Kalloni Gulf

The Gulf of Kalloni cuts deep into Lesvos and connects to the Aegean by a narrow channel, which makes it a warm, shallow, saline basin fringed by salt pans, reedbeds, river mouths and grazing marsh. In April and May the combination of habitat and geography, on the migration route from Africa into Anatolia and the Balkans, produces one of Europe's most reliable spring birding concentrations: greater flamingos on the salt pans, herons, egrets, glossy ibis, black storks, Kruper's nuthatch and a long list of eastern species that reach Europe barely anywhere else. Birders come in organised numbers, and hides and viewpoints have been set up around the Kalloni salt pans, the Tsiknias river and the Metochi lake. Outside the season the gulf is quiet, with sardines from Kalloni a local speciality.

What's there

• The salt pans - flamingos and waders on shallow evaporation basins.
• The river mouths - the Tsiknias and Potamia deltas with herons and waders.
• The hides - viewing shelters set up around the main wetlands.
• The eastern specialities - species that barely reach Europe elsewhere.

When to go

April and early May, the peak of spring migration and the reason most visitors come; autumn passage is quieter. Summer is hot and largely birdless, and the pans can dry out.

Before you go

This is a specialist destination: without binoculars and some interest in birds there is little to see, and the surroundings are working farmland and salt works rather than scenery. A car is essential. Accommodation in Kalloni and Skala Kallonis books out in April.

Nearby

Agiasos lies east; the petrified forest and Sigri are on the western end of the island.