The clue was all khakis and camera bags. In mid-April, nine-tenths of the seats on the year’s first direct flight to the Greek island of Lesbos were occupied by wildlife enthusiasts. Here in the Aegean Sea, the tourist season revolves around nature.
Many holidaymakers visit Greece’s third largest island for its beaches, to taste its olives and drink ouzo, or to visit B.C. The word “lesbian”. But sun seekers, foodies and hedonists arrive between June and August, leaving an economic gap on either side of winter olive picking.
Serving naturalists rather than naturalists fills the gap. “The start of the tourist season is very strong, thanks to the bird watchers,” says Stella Tekes, co-manager of the Sea Horse Hotel in Molivos, a fishing village that has become a modest tourist destination.
His thoughts are especially true for Skala Kallonis, a seaside village a half-hour drive south. George and Effy Kapsalis were the first hoteliers here and have been targeting wildlife watchers at Hotel Malemi, and Skala Kallonis more broadly, for almost 30 years. George explains that the last decade has been difficult for tourism: “The economic crisis in Greece, then the media’s perception of the so-called ‘refugee crisis’, and then Covid.” He hopes renewed enthusiasm for Lesbos’ wild side will help turn things around.
Kapsalis chose his locations wisely. A village statue commemorates Aristotle’s seminal biological work at Kallonis: Aristotle discovered that dolphins were not fish, as commonly thought, and described how birds came from eggs. Kapsalises’ hotel grounds echo with bird song: murmuring turtle doves, a symphony of nightingales and the eerie night song of a scops owl. Within walking distance, our group of wildlife travelers marveled at impossibly long-legged flamingos and stilts, colorful bee-eaters and pterodactyl-like black storks. Around Skala Kallonis, many bird species stop their migration from Africa, so bird watchers head here.
As we moved more widely across this densely rural island, the size of Greater London but home to 1 per cent of its population, every approaching car or van drew a swarm of binocular-wielding visitors. A seasonal WhatsApp group with hundreds of members was filled with the latest images of birds with evocative names: olive tree warbler, spur-winged plover, Eleonora’s hawk. Inspired by Aristotle, Lesbos’ reputation for migratory birds rightly outstrips its notoriety among human migrants.
Even beyond the ephemeral bird life sprinkling stardust in spring and autumn, there is much to fascinate. Although Lesbos is only one percent the size of England, it is home to more species of plants, butterflies, dragonflies, reptiles and amphibians. Moreover, Lesbos, which is 20 times closer to Turkey than mainland Greece, “has a uniquely Asian appearance,” explains tour leader Philip Precey, with “animals and plants found almost nowhere else in Europe.”
We came across these specialties in pleasantly contrasting landscapes. We saw our first masked spider under the red pine forest. This mottled, hook-billed predator with apricot-coloured sides does not live in western Macedonia. On the isolated Ipsilou hill, site of a ninth-century monastery, a singing black bunting marked the transition between leg-scarring thorny bushes and shady oak forest. The bird’s sun-yellow face shone against its ashen clothing. Three Aegean islands form the only inhabited area in Europe.
Nearby, starry agamas, gilded, bum-haired reptiles more like dragons than lizards, dotted rocky horizons atop the highest rocks. They made up for our inability to see the javelin sand boa: Ancient Greeks are said to have hurled Europe’s only snake at invading enemies in battle.
The names of some animals speak of the east. A Persian squirrel, avoiding crawling among tree trunks to sunbathe, is lying on a rock with its belly down and its red legs stretched out. Levantine water frogs were emerging in chorus from a water trough on a carefully cultivated hillside. Eastern scallop butterflies were courting on their lacy wings, while males followed females through yellow-green olive groves, and females sought out strange plants called natal herbs that “look like birth canals” on which to lay their eggs, as Philip explains.
The diversity of wildlife overwhelms us on a regular basis. “It’s hard to know where to look,” grumbled one group member sarcastically, “‘when there’s a short-toed snake-eagle overhead, a starry agama in front of you, and a scanty swallowtail behind you.” Even so, it was the plants that secretly stole the show.
High or low, lush or arid, wherever we went, we encountered landscapes of flowers. The coastline of Skala Kallonis is lined with ice-blue stock and candy-pink flies: this is the place for beach flowers, not beach bums. Covering more than a quarter of the island, traditionally managed olive groves that produce liquid gold, Lesbos’ main export, also provide a painter’s palette of ground vegetation with brushstrokes of crimson, indigo and sun-kissed yellow. Wandering near the hidden village of Lafionas, Philip spotted a staggering 20 species of flowering plants in a single square metre, including giant head-high golden puffs of fennel.
Moist sweet chestnut forests on the slopes of Mount Olympus illuminate Lassia (“covered with dense forests”), the historical name of Lesbos. We staggered through rafts of peacock anemones, whose rayed flowers are intense red or deep purple. Although it’s too early for the odd Komper orchid, whose tubers are illegally harvested for aphrodisiac purposes, we’ve counted 14 other orchid species. These included the amusingly named naked man orchid; The priapic form of this orchid shows that there is no need for increased performance.
Our week ended too soon. It was a great pain to part with such wealth. I desired to stay longer; others did. Our return flight left half-empty, while the more knowledgeable wildlife watchers stayed on for another two weeks. Lesvos’ shoulder season was theirs.
Species to watch out for in Lesbos
black bunting
This lemon-headed, finch-like bird is at the top of every visiting bird watcher’s wish list, as it is so difficult to see anywhere else in the world. Except for Lesbos and two other Greek islands, it nests only in the mountains of southern Turkey and southern Iran.
starry agama
An avid sunbather, this dragon-like lizard often climbs to the top of cliff faces. Despite its fierce appearance, it is actually quite shy and never strays far from the shelter. It is the only agama species in Europe; the rest live in Asia or Africa.
Levantine water frog
This large amphibian jumps into Europe only in eastern Greece. Congregating opportunistically in lakes, ponds, streams and even cisterns, this species is especially noticeable in spring, when males attempt to woo females by quacking and growling both during the day and night.
eastern festoon
Ranging from Albania to Iraq, this eye-catching, spring-flying butterfly adorns open woodlands and olive groves. Its lemon-coloured wings are stitched black and have bright red spots. Females lay their eggs on oak leaves, and the resulting caterpillars then eat them.
Komper’s orchid
Blooming in May, especially on Mount Olympus, this magnificent, two-metre-tall orchid has pink, hooded flowers ending in long, waving ribbons. Its natural rarity is further exacerbated by the commercial harvesting of the root for use in an aphrodisiac Turkish drink called salep.
Fundamentals
James Lowen traveled as a guest of Wildlife Travel (01954 713575; wildlife-travel.co.uk) in May 2024 with two tours from £1,995 per person including flights, accommodation, meals, transport and guidance .