Wildlife highlights from a week long holiday in Crete

After our successful trip to Kos earlier in the year, Sarah and I decided to explore another Greek island and so visited Crete for a week in the autumn.

Crete is large, in fact it is the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean, and is very mountainous, with more than 69 peaks over 2000m.



We stayed in the tourist resort of Stalis (above) on the north coast where unfortunately the weather on our visit was relatively poor, with low temperatures and heavy rain. This resulted in few reptile sightings which was disappointing.

Birds also seemed thin on the ground, although I was still very much in the early stages of bird watching and probably missed many species.  Hunting pressure, time of year and other factors may have also influenced the slow birding, or perhaps Crete is just rubbish for birds?

Two species that seemed numerous throughout Crete were Common Buzzard and Stonechat. Sardinian Warblers and Hooded Crows were nearly as common and seen daily.

Coghlan’s A Birdwatching Guide to Crete was useful when selecting potential wildlife sites, although the directions were often confusing. A couple of the places we visited appeared void of life and dried up. At best they only produced common species, although this could have been down to time of year. We only tested a handful of sites out of the book so it is possible we missed out on the most productive areas.

One place in the book worth visiting is Bramiana Reservoir (below) near Ierapetra, on the south coast. On our visit we saw Marsh Harrier, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Grey Heron, Common Snipe, Spotted Flycatcher and best of all, Elonora’s Falcon. I’m sure I missed many other species, particularly small waders and waterfowl.



A drive up to the Lassithi Plateau was also productive for birds. On the way up the mountain we saw many Griffon Vultures (below), Raven and a Golden Eagle.

Unfortunately we failed to see Lammergeier despite searching extensively.

Once on the Plateau, various farmland birds now rare in the UK seemed fairly common. A Corn Bunting was of particular note; whilst a singing Woodlark was observed on the Mesa Lassithaki area of Lassithi. Blue Rock Thrush was seen along the roadside.

I also failed attempt to see Lammergeier was made on the Katharon Plateau, where a huge fly-by accipter may have been a Goshawk. Unfortunately I failed to clinch the ID and put it down to a big female Sparrowhawk.

Other decent birds seen around the island include a Red-backed Shrike sat on a roadside fence near Heraklion, Italian Sparrow around Heraklion Power Station and Crested Lark at the Aposelemis River.

Around Stalis, Kingfishers were common along the seashore along with the occasional Common Sandpiper. A single Grey Wagtail was seen around the Harbour Lake at Agios Nikolaos (below).


 
As mentioned earlier, reptile activity was low. I was determined to find a Balkan Green Lizard and eventually had success in an olive grove near Lake Kourna where I found a couple of juveniles. A Striped-necked Terrapin seen basking on the river at Heraklion Power Station was the only other reptile species of the holiday.

Throughout the mountainous areas of Crete, road-killed Beech Marten were a common site. I did not get to see a live one although I didn’t do much night driving.

To leave Crete without having seen a Lammergeier was disappointing, as was the general lack of birds and other wildlife. I still enjoyed my visit and would return again, although probably in the spring or early summer.

For any birder visiting Crete I would recommend the guide listed below, despite the poor directions for some sites (Incidentally, species lists for other Crete wildlife is included at the back of the book).

Coghlan S (2001) A Birdwatching Guide to Crete. 5TH Edition. Arlequin Press, Chelmsford.