Crete in October 2: the spectacular coastline around Loutro

Colchium macrophyllum

Writing my first blog about Crete yesterday, I was excited to find out about the extinct endemic dwarf deer of  Crete, some with the incredibly long antlers, and depicted many times in the Asphendou cave. So were there any endemic birds around back then?, or any subspecies that have survived to the present day.  Apparently, there are two recognised extant Cretan bird subspecies - of the Great Tit and Jay, and there was an endemic owl, Athene cretensis, a relative of the Little Owl, which became extinct when humans arrived.

Porto Loutro at sunrise

Anyway, back to the lovely resort of Loutro on the south coast of Crete.  Typical birds around the settlement were Italian Sparrows and Collared Doves, and just beyond in the scrubby hillsides were Sardinian Warblers and Stonechats.  Blue Rock Thrushes were also common, especially along the coast.  A few warblers were passing through, I noted both Willow and Garden. Surprisingly, one of the most commonly encountered birds was the Kingfisher - several birds were feeding around the rocky coastline, sometimes perched on the small boats moored at the jetty in Loutro.  Crag Martins were quite common along the coastal cliffs, in small flocks.

The birding highlight though was the regular sight of several Griffon Vultures soaring above the hillside that overlooks Loutro Bay.  They were often joined by Ravens and Buzzards and on our last morning, by a pair of Bonelli's Eagles.  The peak count I made was of forty birds.  This represents about 10% of the Cretan Griffon Vulture population, which in turn is 70-80% of the Greek population.  I assume their main diet is goat, as they are by far the most common mammal grazing the hillsides; there are also quite a few sheep.  There are also "wild" goats introduced by early settlers too.

Griffon Vultures soaring high above Loutro

The coastline is spectacular, with many caves, multi-coloured cliffs and remote pebble beaches.

Natural arch near Hora Sfakion

Coastline east of Loutro

Sweetwater Beach between Loutro and Sfakia, a spring behind the beach is used to pipe drinking water to Loutro

Coastal caves just east of Hora Sfakion

Above the cliffs, arid limestone "phrygana" supports a few plants and even a few trees.  Most spectacular and surprisingly abundant was the Sea Squill.

Sea Squill

 

Most of the week the White Mountains, that rise above the lower hills, were covered in cloud, but on the last couple of days they revealed themselves.  One of our fellow swim-trekkers is a mountain guide in Scotland and explored these mountains for a few days before joining in the swimming.  He has written a great blog about his adventure.

Hora Sfakion with the White Mountains in the distance.

Butterflies were not numerous but included a few I've not seen before, as well as the always welcome Swallowtail and Clouded Yellow:

Cretan Greyling

Lang's Short-tailed Blue

Pale Clouded Yellow

Clouded Yellow

Swallowtail

Also, the impressive Carpenter Bee was attracted to pot plants at a taverna:

A couple of half-day swims gave time off in the afternoon to explore inland a bit more.  A walk up the Aradena Gorge behind Marmara Beach was particularly impressive: towering walls of orange limestone with vultures soaring above.  In the sandy soils of the gorge, a single clump of the beautiful Colchium macrophyllum was in full bloom.  Further up the gorge were quite a number of lovely yellow stenbergia flowers.

Aradena Gorge viewed from the sea

Colchium macrophyllum

Aradena Gorge

Stenbegria

The second walk followed the coast from Aghios Roumeli (where the famous Samaria Gorge meets the coast) back to Loutro.  This was an excellent walk with spectacular scenery and some welcome shade from a forest of pine trees.  Overhead, again, were Griffon Vultures, but also a couple of Golden Eagles - an adult and an immature bird circling together above the graggy hilltop.

Coast near Cape Plaka - nice the see pine trees thriving here despite the presence of goats

Golden Eagles, the immature bird has extensive white on wings and base of tail.

We enjoyed a fabulous week - a very enjoyable time swimming with some lovely people, superb Cretan cuisine, and a great insight into the natural history of Crete. I'd love to make another visit - next time in the "first"spring.

