Kerkini diary

and a stop was made at the Westwood bird hide. Here a Little Egret, a Mallard and Moorhens entertained us, but with cloud cover increasing we moved on. A Brown Hawker and several more Migrant Hawker dragonflies were counted. Ringlet, Purple Hairstreak, Grayling and a Small Copper, the caeruleopunctata form, were added to the list. Gorse Shield Bug, Sloe Bug and a longhorn beetle Rutpela maculata were found, and a superb example of the fungus Polyporus tuberaster growing on dead gorse was much photographed. Later, Common Blue and Comma were noted, but by then the weather was deteriorating and as we neared the car park and the pedestrian gate in the stock proof fence, half a dozen Dartmoor ponies were seen grazing along the ride.

We were grateful for having so many insects in addition to butterflies identified and discussed. It was good to see widely spread White Admirals, probably ten different individuals, but where were the Red Admirals? Only two were counted, and no Peacock or Small Tortoiseshell was observed. Perhaps a sunny late-August will bring them forth.

Kerkini, Greece 6th to the 13th June 2010

Highlights from David Tomlinson’s diary. (Part 1)

This holiday was organised for members of the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation. Though the main target of the trip was to find butterflies, other aspects of the area’s rich natural history were not ignored. The weather during our week started thundery, but became hotter and more humid by the day, reaching around 90°F on our last two days. Participants were Rob and Alex Parker, Geoff and Pat Hayes, Richard and Marie Stewart, Peter Maddison and Sheila Keeley.

Sunday 6 June

There was a skylark singing as I left home at 3.20 in the morning, with the first hint of light in the eastern sky. By the time we reached Bury it was starting to get light, and the blackbirds were singing. Trevor, our chauffeur, arrived on time, and we had an easy run down to Gatwick, arriving two and half hours before our scheduled take off. The flight was only 80% full and we arrived on schedule. In Thessalonica it was raining slightly and was rather warm and humid, but the first part of the minibus journey to Ano Poroia was dry, until we drove through a heavy storm (no thunder). The outside temperature plunged to 61°F, but was soon back in the high 70s. Traffic was heavy on the ring road, but soon eased off as we drove towards Serres. Apart from a few kestrels it wasn’t until we got to Kerkini that we started to see any birds, and our lakeside drive revealed the usual species – night, grey and squacco herons, little egret, great crested grebe, Dalmatian pelican, pygmy cormorant, etc. Our first butterfly stop was shortly before reaching the hotel: it produced several nettle-tree butterflies, comma, marbled fritillary, small and large skipper, small copper, clouded yellow, large and small white. There were also a number of crickets, and several of the strikingly

attractive spoonwing lacewings Nemoptera sinuata with the long tail streamers on the rear wings. We were to see many more of these beautiful lacewings. A nightingale sang close by. We arrived at the Hotel Viglatoras during a short, sharp shower. When all the rooms were sorted out we had dinner which was vegetarian, with vegetables from Stelios’s mother’s garden. Everyone, I think, enjoyed it.

