davidg
Well-known member
We stayed at the Crystal Palace hotel in the southern town of Skala. I can’t recommend the hotel highly enough and Skala is a good choice for a family holiday as others seemed very crowded eg Fiscardo, whilst some were almost deserted eg Poros. There were plenty of bars and tavernas in the town although other night life seemed pretty limited.
From a birdwatching point-of-view I went to Kefallonia with fairly low expectations and sadly they were met with just 44 species recorded over the two weeks. On our first day I went for an early morning walk in a promising-looking valley just behind the hotel and recorded just 7 species in 2 hours. Jays, Sardinian Warblers and Great Tits where everywhere with Barn Swallows and House Martins hawking overhead. Three Common Buzzards were resident at the head of the valley and their call could be heard from the hotel. The only excitement provided was a distant Woodchat Shrike seen from the hotel balcony (the balcony proved to be the single best place for birdwatching on the island with 22 species recorded!). Our first day saw wet and windy weather sweeping through in the afternoon bringing with it a large flock of Common, Pallid and Alpine Swifts which darted low over the hotel and out to sea two Cory’s Shearwaters flew close in.
A trip to the island capital Argostoli added Mute Swan to my Greece list but the main attraction was the Loggerhead Turtles in the harbour. Three have learnt to come up to the moored fishing boats and came to within a few feet and for me were worth the trip to Kefallonia alone. Back at the balcony Kestrel, Peregrine and Orphean Warbler were all added to the list as was the star bird of the trip. On our first night I’d seen what I thought was a Nightjar fly low over the hotel but the view was very brief. A couple of nights later, sitting on the trusty balcony, I heard at least three birds churring but sadly didn’t see one again. When he found out that I was a birdwatcher the hotel owner, Nikos, told me of a bird that was a nightly visitor to the hotel swimming pool where it would hover briefly before dipping down to drink. Of course despite staking out the pool bar on most nights (not the most arduous of twitches) I never saw the bird but from Nikos’ description I’m fairly sure it was a Nightjar, perhaps picking dead insects from the pool surface.
We hired a 4x4 for a trip up the unfortunately named Mount Aenos. A glorious day with views to die for but sadly few birds and certainly no Black Woodpecker which lives in the dense forest up here. The birdwatching started off well with Ortolan Bunting, Linnet and Northern Wheatear seen near the satellite dishes at the entrance to the national park. Subsequently just Great and Coal Tit were seen in some numbers but a Robin was heard singing on several occasions. On our way back to Skala we flushed a pair of Chukar with young from the roadside near Sami and had a single Cirl Bunting on overhead wires. A stop off at Avithos Lake(‘bottomless’ lake) in Aghios Nikolaos provided great views of Emperor dragonflies and 2-3 Squacco Herons called from the reeds but didn’t show. I suspect a longer visit early in the morning might be good here but I didn’t get the opportunity.
After one day we traded in the 4x4 for a standard Fiesta-type car for touring the rest of the island. Livadi marsh proved to be disappointing with just Little Egret, Black-winged Stilt and Grey Heron present. South of Lixouri was good for Zitting Cisticola and Woodchat Shrike. Don’t be tempted to visit the ‘famous’ moving stones of Kuonopetra - they don’t!
Other sites that had been recommended to me included Tzanata reservoir (7 Little Grebes and a Yellow-legged Gull) and Karavomilos Lake which we couldn’t find, the single signpost to the lake pointing out to sea!
In summary, Kefallonia is a beautiful island, well worth visiting but a birding paradise it ain’t. It took me two weeks to amass a birdlist of 44 species – when I got home it took me less than 45 minutes to see 44 species whilst walking the dog!
When not birdwatching do go to Mount Aenos for fabulous views; to Kaminia beach for the swimming and the beautiful beach bar; to Avithos Lake for the dragonflies. Don’t go on the boat trip to Zakynthos, nothing happens; to Myrtos beach, it’s ghastly; to Poros, it’s a ghost town.
Little Grebe – 7 at Tzanata reservoir
Cory’s Shearwater – 12+ seen from Kefallonia-Zakynthos ferry; 2 seen from hotel balcony
Squacco Heron – 2-3 calling in Avithos Lake
Little Egret – 5 on Livadi marsh
Grey Heron – 3 on Livadi marsh
Mute Swan – 5+ in Argostoli lagoon
Common Buzzard – common
Honey Buzzard – pair seen over road to Myrtos beach
Sparrowhawk – one behind hotel in Skala
Kestrel – fairly common on island
Peregrine – one over hotel
Chukar – adult and young near Sami
Black-winged Stilt – 8 on Livadi marsh
Little Ringed Plover – 2 on Kaminia beach
Yellow-legged Gull – common
Feral Pigeon – in Poros town; in Melissani Lake
Collared Dove – common
Little Owl – one dead on Poros-Sami road
Nightjar – 3+ churring behind hotel, one seen flying over
Common Swift – c30 over hotel after storm
Pallid Swift – c5 over hotel after storm
Alpine Swift – c20 over hotel after storm
Crested Lark – 4-5 around hotel in Skala
House Martin – common
Barn Swallow – common
Red-rumped Swallow – common
Robin – 2-3 calling on Mt Aenos
Northern Wheatear – 4 on Mt Aenos
Blackbird – common
Orphean Warbler – 1 in scrub by hotel
Sardinian Warbler – common
Zitting Cisticola – 4-5 south of Lixouri
Great Tit – common
Coal Tit – common on Mt Aenos
Woodchat Shrike – common
Jay – common
Hooded Crow – common around Fiscardo not seen elsewhere
House Sparrow – common
Chaffinch – only seen in Poros
Linnet – 3 by puddle on Mt Aenos
Goldfinch – common
Greenfinch – only seen on Zakynthos
Ortolan Bunting – 2 by puddle on Mt Aenos
Cirl Bunting – 1 on wires near Sami
From a birdwatching point-of-view I went to Kefallonia with fairly low expectations and sadly they were met with just 44 species recorded over the two weeks. On our first day I went for an early morning walk in a promising-looking valley just behind the hotel and recorded just 7 species in 2 hours. Jays, Sardinian Warblers and Great Tits where everywhere with Barn Swallows and House Martins hawking overhead. Three Common Buzzards were resident at the head of the valley and their call could be heard from the hotel. The only excitement provided was a distant Woodchat Shrike seen from the hotel balcony (the balcony proved to be the single best place for birdwatching on the island with 22 species recorded!). Our first day saw wet and windy weather sweeping through in the afternoon bringing with it a large flock of Common, Pallid and Alpine Swifts which darted low over the hotel and out to sea two Cory’s Shearwaters flew close in.
