The distinctive call of a Hoopoe was followed by a brief sighting of a pair foraging in the nearby olive groves, heading for cover beneath the dappled shade of an old tree we were duly rewarded when one of the Hoopoe hopped onto a gnarled trunk a few yards away oblivious to our presence while the other sat in a stand of trees along the shoreline. The birds began calling to announce their presence as they reunited before we finally lost sight of them. We were back in Crete, the largest of the Greek Islands and one of our favourite locations.
Arriving late at Heraklion airport on the 30th of August we took a taxi heading east through Agios Nikolaos to our accommodation based in Elounda, and after a cold beer and a bar snack we retired to our apartments.
Over the next two weeks we juggled a family holiday with a birding trip, here are some of the highlights:
1. Elounda Salt flats
At sunrise we headed for the salt flats in Elounda where a heavy downpour a few days earlier had provided a large freshwater pool on a clearing normally used by cars, several wader species were taking advantage of this newly formed pond including 6 Little stint, 2 Temminck's stint, 4 Ringed plover and 2 Little-ringed plover. Around the edges of the pool 4 Yellow wagtail were foraging while a Hoopoe passed overhead.
Sightings on the Salt flats were 2 Kingfisher, 3 Green sandpiper, 4 Yellow-legged gull, 2 Cormorant, 2 Little egret, 1 Great egret, 3 Common sandpiper, 2 Grey heron, 4 House martin and 8 Barn swallow. Sightings in the surrounding coastal area included 12 Hooded crow, 2 Common buzzard, 9 Sardinian warbler, 12 Willow warbler, 6 Crested lark, 3 Red-backed shrike, 8 Greenfinch, 100 Italian sparrow, 30 Feral pigeon, 4 Great tit, 4 Chiffchaff, 12 Collared dove, 2 Blue tit, 4 Whinchat and several Blackbird.
We took this route most days during our stay due to its convenient location, other sightings of note included Loggerhead turtles seen in the harbour and in the bay on three occasions, a Beach marten seen several times during the early hours of the morning viewed from our favourite watering hole, the endemic Wall lizard and a variety of insects and butterflies including Painted lady, Common blue, Swallowtail, Hummingbird hawk moth, Grasshopper, Acrida turrita (snout nosed), Centipedes and Dragonflies, mainly Darter.
2. Kolokitha Peninsula
Taking the bridge near to the site of the ancient sunken city of Olous and passing by the old Poros windmills we were now on Kalydon Island and headed for several areas, the first was the early Christian Basilica with its impressive mosaic, now covered for protection against the elements. Sightings in this area included a juvenile Woodchat shrike, 3 Red-backed shrike, 1 Spotted flycatcher, 4 Northern wheatear, 4 Greenfinch, 8 Hooded crow, 4 Crested lark, 4 Great tit, 20 Feral pigeon, 8 Collared dove and 50 Italian sparrow.
A little further on we reached the fields behind Ascension Church where we had great views of 6 Whinchat, 2 Hoopoe, 4 Sardinian Warbler, 4 Yellow Wagtail, 8 Willow Warbler, 2 Chiffchaff and 9 Goldfinch. We then took the path to the Church of St Luke and along the way we encountered 23 Chukar, 4 Raven, and several Yellow-legged Gull. At St Luke's we had sightings of 16 Sardinian Warbler, 12 Willow Warbler, 2 Common Buzzard and 4 Chiffchaff, the arrival of a wedding party cut short our birding for the day.
3. Mavrikiano
At the park next to the harbour we had sightings of 1 Kingfisher, 8 Great tit, 4 Blue tit, 1 Yellow-legged gull, 7 Collared dove, 4 Feral pigeon, 30 Italian sparrow and several Crabs which were seen basking on the rocks. Taking the road over the back of Kavos bay apartments we had sightings of 3 Red-backed shrike, 2 Spotted flycatcher, 12 Sardinian warbler, 6 Hooded crow, 2 Raven and 2 Blue rock thrush while at the village we had 3 Alpine swift, 5 Common swift and 8 Barn swallow.
4. Spinalonga Viewpoint
We reached the viewpoint at sunrise and parked in the layby, scanning both sides of the road and the hillside for birds we had sightings of 2 Common whitethroat, 2 Blue rock thrush, 6 Raven, 1 Red-backed shrike, 4 Griffon vulture, 1 Spotted flycatcher, 1 Sparrowhawk, 8 Common swift, 4 Common buzzard, 2 Stonechat, 4 Willow warbler, 8 House martin, 50 Italian sparrow, 20 Rock dove, 4 Great tit, 2 Blue tit, 4 Blackbird, 12 Barn swallow and 2 Chiffchaff.
5. Monastery of Agios Ioannis Prodromos (Τhe Precursor)
Just through the village of Vrouhas and beyond the old windmills we parked safely off the road and walked the short distance through the olive groves to the monastery. using the walls for cover we had sightings of 4 Red-backed shrike, 1 Grey shrike, 1 Woodchat shrike, 5 Spotted flycatcher, 1 Golden oriole, 1 Wryneck, 2 Stonechat, 2 Whinchat, 1 Hoopoe, 1 Wren, 8 Sardinian warbler, 8 Hooded crow, 15 Feral pigeon, 30 Italian sparrow, 9 Collared dove and 6 Raven.
6. Kato Loumas - Raptor Viewpoint
Heading further on through Selles down to the northeast coast and returning through the village of Skinias we headed to the Raptor viewpoint at Kato Loumas where we had further sightings of 10 Griffon vulture, 4 Common buzzard, 2 kestrel, 4 Alpine swift and 18 Swallowtail butterflies.
7. Lasithi Plateau
Heading through Agios Nikolaos onto the old road and up through the mountains we dropped down into Lasithi plateau and after driving for 90 minutes the temperature had dropped 10°C and was now a cool and manageable 18° C. Entering the Plateau through the village of Agios Konstantinos we immediately caught sight of 12 Golden oriole passing through, further on 40 Bee-eaters and around 50 Linnet were also noted.
Taking the tracks towards the two reservoirs we had sightings of 8 Wood warbler, 30 Goldfinch, 4 Woodlark, 8 Blackbird, 25 Chaffinch, 4 Serin, 6 Northern wheatear, 25 Willow warbler, 20 Chiffchaff, 4 Stonechat, 4 Spotted flycatcher, 2 Common redstart, 1 Goldcrest, 4 Whinchat 6 Raven, 22 Collared dove, 100's of Italian sparrow, 50 Feral pigeon and 8 Red-backed shrike along with 12 Mediterranean fritillary (Argynnis pandora)
Around the edges of the water 9 Eleanora's falcon were hawking and above a Hobby passed over along with a Marsh Harrier, other sightings included 16 Grey Heron, 23 Pochard, 4 Black-winged Stilt, 6 Griffon Vulture 4 Common Buzzard and 12 Yellow Wagtail. Other sightings included Cretan Hare and Red-veined Darter.
Returning back through the mountains we noted a pair of Blue rock thrush and a (m) Black-eared wheatear,
overhead we could see around 50 Griffon vultures circling so we pulled into a nearby lay-by and watched as the Vultures swooped low over our position before landing on a carcass a few hundred yards over the ridge.
Sadly we had reached the end of our Crete trip for 2022 and although the birding was challenging at times it was still an enjoyable experience with good friends and great company.
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