Crete - May 2019
Nearly 15 years ago I decided to return home early from a holiday in Crete, disappointed to miss the chance of seeing the sights of the island yet filled with a greater understanding that the UK approach to combining trips abroad with alcohol was definitely not for me. Despite prioritising other Greek islands since then, there was still a number of species I wanted to see on Crete and, following the recent success of lucky birders such as this chap, the sole focus was certainly not on herpetofauna.
Our Easyjet flight from Edinburgh brought a whole new level to the term 'speedy boarding', with passengers stumbling around trundling wheelie-bin sized luggage and one particular gem of a gent trying to work out what the numbers and letters meant next to the 'seat number' writing on his ticket. Let's all pat ourselves on the back, evolution has truly peaked.
Fresh from a black grouse survey the previous day yet still possessing the impressive ability to never sleep on planes, I turned to Jill for some dynamic discussion only to find she'd already set foot in the land of slumber. Probably for the best given the amount of birding and herping she was planning on fitting in during her week. Between her naps, Jill was also reading some book about keeping control of your 'inner chimp' and would gladly point out when my uncontrolled chimp resulted in outbursts of my old man demeanour and general negative outlook on life. My unruly chimp would become a recurring theme throughout the week.
An hour into the flight we then had to divert to Germany due a medical emergency (it wasn't my lack of sleep). An ambulance met us on the wet and dull Berlin tarmac, where a lady was taken away as a precaution - I hope she made a full recovery. My money had been on a chap in front of me with lungs sounding like a bulldog, but alas he remained firmly in place for the remainder of the flight.
After a very late arrival we were delighted to meet with Eleni at the Eden Garden Suite - a really lovely host who, even at this ungodly hour, made some delicious snacks appear before our eyes as we relaxed on the terrace.
An hour into the flight we then had to divert to Germany due a medical emergency (it wasn't my lack of sleep). An ambulance met us on the wet and dull Berlin tarmac, where a lady was taken away as a precaution - I hope she made a full recovery. My money had been on a chap in front of me with lungs sounding like a bulldog, but alas he remained firmly in place for the remainder of the flight.
After a very late arrival we were delighted to meet with Eleni at the Eden Garden Suite - a really lovely host who, even at this ungodly hour, made some delicious snacks appear before our eyes as we relaxed on the terrace.
Day one started with the sounds of hoopoes over the first of many Greek coffees. A quick morning visit to Knossos followed, where amongst the stones we spotted a couple of ocellated skinks (Chalcides ocellatus) whilst a golden oriole briefly fluted frustratingly out of view.
We then began to make our way to the west of the island, quickly realising that the driving etiquette here was far worse than other parts of Greece we’ve visited. A speed limit is usually more of a guideline in places such as this, but all too frequently the driver behind would just find the exact speed to creep within a flea’s dick of our rear bumper. This was particularly frustrating at one point when a gathering of Eleonora’s falcons drifted over the road, but any attempt to slow down or stop would have resulted in Stavros and Nikos joining us in the back of our Jimny.
We broke up the journey with a snack and a search around Lake Agia, where Jill immediately flexed her Greek language skills with a “gracias” as coffee arrived. With the main wildlife focus of the week being trying to spot rare vultures in mountainous areas, I’d hoped (and counted on) this area would tick a few boxes when it came to herps. Unfortunately we only managed to turn up a bunch of Balkan terrapins* (Mauremys rivulata), an American bullfrog, a few Balkan green lizards (Lacerta trilineata) and a possible Cretan water frog which shot off too quickly to get a look at. Little bittern was the only real interesting addition here birdwise.
*Didn't pay much attention but I think there was the odd slider knocking about here too...
We broke up the journey with a snack and a search around Lake Agia, where Jill immediately flexed her Greek language skills with a “gracias” as coffee arrived. With the main wildlife focus of the week being trying to spot rare vultures in mountainous areas, I’d hoped (and counted on) this area would tick a few boxes when it came to herps. Unfortunately we only managed to turn up a bunch of Balkan terrapins* (Mauremys rivulata), an American bullfrog, a few Balkan green lizards (Lacerta trilineata) and a possible Cretan water frog which shot off too quickly to get a look at. Little bittern was the only real interesting addition here birdwise.
*Didn't pay much attention but I think there was the odd slider knocking about here too...
We arrived at our digs in the early evening, the route generally taking a lot longer due to landslides caused by the wet winter the island had endured. The wind brought quite a chill to the evening air as we had our first beers and looked out over to the mountains as a Scops owl booped in the valley below.
We spent the next day exploring the local area, with more green lizards and a failed grab for a tiny Balkan whip snake (Hierophis gemonensis). Clambering into some old Roman cisterns provided the first Turkish geckos (Hemidactylus turcicus) of the trip and we finally got off the mark with an endemic in the shape of a few Cretan wall lizards (Podarcis cretensis). In the early evening we headed down to Sougia where, despite some impressive cliffs and gorges, we only added turtle dove, kestrel and rock dove. However, the stuffed tomatoes and peppers at Rebetiko taverna were the clear highlight of this place!
