www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

What follows is a trip report for my recent visit to the Northern and Central Peloponnese in Greece in search of butterflies from 28th June to 8th July 2012. It will begin with an overview of the trip and some key logistics information, and then continue with day-by-day accounts, photos, and lists, concluding with some final checklists, a brief summary, and a photos round-up.

As someone who loves visiting Greece (as part of my job as a Classicist specializing in ancient Greek literature and culture) and with a recent increase in interest in butterflies and macro photography, I knew that Greece was a great place to sample, especially the mountains; I’d seen the odd species in Greece before, but had never seriously investigated butterflies beyond the UK.

I had been on a couple of very good Naturetrek birding holidays before, and had read their ‘Butterflies of Southern Greece’ tour reports with envy. However, I wanted more flexibility and independence, and needed to be able to go slightly later. Thus I decided upon a visit in the early part of July, when hopefully the range of species would be just as good, and I might be able to pick up one or two of the local specialities in addition to an enviably long trip list.

More on this later, though my final list stands at 73 species (or 74 depending on how you choose to split your Blues), which I think is pretty great given the limitations as well as advantages of a solo trip to locations where you might see no-one else for hours at a time.

For those interested in the birdlife, the list was small but select: quality over quantity certainly, though I imagine that my list could easily have been a lot longer if I’d been particularly bothered to spend time looking for birds rather than butterflies. As such, the brief birdlist represents what I noticed while out looking for butterflies, with just a pair of binoculars and no telescope.


I decided to base myself at Kalavryta, a pleasant town at the base of Mt. Chelmos in the mountains (altitude of about 700m, about two and three-quarter hours’ drive from Athens airport) of the Northern Peloponnese, to explore the local mountains of Achaia and Arcadia: Chelmos itself, as well as Erimanthos and Mainalo, three mountains with a good range of species as well as rather different qualities and characteristics. I spent the majority of my time exploring Chelmos, visiting and revisiting a number of key sites I identified before and during my visit. I also made two excursions to Mainalo, one to Erimanthos, and further afield to visit Ancient Olympia on a day off from the butterflies.


The Greek economy needs as many tourists and visitors as it can get; things were pretty quiet during my visit. I was the only guest in my small hotel during the entire 10 days, and saw only one other hire car in the mountains the whole time. Kalavryta itself was pretty busy in the evenings, but there were very few identifiable non-locals about. My choice of a small hotel was a good one; another choice, the Filoxenia (where the Naturetrek trip stays) is right in the centre of town, but looked pretty large and anonymous.


Greek hospitality, as ever, knows no bounds. The hotel owner rushed out as I was leaving to present me with a jar of the local speciality of ροδοζαχαρη, rose preserve (a fabulously heady concoction that is basically Turkish Delight in jam form). The restaurant owner on the last night of my stay refused to take my money and shook me warmly by the hand.

Base: Kalavryta (Guesthouse Chyrsa: 5 mins walk from town square and bars/tavernas) for ten nights (reservation made on Bookings.com, paid by credit card at the hotel on the morning of departure). Very friendly, functioning wifi, and good breakfast.

Car-hire: Daihatsu Terios 4x4: free upgrade from pre-booked Suzuki Jimny (Hertz, Athens airport). A hassle-free decent and roomy 4x4. Though I was a solo-traveller, the Terios could have worked well for 3 adults plus a reasonable amount of luggage.


Pre-trip research
I made extensive use of Google Earth, flickr, and the Naturetrek trip reports to identify likely locations for target species; I also acquired a copy of Lazaros Pamperis’ Butterflies of Greece for extra location and ID information. This book has unique schematics for altitude and geographic localities for individual species, making it much easier to gain an idea about what it might be possible to see where and when. Ruling out what you won’t be able to see makes researching and mugging up on butterfly IDs easier.


