Peloponnesian Fugue 3: October 16-18: Mani Peninsula: Limeni, Areopoli, Gythio, Vathia, Gerolimenas (Laconia)

Sardinian Warbler Sylvia melanocephala

Cirl Bunting Emberiza cirlus

Cirl Bunting Emberiza cirlus

European Robin Erithacus rubecula

Willow Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus

Rock Dove Columba livia

Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis

Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis

Common Buzzard Buteo buteo

Peloponnese Wall Lizard Podarcis peloponnesiacus

Violet Carpenter Bee Xylocopa violacea

Hummingbird Hawk-moth Macroglossum stellatarum

Give me Collis Bird Guide afterworld...

Hills above Limeni

Tower house in Areopoli

Areopoli

Areopoli

Restaurant boss cat in Areopoli

Limeni

Which end is which...

Ghost town of Vathia

Downtown Vathia

Vathia

Vathia

Mistaking Buzzards for Corvids in Vathia

Gythio

Morning walk above Limeni

Morning walk above Limeni

Mani – the middlemost of the three southern-reaching Peloponnesian peninsulas. There is a scruffy pride in the Maniot history of feudal battles – inter-family disagreements that spanned decades and centuries. Battered tower houses still stand in most towns, once the site and target of these protracted campaigns. I read one account that described how the men of the opposing families would pile into the fortified tower houses and hammer away at each other with musket and cannon fire for months, while the women shuttled in food and ammo, untouched. Then, come autumn, they’d all put down their weapons and grudgingly help harvest each other’s fields, before resuming the battles where they left off when that was done. I guess this is what people did before the internet, eh? I kid, but I loved Mani - it was yet another spot in the Peloponnese where you could still clearly hear the dramatic footfalls of the past echoing off the cobbles. DRAMATIC ORCHESTRA HIT

October 16

While driving from Monemvasia to Limeni, a chunky falcon seen along the coast (Peregrine feel).

Two hours and 12 stray dogs fed later, we arrived on the southwest coast of the Mani Peninsula. In the hills above Limeni at our hotel, a motley crew of birds: Great Tit, Sardinian Warbler, Eurasian Blackcap, some unidentified Pipits (?) flushed from the side of a dirt road (I never went back as self-promised), European Robin, Rock Doves on the cliffs, and blobs of Starlings overhead. And, finally, a lizard - a lone Peloponnese Wall Lizard sunned itself on a path. You gotta love a lizard.

In cozy Areopoli, Jackdaws over town, and an encounter with a German guy with Swaros. He didn’t seem too keen to talk birds with me. Maybe he wasn’t a birder, who knows. Or maybe he wasn’t…German after all? DRAMATIC ORCHESTRA HIT

At dusk back near Limeni, the sunset was shared with European Blackbirds and Barn Swallows.

October 17

Morning In the painfully picturesque harbour village of Limeni itself saw a Common Kingfisher, mixed hirundines overhead, Grey Wagtails, and more European Robins.

The touristy town of Gythio was pretty quiet on the bird front, with Yellow-legged Gull, Grey Wagtail, and European Robin along the main harbour strip.

I looked everywhere for a Greek fisherman’s hat on the trip, with no luck. There was a large fisherman’s supply store in Gythio that looked promising, but it seems like Greek fishermen only wear crappy made in China camo boonie hats these days. If only they knew how much cash they could make from balding hipster tourists...

In the heights of the southern tip of the Mani peninsula, looms the ghost town of Vathia. It was a gloomy and rainy afternoon, which felt appropriate. It reminded me of abandoned fishing hamlets in places like Gageo Island and elsewhere in rural Korea – like people just got up and left one day and never came back, decades ago, newspapers still on the table. Common Ravens overhead added to the mood. I dismissed one circling bird as a Raven, but Evelyn insisted it was an eagle. On closer inspection, it was indeed a raptor (Common Buzzard). I was happy to be fact-checked – it reminded me to not be complacent, and I was impressed with her growing birding instincts.

Back at the hotel in Limeni, a Tawny Owl started up at 11:10pm.

October 18

A final morning walk in the olive tree hills above the hotel – birds everywhere in the scrub. Several Cirl Buntings, Eurasian Siskin and Hawfinch overhead, more Sardinian and Willow Warblers, Great Tit, Spotted Flycatcher, Eurasian Blackbird, and European Robin.