Monday 7th June

At 6.30 on a bright sunny morning Peter, Rob and Alex joined me for the drive down to Mandraki Harbour. The temperature was a cool 55°F, but it soon warmed up. At the harbour great reed warblers were singing loudly, along with Cetti’s warblers, cuckoos and golden orioles. We admired squacco and night herons at close range and had great views of a pair of little bitterns that chased each other around across the reeds. Good numbers of common terns were nesting on the new tern raft provided by Birdwing (see www.birdwing.eu), while most of the great crested grebes had chicks. There were several mallard to be seen, while I also found a single drake garganey and a pair of gadwall. We scoped the distant platform with its nesting Dalmatian pelicans. After breakfast we drove back down the hill, enjoying the numerous congregations of nettle-tree butterflies that were abundant everywhere. Our first stop was at the drinking trough, and we soon started seeing a good variety of butterflies, including eastern pale clouded yellow (here on the edge of its range), black-veined white, brimstone, common blue. Peter spotted a distant pair of short-toed eagles high against the mountain, and most members of the group saw a soaring Levant sparrowhawk. Unseen nightingales and cirl buntings sang, and it was already hot. One of the most interesting sightings was a fine specimen of Drancunculus vulgaris, also known as the snake lily or dragon arum. It’s a Greek native, and is best known for its smell that is reminiscent of a decaying carcass. Flies that are attracted to the nasty smell and pollinate it. We didn’t notice a pong with this particular flower, but we did when we found another specimen a day later. Apparently the smelly period is brief. We continued to Vironia, where I bought our lunch in the supermarket. It’s not the most exciting supermarket in the world, but it provided all the basics that we needed. We then continued to the northern flood plain of the Striminos river, where we added several more additions to the butterfly list, including knapweed fritillary and a very worn and tatty second-generation map. A white-letter hairstreak was co-operative for photography. Birds seen included a pair of lesser grey shrikes, hoopoe and golden oriole, while eastern olivaceous (now isabelline) warblers sang and chased each other around.

We had our picnic lunch at Megalahori, parking at the picnic area close to the eastern embankment. It was pleasantly shaded under the trees. Before eating we watched several whiskered terns hawking over the nearby flooded field, where squacco herons, cormorants and spoonbills were also feeding. After lunch we had a birding interlude, seeing a good variety of Kerkini specials, including a couple of great white egrets, five glossy ibises, a pair of blacknecked grebes and a few pelicans. Both purple heron and pygmy cormorants showed well. A peregrine flew over, but not many people saw it. Marsh frogs offered a diversion, as did the numerous scarlet dragonflies Crocothemis erythraea. We didn’t leave the lake until 4pm, driving north of the river for a walk where, in previous years, I had seen a good variety of

butterflies. There were no festoons this time, but we did see two new fritillaries, spotted and Queen of Spain, while one or two of us also thought we saw silver-washed. Mallow skippers were also seen. I photographed red-rumped swallows collecting mud for their nests here, and also photographed a masked shrike and saw both penduline tit and a long-legged buzzard. As we walked back a lesser spotted eagle showed well, mobbed by a hooded crow. We heard a Syrian woodpecker, and I also saw a green. The temperature was still close to 80°F as we drove home after a satisfying and enjoyable day, with 30 butterflies and 70 birds in the bag.

Tuesday 8 June

After breakfast we set off up the mountain behind the hotel, taking nearly three hours to cover the first section. Our first stop produced lots of butterflies, with lesser spotted fritillary, Balkan marbled white and southern white admiral all new for the list. Intriguingly, the Balkan marbled white has a quite different jizz to our own marbled white, and its rather stately flight is not dissimilar to a swallowtail. As we drove up the track we saw astonishing numbers of nettle-tree butterflies, rising in clouds in front of the vehicle. Cirl buntings rattled, nightingales and orioles sang, and we saw both woodchat and red-backed shrikes. I saw an orphean warbler, but failed to show it to anyone. We found another of the impressive lilies, this one smelling strongly of decaying flesh. At one stop, where we paused to refill our water bottles, Rob netted our first wood white of the trip and Geoff caught an ilex hairstreak. A Berger’s clouded yellow was also caught and identified. Large tortoiseshells were common and brown argus seen. We continued up to the pastures, driving on to the alder wood where I set up lunch on a picnic table. Two dogs joined us for lunch, one a rather mangy but very submissive bitch who wagged her tail whenever we looked in her direction. The hillside on the other side of the road proved to be a productive butterfly site, as purple-shot copper was added to the list here, while we also saw small copper, mountain white, Cleopatra (Richard only), Queen of Spain fritillary, and eventually our first Camberwell beauty. This was a very cooperative butterfly, as it flew past everyone, and Peter even managed to get a photograph of it despite the fact it only paused for a fraction of a second. The flora of the hillside was rich and diverse. Birds here were the northern European selection expected, including nuthatch, treecreeper, blue and marsh tits, blackcap, chaffinch and robin. A spotted woodpecker called but wasn’t seen. It was delightfully quiet up here: during the entire day we only saw two vehicles, each with a single driver. The nearby pasture, grazed by bell-clanging cattle and dotted with isolated hawthorn and dog rose bushes, was a little disappointing, but it produced our first mazarine blue, a species lost from England, just like the red-backed shrikes which we also saw here. Cuckoos called, and once I heard a black woodpecker. Though the sun was shining strongly, the temperature was a modest 68°F. Our last stop, before dropping back down the mountain, added Idas blue to the list, a tricky species to separate from silverstudded blue. It was now well past 5pm, and the majority of nettle-tree butterflies had gone off to roost. We paused on our descent for a good view of a cock woodchat shrike. When we retired to bed a least two scops owls were calling persistently.

