Birds & wildlife of Rhodes part 1

On the first day Wednesday 31st August, after our eventual arrival on the Greek island of Rhodes, the journey comprised seeing 4 Hooded Crows and 1 Raven. After arriving at Pefkos, which took an hour to find the hotel, pity there isn't an app to pinpoint your hotel as we always struggle to find our hotel, having always booked the hire car from the airport. From the hotel room, the next day Thursday 31st August, looking right past a fence into scrubby area I saw House Sparrows and a Sub- Alpine Warbler which hopped up from a distant bush, Collared Doves and a croaking Raven flying over. A female Red- backed Shrike hunted from the fence once dropping down and successfully catching an insect. 2 Hooded Crows also flew overhead. We then drove to the Valley of the Butterflies, on the journey a magnificent Scarce Swallowtail flew past. a real misnomer as it is actually the Valley of the Moths, specifically Jersey Tiger Moths. Paying our 5 euros entrance fee at the very tacky entrance, with sadly a stall selling actual pinned butterflies in cases which I find absolutely abhorrent and disgusting in this day and age. We made out way up a gently sloping path following a stream, first odd Jersey Tiger Moths were seen on the bark of the trees, but as we made our way further up more and more were seen until they completely covered the tree trunk of a tree and the lee of a wall, literally 10's of 1000's of Jersey Tiger Moths seen. An incredible sight, I half expected to bump into David Attenborough with a filming crew. At the end, one alighted on me briefly before 1 alighted on a German tourists jeans and he kindly allowed me a couple of pics. I also took some in relatively well lit bark of a tree. I made my way back and we saw people photographing something, it wasn't a moth but a fine Freshwater Crab, another Freshwater Crab was seen further down the stream. In the meantime by the bridge area, I saw a fine Jersey Tiger Moth underneath the bridge with its wings spread out showing the red colouration on the lower wings. A Wren was seen in the valley by the stream. Walking outside the entrance, 2 Wood Grayling butterflies were seen fluttering around the tree trunks. Jenny & I then went onto the Kalimaras Archaeological site, a wonderful female Black- eared Wheatear seen perched on one of the site walls, she then flew into a tree. There was a lot of white in the tail, typically extending and extending in dagger like white fronds, a distinct characteristic of this species. Also perched on the wall was one Starry Agama, one of 5 Starry Agamas seen in total. A Sardinian Warbler was seen in the heathy scrub, a Red- rumped Swallow flew past. One showy Starry Agama crossed the path and rested by the side of the path briefly. On the second morning on 1st September, of our visit to Rhodes, at Pefkos, it was wonderful to see a swirl of 12 Honey Buzzards appearing over the cliff edge swirling around and then they wheeled right over the hotel and then out to sea towards Turkey. Typically long winged birds with longish pointy heads and banded tails, compared to Common Buzzards. At breakfast a male House Sparrow came to beg for food, both a Swallowtail and Scarce Swallowtail flew past and left by the pool area. Moving onto the resort by the Atrium Palace Hotel, Jenny & I parked the car we first saw 1 Red- rumped Swallow flying about and then we saw 4 Red- rumped Swallows perched on the wires. On the well watered grassy lawn, 5+ Black- headed Wagtail walked around feeding. I also saw up to 3 large Hawker/ Emperor dragonflies in flight only. The notes of my observations at the time stated they had a yellow comma clip around brown eyes and a brown head, a light blue segment at the top of the abdomen and brown rest of the abdomen. On checking back home, there was no doubting they were 3 superb Vagrant Emperors, the only problem they didn't settle for any pictures. I left Jenny on the beach and drove to Genadi Bridge, over a dry river valley hoping to see Rufus Bush Chats, I didn't seen any. Some Skimmers seen either Keeled or more likely Southern seen on a couple of bushes they were also very shy and didn't settle for photos. A couple of Red- veined Darters seen. I also saw a Violet Dropwing, with violet abdomen and then tend to point down when perched rather than being vertical. On the east side of the bridge over the far side, a mysterious grey bird flew to another bush and then flew back towards the bridge, ID uncertain. Further down the valley, a female Red- backed Shrike perched in a bush was easier to identify. Up to 5 Crested Larks were seen too. Walking down the side of the hotel to get some much needed refreshment at a cafe, a tatty Lang's short- tailed Blue was seen on the flowers and 2 Lizards only heard scuttling away.