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Message: <blockquote data-quote="David Parnaby" data-source="post: 1892764" data-attributes="member: 80103">Kefallonia, Greece. 11th - 18th July 2010A family holiday at Lourdas with very little opportunities for birding (most days the binoculars were only used for trying to ID butterflies around the villa garden). An early morning walk in Lourdas produced very little different, so we didn't bother setting the alarm clocks again! A drive to Mount Aenos added several extra species and the last day (where we had to be out of the villa and so spent a couple of hours at the Icarus taverna before getting a room for the day at Svoronata) was also quite productive. A total of 37 species (not including the possible dead owl) were seen, although only 10-12 species were seen most days when we didn't leave Lourdas.Species list:Common Buzzard – regularly seen over the villa with other sightings around the island.Sparrowhawk – singles seen over the villa on several dates.Kestrel – only one seen (on the lower slopes of Mount Aenos). Yellow-legged Gull – small numbers at Lourdas and several at Agrostoli.Black-headed Gull - one in Agrostoli.Feral Pigeon – only seen at Agrostoli.Collared Dove – common, regularly came to drink from villa's swimming pool.Owl sp. - a dead bird on the road to the airport was possibly a Little Owl.Nightjar – one seen briefly in flight over Magic Hill restaurant in Lourdas.Bee-eater - at least half a dozen (probably a family party) behind the Olive Grove apartments in Svoronata and a dozen or so were on wires along the coast road near the airport.Crested Lark – one seen by airport (in one of the car hire compounds along the coast road).House Martin – common, our first bird of the trip.Barn Swallow – common, with several family parties around Lourdas.Red-rumped Swallow – seen daily in small numbers over villa and several elsewhere on island. Occasionally came to drink from villa swimming pool - great views if you were swimming at the time!Wren – one heard calling on Mount Aenos.Northern Wheatear – a couple by the Radar station on Mount Aenos.Black-eared Wheatear - several by the Radar station on Mount Aenos.Stonechat - one seen in flight over road near Kastro.Blackbird – small numbers in several places.Eastern Orphean Warbler – one seen in scrub by Icarus taverna (a couple of minutes walk from the airport).Sardinian Warbler – common around Lourdas and also seen elsewhere on island. Became almost invisible after about ten o'clock in the morning!Cetti's Warbler - one seen in scrub on the main road to the beach in Lourdas on an early morning walk with another couple also heard. One found freshly dead on the villa garden wall on the last morning.Eastern Olivaceous Warbler - one seen from the Icarus taverna and small numbers at the Olive Grove apartments in Svoronata.Goldcrest - at least one in a large mixed feeding flock on Mount Aenos.Firecrest - many families in the mixed feeding flock on Mount Aenos.Blue Tit - small numbers seen at Lourdas and elsewhere, with lots in the mixed feeding flock on Mount Aenos.Great Tit – common around villa and a large number seen in the mixed feeding flock on Mount Aenos.Coal Tit – several heard on on Mt Aenos with large numbers in a mixed feeding flock.Treecreeper sp. - one seen in flight in the mixed feeding flock on Mount Aenos.Woodchat Shrike – none seen in Lourdas, but several encountered elsewhere on the island.Jay – very common, with flocks of up to 20 seen.Hooded Crow – one seen from villa in Lourdas and a small flock on the drive to Mount Aenos.House Sparrow – very common in Lourdas, often drinking from swimming pool.Chaffinch – only a couple seen in flight from the villa and one on Mount Aenos.Linnet – one in Fragata, small numbers by the Radar Station on Mount Aenos and several around the Olive Grove apartments in Svoronata.Goldfinch – seen daily from villa and also elsewhere around the island.Greenfinch – small numbers in Svoronata.Cirl Bunting – an adult male and a juvenile by the Radar Station on Mount Aenos.I would recommend Mount Aenos as a location for adding a few extra species, as well as the views and the very different habitats to elsewhere on the island. We were able to get as far as the picnic area without any real problems in a regular hire car. Although the woods themselves were fairly quiet, a mixed feeding flock of at least a couple of hundred birds livened up proceedings. The open area around the radar station also held several birds and it would have been interesting if we had been able to get there early in the morning. Do not be tempted to use the minor roads (marked on our map in yellow), an attempted 'short-cut' from Lourdas to Mount Aenos became impassable without an off-road vehicle.There are a lot of good things to be said about Kefallonia and whilst birding is not necessarily one of them, the other wildlife is worth paying attention to as well. We took our European butterfly field guide and were able to identify several species that were new to us (although we haven't paid much attention to foreign butterflies before). We didn't bother taking our telescopes and never really missed them, although had we been nearer a headland where seawatching and cetaceans were possible it may have been different.Lepidoptera:Two-tailed PashaSouthern White Admiral CleopatraScarce SwallowtailPainted LadySmall HeathMallow SkipperWoodland GraylingOrbed Red Underwing SkipperHumming-bird HawkmothThere were several other species we didn't positively identify including various whites and blues, a clouded yellow, a marbled white and a beautiful stripey hawkmoth.Other wildlife:Loggerhead Turtle - fantastic views of at least four, probably half a dozen, in Agrostoli harbour. Although we were told early morning was best, they were still showing quite happily at lunch time. Moorish Gecko - common in the buildings at Lourdas.</blockquote>

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