The snake hunter of Lesvos.
01st May 2023
After our second visit to the Meladia valley in Lesvos where we met the Greek twitcher (previous blog) we were travelling back on the return journey out of the valley not expecting anything much. We had seen a pair of Little Bitterns at the river mouth but they were too distant for a photo and a few Shrikes were perched out on distant bushes. However, in the distance we could see a large bird sat on top of a wooden pole and after looking closer we could see it was a Short Toed Eagle now named Short Toed Snake Eagle because of its principal diet of snakes which abound in this hot and rocky habitat.
These majestic birds are seen across the whole island but usually soaring and hovering up high above the landscape looking down for prey, but they are rarely perched down as low as this bird was.
We were not optimistic about getting a shot because like all Eagles they are very wary and will fly off at the slightest disturbance. However, it was worth a try so we slowly inched the car closer until we were incredibly about twenty yards away, this was unbelievable because these bird are usually long gone by now. I shut the engine off and carefully reached for my camera out of the bag on the back seat, making no sudden movements whatsoever. This little Canon RF100-500 lens is so convenient for this type of situation, it’s so small and lightweight. I took some shots of this magnificent bird as it was just perched there scanning the area.
I knew realistically that this was as close as I was going to get and very soon it was going to take off and fly away. I zoomed the lens back out to get a wider shot to try and capture the take off because at 500mm there was no chance of fitting a big bird like that in the frame.
It began to shuffle about and I knew this was the precursor to take off. I focussed the lens on the eagle and then it launched into the air.
I blazed away hoping for at least one shot that was in the frame without clipping the birds wings.
I was almost afraid to look at the camera screen to check the images. I could see some frames had clipped the bird’s wings, inevitable really, but there were some in the frame and this was a big result.
Up and away it flew into the azzure blue Aegean sky, distant in no time, really impressive.
A lovely end to a day in this rough, remote but irresistible place.
These majestic birds are seen across the whole island but usually soaring and hovering up high above the landscape looking down for prey, but they are rarely perched down as low as this bird was.
We were not optimistic about getting a shot because like all Eagles they are very wary and will fly off at the slightest disturbance. However, it was worth a try so we slowly inched the car closer until we were incredibly about twenty yards away, this was unbelievable because these bird are usually long gone by now. I shut the engine off and carefully reached for my camera out of the bag on the back seat, making no sudden movements whatsoever. This little Canon RF100-500 lens is so convenient for this type of situation, it’s so small and lightweight. I took some shots of this magnificent bird as it was just perched there scanning the area.
I knew realistically that this was as close as I was going to get and very soon it was going to take off and fly away. I zoomed the lens back out to get a wider shot to try and capture the take off because at 500mm there was no chance of fitting a big bird like that in the frame.
It began to shuffle about and I knew this was the precursor to take off. I focussed the lens on the eagle and then it launched into the air.
I blazed away hoping for at least one shot that was in the frame without clipping the birds wings.
I was almost afraid to look at the camera screen to check the images. I could see some frames had clipped the bird’s wings, inevitable really, but there were some in the frame and this was a big result.
Up and away it flew into the azzure blue Aegean sky, distant in no time, really impressive.
A lovely end to a day in this rough, remote but irresistible place.