1^st Aug.  Just for the “splitters” rather than my more favoured “lumpers” - there was a very beautifully and clearly marked Saxicola  armenica sitting as bold as brass on a fence beside a hotel waiting for the twitchers to rush and “clock”it.  Luckily there were no twitchers about.  Drifting around were some spotted flycatchers; lesser whitethroats; a pair of lesser kestrels; a raven; and five buzzards hinted at early migration for them.

4^th Aug.  At Neo Chorio.  A peregrine falcon powered by in pursuit of our local swallows which all needed a power boost to escape.

5^th Aug. Down on the coast.  Migrants are starting to show well with kingfisher, bar tailed godwit, little stint and little ringed plovers.

6^th Aug. At Neo Chorio. A really superb pair of terek sandpipers allowed very close and detailed scrutiny of their immaculate summer plumage. Two glossy ibis flew over followed later by a flock of 14.

7^th July.  At Neo Chorio. An eleonoras falcon hunted over the garden at dusk, while 80+ hooded crows milled about before going off to roost.  Down on the coast more waders were about, this time including kentish plover; greenshank; ringed plover; and common sandpiper.

9^th August.  At Maleme.  A fan tailed warbler showed for a while and a single collared pratincole flew along the shoreline. Further along the coast were lots of sandpipers; a few stints; and at last I found a little crake skulking around the roots of some giant reeds, a first for me.

10^th August.  At Neo Chorio. Among the scattered sandpipers and stints there are now numbers of first year little ringed plovers.

13^th Aug.  At Tavronitis.  Among the other migrants we were thrilled to discover a first year citrine wagtail in perfect plumage, another first for us. The usual stints, sandpipers and plovers were jostling for places to rest and feed on the ever shrinking pools of one of the now very nearly dry river beds.
                  On the coast. Just out to sea, 7+ storm petrels amused us as they often seem to almost run along the surface of the sea.

15^th Aug.  At Neo Chorio.  A single steppe buzzard was seen off by our larger and more aggressive local common buzzards.

16^th Aug.  On the coast. More and more sandpipers coming through now and often in mixed flocks - usually of green and wood, but others are probably mixed in and escape detection in the whirling, dashing masses.  Out to sea there are duck on the move, with flocks of 50+ and 30+ garganey and flocks of 120+ and 80+ pintail.

18^th Aug.  At Chania hospital. Several crested larks comforted me by calling repeatedly as I waited for yet another dreaded blood test. ..

19^th Aug.  At Neo Chorio. Joining the more run of the mill sandpipers were two lovely broad billed, again in perfect plumage. Magnificent birds!
 

20^th Aug.  At Neo Chorio. A red breasted flycatcher hawked for insects from one of the irrigation pipes we use to water our orange and lemon trees.
 

21^st Aug.  On the coast. The first of the autumn purple herons was spotted.

22^nd Aug.  At Neo Chorio. A turtle dove was singing just outside the garden, a comforting song.

23^rd Aug.  On the coast. A flock of 27 purple herons; a pair of marsh harriers; more stints and sandpipers along the coast; plus a booted eagle.

25^th Aug.  On the coast. More plovers, stints and sandpipers, plus another broad billed sandpiper again in excellent plumage; a glossy ibis; and a flock of 50+ purple heron.
 

26^th Aug.  On the coast. Again on the coast  - and this time there were 2 lesser grey shrikes; a single temmincks stint; a roller; several spotted flycatchers; and now some very tatty plumaged sandpipers, so much so they could not be identified accurately.

27^th Aug.  On the coast. Yet another broad billed sandpiper; another citrine wagtail, again a first winter in immaculate plumage. A hoopoe; flocks of 250+ and 90+ little egrets; a flock of 8 purple herons; a single glossy ibis; a lesser kestrel; and flocks of 70+ and 86 garganey.
 

28^th Aug.  At Neo Chorio. A steppe buzzard and 3 booted eagles pointed to raptor migration picking up.
                 Down on the coast. A first year lesser spotted eagle hunted, probably for easy pickings among exhausted migrants.
 

29^th Aug.  On the Rodopos peninsulla. A trip out yielded lots of birds. 3 honey buzzards; several ravens; a merlin; a kestrel; a bonellis eagle; and 2 griffon vultures just to start with. Then lots of small flocks of hirundines drifting south.  Among them swifts; sand martins; crag martins; and swallows. Northern wheatears in numbers, and hundreds of black eared wheatears - but best were a pair of isabelline wheatears, standing so upright and proud of themselves as they strutted around in search of food.  Lots of woodlarks were still calling from the mountainsides as we watched a pied flycatcher; a lesser grey shrike; our faithful pair of lanner falcons; and more than 50 red backed shrikes, of which only two were adult, the rest were all first year birds. Surprisingly we could only find a single stonechat.
 

30^th Aug. On the coast. Were flocks of grey herons, 79, 13, and 7.  A flock of 7 lovely black storks were closely followed by a flock of 63 purple herons.