I spent the next few weeks trying to photograph the warblers, but I was unsuccessful. I got a grainy shot of the subalpine which I will not be posting. I did move further down the valley and saw a pair of subalpine warblers’ nest building but when I returned, they had changed venues.
Simone fancied a walk along a beach, and as we are now allowed to drive to somewhere we can exercise, we went to Mouda beach. I managed to spot lots of interesting insects, mainly different species of cricket and a few nice butterflies, but the highlight for me was seeing the bee-eaters again. They have returned from Africa and were hawking around the cliffs where they usually nest.
On our way home, we stopped at the weir. When we first saw our cottage, I was happy to see a weir within walking distance from our new home. That first visit was pretty special as I saw a terrapin chilling in the run-off from the weir. Now, if we are passing, we stop, hoping to spot it again. So, after a successful jaunt to the beach we stop to see if the terrapins have returned. The first thing I notice is there are no terrapins below the weir, but when I look up, I spot a grass snake hunting amongst the weeds. I shouted for Simone to come and see and spent the next quarter of an hour taking photos of this beautiful reptile. My first Kefalonian snake, and an incredibly happy photographer. Even the marsh frogs were in evidence, but they were keeping a wary eye on the snake.
I have been visiting the weir every morning since then, but no more snakes. I spent a while photographing, what I think was a sedge warbler, and there are Cetti’s warblers and nightingales singing all around the weir. Once when we stopped at the weir on the way home, Simone was out of the car before I had retrieved my camera and she frightened away a night heron. I was surprised that there were not more herons or egrets around as there are a lot of frogs here. The night heron played with me for the next week. I would sneak slowly towards where we had seen it and it would be off before I could get a good shot, I could fill several books with shots of birds’ bums, and them flying away! Sometimes, after virtually crawling to the weir I would discover it was not there. So after about a week, we were returning home from a walk and Simone suggested a little detour to the weir. We got there, I checked for terrapins, but no joy and I was just telling Simone it was a wasted trip when she pointed straight down from where she was standing at the weirs edge. There, behind a pillar was the night heron. I slowly manoeuvred the camera up to my eye and got a couple of shots. It then walked out, and I got some great close ups. What a stunning bird, a second-year bird, according to the bible, so not quite an adult, but gorgeous none the less.
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