Maps and GPS
I found it essential to have good accurate maps for the region, along with a GPS for reviewing and recording altitudes as well as locations. The excellent Anavasi range of Greek maps are the local equivalent to our OS-maps, and are available online from Amazon or from Stanfords; bookshops in Athens and Kalavryta, or indeed other larger tourist areas also, may stock a selection if more are needed during a visit.

I acquired a Garmin 62ST with European mapping, which has a very useful custom mapping function, meaning that you can load up jpegs of scans or images of selected portions of your favoured maps and locations into the GPS as overlays and also use them in Google Earth. I did this for portions of the Anavasi maps for Chelmos, Mainalo, and Erimanthos. The GPS was also handy as a satnav for checking out your location en route during a longer journey; finally, I carried it with me at all times in the field: I synched the time/dates on my cameras with it and added GPS data to my photos back home using the useful Geotag application available free online.

Photography equipment as wanted; close-focusing binoculars; lightweight clothes with lots of pockets: nice to be able to wear shorts given the dreadful weather back home!; lots of lightweight walking socks (I strongly recommend Bridgedale Ultralights); a good and sturdy pair of high-lacing walking boots with good ankle support: I suppose you could get by with approach-style outdoor shoes, but you’d soon get fed up with all the pointy grass seeds in your socks, not to mention the scratches by thistles and other sharp-and-pointy calf-high vegetation; other than a bee sting (see below), I was never bothered by insects, though I always covered any bare skin in the mornings with a decent insect repellent.

Other stuff: useful to have a lightweight rucksack to carry a small first-aid kit and lots of water. I also had a pair of collapsible walking poles, which came in very handy on my trek up Erimanthos.

Books: Pamperis, as mentioned, plus Tolman/Lewington & Lafranchis: good to get as many different views and opinions! Also a wild flower field guide is useful.

As already mentioned, Kalavryta is just under 3hrs’ drive from Athens airport. For general peace of mind, a 4x4 is recommended if you intend to explore the mountains properly.

The roads are generally in ok condition, but are uneven in quality and at times downright hazardous: expect tarmac to disappear at times, potholes, recent rockfalls on blind bends, goats and sheepdogs, and an absence of crashbarriers.

With the exception of three of the tracks I drove on, all roads were tarmaced. The exceptions included my chosen route into the heart of Erimanthos and a couple of the routes around and up Chelmos, where tarmac gave way to rocky and rutted dirt tracks.

The track right up Chelmos at the lower Ski Centre continues up to the observatory at the top, at 1800m plus, but I would not recommend this any further than the first few hundred metres! Things get pretty hairy above the tree-line as there is a sheer drop down the mountainside on one side, no crash barrier, hairpin bends, and a very steep track surface consisting of loose stones and rocks.

The track into Erimanthos from Michas was similarly rocky, rutted, and steep, but in the pine forest. Not too bad, but pretty arduous, and not recommended without extra ground clearance – not that you’d know from the cars that the local shepherds and beekeepers seem to drive about the place with impunity!

The road to and from Athens is a motorway with tolls (about 10 euros each way required). The section between the airport and the Corinth canal is a standard three-lane affair and is fine; the section along the north coast of the Peloponnese has roadworks, and is generally not even a dual carriageway: the idea seems to be to straddle the hard shoulder at all times except for overtaking, when you need to avoid having a head-on collision with oncoming traffic. Wowzer!

• Roads (see above);

• Other drivers, especially on mountain roads: Greeks tend to drive like taxi-drivers at the best of times, and have the nasty habit of taking the ‘racing line’ around bends, so be careful;

• Bees: in the mountains there is a large honey industry, with beehives often seen along the roadside, and also stationed in some otherwise idyllic butterfly habitat. Probably not a good idea to get too close to the hives (I got stung once but this was my fault for getting too close);

• Sheepdogs: not a good idea to get too close to herds of sheep or goats (easily identified from a distance from the sound of their bells) since these are generally accompanied by a couple of ferociously barking guard-dogs. Not to be messed with.

• Weather!

