After a long intermission I have finally returned to update
the blog. This time with a short holiday report from a week in Crete.
We based ourselves around Plakias in Southern Crete, from
25/4/15- 2/5/15. The week wasn’t specifically about birding but we managed some
good species. We hired a car to visit various places, mostly on or around the
south coast, although there was ample good birding within easy walking distance
of Plakias.
On arriving at Plakias this very confiding Little Bittern
flew down to the dirt road beside our accommodation, a good start.
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| Little Bittern |
Around Frangokastello fort we found several Great Reed
Warblers singing away in the beds. On the beach here we also had a single
Greenshank, one of the few waders seen during the week. Other waders included
Wood Sand, Common Sand and Little Ringed Plover.
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| Wood Sandpiper |
Griffon Vultures and Alpine Swifts were common around the
impressive gorges and mountain passes. Also around the gorges we picked out a
nice Long-legged Buzzard.
Sardinian Warblers, Blue Rock Thrush and Cetti’s Warblers
seemed to be everywhere. The list goes on; Pied
Fly, Golden Oriole, Turtle Dove….
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| Black-eared Wheatear (singing and displaying everywhere) |
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| Female Blue Rock Thrush |
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| Squacco Heron |
Butterflies included Scarce Swallowtail, Small Copper, Eastern
Dappled White, Speckled Wood and a Skipper Sp.
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| Scarce Swallowtail |
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| Balkan Green Lizard |
The island had some amazing displays of Mediterranean wildflowers,
the Orchids in particular were stunning.
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| Italian Man Orchid - Orchis Italica |
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| Dragon Arum - Dracunculus vulgaris |
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| Spider Orchid Spp. |
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| Cretan
Ebony - Ebenus cretica |
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| Tricky driving |
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| Plakias Bay |
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| Couldn't resist a wall like that... should have taken the climbing gear. |
All in all a very good week with great food, friendly
people, sunshine and birds… I’ll be back one day for the Rûppells Warblers we
missed out on.
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