Bathed in sunshine with golden beaches lapped by the warm Southern Aegean Sea, the Greek island of Kos has long been a popular destination for birdwatching during Spring migration but what about in October?
There's no doubt the island is much quieter once passage migrants have passed through and summer visitors have gone, but migration aside, Kos has a good range of breeding species including Bonelli's eagle on Mount Dikaios, Lanner falcon, Black woodpecker, Lesser kestrel, Long-legged buzzard and Eleonora's falcon while the islands two protected reserves are home to overwintering wading birds and flocks of Greater flamingo's.
Average temperatures during our trip was around 32°c during the day and 23°c at night, it only rained twice for around 10 minutes each time, the island was arid with wetlands still dry from the Summer except Tigaki Salt Lake which had been topped up by the Sea. Sunrise was at 7.15 am, setting at 18.45 pm with moderately high heat haze between the hours of 10.30 am and 15.30 pm making spotting and photography challenging.
(Above photo: A Greater flamingo on the Alykes Salt Lake and Below: Bonelli's eagles high over Old Pyli Castle)
Psalidi Wetlands
A protected nature reserve located adjacent to the coast 4 km East of Kos town with a bird hide overlooking the wetlands and an Eco path around it's perimeter lined with Eucalyptus and various non-deciduous trees. This time of year the wetlands is bone dry but the Eco path and coastal scrub can be productive for wildlife. The visitors centre is abandoned and falling into ruin as is the area before the wetlands with the remnants of military bunkers now inhabited by Rough-tailed rock agama and Greek tortoise. Swathes of flowers attract a wide variety of Butterflies and Invertebrates while European hares seek refuge among the shrubs and bushes.
Sightings: Greater short-toed lark, Northern wheatear, Western yellow wagtail, Spanish sparrow, Chiffchaff, Red rumped swallow, Common swift, Palid swift, Glossy ibis, Barn swallow, Red-backed shrike, Goldfinch, Great tit, Zitting cisticola, Crested lark, House martin, Cetti's warbler, Sardinian warbler, Eleonora's falcon, Willow warbler, Pheasant, Collared dove, Spotted flycatcher, Magpie, Hooded crow, Jackdaw, Pied wagtail.
Alykes Salt lake - Tigaki
The second of the islands protected nature reserves is Alykes (Salt flats) located near the busy resort of Tigaki 10 km West of Kos town. The salt lake is a popular attraction and is best visited at first light or late afternoon when there is less disturbance from cyclists and walkers, this also avoids any heat haze reflecting on the water. The surrounding fields and farmland can be very productive as can the beach area while the Horse paddocks are also worth checking out for wildlife. A colony of over 100 Stone curlew can be found in the fields near an old church while Eucalyptus lined avenue's provide a roost for Scops owl which can be heard calling at dusk. During the Winter months the Salt lake is populated by a good number of waders and Greater flamingo's.
Sightings: Stone curlew, Greater flamingo, Spur-winged lapwing, Eastern orphean warbler, Eleonora's falcon, Golden plover, Whinchat, Willow warbler, Chiffchaff, Pied wagtail, Whinchat, Common redstart, Sardinian warbler, Great tit, Rock dove, Hooded crow, Spotted flycatcher, Moorhen, Pheasant, Temminck's stint, Teal
Kentish plover, Ringed plover, Little ringed plover, Dunlin, Redshank, Little stint, Little egret, Crested lark, Yellow-legged gull, Kingfisher, House martin, Cetti's warbler, Collared dove, Jackdaw, Long-legged buzzard, Grey heron, Northern wheatear, Zitting cisticola, Teal, Mallard, Red-backed shrike, Barn swallow, Raven.
Zia and Mount Dikaios
Around 15 km Southwest of Kos town is the mountain village of Zia and from here you can follow the trail up to Mount Dikaios the highest point of the island. It's possible to drive most of the way up the mountain with an ATV but we had a fiat 500 so we were on foot. The trail can be arduous at times and is surprisingly busy given it's remote location. On the way up there are open areas with smallholdings and dense woodland while the views are amazing. A Black woodpecker was reported by another birder near the Kos Natural Park and following another lead from a local we headed for an area where a pair of Bonelli's eagles had been seen, this report was in fact erroneous, the birds of Prey turned out to be a beautiful pair of Long-legged buzzard.
Sightings: Common buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Long-legged buzzard, Eleonora's falcon, Hooded crow, Magpie, Raven, Jackdaw, Rock dove, Collared dove, Common swift, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow warbler, Wood warbler, Barn swallow, Coal tit, Great tit, Sardinian warbler, House sparrow, Blackbird, Chaffinch.
Antimachia Castle and Raptor Viewpoint
25 km South of Kos town, Antimachia Castle is on a hillside with 360 degree panoramic views, arriving early we flushed 30 Chukar as we searched for the resident Little owl. Inside the Castle there's two small Churches along with the remnants of building foundations sparsely covered with trees and shrubs. As expected for this time of year it was fairly quiet, we did however record several species of warbler. The nearby recycle plant was being circled by a flock of Yellow-legged gulls along with Ravens, Jackdaws and 3 Long-legged buzzard so we headed towards it stopping for a while before continuing up the mountains winding along the elevated road. At the top we pulled in a lay-by where we spotted 3 Alpine swift, 2 Kestrel, 1 Black kite, 3 Eleonora's falcon, 4 Common buzzard, 2 Long-legged buzzard and 2 Sparrowhawk, Common swift and Raven was also noted.
