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.

Chlorissa etruscaria.

Blair's Mocha.

Scopula submutata.

Charissa mucidarius.

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 Shoulder.

Eutelia adulatrix.

Zethes insularis.

Turtle Dove, still common on Crete.

Juvenile Swallow on its way to Africa for the first time.
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