Last Sunday I visited the Nea Kios wetland. It is located between the cities of Nea Kios and Nafplio and created by two small rivers that flow there, Erasinos and Inahos. It is located relatively close to Athens and is ideal for day trips in conjunction with a visit to the beautiful city of Nafplio which is not that crowded at this time of year.
My secret hope was to observe and photograph a Slender-billed Curlew (“one must set his goals high” they say 🙂 ). Unfortunately I didn’t find any. Perhaps this was due to our late arrival 🙂
The wetland hosted several species in sufficient numbers. The first ducks had already arrived and I saw a few mallards and teal ducks. The most notable observations were 2 Sanderlings, 5 Common Ringed Plovers, 2 young White Pelicans and a Whimbrel. I counted at least 12 Curlews and in addition all other usual waders were there with the Redshank being the most common species. There were also several Little Egrets, Grey Herons and fewer Squacco Herons and Great Egrets.
The only negative point of the wetland is that the Sun is in front of you almost the entire day. The best weather is when it is cloudy; otherwise it is difficult to create any decent images. Unfortunately, despite the rainy weather across most of the country, a bright sun was above Nea Kios and although it was a nice day for a walk, it was a bad day for taking pictures.
At some point Sanderlings came very close, but despite the use of the flash (and my desperate wishes for a small cloud to cover up the sun) I wasn’t quite happy with the images I made. After 3 hours at the wetland I had to leave and we visited the city of Nafplio. When we finally went to a restaurant and ordered something to eat, large clouds covered the sun but it was too late for me.
Just before leaving for our home in Athens, I made another quick pass to the wetland but I didn’t have much time and I only managed to get a few decent pictures. One of them is the below image of a young Kentish Plover.
I hope that next time I will be luckier (and that I will succeed seeing a Slender-billed Curlew …)
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