We spent the next day exploring the local area, with more green lizards and a failed grab for a tiny Balkan whip snake (Hierophis gemonensis). Clambering into some old Roman cisterns provided the first Turkish geckos (Hemidactylus turcicus) of the trip and we finally got off the mark with an endemic in the shape of a few Cretan wall lizards (Podarcis cretensis). In the early evening we headed down to Sougia where, despite some impressive cliffs and gorges, we only added turtle dove, kestrel and rock dove. However, the stuffed tomatoes and peppers at Rebetiko taverna were the clear highlight of this place!
Our first vulture-based trip involved heading to some designated mountains to the west. Unfortunately we were greeted with a bunch of closed roads and locked gates, meaning we had to make do with some opportunistic roadside views of Griffon vultures.
Over the week we’d end up making a couple of trips towards Omalos and Samaria. Our first visit involved an unplanned zig-zag up alongside a rock precipice, whilst for visit two we aimed for a climbing shelter to give us better views from its location at 1680m. Predictably my target was not spotted, but the views alone were worth it. Species observed here included more Griffons, Chough, Ravens, Blue rock thrush, Black redstart, Crag martins, Northern and Black-eared wheatears, Linnet, Pallid swifts and Sardinian warblers.
At another windswept coastal town we encountered a mortally-wounded ocellated skink – the victim of one of the many domestic cats left to roam the island. It still amazes me that (when they aren’t out killing native wildlife) these little flea-bags spend most of their time in street-side dustbins yet are still frequently welcomed in restaurants and tavernas. Another observation here was the unbelievable rudeness of the youth of today as they blocked the paths and dropped litter whilst being clad in an array of camouflage garments. I’m not sure if these guys figured their ‘fashion-flage’ clothing would make their lack of awareness more difficult to observe, but I certainly noticed. If I recall correctly, my chimp got away from me here.
As mentioned earlier, the downside to spending time in upland areas (above the snowline at times) meant that the herping was generally non-existent. We were therefore limited to the odd short foray every now and then. We stalked around a number of stone walls and olive groves, flipped a good few rocks and even had a couple of night wanders, although the latter was partly to see if we could stumble into a Cretan badger (which we couldn’t). In the end we turned up a couple of Balkan whip snakes, the usual lizards and some green toads (Bufotes viridis), but all in all neither time nor location was really on our side.
Our final day provided the opportunity for one last wildlife search, so we said farewell to our local corn buntings, red-rumped swallows and scops owls and headed towards Kourtaliotiko Gorge. Here we had some more great views of the usual avian suspects, managed to photograph the endemic Cretan water frog (Pelophylax cretensis) and Jill spotted a beautiful ladybird spider (Eresus sp. kollari?).
Our return drive to Heraklion once again reminded us that Cretan driving is, on the whole, clueless, dangerous and downright worrying. Another favourite move is to just pull out from a junction right in front of you, forcing you to jam on the brakes fairly violently. What amused me a great deal was a big orange bus pulling out right in front of Jill, which basically resulted in her chimp sprinting down the road in pursuit of the bus. Who needs to control their chimp now?
The transport-based fun continued at the airport, as half of the passengers were packed onto a bus which remained stationary for what seemed like an eternity. The rest of us just stood there and observed, happy that we weren't part of the sardine experience. I guess some things you can only enjoy in Greece.
However, once on the plane the UK halfwits had a chance to level the score, and that they did. Between me and a middle-aged couple on our row of three seats, it turned out that only one of us actually had a ticket for that row (here’s a hint, it wasn’t either of the halfwits). Confusion took over when two hairy bikers (not of tv fame) tried to join us. At one point Mrs Halfwit said out loud in a frustrated manner "can I just have somewhere to sit!?", at which point my chimp was screaming "how about in your own fecking seat!!". Unbelievable. Yet also very believable these days.
The transport-based fun continued at the airport, as half of the passengers were packed onto a bus which remained stationary for what seemed like an eternity. The rest of us just stood there and observed, happy that we weren't part of the sardine experience. I guess some things you can only enjoy in Greece.
However, once on the plane the UK halfwits had a chance to level the score, and that they did. Between me and a middle-aged couple on our row of three seats, it turned out that only one of us actually had a ticket for that row (here’s a hint, it wasn’t either of the halfwits). Confusion took over when two hairy bikers (not of tv fame) tried to join us. At one point Mrs Halfwit said out loud in a frustrated manner "can I just have somewhere to sit!?", at which point my chimp was screaming "how about in your own fecking seat!!". Unbelievable. Yet also very believable these days.
To conclude: Delightful food, horrible cats, awesome mountains, no lammergeiers spotted - video below.