from this male to be able to fit all of it in the frame.

Black-headed Bunting (Emberiza melanocephala)

A large number of Spotted Flycatchers were passing through on one of the days we visited...

Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata)

The Jays on Lesvos, although being the same species as occurs in Britain, look very different with a solid black cap and much paler greyish pink body.

Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius anatolia)

As with most of Lesvos, insect life was abundant...

 

Trichodes nobilis

Maniola telmessia

Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides podalirius)

Large White (Pieris brassicae) caterpillar

White-banded Grayling (Pseudochazara anthelea)