A trip to the island capital Argostoli added Mute Swan to my Greece list but the main attraction was the Loggerhead Turtles in the harbour. Three have learnt to come up to the moored fishing boats and came to within a few feet and for me were worth the trip to Kefallonia alone. Back at the balcony Kestrel, Peregrine and Orphean Warbler were all added to the list as was the star bird of the trip. On our first night I’d seen what I thought was a Nightjar fly low over the hotel but the view was very brief. A couple of nights later, sitting on the trusty balcony, I heard at least three birds churring but sadly didn’t see one again. When he found out that I was a birdwatcher the hotel owner, Nikos, told me of a bird that was a nightly visitor to the hotel swimming pool where it would hover briefly before dipping down to drink. Of course despite staking out the pool bar on most nights (not the most arduous of twitches) I never saw the bird but from Nikos’ description I’m fairly sure it was a Nightjar, perhaps picking dead insects from the pool surface.
We hired a 4x4 for a trip up the unfortunately named Mount Aenos. A glorious day with views to die for but sadly few birds and certainly no Black Woodpecker which lives in the dense forest up here. The birdwatching started off well with Ortolan Bunting, Linnet and Northern Wheatear seen near the satellite dishes at the entrance to the national park. Subsequently just Great and Coal Tit were seen in some numbers but a Robin was heard singing on several occasions. On our way back to Skala we flushed a pair of Chukar with young from the roadside near Sami and had a single Cirl Bunting on overhead wires. A stop off at Avithos Lake(‘bottomless’ lake) in Aghios Nikolaos provided great views of Emperor dragonflies and 2-3 Squacco Herons called from the reeds but didn’t show. I suspect a longer visit early in the morning might be good here but I didn’t get the opportunity.
After one day we traded in the 4x4 for a standard Fiesta-type car for touring the rest of the island. Livadi marsh proved to be disappointing with just Little Egret, Black-winged Stilt and Grey Heron present. South of Lixouri was good for Zitting Cisticola and Woodchat Shrike. Don’t be tempted to visit the ‘famous’ moving stones of Kuonopetra - they don’t!
Other sites that had been recommended to me included Tzanata reservoir (7 Little Grebes and a Yellow-legged Gull) and Karavomilos Lake which we couldn’t find, the single signpost to the lake pointing out to sea!
In summary, Kefallonia is a beautiful island, well worth visiting but a birding paradise it ain’t. It took me two weeks to amass a birdlist of 44 species – when I got home it took me less than 45 minutes to see 44 species whilst walking the dog!
When not birdwatching do go to Mount Aenos for fabulous views; to Kaminia beach for the swimming and the beautiful beach bar; to Avithos Lake for the dragonflies. Don’t go on the boat trip to Zakynthos, nothing happens; to Myrtos beach, it’s ghastly; to Poros, it’s a ghost town.
Little Grebe – 7 at Tzanata reservoir
Cory’s Shearwater – 12+ seen from Kefallonia-Zakynthos ferry; 2 seen from hotel balcony
Squacco Heron – 2-3 calling in Avithos Lake
Little Egret – 5 on Livadi marsh
Grey Heron – 3 on Livadi marsh
Mute Swan – 5+ in Argostoli lagoon
Common Buzzard – common
Honey Buzzard – pair seen over road to Myrtos beach
Sparrowhawk – one behind hotel in Skala
Kestrel – fairly common on island
Peregrine – one over hotel
Chukar – adult and young near Sami
Black-winged Stilt – 8 on Livadi marsh
Little Ringed Plover – 2 on Kaminia beach
Yellow-legged Gull – common
Feral Pigeon – in Poros town; in Melissani Lake
Collared Dove – common
Little Owl – one dead on Poros-Sami road
Nightjar – 3+ churring behind hotel, one seen flying over
Common Swift – c30 over hotel after storm
Pallid Swift – c5 over hotel after storm
Alpine Swift – c20 over hotel after storm
Crested Lark – 4-5 around hotel in Skala
House Martin – common
Barn Swallow – common
Red-rumped Swallow – common
Robin – 2-3 calling on Mt Aenos
Northern Wheatear – 4 on Mt Aenos
Blackbird – common
Orphean Warbler – 1 in scrub by hotel
Sardinian Warbler – common
Zitting Cisticola – 4-5 south of Lixouri
Great Tit – common
Coal Tit – common on Mt Aenos
Woodchat Shrike – common
Jay – common
Hooded Crow – common around Fiscardo not seen elsewhere
House Sparrow – common
Chaffinch – only seen in Poros
Linnet – 3 by puddle on Mt Aenos
Goldfinch – common
Greenfinch – only seen on Zakynthos
Ortolan Bunting – 2 by puddle on Mt Aenos
Cirl Bunting – 1 on wires near Sami
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