The forecast for the nearest city, Patras, which is on the coast, registered temperatures between 32 and 38C during my stay. Things seemed maybe ten degrees cooler in the mountains where things were warm to hot but manageable, often with a breeze or wind; as such it was quite a shock when I got out of the car at Olympia on day 8 to be met by a wall of heat – it may have been into the 40s on that day. Wall-to-wall sunshine with few clouds: sun hats, sunglasses, and sun cream are de rigueur. If you’re into macro photography, a circular polarizing filter for your macro lens would definitely be a good idea (I never took mine off).

• Stunning Locations and Wonderful Greek Hospitality!!

Day 1, 28th June

I flew out of Heathrow in the early morning with BA (generous luggage allowance) to arrive in Athens around lunchtime. I picked up my car, having paid extra for a full tank of fuel and Super CDW (I didn’t need the latter on this occasion, but it was a good idea given my destinations). After an uneventful drive around the outskirts of Athens and then along the north coast of the Peloponnese before the turn-off into the mountains up to Kalavryta, I arrived at my hotel in the early evening.

The only species of butterfly I saw were the frequent Great Banded Graylings basking on the tarmac.

I spent the evening unpacking, exploring the town (locating the bakery and supermarket for drinks and packed lunches) and enjoying my first evening meal. I also took a quick drive up to the Mt. Chelmos Ski Centre car park area to check out the road conditions and recce any likely stop-offs – this was about 25 minutes in each direction.

1. GREAT BANDED GRAYLING

Birds:
Chaffinch and Serin heard in the trees around Kalavryta along with Eurasian Nuthatch seen and heard; House Martins, Swifts, and Swallows (inc. Red-rumped)

I determined that breakfast (Greek pro-in-o) in the hotel was available from about 08:00 – the hotel owner was prepared for me to eat her sausages, cheese, fruit, etc. and was a little crest-fallen when I told her that I’d be perfectly happy with some coffee, yoghurt, and toast! This meant that it seemed like a good idea to have a quick pre-breakfast outing to a nearby site, before coming back and popping out to the shops to get supplies for my packed lunches. I knew from my research that there were a couple of good options: either a quick 10mins in the car to the local monastery of Agia Lavra (950m altitude), or a 10min drive back downhill out of Kalavryta to the banks of the Vouraikos river just off the road junction towards the village of Kerpini (about 700m altitude). Both of these locations turned out to be pretty good. The monastery suggested itself for its bramble bushes by the carpark, which might harbour Fritillaries and Hairstreaks; the riverside walk at the Kerpini junction also came up trumps with some species I didn’t see elsewhere, partly because of the trees and the shade as well as perhaps the lower altitude.

Agia Lavra 950m 07:15-08:00

Today I decided to try Agia Lavra, which I visited for about 45mins before 8am. Here I saw 6 species (one lifer) in the brambles and stubby oak bushes:

Common Blue, Brown Argus, Meadow Brown, Ilex Hairstreak, Purple Hairstreak•, Silver-Washed Fritillary (at least 3 seen)

After breakfast, I made my way out of Kalavryta, taking the road up towards the Ski Centre. My first port of call was a stop at 1020m altitude at a roadside restaurant (Taverna Kastro) with a big long lay-by and lots of grassy and shrubby areas to explore.

On the road up I saw lots more Great-Banded Graylings.

Taverna Kastro, Ski Centre Road, Mt. Chelmos 1021m

At the roadside at Taverna Kastro, I saw a Balkan Marbled White nectaring on a large thistle (a very common sight throughout the rest of the trip), a Common Blue, and a stunningly beautiful copper and brown Ripart’s Anomalous Blue• in among the dry grasses.

Delighted with this encounter, I continued uphill towards the Ski-Centre, passing beehives and entering the thick pine forest which clothes the lower slopes of Chelmos...

...

