21.6.15

Got up at 3.00 to take a taxi to Heathrow Terminal 5.   The journey took 30 mins, the fastest ever time.   We met the other members of the party and had a slightly bouncy trip to Athens.

Phil collected our mini-van and we had a fairly gruelling journey to our hotel.   It was hot and even with the windows open in the front, it was more summer than I needed, apparently it was cooler than usual!!   the scenery as we wound up the the hill was impressive.   the sea was very blue, occasionally streaked with green.

The hotel is short on plugs and baths, but there is an excellent shower.    Had a drink at the hotel then went to a nearby taverna for a meal.   Mixed starters then lamb.   We went to bed early after a long day.

22.6.15

View from the balcony of our room - a panorama the road is straight...

Went for a walk before breakfast, saw no butterflies, but did see interesting and diverse verbascums.  Farm dogs barking against one another.   We went as far as the River Vourdais by the top pin on the gps map above.   The lowest pin is the magnolia outside our hotel.

Magnolia grandiflora in the street outside our hotel

A house in Kalavrita

Scolymus hispanicus

Farm where everything is kept in case it comes in

Consolida hispanica ajacis

Phil sizing up the verbascum

Detail

Galium verum

Wasps' nest

Love the back-lit verbascums

Had breakfast then looked around the  War memorial on our way to Mount Chelmos

Memorial to the men of Kalavrita murdered on 13th December 1943

Salvia

Detail chicory

Possibly a carpet moth

Meadow brown

View over Kalavrita

 Started to go up Mt  Chelmos, but only went part way as there were no butterflies about.    Abandoned that for some areas  lower down.   We saw lots of blues.   Souvados for lunch 

Honey is an important industry

Balkan marbled white

Convolvulus althaeoides

Onosma erectum?

Amanda's Blue

Black veined whites on thistles

Ononis

Campanula andrewsii

Centipede found under a stone

Prunella

Crepis rubra

Orchis pyramidalis

Alyssum saxatile

Possibly a soldier beetle

Not a mullein caterpillar

Beautiful demoiselle

Beautiful demoiselle female?

Beautiful demoiselle

Blue featherleg

Shield bug on Smyrnium perfoliatum

Not a mullein caterpillar

Beautiful demoiselle

Small skipper

Poecilimon possibly thessalicus - European locust

Wasps' nest

Dianthus viscidus

Ilex hairstreak

Female meadow brown

Moth aping a skipper possibly a pyrausta, but probably just a tatty skipper

White letter hairstreak

Blue

Rose chafer

Speckled Woood

Scolymus hispanicus an annual

Zygaena osterodensis

Papaver rhoeas nigrescens

Skippers having a party

Morina persica

Lathyrus grandiflora - not climbing but running around on the ground

Mountain small white

Goats

Small tortoishell

Group of blues

Iconic verbascum in its habitat

Campanula andrewsii

Stairs to a hut

Saponaria calabrica

Alyssum murale

Thapsia garganica

A tatty Small Copper

Convolvulus althaeoides

Large Wall Brown

Lizard peeking out

Large tortoishell

Blues

Escher's Blue

Orobanche purpurea

Holly Blue

gps for next picture onwards it enlarges considerably

White crab spider hiding in Vicia villosa

Small skipper

Greek Goldenring

Centaurea solstitialis

Oats

Persian skipper

Inula ocula-christi

Cricket

Assassin bug

Grasshopper

Petrorhagia velutina

Parasitic hymenoptera

Psoralea bituminosa

Phagnalon rupestre

Convolvulus althaeoides

Phyllomorpha lacerata in a viewing jar and a better one from the web

Fine thistle

Shield bugs

Orange spider

Red longhorn beetle

Cricket

Longhorn beetles

 We filled in the first list in the evening after drinks in the bar.   Food was better at the Taverna - P had spaghetti - H had cannelloni.