ColinD
Well-known member
I’ve just got back from a week on the Greek Island of Corfu. In truth it wasn’t the greatest week birding I’ve ever had, but then we didn’t just go for birds, and as a general wildlife week it was outstanding, and I did at least get one lifer.
It was the weather which caused us the most problems. Hot and sunny, the forecast for the week said it would peak at 25’C, but in fact on two days it reached 38’C or 100’F in old money, and on other days it was well over 30’C. In those conditions it was a massive effort just to go for a walk, and if you did most birds were keeping a very low profile.
We (my 14 year old son and I) stayed in San Stefanos in the North West of the island, about 5 miles south of Sidari. Compared to the latter, San Stef was very quiet. On one day I counted 5 sun beds in use out of about 100, and just 6 people in the sea. It really was quiet. We hired a jeep for three days and visited Mount Pandokrator and Lake Karission
In the San Stef area, it took half a day for it to click that the Reed Warblers singing on the hillside were in fact Olivaceous Warblers, and once I realized this, they were quite common. Amongst the hirundines and Swifts, there were plenty of Red-rumped Swallows and a few Alpine Swifts. The latter were seen very well on a half day trip to Corfu Town, where there were at least 100 flying around with the other swifts.
Back in San Stef, I had the occasional flock of Bee-eaters fly over, a couple of Short-toed Larks, a Night Heron and finally I caught up with my bogey bird, Scop’s Owl. I’ve been visiting the Med for 25 years, and never so much as heard a Scop’s Owl. I’d all but given up on this holiday as well, until on the very last night we took a walk to the outskirts of town, to a small bridge which crossed a stream. We had taken the torch in the hope of seeing a few amphibians. Several Marsh Frogs were croaking, and we picked out a couple of Balkan Terrapins swimming in the stream, and all about us Fireflies were giving us a spectacular natural firework display.
Then suddenly I heard it! “Tuok…….Tuok”. Bl**dy H*ll, surely that was a Scop’s Owl??? And then the call was answered! By a second bird, much closer to us. Now they were both at it, hammer and tongues, there was no shutting them up! I walked a few paces into the pitch black of the Olive grove, and now it was right above me. I shone the torch in hope rather than expectation, and hit the bird straight away, a tiny little Owl, on a branch leaning towards me. We looked at each other for few seconds, until eventually the bird flew off to another tree and continued calling. Elated, I put the torch down and got my binoculars out of my rucksack. I moved to the next tree, and with the torch in one hand, picked out the owl, and managed to hold my bins steady enough with my other hand to get a decent view. Then I left the bird in peace, but not before a movement on another branch alerted me to a couple of Edible Dormice. I returned to the road, and near a roadside light, I still managed to get a flight view of a second bird. A fantastic experience. And still the fireflies continued to dance, quiet unmoved by my exclamations of delight. At last I can look other Med birders in the eye!
Our two target species during our day on Mount Pandokrator were Nose-horned Viper and Cretzchmar’s Bunting, and we failed miserably with both. Still, we did see a few singing Black-headed Buntings, Cirl Buntings and at least 50 singing male Subalpine Warblers. The Butterflies were the stars here, there were hundreds, many of which I didn’t have enough time to identify, but there were certainly Clouded and Berger’s Clouded Yellow, three species of Swallowtail (Common, Scarce and Southern) many fritillaries and blues, and whites such as Freyer’s Dappled White.
In fact we didn’t do anywhere near as well as expected when it came to snakes, probably due to the heat. We managed three impressive Montpellier Snakes and a single Aesculapian Snake, and one or two other snakes slithered away unidentified, but that was all. We found several Hermann’s Tortoises, Balkan Terrapins and European Pond Terrapins. Lizards included the abundant Dalmation Algyroides, Balkan Green Lizard, Balkan Wall Lizard and Turkish Gecko.
Back in San Stefanos, butterflies on the headland included yet more Swallowtails and Clouded Yellows, but the star was Two-tailed Pasha, a species I had long wanted to see. We saw at least five of these magnificent butterflies
So in the end, it was quite a decent holiday, with lots to keep us entertained, and if it had been 10’C cooler I’m sure that it would have been even more productive.
