The Livadi Marshes are on the West side of Kefalonia, at the top of the large bay with Argostoli and Lixouri, on either side. It is the best place to observe wildlife on the island and I try to get there as much as possible, but it is a 90-minute drive from our little cottage and the pension only stretches so far. We have had to go to Argostoli a few times recently to arrange Biometric residency cards and have the covid vaccinations, and so, as we are over halfway there, I had managed to persuade Simone to allow me a few visits. The video shows the marshes and a working quarry on the other side, so there is a bit of heavy traffic occasionally.
Marsh birds and raptors are what I look forward to, especially the hen harriers that live there. I spotted the hen harrier almost as soon as I got there, but it was far away and so I concentrated on 2 birds a bit closer. The first was a rock sparrow which I had never seen before and the second bird was something I had never heard of, a zitting cisticola or fan-tailed warbler to you and me. With reasonable photos of these 2 newbies, I walked around trying to see the harriers, but they were keeping their distance. I did spot a peregrine carrying a young moorhen to a nest, but it was too far away to spot any young peregrines. Simone was sunbathing on the seaward side of the marsh and so I continued around the marsh trying to spot raptors.
The sun was beating down and the temperature was creeping into the 40’s, and so very few birds were flying. So, snakes it is. I searched the road verges for any movement, as I walked around the edge of the marsh, hoping to capture a snake before it slithered away. As I was approaching the quarry, I saw movement at the edge of the marsh. There were 2 terrapins and a tortoise scampering away. The terrapins got into the water and the tortoise went into the reeds before I could get a shot. Now, not being quick enough to take a photo of a tortoise is a little embarrassing, but in my defence, it was quite close to the reeds, and I believe it was related to Mo Farah. I had not managed to photograph any terrapins or tortoises on the island before, and here they were waiting for me.
I stayed there quietly, for half an hour and managed to get photos of the terrapins. Both resident species were in this stretch of the marshes, the European pond and the Balkan terrapin. Unfortunately, the turbo charged tortoise did not return, but I was very happy with the days haul of 4 new species for the website.
My next visit was uneventful, again the temperature was in the 40’s, so very little bird activity and a few long shots of terrapins, no tortoise!