Delphi

& The Southern Pindhos

A Greentours Reconnaissance Report

27th – 31st October 2013

by Ian Green

Day 1 October 27th to Delphi

It was a warm sunny day in Athens when I landed at around one in the afternoon. Car quickly collected I was soon off onto the motorway that takes one painlessly and swiftly past Athens's conurbation. I then headed through Livadia towards the great hulk of Mount Parnassos to the west. A couple of Buzzards made me stop and whilst watching them fly against a hillside I realised that there was quite a spectacle behind them. In fact I think it is quite possibly the greatest display of autumn bulbs that I have ever seen! I spent a happy hour or so wandering amid a tremendous scene. The limestone rocks and the field edges were ablaze with yellow Sternbergia sicula. Clumps had up to forty or even fifty flowers each and the clumps were endless. Scattered amongst them was the unusual aroid Biarum tenuiflorum with its slender pale spikes set in narrow dark purple spathes. Little Scilla autumnalis was frequent, and so too the neat little Cyclamen hederifolium. Butterflies were all over the place, mostly Red Admirals, Common Blues and Clouded Yellows, but also included a fine little Olive Skipper.

Then it was westwards into the setting sun, and I soon arrived into Arachova, a pretty little town on the flanks of Parnassus and then found the delightfully situated Nefeles Hotel, which will certainly make a good base for the tour.

Day 2 October 28th Koutsourou Monastery

This morning was again bright and cheery. I wanted to explore areas westwards today, so headed down to the coast at Galaxidhi and thence along the north shores of the Gulf of Corinth, the mountains of the Peloponnese shining across the sea. The roads were quiet and the scenery sublime, lit here and there by the candles of Urginia maritima standing tall amongst the garrigue. A road pass took me up to a reasonable height quickly from Eratini and I soon started to find an abundance of autumn flowers. Most notable was what was initially a scattering of Crocus hadriaticus with pure white goblets and finely split orange stigmas. This was growing with a fine little Colchicum which turned out to be a surprise. The pink starry flowers and the greyish anthers seemed to suggest that this is Colchicum peloponnesiacum an idea supported by the little flowers groups having leaves already – these notably glaucous – though these could just be another form of Colchicum cupanii. There were fine stands of Bellis sylvestris here too. A Sparrowhawk sped low across the garrigue and a Blue Rock Thrush sang from a rock. Nearby two Common Buzzards sailed over as I stopped to photograph and wonderful bank of Cyclamen Greentours Natural History Holidays www.greentours.co.uk 1 hederifolium, these coming in all shades of pink, the gorgeously patterned leaves only just emerging. A field next to this had a good display of Crocuses. This was a mixture of the white Crocus hadriaticus and the blue-etched flowers of Crocus cancellatus subspecies maaziaricus.

I took a road to the superbly located Koutsourou Monastery perched on a lookout with sweeping panoramas of the Gulf of Corinth and the Peloponnesian mountains beyond. Along the roadside were swathes of Crocus hadriaticus and in open spots Colchicum peloponnesiacum (or Colchicum cupanii?) was frequent too. Up by the monastery was the most unusual bellflower, Campanula versicolor. Many of the tall spikes had already finished however there were a few in flower. Nearby was a flower of Dianthus haemetocalyx.

Day 3 October 29th Mornos Valley

I checked out the shores of Mornos Reservoir looking for Colchicum bivonae but with no luck. There were lots of birds though with Cirl Buntings and Black Redstarts joining a flock of Chaffinches along with Song Thrushes and Blackbirds. A flock of Pygmy Cormorants flew past.

Further around the lake, close to the dam was a superb shaley slope covered in a magnificent display of Epilobium fleisheri. This robust willowherb forms dense clumps a metre high, covered in a mass of rich pink flowers, each around 2cm across. A bee hawkmoth was visiting one clump.

Further along I spotted a Crocus robertianus under some trees and further along still plenty of the same crocus under a mix of Acer platanoides, Platanus orientalis, Cotinus coggygria, Quercus species and hawthorns. Indeed the woodlands around this area were most stunning, the autumn colours fully on show with reds, yellows and oranges amid the greens. An area of open woodland harboured a strong population if the little ladies tresses, Spiranthes spiralis. Returning I watched a Beech Marten saunter across the road and after dark a Red Fox too.

Day 4 October 30th Delphi

The hotel once again provided a sumptuous breakfast and so then it was out into the warm autumn sunshine. My first stop was along the coast where a nice little rocky gorge ran up behind the road from the sea. A quiet tarmac road allowed easy walking and though the only flowers were a few Cyclamen hederifolium there was plenty of fauna about. The flocks of Chaffinches had Linnets and Greenfinches, Goldfinches and Cirl Buntings with them. Western Rock Nuthatches called stridently from both rocks and bushes and a Sardinian Warbler scolded me before diving into some Lentisc. A superb Firecrest allowed prolonged and good views from a small oak. There were lots of grasshoppers, beetles and spiders, and butterflies were everywhere. Red Admirals were really common, so too Clouded Yellows, but there were other species too such as the fast- flying Pygmy Skipper.

Up at Delphi I started noticing Colchicums on the roadside. These were the delicate Colchicum cupanii, an elegant little species with nice bright pink flowers that are either star-shaped or goblet- shaped, often in the same population. Growing with them were quite a bit of Crocus hadriaticus as well as Scilla autumnalis and Calaminthas.

