Crete 2006

GORDANO MOTHS - BEYOND THE PATCH

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FAMILY HOLIDAY TO CRETE, AUGUST 2006

Mothing.

Took the UV moth trap on my family holiday to Crete. We stayed in a villa on the hills behind Rethymno so I was able to run the trap each night. Unfortunately we had coincided our holiday with a full moon so the catches were relatively low as my UV trap does not compete very well with the full moon as a light source. In contrast to trapping in the UK the micro moths considerably outnumbered the macros at the trap. I concentrated mainly on the macros as hours spent pouring over hundreds of tiny moths would not have gone down well with the family. I caught almost as many moths around the lights of the patio and some from the surface of the lit swimming pool. I dont know whether it was the season or the dry/rough environment but a lot of the moths recorded were very worn and tatty and so didnt make good photos. A good number of the macro moths found were new to me and not recorded in the UK so I used the excellent Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa website to help with the id. However some of the id's are my best guess based on the information available.

Birding.

I managed to get some limited birding in on the island and visited some of the sites listed in the Birdwatching guide to Crete by Stephanie Coghlan. Birding was hard going during the day it was very hot and august is a bit early for much migration to have occurred. The resident birds seemed thin on the ground and very quiet at this time of year. I suspect this year if we had delayed our holiday by just 1 week it would have been better as some migration was evident on the morning of our last day.

MOTH/BUTTERFLY SPECIES RECORDED
No. Moth/Butterfly Species Comments
1 Problepsis ocellata A stunner see photo
2 Oak Hook-tip Recorded most nights
3 European Corn-borer Recorded most nights
4 Palpita vitrealis More attracted to lit pool than moth trap
5 Endrotricha flammealis Every night at patio lights and trap
6 Chlorissa etruscaria 1 trapped
7 Blair's Mocha Seen most nights
8 Clay Triple-lines 1 trapped
9 Scopula submutata 1 trapped
10 Idaea filicata Most nights at patio lights
11 Idaea rhodogrammaria Most nights at patio lights
12 Galium Carpet 1 fished from pool
13 Yellow shell 1 fished from pool
14 Dark Umber 1 trapped
15 Lime-speck Pug Most nights at patio lights
16 Double-striped Pug Most nights at patio lights
17 Treble-bar 1 fished from pool
18 Charissa mucidarius 1 trapped
19 Death's Head Hawkmoth 1 trapped
20 Hummingbird Hawkmoth Common around the island
21 Ruby Tiger 2 trapped on first night only
22 Heart & Dart 1 trapped
23 Dark Sword-grass 1 trapped
24 Noctua interposita Several trapped
25 Langmaid's Yellow Underwing 1 trapped
26 Eutelia adulatrix 1 found inside house
27 Tree-lichen Beauty The most common macro by far
28 Pale-shouldered Cloud Common trapped most nights
29 Pale Mottled Willow Common trapped most nights
30 Bordered Straw 1 at patio lights
31 Purple Marbled Quite common
32 Pale Shoulder Several trapped
33 Scarce Silver-lines Seen most nights
34 Catocala nymphaea Only 1 trapped
35 Four-spotted 2 Trapped
36 Zethes insularis Identified with the help of leps.it, this moth is rarely seen with the larval stage and food plant unknown.
1 Swallowtail Butterfly Only seen occasionally all worn
2 Scarce Swallowtail More common than Swallowtail some very worn
3 Large White Very Common seen everywhere
4 Small White Very Common seen everywhere
5 Clouded Yellow Only 1 seen at Petros River
6 Wall Brown Seen once in garden very worn
7 Small Copper Seen once in garden
8 Small Blue Seen once in garden
9 Holly Blue Only 1 seen at Petros River
Problepsis ocellata
Problepsis ocellata.

Chlorissa etruscaria
Chlorissa etruscaria.

Blair's Mocha
Blair's Mocha.

Scopula submutata
Scopula submutata.

Charissa mucidarius
Charissa mucidarius.

Death's Head Hawkmoth
Death's Head Hawkmoth.
BIRD SPECIES RECORDED
No. Bird Species Comments
1 Little Grebe Small flock of about 10 on Lake Kourna
2 Black-necked Grebe 1 or possibly 2 on Lake Kourna
3 Cormorant 1 off Amoudi beach
4 Little Egret 3 at Lake Kourna
5 Glossy Ibis 31 off Rethymno beach
6 Greylag Goose Feral flock at Lake Kourna
7 Black Kite 1 on pylon west of Rethymno
8 Griffin Vulture At least 10 soaring together over Kourtaliotiko gorge
9 Common Buzzard Seen daily
10 Kestrel Seen occasionally
11 Elenora's Falcon 1 dark form appeared to come off the sea near Rethymno and go south
12 Moorhen Several seen at lake Kourna
13 Coot At lake Kourna
14 Yellow-legged Gull At Heraklion airport and Rethymno beach
15 Rock Dove Kourtaliotiko and Kotsiphos gorges
16 Woodpigeon Seen most days
17 Collared Dove Seen everyday at villa
18 Turtle Dove Reassuringly common
19 Common Swifts Over villa most days
20 Pallid Swift With Crag Martins at Asomatos
21 Alpine Swift 1 over villa and several at the coast near Moni Prevelli
22 Kingfisher At the coast at Amoudi beach
23 Hoopoe 3 seen at villa
24 Short-toed Lark 1 on the coast path near Damnoni
25 Crested Lark Seen occasionally
26 Crag Martin Flock near Asomatos
27 Barn Swallow Common
28 Wren Heard near the villa
29 Black-eared Wheatear A target bird only seen on the last day
30 Blue Rock Thrush Kourtaliotiko and Kotsiphos gorges
31 Blackbird Quite common
32 Sardinian Warbler Seen and heard every day
33 Chiffchaff 1 seen in olive tree by villa
34 Spotted Flycatcher Common seen all over the island
35 Blue Tit Seen every day
36 Great Tit Seen every day
37 Red-billed Chough Kourtaliotiko gorge
38 Jackdaw Quite common
39 Hooded Crow Commonest corvid on Crete
40 Raven Kourtaliotiko gorge
41 Spanish Sparrow Seen daily around villa
41 Chaffinch Quite common
42 Greenfinch Very common
43 Goldfinch Very common
Pale-shouldered Cloud
Pale-shouldered Cloud.

Pale Shoulder
Pale Shoulder.

Eutelia adulatrix
Eutelia adulatrix.

Zethes insularis
Zethes insularis.

Turtle Dove
Turtle Dove, still common on Crete.
Juvenile Swallow on its way to Africa for the first time
Juvenile Swallow on its way to Africa for the first time.
Spotted Flycatcher, still common on Crete
Spotted Flycatcher, still common on Crete.


Also noted odonata mostly around lake Kourna, the largest permanent fresh water on the island. Small Blue-tailed Damselfly, Cretan Blue Damselfly, Black-tailed Skimmer all over the lake, Scarlet Darter, Southern Migrant Hawker, Eastern Willow Damselfly and Lesser Emperor at the sluice, left hand end of the beach, furthest end from the main entrance. Also at the lake Land Crab, Dice Snake and Striped-necked Terrapin.

Erhards Wall Lizard took advantage of my moth trap to feast and I nearly ran over a Balkan Green Lizard in the car. We thought we saw wild Goat but just because they aren't wearing bells doesn't make them wild!!



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Last updated 25.6.2007 James Payne 2006