Butterfly photos: Scarce Swallowtail, Southern Swallowtail, "Common" Swallowtail and Two-tailed Pasha.
It was the weather which caused us the most problems. Hot and sunny, the forecast for the week said it would peak at 25’C, but in fact on two days it reached 38’C or 100’F in old money, and on other days it was well over 30’C. In those conditions it was a massive effort just to go for a walk, and if you did most birds were keeping a very low profile.
We (my 14 year old son and I) stayed in San Stefanos in the North West of the island, about 5 miles south of Sidari. Compared to the latter, San Stef was very quiet. On one day I counted 5 sun beds in use out of about 100, and just 6 people in the sea. It really was quiet. We hired a jeep for three days and visited Mount Pandokrator and Lake Karission
In the San Stef area, it took half a day for it to click that the Reed Warblers singing on the hillside were in fact Olivaceous Warblers, and once I realized this, they were quite common. Amongst the hirundines and Swifts, there were plenty of Red-rumped Swallows and a few Alpine Swifts. The latter were seen very well on a half day trip to Corfu Town, where there were at least 100 flying around with the other swifts.
Back in San Stef, I had the occasional flock of Bee-eaters fly over, a couple of Short-toed Larks, a Night Heron and finally I caught up with my bogey bird, Scop’s Owl. I’ve been visiting the Med for 25 years, and never so much as heard a Scop’s Owl. I’d all but given up on this holiday as well, until on the very last night we took a walk to the outskirts of town, to a small bridge which crossed a stream. We had taken the torch in the hope of seeing a few amphibians. Several Marsh Frogs were croaking, and we picked out a couple of Balkan Terrapins swimming in the stream, and all about us Fireflies were giving us a spectacular natural firework display.
Then suddenly I heard it! “Tuok…….Tuok”. Bl**dy H*ll, surely that was a Scop’s Owl??? And then the call was answered! By a second bird, much closer to us. Now they were both at it, hammer and tongues, there was no shutting them up! I walked a few paces into the pitch black of the Olive grove, and now it was right above me. I shone the torch in hope rather than expectation, and hit the bird straight away, a tiny little Owl, on a branch leaning towards me. We looked at each other for few seconds, until eventually the bird flew off to another tree and continued calling. Elated, I put the torch down and got my binoculars out of my rucksack. I moved to the next tree, and with the torch in one hand, picked out the owl, and managed to hold my bins steady enough with my other hand to get a decent view. Then I left the bird in peace, but not before a movement on another branch alerted me to a couple of Edible Dormice. I returned to the road, and near a roadside light, I still managed to get a flight view of a second bird. A fantastic experience. And still the fireflies continued to dance, quiet unmoved by my exclamations of delight. At last I can look other Med birders in the eye!
Our two target species during our day on Mount Pandokrator were Nose-horned Viper and Cretzchmar’s Bunting, and we failed miserably with both. Still, we did see a few singing Black-headed Buntings, Cirl Buntings and at least 50 singing male Subalpine Warblers. The Butterflies were the stars here, there were hundreds, many of which I didn’t have enough time to identify, but there were certainly Clouded and Berger’s Clouded Yellow, three species of Swallowtail (Common, Scarce and Southern) many fritillaries and blues, and whites such as Freyer’s Dappled White.
In fact we didn’t do anywhere near as well as expected when it came to snakes, probably due to the heat. We managed three impressive Montpellier Snakes and a single Aesculapian Snake, and one or two other snakes slithered away unidentified, but that was all. We found several Hermann’s Tortoises, Balkan Terrapins and European Pond Terrapins. Lizards included the abundant Dalmation Algyroides, Balkan Green Lizard, Balkan Wall Lizard and Turkish Gecko.
Back in San Stefanos, butterflies on the headland included yet more Swallowtails and Clouded Yellows, but the star was Two-tailed Pasha, a species I had long wanted to see. We saw at least five of these magnificent butterflies
So in the end, it was quite a decent holiday, with lots to keep us entertained, and if it had been 10’C cooler I’m sure that it would have been even more productive.
Butterfly photos: Scarce Swallowtail, Southern Swallowtail, "Common" Swallowtail and Two-tailed Pasha.
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