Back in 1994 we booked a last minute cheap holiday on Ceefax to the Greek island of Aegina, we flew in and out of Athens and caught a ferry to and from Aegina and had a great time. We even took the ferry back to Athens for a day trip and visited The Acropolis but didn't have time to visit the National Archaeological Musuem (N.A.M), we've really wanted to return since and 2024 was to be the year we finally did.
We headed off to Heathrow Airport on Tuesday 24th September for an overnight stay before flying out to Athens the next morning. We arrived in Athens late on Wednesday 25th September, stayed overnight and spent the next morning visiting the National Aecheological Musueum, it was as good as we had anticipated and worth the wait with some wonderful artefacts on show. We then headed down to Piraeus in the afternoon to catch the catamaran over to Aegina where we stayed in the village of Perdika before returning to Athens on Tuesday 1st October for another overnight stay and then flying home the next day.
I hadn't expected to see much in the way of wildlife on our trip but I was pleasantly surprised. In Athens the only birds I saw were Feral Pigeons, Collared Doves, Monk Parakeets and House Sparrows but down at Piraeus as we boarded the catamaran to Aegina a Hooded Crow flew overhead and a few Yellow-legged Gulls were seen loafing about. On our previous visit I had seen Yelkouan Shearwaters from the ferry but this time viewing from the wet and salt encrusted windows of the catamaran was tricky and there was no outside access to be had, despite this I did see a Scopoli's Shearwater flushed off the water in front of the catamaran before resettling on the sea as we passed by.
Perdika was lovely and we had a very relaxed time there. Around the hotel there were Collared Doves, Sardinian Warblers and House Sparrows with a Great Tit, a Magpie, a Spotted Flycatcher and Blackbirds also seen. Yellow-legged Gulls and Hooded Crows regularly flew over and a pair of Raven were occassionally seen flying over too while Crested Larks were occassionally heard calling nearby. Butterflies were flitting about the flowers in the garden and were a swine to photograph in the heat but included Lang's-Short-tailed Blue and Geranium Bronze while a Hummingbird Hawkmoth was also noted. Not so nice were the numerous Mosquitoes that tried to eat us alive around the swimming pool!
I managed to drag myself out of bed at dawn on Saturday 28th September and took a walk around Perdika harbour and out to an overgrown headland which used to belong to the Greek Navy. It was supposedly out of bounds but locals were jogging and walking their dogs there and so I went for a look about.
A Spotted Flycatcher, Chiffchaffs, Sardininan Warblers, Crested Larks, 2+ Blue Rock Thrush, a pair of Stonechat, 2 Swallows and a Kingfisher were all noted along with Yellow-legged Gulls, Hooded Crows, Magpies, House Sparrows, Shags and Collared Doves. A few butterflies were seen flitting by but were too quick to ID and there were quite a few Red-veined Darters also seen warming up in the morning sunshine.
Offshore small fishing boats were gathering in the distance and surfacing close nearby were 8+ Bottle-nosed Dolphins. A Scopoli's Shearwater was seen flying alongside them but even better was a Seal poking its head out of the water, at the time I didn't think much of it but on checking out the ID books I realised it was a Monk Seal, a rare pinniped indeed, and I really wished it had been a bit closer to shore and had been visible at the surface for longer.
I was up at dawn again the next day for another walk around the harbour and headland, the usual birds were present including 2+ Great Tit, 2 Spotted Flycatchers and 3 Stonechat (a male and 2 females) and I also found a nice Whinchat. A White Wagtail flying over was heard but not seen but sadly there was no sign of any Dolphins or Seals on this days walk.
We had a mini-tour around the island on Monday 30th September, it was very interesting and just right at 4 hours long with visits to the abandoned village of Palaiochora and the Temple of Aphia included along the way. I had hoped for some more wildlife sightings but nothing new was seen along our journey although there were Scopoli's Shearwaters passing by close to the shore on the north side of the island in a stiff onshore breeze which was nice to see and a flowering Cyclamen in a brown and arid landscape was a splash of colour.
It was back to Athens on Tuesday 1st October and while waiting for the catamaran at Aegina Town to take us back to Piraeus a ferry boat came in to the quay with a flurry of seabirds behind it, I thought they were going to be Yellow-legged Gulls but they turned out to be Scopoli's Shearwaters. As the ferry docked the Shearwaters dissipated back out to sea and later as we sailed across The Saronic Gulf on the catamaran to Piraeus I saw a few Scopoli's Shearwaters flying by. On arriving at Piraeus there were issues with our transfer to the hotel and while I was on the phone trying to sort it out a Plain Tiger butterfly flew over my head.
We spent our last afternoon wandering around the Roman Agora and the Ancient Agora in Athens, again I wasn't expecting much but I managed to see a Robin, 2+ Jays, a Spotted Flycatcher, Monk Parakeets, a Scarce Swallowtail, Marginated Tortoises and Oriental Hornets as we admired the ruins.
It was back to the UK on Wednesday 2nd October after an enjoyable trip, we were plagued with the usual health issues while away and I hadn't been very well at all beforehand and very nearly cancelled but we had a really good time - sunshine, great wine, great food, history, ruins, good company and 24 species of birds seen, what's not to like?
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