Earlier this month we took a family holiday to Kos, staying near the town of Kardamena at a hotel called Akti Beach Club. By no means was this a 'birding' holiday but I did try to squeeze a bit in, along with just general bird spotting while on the bus/taxi etc. Having stayed on Rhodes (which is also part of the Dodecanese archipelago) 5 years ago, where I found very few birds, I knew roughly what to expect. For the most part we didn't leave the hotel, other than short walks around the local area, where steep rocky hills towered above the flat, dry fields. In this immediate area I found
Crested Larks in reasonable numbers, lots of
House Sparrows and
Jackdaws,
Collared Doves,
House Martins,
Swallows,
Common and
Alpine Swifts, the occasional Gull (not my speciality!),
Hooded Crow and (I think)
Lesser Kestrel. There were very few small birds, e.g. Warblers, Finches etc. On a couple of occasions whilst travelling I spotted a
European Roller, a nice first for me but a shame I couldn't get a photo. I had researched a bit about the Island before hand but unless you're willing to visit places like
Lake Psalidi outside of Kos town, don't expect to find too many birds.
Here are a few pictures from our week away:
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| House Martin |
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| Swallows in the nest |
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| Crested Lark and House Sparrow |
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| Crested Lark |
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| Swallow |
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| Kestrel (Lesser?) |
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| House Martin |
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| Alpine Swift |
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| Hooded Crow |
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| Swallow |
