Lesvos 15th -22nd September 2018 [The 500th blog]
A late and unexpected opportunity to make an autumn visit to the Greek island of Lesvos was not to be missed. So it was that we arrived, at the HOTEL PELA; late on Saturday 15th to night time temperatures in the mid 20's. The hire car was provided by local company TSALIS with their usual efficiency. Sunday morning, and every subsequent morning dawned clear with rapidly warming temperatures reaching around 30'c on average but with a few hours of 32'c before cooling down to the low 20's. The wind, was at times brisk from the NW which did little to cool the temperature but was still refreshing. Having visited Lesvos at this time of year I was prepared for the challenge of finding birds, which is much harder than in the spring however a respectable 77 species, including some specials, was achieved. The highlights of the trip were DALMATIAN PELICAN, with a max of 14 seen; GARGANEY, PINTAIL, SLENDER-BILLED GULL, BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER, CURLEW, LESSER SPOTTED EAGLE, C