Newsletter 11

A Pocketful of Miracles!

Our island medical doctor, Mayor Anastasios Aliferis, has continually demonstrated his medical resourcefulness and scientific creativity in applying alternative medicines to all of his patients, regardless of their species. Now, he has done it with a bird.

Ms. Eddy Efinger, a German born resident of Tilos, found an injured song thrush (Turdus philomelos) by the side of the road on a very, very cold February 7. Eddy wrapped the bird in her winter neck scarf and looked for Dr. Aliferis to seek his advice, all the while cradling this little bird. The Mayor suggested to Eddy that she bring the bird to the Tilos Park Director who nurses injured animals at his home. When Eddy arrived at the house and carefully unwrapped the scarf, she kept saying _I don_t know if she_s still alive_I_m not sure._ The song thrush had received a massive blow and resulting injuries to her head and neck area. She was still alive but obviously suffering and couldn_t lift her head as it lay limp and upside down. She had lost her sense of balance, couldn_t eat and was frightened of her new environment. The aviary expert and veterinary surgeon, Dr. Anastasia Komninou, at the Veterinary Hospital of the Thessalonica University, was doubtful on the telephone about the bird_s potential recovery indicating that her symptoms reflected possible irreparable neurological injuries in addition to soft tissue damage. She was placed on a soft blanket on the floor of a bird cage in our home for what little comfort and warmth we could offer her.

For the next three weeks, we put soft food and water in small sea shells and held each up to the bird_s beak while her head was upside down. We repeated this every quarter hour from morning to evening each day. Her condition worsened during the first 6 days. During the first three days, the bird could at least stand on her legs with her head limp and upside down against her chest. By the fourth day, she had fallen to her knees with her head resting on the blanketed floor, no longer able to even stand on her legs. She wanted to eat and drink but could hardly manage. She suffered from intermittent frenzied fits of violent wing flapping resulting from lost balance in desperation to restore her balance. These fits became more frequent.

By February 14, she seemed to be emotionally accepting and adapting to her physical losses and deterioration and, as we have seen with all injured birds regardless of species, this song thrush never gave up. She would rest most of each night with only occasional violent wing flapping to correct her balance and her appetite began to improve.

Then on February 18, we received a house call from Dr. Aliferis who extended his warm greetings to us with a corresponding appearance of very serious preoccupation (not unusual behavior), walked with great determination and unusual speed straight to the bird cage, pulled his hands out of his coat pockets and dropped three dozen fast running, biting little bugs with tail pincers into the center of the cage. The bugs hit the blanket, scattered in all directions and the song thrush did something for the first time: she lifted her head. This astonished us. The bird obviously had to make a supreme effort, but she chased the bugs and was delighted with her reward of catching and swallowing each one. Dr. Aliferis_ idea to bring a neurological and muscular stimulus into the cage which was familiar and not artificial, nourishing, and not frightening to the bird significantly improved her mental and physical condition. This was a turning point in her recovery. As he rubbed his hands that were still stinging from bites, he told us where to find certain kinds of bugs for the patient and said no prescription was necessary. We have followed this example ever since as a form of physical therapy for her and it has made a noticeable difference.

When the weather warmed up in March, we moved her to an outdoor cage with rosemary, lemon verbena and marjoram bushes, thyme, marigold flowers, berry vines and laurel (bay leaf) trees where she finds her own bugs, exercises and feels safe from predators (including interfering humans). Our song thrush has very slowly, but steadily improved to the point where she can lift her head and look straight at you although she has it lowered some of the time, and she still has some difficulty flying. Her appetite is good, her weight and body fullness are good, she moves freely on the ground without apparent discomfort and she continues to eat the recommended soft food we prepare for her each day supplemented with snails, worms and bugs. It is amazing what a pocketful of miracles can do.

A Kingfisher Day ... in March!

As you have already noted, Tilos has a philanthropic aviary ambulance service offered by the efforts of Eddy Efinger. On March 31, Eddy rescued a beautiful female kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) that had hit the glass door of Stefanakis Travel Agency in Livadia and fallen to the ground injured. She quickly designed a comfortable stretcher using a small laundry basket lined with a soft blanket and covered with a cloth secured by a string. She used a rental car from Stelios Stefanakis and brought the kingfisher right over to the house. The kingfisher was transferred to the house cage fitted with dishes of fresh water and fish donated by Michalis Kypreos of Eleni_s Super Market and Hotel. The cage was covered with a blanket to subdue a very frightened bird and allow her to feel safe. She calmed down, rested, drank water and ate all of the fish. The next day, her movements, appetite and appearance were reported to the avian specialist and veterinary surgeon, Dr. Anastasia Komninou of the Veterinary Hospital of the Thessalonica University, by phone and she was pronounced well enough to be released. Photographs of this charming and fearless little bird were taken before she was freed. She was a delightful lodger with a lot of personality.

