Recharged the batteries this morning with a lie-in to coincide with the "clock change". We followed up with a Full English at Karlina to set ourselves up for the day.
I'm decided to take Louise up to Nata Ford, as the River would look better due to the recent rains. It's only 30 minutes from our place.
On arrival we had the usual decision of where to set the Good Ladies stall out. It was quite windy. We tried a few spots either side of the Bridge. As we were turning onto a track Louise shouted "What's that"?. I looked at what I thought was a dead Palm leaf... until I noticed it had legs...
It's a beautiful spot, especially this Year as it's so green with plenty of water in the River. I heard Black Francolin but no sightings. My target Bird was Red-rumped Swallow but I didn't see any Swallows. I was going to try another spot on our way back but Google had other ideas this time.
After dropping Louise off I headed for Mavrokolympus Reservoir. My target here was Cyprus Warbler as I'd seen it here last year. A Woodchat Shrike had also been reported, which is my favourite in this family. On arrival I was pleased to see a dry and relatively smooth track leading around the Res'. I wasn't as pleased to see some threatening clouds. There were plenty of Hirundines around, including at least 50 House Martins, my first of the Trip. As I started to drive the track I remembered the spot where I'd had great views of the Warbler. I gave it 45 minutes but it was dead quiet. I looked across the water and saw 3 Black-winged Stilts and some Ducks which turned out to be Garganey (6)...
I moved on and had another glimpse of a Cretzschmar's Bunting, again to quick for me! Evebtually I turne dand headed back along the track. Around halfway I saw a Bird in the top of a Bush that could only be a...Woodchat Shrike...
I passed a couple who I'd seen the previous day at Mandria. He'd managed to see a WS some distance up the track which made us think there could possibly be 2 Birds? He also had more luck than me with the Warbler! More evening light means more late opportunities...not too late of course! I reckoned I had just enough time to try for the reported RRS at the Motorway Pools. I arrived at 6.15 to see large numbers of Swallow sp on the Wires. It took a while but eventually I had one in the right position...
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