Our apartment was No 33, and I found there a House Martin’s nest on our balcony and saw a 3-inch centipede below! The crickets and cicadas were constantly fizzing and clicking, but I decided it was time for bed and turned in at around 4.15am.

We slept late and headed down to the restaurant for a late breakfast at 9:30am. Our first venture was to walk down to the beach by way of the track from the back of the complex. There were Swallows, Swifts and lots of House Sparrows on the site. Other than that the first sighting was of a buteo soaring overhead, and at the same time, a stooping Peregrine that appeared to dive into the trees on the hillside beyond.

As we walked down to the beach, we passed through a large area of "maquis", dry and typical Mediterranean forest of pine trees with an under storey of bramble, dry, thistly, thorny scrub, reedy grasses and with open areas of shrubs, giant reeds and other undergrowth. There were Fig, Olive and fruit trees dotted about. We saw a juvenile shrike, but not well enough to identify it for certain, and a few other small birds. At the beach, there were a few gulls offshore, a probable Mediterranean Gull over the sea looking out towards Sithonia.

Back at the apartment we had a lunch, then took to the swimming pools to cool off. At the back of the complex, behind the main outdoor bar I discovered an aviary with Muscovy Duck, white doves, Diamond Doves, Canaries, Budgies and others. I watched the Swallows and Swifts; there were "Barn" Swallows, Red-rumped Swallows, Common and Pallid Swifts and one large swift, which was almost certainly an Alpine.

In the late afternoon, I walked around the perimeter of the complex, and up to the main road. At the back of the restaurant and Kitchen block, I came across a warbler in the bottom of the shallow ditch between the boundary wall and the field beyond, a field from which Barley had been harvested and which was punctuated with a couple of Olive Trees and a Fig Tree. It was a larger than average warbler, and from the colours and "jizz" I concluded that it was an Olive Tree Warbler.

At the main road I turned left and walked up the hill, there was a deep valley with woodland on both side and an abandoned quarry to my left, which I thought might have been the haunt of the Peregrine I had seen earlier. I noted a small warbler in the scrubby undergrowth, which was either a Sardinian or Orphean, but couldn’t be sure which from the fleeting glimpse I got. At the top of the hill, I reached the outskirts of Paliouri village, a scattered community of buildings and houses, surrounded by farmland, harvested fields which appeared to have been Barley, Olive, Fig and fruit trees, patches of Prickly Pear and scrubby brambles dotted about and divided up with tracks and fences. On the left hand side of the road there were open groves of Olive trees with stubble and areas of scrub eventually blending into the same type of pine woodland and scrub as I had found down towards the beach. Out on the ridge above the quarry, there were one or two houses in the woodland, a small church and a tall red and white steel latticework radio mast on top of which I could see a Buzzard perched.

On the way I noted a group of five Hooded Crows out on the ridge, then another Hoodie on an electric post. I saw a flock of Rock Sparrows, 25-30 strong, and several Goldfinches, more heard than seen.

Back at the village I saw another two buteos circling, then a third flying across towards the hill with the radio mast on it. Consulting the field guide I came to the conclusion that they were all Common Buzzards rather than anything more exotic, and were clearly three identifiable individual birds, the first a classic brown and white, the second was more uniform sandy brown underneath and the third had a couple of tail feathers missing. At 7:20 pm, one of the Hooded Crows had come down to the complex and sat on top of a Poplar tree calling and watching what was going on below it’s lofty vantage point.

After a latish breakfast, during which I again saw one of the Buzzards, we again went down to the beach. We saw Rock Sparrows, shrikes and Greenfinches on the way down. Not being very familiar with shrikes in the field, and not being able to get a good look, I wasn’t sure what they were, but suspected juvenile Red-backed or possibly Masked Shrike. This would have to be followed up properly!

Off the beach and over the sea I noted Mediterranean and probable Common Gulls. I spent some time snorkelling and discovered fish of various sorts, Hermit Crabs, but little else of interest. We wandered back to the apartment for lunch and noted Goldfinches on the way.

In the mid/late afternoon, James and I took a wander down through the pine forest and scrubland to try and get to grips with the shrikes, and to see what else we could find. There were more House and Rock Sparrows, and eventually we found a shrike, it was definitely a juvenile, then we found an adult, which was certainly Red-backed Shrike. We saw two Turtle Doves in amongst the trees and found two warblers together, feeding on and in a Bramble bush, probably after small insects since I didn’t see them touch any of the developing berries. They were medium size warblers, and were overall a pale grey-brown, but with distinct flight and tail feathers, they were Olivaceous Warblers.