Mt. Chelmos 1446m

After winding my way around numerous hairpin bends, I arrived at a small grassy area on one such bend, with a single disused beehive, a steep rocky meadow, and a small track up a slope through the pines. On closer investigation, the grass contained flowering purple Vicia dalmatica, which I knew was the larval host plant for a Mt. Chelmos endemic, Pontic Blue (Neolysandra coelestina). Surely worth a closer look…

In the grass immediately adjacent to the car I found, along with Common Blue, Large White, and Silver-Studded Blue•, a single female Pontic Blue•. Though fairly well worn, its green basal underside scales on a brown ground made it pretty unmistakable, and quite lovely to see.

On this visit, I just stopped to explore this immediate grassy area, since I was keen to press on to higher regions of the mountain.

I pressed on uphill, and turned off onto a dirt track on the left upon reaching the Xerokambos area just before the final straight bit of tarmac uphill for the last few hundred metres before the Ski Centre car park. Driving past some shepherds’ huts, I headed for an area at 1600m where I had researched as an open meadow area with a good range of Blues species possible. The photo in the first post of this thread is taken from this location.

Xerokambos area, 1600m

Here I saw large quantities of Silver-studded Blues, Brown Argus, Clouded Yellow, Glanville Fritillary, Balkan Marbled Whites, Brimstone, Small Skipper, and one Skipper I was unable to ID but which may have been Olive Skipper.

After spending some time wandering around this area, I got back to the car, retraced my steps, and followed the tarmaced road across the Xerokambos before descending down the north east side of the mountain (passing through a herd of goats very stubbornly stationed right in the middle of the road!) and arriving at some steep densely scrubby slopes, with a parking area next to a ‘bandstand’ type viewpoint area overlooking the Styx Valley north face of the Chelmos...

...

?Chelmos Blue Location, Mt Chelmos 1567m

In the steep scrub here I searched in vain for Chelmos Blue, but did come up with a spattering of good sightings, including: Black-veined White, Balkan Marbled White, Clouded Yellow, Brown Argus, Painted Lady, and Zephyr Blue• (the endemic Mt. Chelmos version, Plebeius (pylaon) brethertoni, which Pamperis treats as a separate species).


After this excursion, I headed back to the ski centre. I knew about a side-road track, and explored it quickly on foot to check the condition of the track, as it started out very rockily. Straight away, I saw a beautifully pristine Dark Green Fritillary nectaring on a thistle, so quickly headed back to the car.

This side-road track uphill, which leaves the car park half-way along on the right just past one of the buildings, starts rockily but evens out and flattens nicely, before heading more steeply and precariously up towards the summit of the mountain (!). I proceeded up this for a few minutes and stopped at a gully (one of the localities I’d recced in advance via Flickr/Google Earth), to check this out and have my lunch, a nice spot with rocky scrub and meadows below and towering pines and peaks above...

...

Chelmos Ski-Centre Side-road Gully 1700m+

Walking up the gully, I quickly saw some excellent species that I had hoped to see here:
Clouded Apollo (2)•, Glanville Fritillary, Clouded Yellow, Common Blue, (Chelmos) Zephyr Blue, Dingy Skipper, Spotted Fritillary, Niobe Fritillary, Orbed Red Underwing Skipper•, Queen of Spain Fritillary•, Oriental Marbled Skipper•

After this excellent trip, I headed back downhill mid-afternoon, and revisited the earlier 1446m stop (a location that would become a feature of my visits to this mountain)...

...

Mt. Chelmos 1446m
A quick stop here came up with the following:
Brimstone, Cleopatra (at least 2), Common Blue, Balkan Marbled White, Clouded Yellow, Meadow Brown, Chapman’s Blue

After this, I headed back to the junction that takes you up to the Ski Centre, and turned left for Lousoi instead of right for back to Kalavrya. I headed towards a track along stream at Ancient Lousoi, which I knew about from the Naturetrek 2007 trip report.

Ancient Lousoi, 970m
Sadly there were beehives stationed all the way along the track, and it wasn’t that great a spot for photography because the main flowering plants were low down by the stream and too distant. Also it had by now become rather windy. However, I did get a close shot of a Great Banded Grayling• here, and also saw a few other things: Large White, Common Blue, Meadow Brown, Balkan Marbled White, Silver-washed Fritillary.

