The island of Lesvos has long since gained a reputation as one of the must visit birding destinations in Europe. The combination of ease of access, superb birding and the sunny, warm climate add up to ensure you experience a holiday to remember. The island is only seventy kilometres long and forty five kilometres wide and lies just ten kilometres from Turkey in the Eastern Aegean Sea. Its geographical location and rich variety of habitats make it an important stopping place for migrants from both east and west. Our base for our Lesvos Spring migration tour will be the village of Kalloni, on the southern coast- an area ideally situated for exploring the whole island and which also offers birds right on our doorstep.
We do not set a fixed itinerary, but carefully watch weather conditions to decide where will best be visited on a daily basis. We do however expect to visit all the sites in the main itinerary and possibly a few that are not mentioned. Kruper’s Nuthatch, Ruppell’s Warbler, Western Rock Nuthatch, Rufous Bush Chat, Cinereous Bunting and Sombre Tit are among the breeding birds, while each day brings waves of Spring migrants on their way north into Turkey. This means a distinctly Eastern Mediterranean feel to the birding – Icterine Warbler, White-winged Black Tern, Masked Shrike, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler and Levant Sparrowhawk among some of the expected species. Your guide in April will be Howard Vaughan, the May departure lead is Gary Elton and can expect 150 plus species. The island is also a superb place for butterflies and flowers, and walking is easy with up to three miles per day over flat terrain.
Fly London/Mytilene direct when available. If the flight times allows following arrival at our hotel, we are able to explore locally. The pool or saltpans near the hotel should produce species such as Black-winged Stilt, Garganey, Cetti’s Warbler, Spanish Sparrow, Nightingale and both White-winged and Black Terns. Shorebirds may include Little and Temminck’s Stints, Curlew Sandpiper and Kentish Plover.
Our days here will indeed be bird rich. The number of species is too long to list here, so we have picked what we think are the most tempting highlights. The area around Skala Kalloni provides us with salt pans, olive groves and agricultural land. The East Kalloni River is an excellent area that is well worth visiting more than once. Species we can expect to encounter include Squacco and Purple Herons, Glossy Ibis, White and Black Storks, Little Crake, European Bee-Eater, Stone Curlew, Collared Pratincole, Olivaceous and Great Reed Warblers and Black-headed Bunting. We have previously also encountered Bonelli’s Eagle and Lanner in this area on more than one occasion. We search for Masked Shrike, Sombre Tit and the elusive, but very vocal Olive-tree Warbler. Passage birds could include European Roller, Red-footed Falcon, Citrine Wagtail and Lesser Grey Shrike.
Depending on the return flight times we may time for local birding before our flight home.
WHATS INCLUDED
Seven nights en suite accommodation, meals from dinner on day one to breakfast on day eight, return flights London/Mytilene, specified luggage allowance, transport in Lesvos, airport transfers, services of leaders and reserve entrance fees.
Transport to/from the airport and any overnight stay that might be involved, travel insurance, drinks and any items of a purely personal nature. Meals at the airport.
“I enjoyed everything about the holiday”
D. T, West Sussex
“I would highly recommend Oriole tours. Organisation is brilliant, the guides are fantastic and knowledgeable”
JW, Suffolk
“I am still enjoying my holiday a month later. The personal touch of a small company makes your holidays special – can’t wait until next time.”
L. T, Reading
“It was so close to perfect and a totally brilliant trip. I can’t imagine any way you could have improved it. The sense of teamwork is superb – roll on the next trip.”
F. G, Surrey
“I particularly enjoyed the small group and relaxed friendly atmosphere. Just what a birding tour should be – superb!”
R. W, Devon
“Thanks for a superb trip. Never have I known a trip to have so many people, in fact all of them, that gelled and got on so well!”
M & E. C. Glamorgan
” I just wanted to express my thanks for an entirely enjoyable and successful week on Lesvos. I saw a greater range of species than I had hoped for despite the conditions being too good for mass migration. Ashley’s boundless knowledge and enthusiasm, exhaustive research and his almost supernatural bird finding skills enabled everyone to enjoy great views of all the birds to see and in particular I will never know how he detected the presence of an Olive-tree Warbler in an old orchard. He was determined to find the bird and in the end we all enjoyed fine views of it. Quite astonishing. Adrian deserves thanks and praise for enlightening us with all his expertise and enthusiasm for lepidoptera and odonata and its a pity that with so many birds to see, I failed to give these the attention they deserved. So to sum up, great company, good accommodation and in the main good food. Once more thank you for a marvellous holiday”
A.F, Southampton
“We as a family have varied experience in bird watching. Our guide was an excellent tutor who made sure that we all saw the birds we were watching; and learnt what we were looking for or listening to. I would say newcomers or inexperienced birding enthusiasts should not be afraid to book on an Oriole tour; anyone who is keen will have a wonderful experience. The travel arrangements from start to finish were seamless”.
DL, Leicestershire
