Again, this was not a birdwatching trip primarily (or at all), since I'm an academic working on Ancient greece, and the prime purpose was photography on Aegina for a book I'm working on. However, in between taking photos of temples and such like, I did get in quite a good few hours of birds, in some new locations. I'm also relatively new to more serious birdwatching; my overall species-count was low, but would undoubtedly have been higher if I could have spent more than the hour I had at Schinias.
28th March: Schinias Marshes, North-East Attica
Rain on Aegina, so not much chance of good site photos; hence trip to Schinias to see what I could see. Having own transport would have made this visit much more enjoyable, since I was at the mercy of the relatively infrequent Athens-Marathonas bus plus a local taxi, which meant that I only got 1hr in total at this wonderful and deserted place, mid-afternoon. The Marathonas taxi-driver knew where to drop me off when I mentioned birds, and the elevated hide/viewing area looked very good. Unhappy to report that paths littered with shotgun cartridges, however (probably the owners of the nearby taverna, who joked about it with me, were responsible)...
Among the species I did get to see were the following though, however briefly: Little Egret, Grey Herons, a flock of Black-Winged Stilts, 2 Marsh Harriers, male Yellow Wagtail f. feldegg* (absolutely stunning).
30th March: Mt. Oros and southern hills of Aegina, walking from Mt Oros to Kontos in centre of island
This underexplored area is likely to be a good place for raptors and the smaller species that favour upland scrub.
Following instructions in A Walking Guide to Aegina (locally-available walking guide), I took a taxi to Mt. Oros, the cone-shaped volcanic peak in the south of the island at about 8am on the Sunday morning (cost about €8) to examine the remote site of the sanctuary of Zeus. I then walked to the
top of the mountain to take photos of the island from the top – the path passes the chapel and skirts beneath and round the ridge in the right of the picture, then heading up the west side of the peak to tiny chapel at the summit. Once back down, I headed due North across the hills and down to Kontós and the Church of Agios Nektarios, passing the chapel of Agios Leóntios on a plateau, and then the monastery of Panagia Chrysoleóntissa, to catch the bus back to Aegina town. There are no roads to follow, and the journey is about 5 miles, sometimes very heavy going through scrub up rocky slopes, but certainly worth the effort.
Birds of note here were Sardinian Warbler, Subalpine Warbler, Northern Wheatear, Rock Patridge, Stonechat, and White Storks nesting nearby. Lovely purple orchid (orchis qudripunctata), and grape hyacinths flowering everywhere.
31st March-2nd April: Delphi
From Aegina onto the second part of my trip, to one of my favourite places in the world: a stunning location, especially in spring. The 3hr bus journey from Athens is itself impressive, tracing its route through the flat dry bed of the ancient lake Kopais in Boeotia (in antiquity this place would have been *seriously good* for birds!) through Orhómenos (where I saw a pair of White Storks nesting on the dome of a church) and Livadia, before heading into the snow-capped mountains to Aráhova and then zig-zagging down the other side to Delphi and the gulf of Corinth beyond.
The hills above and around the archaeological site at filled with the shrieks and up-up-up-ups of Hoopoe, the siren-like tootings of Western Rock Nuthatch, the chatting sounds of Blackcap, the twittering of Serin, Goldfinch, and Barn Swallow, the buzz of Greenfinch, and the occasional trilling calls of Rock Bunting. The extensive archaeological site itself is an excellent place to look for such birds, as well as Blue Rock Thrush, Black Redstart and warblers; Rock Nuthatch in particular are very easy to see and photograph, as they nest in and around the ruins of the Temple of Apollo and nearby Treasuries. The lower site below the main road is situated amid olive trees and a good place to look for warblers. I saw 2 species – which I hesitantly identified as Olive-Tree and Olivaceous; more Blackcaps, too. I was also lucky enough to see a group of four Short-Toed Eagles soaring and calling their mournful cries above the Phaedriades cliffs high above the ancient site.
For those who are more energetic, it is definitely worth following the rocky uphill path up the so-called Kaki Skala to the top of the cliffs above modern Delphi (directions in the Rough Guide to Greece; follow the yellow&black markers for the E4 long-distance footpath from the upper Eastern end of Apollonos Street in upper Delphi past the Sikelianos Museum). The walk from Delphi to the top of the Kaki Skala by the water tank took me just over 1hr30mins. If you have time it is well worth continuing up to the Cave of the Nymphs: you get great views of the peaks of Mt. Parnassos and many more wild flowers, including Snake Head Iris. I saw Black-Eared Wheatear on the upper slopes, and have seen wild tortoises in the past. The lower slopes have an almond grove which hosts numerous finches; here I also saw Sombre Tit.
On my way to the ancient site at opening time (roughly 8am), I had my first ever view of Hoopoe in the bushes below the main road:
what a fantastic bird! More Serin here too.
3rd April: Athens
A trip to Athens is not complete without a visit to the Acropolis and the surrounding ancient sites. Birdwatching bonuses include superb views of Alpine Swift – also viewable from Lykabettos Hill, where I have seen Northern Wheatear in past. If you get to the Kerameikos (ancient cemetery) and Agora early, you will also have a good chance of seeing Hoopoe – I saw a pair in the Kerameikos and one more in the Agora; both sites are full of small trees providing good shelter for birds.
My wife and I have only recently become relatively serious birdwatchers, so there were quite a few new species for me on this trip; we'll both have to go next time, and make a dedicated trip of it.
Cheers,
D
Here are the new species I saw:
White Stork
Short-Toed Eagle
Marsh Harrier
Rock Partridge
Black-Winged Stilt
Yelkouan Shearwater
Hoopoe
Yellow Wagtail f. feldegg
Black Redstart
Northern Wheatear
Black-Eared Wheatear
Sardinian Warbler
Subalpine Warbler
Olive Tree Warbler (?)
Olivaceous Warbler (?)
Bonelli’s Warbler
Sombre Tit
Western Rock Nuthatch
Serin
Rock Bunting