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I took a look at Delphi itself. It is a most impressive site, fantastically situated with great views of the valleys below Parnassus. Impressive cliffs loom over the site providing a great backdrop for photographing the many columns, walls and remains of ancient buildings. Western Rock Nuthatches and Blue Rock Thrushes stood on the top rocks of the beautifully sited amphitheatre whilst Redstarts shivered their tails from the pines. Up at the top of the site there were significant colonies of Sternbergia lutea, and I found the pretty little Campanula topaliana subspecies delphica flowering in a gap between cut stones. The 'pitch' in the stadium was littered with Colchicum cupanii though unfortunately due to some archaeological dig currently under way I was not allowed in to photograph them! No problem, as there were quite a few flowers of this Colchicum along the pathways nearby but what was the large deep pink-purple flowered Colchicum I could see through binoculars there? I presume it was Colchicum bivonae but we'll have to wait until the tour to check!

I popped into Arachova to look at hotels and also for my evening meal. A very pleasant restaurant in the town square provided decent food and excellent tea and I had a quick wander. Being close to Delphi it is a very touristy place but the streets are pretty and shops many, varied and small, so a good spot for a bit of shopping.

Day 5 October 31st Mount Parnassos

The road from here up into the mountains takes one up above the cliffs topping Delphi. The views become more and more impressive across the olive-clad valleys to the sea and over to the mountains of the northern Peloponnese which looked fabulous today. A montane basin has many new houses along the road, these all stone built or at least stone clad and above them I could see a wide band of Grecian Fir forest and then above that the bare slopes of Parnassus itself. The road to the ski stations wound up through this forest, now the views were to the west and Mount Giona and the province of Evrytania, and the ridges I could see blued into the distance. The amount of forest I could see was staggering, a wonderful sight. Mistle Thrushes flew across the road and there were flocks of finches and buntings feeding in open areas. Common Buzzards and Sparrowhawks were a frequent sight. I was searching for a particular Colchicum so I stopped a number of times and walked tracks through the beautiful fir forest, but no sign of any pink flowers. Up at the ski station itself there was at this time of year no sign of life either human or flower, though above I could see a big flock of Alpine Chough wheeling around the nearest high places. A walk around these slopes on the tour should yield Rock Partridge and Alpine Accentor but I had no time for this as I still needed to find a location for that flower! Moving back downhill I tried yet another spot and at last, as I walked through a narrow gap between hills in the most sublime scenery there they were, the deep magenta-pink flowers of Colchicum boissieri. There were a goodly number of them, all strongly coloured and quite large and with a hint of spotting or tessellation about them. As I spent some time photographing them a loose party of Goldcrests moved through.

Time now for heading off to the airport and further reconnaissance work further south. I drove eastwards noting a colourful slope near Distomo with lots of Erica manipuliflora in flower and Cotinus coggygria in autumn red. I stopped again to check the amazing displays of Sternbergias and Cyclamens I had found on the first day but the light was fading fast now. There were large numbers of finches and buntings, thrushes and warblers going to sleep in the bushes now. The

Greentours Natural History Holidays www.greentours.co.uk 3 airport I reached in very good time from here, the motorway through Athens hardly busy and getting one through the conurbation with a minimum of fuss.

Day 6 November 1st Rhodos

The scene at the Hotel in Rhodos old town was reminiscent of the 1950s or 1960s, the appearance of the breakfast room, the way the waiters were carrying themselves and the interestingly mixed people that were staying here. Clearly the older 'Mediterranean' style tourism is not dead. Across the road early sunbathers were already out on the beach as Yellow-legged Gulls flew along the shore brilliantly lit by an already hot morning sun.

Stuffed to the gunnels with the hotel's hearty breakfast I headed through the port area of the town. Rhodos old town is well worth a visit. The ancient walls are impressive, so too mediaeval citadel built by the Knights Hospitaller. And the port has both a rich variety of traffic from cruise liners the size of small towns to tiny fishing boats and also an abundance of ferries taking one to all sorts of islands as well as Marmaris and Fethiye in Turkey. I headed up into the hills and once away from the coast the trappings of tourism departed quickly. Rhodos may be heaving in the summer but in spring and autumn even the coastal areas are pretty quiet.

I stopped at a view point where the convoluted landscape was covered in woodland as it descended to the sea. The roadside banks here had a great display of Strawberry Tree in colourful fruit. There must have been Two-tailed Pashas about somewhere? Chaffinches, Greenfinches and Sardinian Warblers there were. A stunning little Crocus was found along the roadside too, the pretty blue-lilac goblets with a bright orange almost red stigma strongly divided and with the base of the tepals yellow. This was Crocus tournefortii, a very lovely endemic of the East Aegean.

Moving on I came to the 'butterfly' valley at Peta Loudhes. In high summer this site plays host to a vast resting population of Jersey Tiger Moths in its shaded valley but at this season there are none. However the site is deeply shaded with the stream providing humidity and so the vegetation is both unusual and beautiful. The stream is lined with a woodland dominated by really quite large Liquiambar orientalis trees, these not yet quite in full brilliant gold autumn colour, though the Oriental Plane trees were already good and yellow. There were also ancient Cornus mas with hollowed trunks and Privets with the largest most contorted trunks I have ever seen. They were joined by the smooth twirling trunks and branches of giant Strawberry Trees. The rocky ravine itself was most beautiful with the mossy boulders decked out in Maidenhair Fern and Selaginella. Very photographable. There were Wall Browns and Robins, Blackbirds and Wrens! Most un-Mediterranean, but a beautiful spot.

Day 7 November 2nd Aghios Nikolaos Fountoukli

I headed further south towards the Aghios Nikolaos Fountoukli monastery. Here Jays and Buzzards were common. On the steep roadside banks were plenty more of the lovely Crocus tournefortii growing here in clumps and looking beautiful nestled amongst the moss and rocks.

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