Rippingale nature columnist Ian Misselbrook reports on wildlife seen during holiday to Greek island of Lesvos

You might detect that this column is less focussed on current local topics than usual, writes nature columnist Ian Misselbrook.

This is because I have spent two weeks of September watching wildlife on the Greek island of Lesvos. Ah! I am not being completely honest. I was on holiday with my wife enjoying the sunshine, food, drink and company of friends on this beautiful island but watching birds, butterflies, dragonflies, reptiles and mammals took up much of my time, especially early in the mornings before it got too hot. I notched up a list of 131 different birds which is not bad for an autumn visit.

Some of the birds that I encountered were the same species that have declined considerably in the UK and particularly in our area. Corn buntings for example are relatively common on Lesvos thriving in farmed areas where very little chemical, especially pesticides are used. Corn buntings disappeared from my breeding bird survey (BBS) area a few years ago and I would struggle to find any breeding pairs in our area today.

The tail end of the southerly migration of turtle doves were passing through Lesvos having dodged the guns and traps all around the Mediterranean. I know of a trio of birds in a fen local to me and a few more pairs in the Cambridgeshire part of the area served by this paper, but in Lincolnshire they are on the verge of local extinction. Perhaps the controversial reintroduction scheme in which Nicholas Watts plays a prominent role will restore their numbers, but it is too early to say.

A third species; the spotted flycatcher was one of the most common birds that we saw in Lesvos as they too passed through the island on southerly migration. At one location we counted over 50 of them! In our area I observed two pairs in a village and woods near Bourne and the Peterborough bird club reported a pair in a wood on the edge of our area. Spotted flycatchers are as their names suggest insectivores reflecting again the reliance on pesticides to farm effectively; reducing the availability of insect prey for these delightfully aerobatic birds.

Back from holiday I saw my first returning brent geese of the autumn on the Lincolnshire coast on September 26 and closer to home the woods are already echoing with the roars of rutting fallow deer - perhaps earlier than usual?

Chiffchaffs, a small warbler are still calling in my garden; perhaps more inclined to over-winter than migrate this year. The sunny side of hedgerows still host some bees, dragonflies and butterflies including speckled wood, comma and red admirals, so winter is not yet upon us.