Back at the apartment we again saw a Buzzard. I spent some time watching the Swallows from the balcony, and soon was able to distinguish the Red-rumped Swallows from the Barn Swallows with little difficulty, save that of range. Up to perhaps 150 metres, the Red-rumped’s pale rump was clearly visible, beyond that it needed a pair of binoculars to be sure. Around the complex, the House Sparrows are very active all the time, but are most often seen with beak open, as if panting, as a result of the heat. Both the House Sparrows and Swallows spend some time perching on the screen door pelmets on the balconies, sheltering in the shade. The temperature had been up to perhaps 40 degrees C. I saw a few House Martins over the trees beyond the complex, but none of the nests which I could see on the buildings were currently occupied, thought they had clearly been so earlier in the season. There was evidence of fresh mud build up around the entrance holes, and splashes of excrement on the walls just below each of the nests I was able to view closely.

There were a number of butterflies about, mostly unidentifiable by me, but in the gardens I saw Swallowtails, large yellow butterflies not unlike Clouded Yellows, a near black Swallowtail and others, which were similar to Argus or Ringlets. They were mainly about during the mornings and I found that in the afternoons, they took refuge from the heat by hanging in the shade of the bushes. The Bees also were interesting, being large, very black and very glossy.

After dinner we were picked up by coach and taken for an evening out sampling the delights of Chanioti. We discovered a Barn Swallow’s nest under one of the canopies in front of a clothes shop which contained two young ready to fledge, just a couple of feet above the rails of clothes for sale and above the heads of the customers. The shop owner had fitted a shelf under the nest to prevent faecal damage to the clothes! We arrived back at the apartment around 12.30 am.

There were again House Sparrows, Common and Pallid Swifts and Barn and Red-rumped Swallows as usual. It was again very hot with the temperature at least into the upper 30s C. There were lots of wasps around, both the common Wasps we were familiar with from home, and also a variety of wasp with a more distinctly separated body and extended legs hanging below as they flew, possibly a variety of ichneumons. The Red-rumped Swallows in flight looked rather similar to House Martins, with the pale rump flash and their less "swallow-tailed" appearance. The outer tail feathers were far less extended than in the Barn Swallow and they looked somewhat stockier.

There were a good variety of plants in the gardens, roses, Wallflowers and Geraniums, Prickly Pear and other cacti, fruit trees including Pomegranate, Orange, Lemon, Sharon Fruit, Apples and Plums, Fig Trees, Ugli-fruit, Palms, Plane Trees, Olive Trees, Cypresses and Pines, Grape vines and even Tomatoes! The clumps of Reeds were more like Bamboo, some being in excess of 12 feet or more high. I heard and saw birds in the Olive trees above the complex and on investigation found several Spotted Flycatchers and a Greenfinch.

I sat on the balcony before 8.00 am watching the sun rise, my attention was drawn to an incident below on the path, where a juvenile House Sparrow was surrounded by some six adults who were systematically beating him up, viciously and deliberately trying to cause as much physical damage as they could. The poor creature was cowering, adopting a submission/begging posture and twittering pathetically, finally escaping from the assault by taking refuge in a small clump of geraniums, at which point the adult birds headed off in different directions. After breakfast, Trish and Sam took to the upper pool again, whilst I took Christopher and James down to the beach.

We saw our first lizard on the way in the grasses by the boundary wall at the back of the complex. We looked for the Red-backed Shrikes again and saw first a juvenile, then an adult, then and a pair of juveniles being fed by an adult. There were again a couple of gulls over the sea.

On the way back an Orphean Warbler flew across the beach car park (such as it was) and landed close by in an Olive Tree giving me the chance to confirm it’s identity. Back up the track three birds appeared on one of the cross tracks, a Greenfinch, a Rock Sparrow and another juvenile Red-backed Shrike. I also heard and saw a Great Tit.

Back in the complex we saw a second lizard, then joined Sam and Trish by the pool. From there, I saw a pair of Ravens, another Common Buzzard, the usual varieties of Swallows and Swifts, House Martins and a Spotted Flycatcher.

