Pbirdarc1004

MY BIRDWATCHING HIGHLIGHTS FOR OCTOBER 2004

	1^st Oct. At Neo Chorio. A male sparrow hawk dashed through the garden and grabbed a sardinian warbler on its way out. On the coast. There was a group of 7 little egrets and a superb group of 4 great white egrets. The great whites stood majestically while the little egrets scurried around almost underneath them in search of food. Later we saw a flock of20 little egrets over the sea; a single purple heron; and a flock of 7 grey herons.
	2^ndOct.On the coast. A flock of 157 little egrets flew back and forth for several hours trying to find somewhere undisturbed to land. Also an adult and 2 juvenile purple herons; a male kestrel; and an isabelline wheatear.
	3^rd Oct. At Neo Chorio. At night, a big flock of grey herns migrated along our valley, calling continuously to each other. The flock took about 5 minutes to pass by.
	4^th Oct. At Kamisiana. A juvenile red backed shrike.
	6^th Oct. At Neo Chorio. The wintering black redstarts have now arrived in numbers and are fighting to set up winter territories.
	8^thOct.On the coast. We saw 2 eleonoras falcons; a flock of 19 white storks; and a red-backed shrike.
	14^th Oct. At Neo Chorio. 2 swifts circled before heading south. There was another dead barn owl on the motorway.
	15^th Oct. At Mournies. A single long legged buzzard.
	16^th Oct. At Neo Chorio. A scops owl has been calling for the past week. Worthy of note as as though they were once very common in this area there seem very few now.
	17^th Oct. At Neo Chorio. A booted eagle was heavily mobbed by our local buzzards.
	18^th Oct. At Mournies. A rough legged buzzard. At Maleme. 3 booted eagles. At Neo Chorio. 2 booted eagles; and an eleonoras falcon.
	20^th Oct. At Tavronitis. There was a flock of 70+ starlings, nearly all juveniles. We do not see many starlings here thank goodness.
	21^st Oct. On the coast. A flock of 8 grey herons closely followed by a flock of 6 black storks. 22^nd Oct. On the coast. A steppe buzzard was being heavily mobbed by a local buzzard.
	23^rd Oct. At Neo Choirio. A male sparrow hawk tried his luck in the garden - but with no success this time.
	26^th Oct. At Vlakeronitsa. There was a late yellow wagtail. At Neo Choirio. We had delightful close-up views of a wryneck, the first we have seen - in other words a tick!
	27^th Oct. At Neo Choirio. A long legged buzzard soared for ten minutes but was ignored by our local buzzards.

And a few final words for October..... In some ways it was a very good month - the storks, the great white egrets and then - our first time view of a wryneck (Tick) which caused much excitement!

We have never seen such a big flock of little egrets as we saw on the coast - they seemed to twinkle as thet kept turning, their snowy plumage against the deep blue Mediterranean sky was very impressive.

Things quietened down later in the month as my own activities were severely curtailed late in month, not because the birds were not there but because I was bitten - apparently by a spider - and the bite became septic, leading to hospital treatment. My "No anaesthetic, no pain" surgeon must have meant for him! I certainly felt it as he lanced the bite, removed the pus and sutured my arm...... Not to mention the following antibiotic treatment putting me to sleep - not doing much for my birding activities! Never a dull moment here...

Until next month, good watching. Paul Smith.