After this, I headed back up the road towards Kalavryta, stopping briefly again at Taverna Kastro, Ski Centre Road, Mt. Chelmos 1021m, where I added a Small Skipper to the day list in addition to another BMW (Balkan Marbled White).

It was now late afternoon, so I headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest after a busy day exploring, before heading out into town later for dinner.

Day-list total for day 2: 29 species (17 lifers!), highlights definitely Ripart’s Anomalous and Pontic Blues, a nice start; also great to see the range of Fritillaries on offer.

Trip-list additions:
2. Common Blue
3. Brown Argus
4. Meadow Brown
5. Silver-washed Fritillary
6. Purple Hairstreak
7. ILEX HAIRSTREAK
8. Clouded Yellow
9. BALKAN MARBLED WHITE
10. RIPART’S ANOMALOUS BLUE
11. Large White
12. PONTIC BLUE
13. SILVER-STUDDED BLUE
14. GLANVILLE FRITILLARY
15. Brimstone
16. Small Skipper
17. BLACK-VEINED WHITE
18. Painted Lady
19. (CHELMOS) ZEPHYR BLUE
20. DARK GREEN FRITILLARY
21. CLOUDED APOLLO
22. Dingy Skipper
23. SPOTTED FRITILLARY
24. NIOBE FRITILLARY
25. ORBED RED UNDERWING SKIPPER
26. QUEEN OF SPAIN FRITILLARY
27. ORIENTAL MARBLED SKIPPER
28. CLEOPATRA
29. CHAPMAN’S BLUE

Day 2 Notable Birds:
Jay (very common sighting, much more common than Magpie), two Ravens seen over Chelmos, Woodlark (frequently heard calling around the Xerokambos), Cetti’s Warbler (heard calling at the Vouraikos River site), Northern Wheatear (common sight on the Xerokambos), Corn Bunting and Cirl Buntings (again one of the sounds of the Xerokambos), Crag Martin (nesting in the eaves at Taverna Kastro), Middle Spotted Woodpecker (one heard and seen at Agia Lavra).

I'm thoroughly enjoying this, Dave!

I remember when Pontic blue first appeared in Higgins and Riley, accompanied by a rather crude painting by Hargreaves (his style seemed to change dramatically in his additional illustrations). I thought, 'That's something I've got to see!'.

I haven't - you have!

Guy

Hi Dave,

This is an excellent account with some great photos. I also really like the way the report is structured and am looking forward to more of the same .

Vince

Thanks both!
It takes quite a while to sort these things out (I have about 3000 photos!). Using GPS and dating for photos also has the advantage that sorting them out when you get home into various folders by site is easy, making it easier to track down and remember what you thought you saw where (pretty essential when the number of very similar-looking blues and fritillaries might be overwhelming for someone brought up only on the UK species). Next update shortly...

Agia Lavra 950m 07:15-08:00
As before, I headed here before breakfast in the hope of more hairstreaks on the bushes. Sadly none seen, but I did see Silver-washed Fritillary and BMW again.

After breakfast, I headed downhill to the track by the river Vouraikos just beyond the Kerpini junction.

Vouraikos Track, Kerpini Junction, 695m
Here the track is partly shaded by plane trees, but there is also plenty of scrub and dry grassy areas, so the range of possible species is good.

Along with numerous Beautiful Demoiselles and a calling Cetti’s Warbler, I saw the following:
BMW, Great Banded Grayling, Lattice Brown, Wood White• (2 or 3 seen), Brown Argus, Large White, Eastern Bath White, Holly Blue, Meleager’s Blue• (what a superb butterfly this is!), Clouded Yellow, Painted Lady, Comma, Common Blue, Meadow Brown, Escher’s Blue

I then went back up the road, crossed over, and headed uphill round numerous hairpin bends towards the village of Souvardo, stopping by the road at a steeply sloping meadow area...

Fabulous stuff, Dave. Your attention to detail is admirable.