# Thrasops' Corfu Diary



## Thrasops (Apr 15, 2008)

I am currently on holiday here in Corfu so thought I would keep a diary of the interesting herps and other creature I see. Bear in mind I am going with my girlfriend who, while extremely tolerant of my little hobbies, has informed me she is not prepared to spend the entire holiday waist deep in bushes or scabbling about rocky slopes hunting reptiles, so I won't be spending as much time herping as usual. This, combined with the fact we won't have a car means I might not see as many species as usual this trip... but we will see... historically May has always proven to be a fruitful time of year to visit!


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## Thrasops (Apr 15, 2008)

*Day 1 - Moraitika and Mesonghi*

Well, we arrived at 10:15 local time, weather was very pleasant, temps were 22C. As far as I am concerned, 22-23C is ideal weather as all the herps are out and it isn't too hot to hike around. Once the really high temps set in it gets too hot and much less comes out, which is why May is such a good month to come as you get the best of both worlds.

The airport here is beautiful, the runway is set near a couple of lakes and wild fields that I would LOVE to have a rummage around.

Got to our apartment at Moraitika and within literally 30 seconds I had found two _Algyroides nigropunctatus_ (Dalmatian Algyroides), a small Lacertid about the size of a Wall Lizard but with extremely keeled scales and a more uniform brown colour. Juveniles and females look quite drab from above, but males are scintillating as they have red flanks and blue thoats/ sides of head.















































We were both a little tired from travelling all-night (the flight was at 05.00 and since there are no trains early enough to get as there for check-in we had to stay the night at the airport... some travellers (my Mum included) easily develop the knack of falling asleep in airport lounges, personally I can never do this as I am too excited, so I didn't sleep at all until the following night). So we agreed to restrict ourselves to exploring the immediate area around the hotel to find the good shops, restaurants and bathing spots.

A walk around Moraitika itself and up to the nearby Mesonghi revealed a few curios. Of course the Dalmatian Algyroides were _everywhere,_ you can barely go a few feet without seeing one on the quieter roads that border gardens and wild places, and even on the main street they are present.

Here a big and beautifully coloured male basks along side his female.



















As we were watching, a smaller lizard, probably a young male yet to develop breeding colours, appeared from the other side of the tree stump and the male duly kicked him out of his territory.










King of the Castle!



















Here are some more Algyroides we saw throughout the day. As I said, these lizards are everywhere here... Corfu and some of the other Greek Islands are some of the few places in Mediterranean Europe where _Podarcis_ (Wall Lizards) are not the most conspicuous small lizards. There are _P. taurica ionica_ (Balkan Wall Lizards) here, but they are nowhere near as widespread or common as the _Algyroides nigropunctatus_ and even where they do occur they tend to inhabit a more terrestrial mode of life than other _Podarcis_. Dalmatian Algyroides, on the other hand, are found in all locations, for example:

Garden walls










Building sites










Beaches










Olive groves










And so on.


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## Thrasops (Apr 15, 2008)

More _Algyroides nigropuntatus_


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## Thrasops (Apr 15, 2008)

We also found a small Greek Slow Worms (_Anguis graeca_) by flipping over some pieces of cardboard and wooden sheets. It took some effort to convince Jenny it was in fact a lizard and not a snake, but she was more than happy to hold the "tickle snake" as she dubbed it...



















As we were flipping objects we also found quite a few large centipedes, which are worryingly common here, most were around 1cm wide and maybe 6" long, but a couple were even larger.



















As I was taking photos of this one, a smaller (non-related) centipede that had been disturbed by me turning over the wooden sheet came within its reach and the larger centipede grabbed and started eating it!



















You can see the smaller centipede here grasped in between the large ones claws and legs.










There were also some large ground beetles here and there, one came within strike range of the feeding centipede and did elicit a response, but it was only momentary and the centipede seemed to decide not to bother and continue eating its more manageable meal...



















Here is the habitat we found the slow worms in.










I caught a fleeting glimpse of what I think was a baby Balkan Green Lizard (_Lacerta trilineata_) but it fled too quickly for me to get a photo. There was also one snake sighting (if it can be called a sighting) of the tail of a small, thin snake disappearing silently into a bush... my guess would be Dahl's Whip Snake but I didn't see enough of it to be sure.

Returning to the apartment we decide to go for a dip in the sea, which was as flat as a mirror and very refreshing. The Greek mainland is clearly visible.