After lunch, James and I walked back down to the beach and across to the eastern end where we had a look at the landing stage and pier, before venturing beyond across the rocks and scrub around the point of land which bounded that end of the beach. On the way down we heard and saw Great Tit, Greenfinches and Goldfinches, saw a male Red-backed Shrike, another Swallowtail Butterfly and saw a Mediterranean Gull over the beach. There were lots of cicadas, grasshoppers and crickets constantly fizzing and clicking from the ground all the way up to the tops of the trees. We sat for a while on the cliffs just beyond the point in a shaded and breezy position, but saw little of interest.

On the way back to the complex, we saw Hooded Crow and heard Chaffinch, but the undoubted highlight was that of a Hoopoe which flew from the ground into a low branch of a pine tree and sat there so that I could have a good look from perhaps fifty yards away. He then flew off into the scrubland and left me wanting to see more! We saw another Olive Tree Warbler a little farther on.

After consulting the field guide yet again, I was beginning to believe that one of the juvenile shrikes I had seen in the morning could have been a Lesser Grey Shrike, rather than a Red-backed. The heightened contrast of light and shade, and the fact that the sun was behind it didn’t help.

Two Hoodies appeared just before dinner, after which we went for a short walk and heard an owl, which I couldn’t identify from the call alone, but suspect that it was probably a Scops Owl.

After breakfast, we headed for the main swimming pool and stayed there alternately swimming and soaking up the sun until 3.15. I saw a third, very small, lizard and the Buzzard overhead again.

After lunch I headed down to the beach again and spent some time looking over the scrubland again, seeing the Hoopoe only briefly. There were Greenfinches and Goldfinches, and another juvenile Red-backed Shrike to be seen near the car park. I walked across through the derelict hotel, which was immediately behind the beach, west of our normal bathing spot. In the woodland behind, I heard a Hooded Crow and saw numbers of House Sparrows.

It was inordinately hot, so I had a couple of beers at the beach bar, and then headed back. Another Olivaceous Warbler appeared, an Orphean Warbler, a Whitethroat, Great Tit, Greenfinches and Goldfinches, Sardinian Warbler and a Blackbird!

With the aid of Sam’s borrowed hat, I caught a Cicada on the trunk of an Olive Tree and was able to have a look at it; I also saw a Ringlet look-a-like butterfly, a White Admiral and a few others.

I woke at 8.00 am and sat on the balcony for a while before waking the others. We headed down for breakfast and, whilst eating it, were rewarded with the sight of a pair of Peregrines circling over the quarry. One flew of in a straight line towards the scrubland and beach, whilst the other circled out into the forest and scrub beyond the quarry.

We went down to the beach for the morning again and on the way down found Red-Backed and Woodchat Shrikes in the trees just behind the car park. There were a few Gulls off the beach, one Herring/Yellow-legged, one Mediterranean and two immatures, probably Herring/Yellow-legged Gulls.

I had a chat with one of our compatriots from Basingstoke, who was a shooting man, observant and versed in wildlife. He said he had seen lots of Sea Urchins, a Jellyfish, Buzzards, lots of lizards, a Tortoise, and told us where to have a look for a spectacularly coloured toad. In return I told him about the shrikes and Peregrines.

On the way back, we saw a Whitethroat, Hooded Crow and had a look at the toad, which was hiding under a dumped tyre, quite small, but coloured light brown with camouflage green squiggly lines all over it. Back at the apartment we had lunch and saw two Spotted Flycatchers in the gardens.

Our planned boat trip to Nea Marmaris on Sithonia to have a look at a traditional fishing village and watch the sunset was cancelled at the last minute due to the boatman’s fears for the weather conditions, so we walked down to the pier again instead. We saw Red-backed Shrike and a couple of gulls off the beach. We returned to the restaurant for dinner as usual, and then paused on our way back to the apartment afterwards to watch a pair of bats drinking in flight (as do Swallows) from the children’s swimming pool.

We cleared the room by mid-day and dropped our suitcases into reception, then headed for the upper swimming pool again. The Buzzard put in another appearance and I watched the usual Swallows, Swifts, Sparrows and a couple of Spotted Flycatchers.

In the growing dark we could see the bats again, then I noticed what was to be perhaps the most spectacular sight of our stay. There was something, which looked like an insect, around a clump of flowers, yet seemed to be more like a small bird, both in manner and size. I approached to look and discovered two Hummingbird Hawk Moths. I called Trish and the boys to look, and before long Christopher found another two, and I found one more. Five in all, the most spectacular and interesting moths I have ever seen, they were certainly true to their name, being definitely moths, but just like the Hummingbirds I had seen in Rio de Janeiro a few years ago.