Sightings: Chukar partridge, Yellow-legged gull, Sardinian warbler, Willow warbler, Crested lark, Rock dove, Great tit, Lesser whitethroat, Hooded crow, Jackdaw, Raven, Long-legged buzzard, Collared dove, Common swift, Common buzzard, House sparrow, Sparrowhawk, Alpine swift, Eleonora's falcon, Magpie, Chiffchaff, Kestrel, Black kite, Barn swallow.
Kefalos and Agios Theologos
Heading South we reached the narrowest part of the island at just 2 km wide, in this area the beach roads are open scrub-land which can be productive for birds particularly warblers, we drove several of these before we reached the resort town of Kefalos around 40 km from Kos town. Continuing South we stopped at St. John the Baptist Holy Chapel of Thyme where the view out towards the volcanic island of Nisiros is breathtaking. A nearby road turns to rough track which leads to Cape Krikellos, we decided not to attempt this in the Fiat and opted to drop down to Agios Theologos where we checked out the Coast and dunes before returning to the harbour at Kefalos where we sat for a while watching a female Kingfisher before heading back to town.
Sightings: White wagtail, Kestrel, Common buzzard, Sardinian warbler, Chiffchaff, Willow warbler, Raven, House sparrow, Rock dove, Hooded crow, Jackdaw, Cetti's warbler, Chaffinch, Crested lark, European shag, Collared dove, Magpie, Red-backed shrike, Barn swallow, Yellow-legged gull and Common kingfisher.
Old Pyli Castle
The ruins of the old Pyli Castle lies 5 km from Kos town and 3 km Southeast of the new settlement at Pyli, at an altitude of 300 metres the Castle which dominates the area can only be reached by a steep walking trail. From the car park the path to the left leads to a Church with surrounding farmland and trees while a path to the right heads to the Castle. The trail is difficult but there are several open areas with surrounding trees and shrubs which are productive for birds including birds of Prey. We had a brief encounter with a raptor which had very pale underparts, possibly a Lanner falcon due to size, speed and agility but unfortunately we didn't get a good enough look and the sighting remained unconfirmed. This was however the only place where we had views (albeit distant) of Bonelli's eagles which we spotted over Pyli Castle from the Oria snack bar after stopping for refreshments. Another sighting of note was Blue rock thrush on the cliffs behind the car park.
Returning back to Kos town along the road to Pyli we stopped of at Linopoti lake adjacent to the main road which has a number of domestic and introduced species. The fresh water and surrounding Eucalyptus trees attract other birds and wildlife. We stopped here on several occasions as we were passing along the main road.
Sightings: Bonelli's eagle, Sparrowhawk, Eleonora's falcon, Blue rock thrush, Common redstart, Chiffchaff, Blackbird, Hooded crow, Spotted flycatcher, Magpie, Kestrel, Jackdaw, Raven, Willow warbler, Rock dove, Collared dove, House sparrow, Chaffinch, Sardinian warbler, Long-legged buzzard, Coal tit, White wagtail, Great tit, Grey wagtail, Greylag goose, Scania goose, Mallard and Muscovy duck.
Asklepieio and Plaka Forest.
Situated 4 km from Kos town are the ancient ruins of Asklepieio, dedicated to Asklepios, the god of health. One of the most significant archaeological sites on the island, this area and the surrounding Agios Dimitrios are great for exploring and can be very productive for wildlife. The entrance fee to the site is 8 € and opening times are 8.30 am to 20.00 pm. From here we headed over to Plaka and the Forest which has a large number of resident introduced Peafowl. A stream has several species of Frog and Turtle while the paths meandering through the forest are great for a variety of passage migrants and typical woodland birds.
Sightings: Sparrowhawk, Raven, Jackdaw, Hooded crow, Collared dove, Rock dove, Willow warbler, Robin, Chiffchaff, Sardinian warbler, Barn swallow, Coal tit, Great tit, Spotted flycatcher, Common redstart, House sparrow, Magpie, Common swift, Cetti's warbler, Common buzzard, Crested lark and introduced Peafowl.
8. Other sightings - Identification with the help of both Google Lens and Observation.org
Rhodian green lizard, Rough-tailed rock agama, Snake-eyed lizard, Levant water frog, Marsh frog, Red-eared Slider, Balkan pond turtle, Yellow-bellied slider, Lesser fiery copper, Swallowtail, Gatekeeper, Southern small White, Painted lady, Wall brown, Clouded yellow, Plain tiger, Meadow brown, Common blue, Red admiral, Polymixis, European hare, Silver stretch spider, Blue-wing grasshopper, Epaulet skimmer, Red-veined darter, Vestal, Scotia wasp and Mongolian paper wasps with nest.
Reptiles and Amphibians.
Butterflies and Moths.
Others.
A total of 73 individual bird species was recorded during our trip including several introduced species, these have been recorded on eBird and a copy of the trip report can be found here Kos birding - eBird Trip Report