Wednesday 9 June

As Marie joined us for the 6.30am departure

I decided to go back down to Mandraki. The only addition to the bird list was sand martin, perched on the wires with crowds of young swallows, but we also found a juvenile Dalmatian pelican looking decidedly unhappy with its head under its wing. After breakfast we drove to the Jumbo shopping centre, pausing first at the quarry. Here we saw our first swallowtail of the trip, together with great banded grayling. I also found and scoped a little owl and our first black-headed bunting, but there was no sign of any rollers. The woodpecker wood was our next stop. Here the butterflies were plentiful, with fritillaries and hairstreaks entertaining us before entering the wood. Silver-washed fritillary was new for the list here, and we also saw several speckled woods. I moved the vehicle into the shade of the wood, and as I parked it a magnificent roebuck appeared on the path, just 20yards away. He had excellent antlers and was in his foxy-red summer coat. He stood there for a few seconds: I fumbled for my camera, but then he wheeled and disappeared into the wood, barking in alarm. The wood was pleasantly cool and mosquitoes didn’t prove to be a problem, but outside the wood the temperature was around 82°F. Time was already pressing hard, so we left the wood at 12.45pm and drove back south, stopping at the huge supermarket, full of produce but empty of people, where I did a big buy, stocking up for the next few days. We drove up the valley from Sidirokastro, through a handsome rocky gorge, then stopping by the side of the river for our picnic. It was an idyllic spot, only marred by a scattering of litter left by previous picnickers. Banded demoiselles were common on the river, and a grey wagtail flew up and down a few times. Here the best birds were found by Sheila, who spotted them on telegraph wires: a blue rock thrush and a rock sparrow. Several butterflies entertained us, ranging from large tortoiseshell to our first marbled whites, while another new species was eastern wood white. After eating we continued up the valley, stopping near the crest of one of the ridges where the flora suggested the butterflies could be good. They were. Ilex hairstreaks were abundant, and we also saw more great banded graylings, along with spotted and lesser spotted fritillaries. A swallowtail flew past, and I found a spur-thighed tortoise. Rob was busy with his net, catching both marbled skipper and an exquisite little tiger blue, a Balkan special. I was delighted to find a new species for Rob when I spotted a yellow-striped skipper that I photographed successfully before it was netted. There were a few birds here. Black-headed buntings sang, I saw several woodchat shrikes and once an orphean warbler, while a pair of short-toed eagles hunted a distant ridge. Cirl buntings rattled continually. We made one last stop. We were on the edge of a thunderstorm, and though the rain hardly touched us it did cloud over. When we got out of the bus there was hardly a butterfly to be seen, but as soon as the sun came out again there was lots of butterfly activity. Knapweed fritillaries caused an identification challenge at first – Glanville is the confusion species – but they were netted and checked carefully. I caught an eastern Bath white, but it had to be checked against the possibility of small Bath white. A buzzard soared overhead, while nightingales, golden orioles and a cuckoo all sang. Our final stop before returning to the hotel was in the town of Sidirokastro, where the ice cream shop produced the expected ice creams, but the rock-face opposite failed on both crag martins and rock nuthatches, though we did see the latter’s mudplastered nest.

To be continued.