Unfortunately the beach near our apartment is sandy and so shallow you can walk about a hundred metres out to sea and still be waist deep, so not particularly goo for snorkelling. Luckily we found a better place with rocks ten minutes walk away.


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## Thrasops (Apr 15, 2008)

At our apartment the bird life is amazing and enjoyable to watch, we have swallows nesting above our balcony and they spend all day long dipping in and out of the pool, perching on our washing line and chattering away with their delightful trills, clicks and whistles.














































Having a good scratch... you can see its obvious enjoyment ("ahhhhhhhh")










We also have House Martins using the lights not six feet away for their own nests...










And a Great Tit nesting in a hole further along the wall, that we watched bring all manner of caterpillars to as we sunbathed by the pool.










In the evening we went to the Tassa village grill for a slap-up meal, for about ten euros each I had a steak the size of a brick and Jenny had a mixed grill with so much meat we were not able to finish it off (and that is saying something!). On the way back down to the apartment, night had fallen and hundreds of fireflies were dancing everywhere, a beautiful and ethereal sight. I manage to catch one and let it go in the room, and its little flashes helped lull us to sleep.


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## Thrasops (Apr 15, 2008)

*Day 2 - Moraitika*

Well, this morning is cold, cloudy and raining (as had been forecasted) so we took the opportunity to sleep in and will probably just be kicking about Moraitika today.

Corfu is by far the greenest of the Ionian islands precisely because it has unpredictable weather, normally it is very warm and pleasant but these showers do come and go, especially in Spring. However this is one of the reasons the island is so green and has such a large biodiversity (in a similar way to Gibraltar with it _Levanter_ rain shadow effect) so a few days of shower and cloud can be excused if it means more reptile occur here!

Hopefully this evening there will be some amphibian out and about and I can put my Fenix torches to the test when I go and try to track down the tree frogs I heard calling last night. Also hoping to find some Green toads (_Pseudepidalea viridis_)!


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## Thrasops (Apr 15, 2008)

So today the weather was kind of crappy - as had been forecast - but that is fine as after a day or two of inclement weather it is often easy to see reptiles basking when the sun comes out. Tomorrow is predicted to be stormy again but from next week onwards it will be bright and sunny.

However we did go out for a long walk from Moraitika down past Messonghi beach this afternoon and stayed out until midnight with the lantern following the sound of tree frogs. It was a pleasant evening with temperatures at around 16C so not cold.

By Messonghi beach we found a dead juvenile Four-Lined Snake (_Elaphe quatuorlineata_) on the pavement. A guy had found it in his car and, mistaking it for a viper, had squashed it. He saw us looking at it and explained this to us. A real shame as it was a beautiful specimen but, although I hate the mindless killing of snakes, I can sort of understand his panic upon finding what he thought was a deadly snake in his vehicle!



















This is the Messonghi river, which we followed a little way. There were plenty of fish, but as there was no sun we saw no terrapins or water snakes, we will go again when it is sunny.










And near the river's mouth:



















After darkness feel we got the torch out, it was raining but there were no frogs or toads on the road, although the sound of tree frogs were everywhere. A couple of hedgehogs scurried out of our way and there were loads of bats zipping about around the street lights (drawn by moths that are in turn drawn by the light).



















This is what Fireflies look like in the light - actually a type of beetle.



















Finally we tracked the sounds of tree frogs to an abandoned swimming pool and there got our first look at them up close.

European Tree Frog (_Hyla arborea_)




























Interestingly, the tree frogs here lack the dark stripe on the flank and some have spots on their back.


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## Thrasops (Apr 15, 2008)

I have just discovered what is making the calls here at night that sound like the "ping" from a sonar... SCOPS OWLS! There are loads here as we have been hearing them everywhere!!


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## colinm (Sep 20, 2008)

I hope that you are having a good holiday Francis. I take it that your holiday reading includes "My family and other animals".


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## Thrasops (Apr 15, 2008)

colinm said:


> I hope that you are having a good holiday Francis. I take it that your holiday reading includes "My family and other animals".


It is great thanks! I am very behind in updating this thread!

Haha I know _My Family and Other Animals_ by heart, it is one of if not my favourite books of all time... I didn't need to bring it, although since we have been here I keep mentioning things relevant to the book to my girlfriend and now she is dying to read it, having tasted the delights of Corfu for herself!


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