Pbarc1201

Paul Smith's Birdwatching - Diary Highlights in December 2001

	13th Dec. At Neo Chorio. The bonellis eagle is now in good plumage. A flock of 17 swallows. At Maleme. A Marsh Harrier and a single swallow. At Tavronitis. A single cormorant out to sea.
	12th Dec. At Neo Chorio. A pair of Ravens. It has now rained without stop for 14 days.....
	14th Dec. At Neo Chorio. A female sparrow hawk and in the garden a chukkar was noisily trying to commit suicide by attracting the attention of shotgunners!
	15th Dec. At Neo Chorio. For several hours small flocks of sand martins each of up to 14 flew north with a total of over 300. Just a single swallow with them. The local buzzards are now very smart with new plumage and are beginning to display.
	16th Dec. At Neo Chorio. 120 + hooded crows gathered at dusk.
	19th Dec. At Neo Chorio. 90 + hooded crows gathered at dusk.
	22nd Dec. At Neo Chorio. 2 house martins flying north.
	25th Dec. At Lagos. A group of 5+ crag martins and at Stalos 8 swallows. At Neo Chorio. A plethora of robbins, and - according to Paul in this festive period - several unidentifiable doves and two partridges in a pear tree!! All the turkeys had, he said, disappeared from local farms! Note: I think that Paul was feeling particularly hard done to on this particular Christmas day as the rain had been solid and continuous for 24 hours - reducing him to having to look at Christmas cards (many with robbins on!) instead of real birds....
	27th Dec. At Skoutolonas. 32 mute swans turned up on flooded fields of which 28 were juveniles. This is only the fourth time mute swans have been recorded on Crete. On all occasions the weather on the mainland has been very bad. With them were 3 little egrets and 13 Mediterranean gulls. At Kamisiana. A single adult male mute swan; 2 black necked grebes; 1 little grebe and dozens of meadow pipits in small flocks. At Neo Chorio. 2 pairs of ravens noisily fighting and 80+ hooded crows.
	28th Dec. At Neo Chorio. The 2 pairs of ravens are still fighting. The breeding season starts early on Crete.
	30th Dec. At Neo Chorio. 2 pallid swifts; 1 swallow; and 100+ hooded crows at dusk.
	31st Dec. At Skoutolonas. 2 juvenile and an adult mute swans; 1 little egret; and 20+ Mediterranean gulls. At Neo Chorio. The bonellis eagle is showing off his immaculate plumage. At dusk 90-100 hooded crows.

And a few final words for December...... What a month! For over five weeks now the weather has been nothing but rain. The rain here is of the torrential type causing flooding everywhere. On only two days was it possible to get out for a while without getting absolutely soaked. Up on mainland Greece the winter has been the worst for over fifty years, with everything either flooded; frozen; or buried under huge snow drifts. Athens declared a state of emergency. All very, very different to the perception most tourists have of the Mediterranean!

Many swans were driven here by the weather, but unfortunately word got out and local hunters were soon shooting at them. Some have a curios disregard for laws that do not suit them - they simply ignore it. Considering that their usual prey is song thrushes a swan must be an irresistible target. So far, even though swans are a protected species, at least 6 have been shot.

The weather must surely get better soon........