Sunrise at Loutro

Sunrise at Loutro

Sunrise at Loutro

Crete in October 1: flowers of the second "spring"

 

Crete experiences a spring-like burst of plant growth and a second flowering season in the autumn - rainfall dampens the parched ground, triggering many bulbs into life.  By mid-October, the limestone grasslands and rocky slopes have become carpeted in delicate crocuses, narcissus and squills.

An opportunity to find some of these lovely autumn flowers came about when Mark and I decided to book onto a week of swimming along the south coast of Crete with the excellent Swimtrek.  Fortuitously, we were able to meet up with our Cretophile friend Bruce for a couple of days beforehand, and explore an "off the beaten track" walk across the mountains to look for flowers and other wildlife.

On Saturday 13th October we caught an early bus from Chania and an hour or so later jumped off at Askyfou, where an expanse of agricultural fields are surrounded by limestone hills.  It was quite cool and the hills were covered in cloud, but gradually the sun started to break through. 

Hilltop fort

fields near Goni

The fields were full of birds - Cirl and Corn buntings, Stonechats, a Whinchat, Woodlarks and a Red-backed Shrike.  We soon spotted the first of a couple of dozen Griffon Vultures, which were then joined by three Eleonora's Falcons, as well as Common Buzzard, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and Ravens. The track started to lead up a valley between two hills and before long we found a few white crocuses Crocus laevigatus, then more and more - in places carpeting small patches of grass amongst the rocky limestone slopes.

Track leading from Goni to Asphendou

As the mist cleared, Griffon Vultures and other raptors started to appear

Crocus laevigatus

Crocus laevigatus

Crocus laevigatus

A few beautiful daffodils Narcissus serotinus were growing in a couple of places - quite small and very delicate.

Narcissus serotinus

Narcissus serotinus

We continued to scan the skies for raptors - there was a good chance of seeing Bearded Vulture here too.  We were not in luck, but we did see both Peregrine and Golden Eagle.  Flowers continued to appear, including the well-named arum lily, Friar's Cowl, growing beneath an old olive tree. 

Friar's Cowl - an arum lily

Bruce spotted one of just a few of the endemic Cretan colchicum Colchicum cretense.

Colchicum cretense

We then passed through the small village of Asphendou and entered the gorge of the same name, with stunning cliffs.  Many goats graze across the hills of Crete and no doubt have a profound effect of the landscape and ecology, they also keep the numerous dung beetles busy.

A cave nearby has helped to give an amazing insight to the extinct fauna of Crete, which included several species of deer and a dwarf elephant.

view down the gorge

dung beetle

Spiny Chicory

Autumn Buttercup

Autumn Squill

Autumn Squill became more common as we descended through the gorge.

A single specimen of the strange little Cretan Biarum Biarum davisii was growing beside the track but well tucked into the rocks and hard to photograph well.  Endemic to Crete and apparently quite scarce, this arum lily was once use to induce abortion.

Biarum davisii

An hour or so later we left the gorge behind us and had our first views along the south coast of Crete.  It was noticeable how arid the landscape was here.  Recent rains that had brought the hills to life hadn't really reached the south coast and the spring flush of growth was much less evident.  However, it was exciting to see the first few tall and spectacular flowers of the Sea Squill Urginea maritima, a flower that we later found to be abundant along the coast.

Sea Squill

After half an hour we caught a minibus along the coast to Hora Sfakion, then waited for the coastal ferry to arrive which was the cue for the departure of the bus back to Chania - and just time to enjoy a glorious sunset.

Later the following week Bruce caught up with a couple more of the classic autumn flowers of Crete:

Sea Daffodil Pancratium maritium - a classic flower of Cretan beaches in late summer and autumn

Greek Sowbread  - Cyclamen graecum

Cyclamen graecum

My second blog about Crete will cover the south coast around Porto Loutro, our base for the swimming holiday.