The kingfishers are draped in a spectacular array of colors, notably blue on the back and orange on the chest with a white neck collar. The females are distinguishable by the reddish color at the base of their beaks. These small (17-19 cm) birds excavate tunnels over one meter long in a sandy bank where the nesting chamber is located and the baby birds are reared on a pile of small fish bones.

Flights Arriving Daily!

Night heron, Grey heron, Purple heron, Hoopoes, Glossy Ibis, Sardinian Warblers, Bee-eaters, Rollers and more. You don_t need more than a good pair of binoculars, a portable beach chair and a flask of whatever you fancy drinking to enjoy the spectacular and colorful parade that we have on Tilos every spring. Against a backdrop of warm, sunny days, vibrant spring flowers and wild herbs, and budding trees with soft new leaves, Tilos is an extremely important midway location between sub-Sahara Africa and Europe for migratory birds. For those of you who love birds, our recent sightings include flocks of Night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) that first arrived from Africa on March 21 in a north wind which made their journey more difficult. This group was later joined by a flock of 44 Night heron on March 29 that landed in a cypress tree grove in Eristos by the Tropicana Taverna where one kept watch while the others rested.

Four adult and one juvenile Grey heron (Ardea cinerea) and a pair of Purple heron (Ardea purpurea) were observed March 24 resting and feeding in the shallow water of the island reservoir. These large 90-100 cm long birds with bold shades of blue-gray or variegated purple/gray/brown, as the case may be, with striking feather plumes emanating from the back of their heads are extremely graceful when still or in flight. Hoopoes (Upupa epops), who are usually shy and wary of humans, were first observed with their unmistakable long feather crest in Eristos on March 24 and later on April 11 relaxing in the sun for almost a half hour on this writer_s patio grapevine while surrounded by feeding Sardinian warblers (Sylvia melanocephalus) that were first seen on March 22, doves and House sparrows. Two Little Ringed Plovers (Charadrius dubius), who winter in Africa and are _rather scarce in most areas_ according to Birds of Europe authors Mullarney, Svensson, Zetterstrom and Grant, were seen scampering up and down Eristos Beach on March 25 pecking at the sandy shore at sunset with pink and grey clouds passing overhead that cast a shade of rose on the surface of the blue Aegean. A dark purple-brown Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellis) with green gloss on the wings was observed flying amidst olive and oak trees by the main road between Megalo Horio and Livadia on April 3. Colorful Bee-eaters (Merops apiaster) and Rollers (Coracias garrulous) are expected shortly; however, if the island bird population continues to expand at its present rate, reservations may soon be required.

Egyptian Bird visits Tilos.

Similar to the Little Egret in appearance, a white morph Western Reef Egret (Egretta gularis) with its distinctive pristine white feather plumes emanating from the back of its head and neck made a rare appearance on the island on April 10 feeding alone in shallow water of the island reservoir. The bird walked slowly along the shallow edge of the water raising its greenish grey-black legs to expose its yellow feet and toes while occasionally shaking its breathtakingly beautiful white feathers along its 65cm length body. It has an elegant wingspan of between 88 and 112 cm, a bill that is a touch longer than a Little Egret_s bill and ever so slightly curved. This egret usually appears in small numbers at Eliat and Suez. It breeds in Senegal and south Sinai. It feeds on fish and is therefore found in coastal habitats and rests on shores, buoys, jetties usually along the Red Sea coasts. This was a spectacular sight.

A Whale of a Time!

If you have ever enjoyed a cappuccino on the Via Veneto or a caf? au lait on the Champs Elysees while engaged in the ancient pastime of people-watching, you are not alone. Two weeks ago, a free spirited whale with an engaging curiosity about humans was reported to have been basking in beautiful Livadia and St. Zachariah Bay enjoying a whale_s _eau de vie_ before returning to the deeper waters surrounding the Dodecanese Islands that is also home to dolphins, marlin, schools of large tuna and other denizens of the deep blue sea. Livadia Bay is a crystal clear, calm bay surrounded by a beautiful beach with shade trees that is dotted with small cafes and tavernas from which you can easily find a lovely spot to relax and enjoy watching our island_s esteemed guests such as this unique and friendly one.