Our first stop of the day was at the Monastery of St Nicholas and the Chapel of Virgin Mary Pantanassa. Home to many icons, artefacts and monastery products you can purchase, it is also a good viewing point for both Dalmation Pelicans and Great White Pelicans. But first a few pictures from the site. The two islets are now accessed by wooden bridges.
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| St Nicholas, |
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| The interior of the Orthodox Church, with its traditional Byzantine style iconography and ornate décor. |
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| The prophet Elijah, being fed by a Raven while in the wilderness. |
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| More detail...... |
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| And of course there were cats - which the monks fed. |
Anyway getting back to the Pelicans.. We saw both Dalmation Pelicans, which eBird describes as 'Massive Pelican with dishevelled appearance....dirty white ...scruffy' and the Great White Pelican which eBird describes as ' a large white waterbird with a hefty bill and yellow orange throat pouch'.
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| Mainly Dalmations... |
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| A mix. |
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| Mainly Great Whites. |
We also saw Sandwich Terns, Little and Common Terns. After the monastery, it was a quick beach stop where we saw Olivaceous Warbler, Kentish Plover, Garganey and a Greater Spotted Cuckoo that kindly landed in a nearby tree with its crest showing beautifully.
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| Spot the Greater Spotted Cuckoo! |
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