A Hoopoe in the Garden

We spotted a Hoopoe in our garden at Kato Korakiana yesterday. It was on the ground, pecking away in the gravel underneath the carport, presumably looking for grubs.

It's the first time I have seen one so close. When I first came to Corfu I used to glimpse flashes of this amazing bird darting around in the olive groves, but I haven't seen any at all in the last few years.

Lots of birds are described as unmistakeable, but this one really is unlike any other. It has a striking black and white striped back and wings, but the stripes go in opposite directions. Its head and neck are a pinky colour, and there on its head is a crest of black-tipped feathers. It flies in a strange jerky motion, sometimes abrubtly changing direction for no apparent reason.

I have never heard its call of "oop... oop" which gives it its name, but will be listening more carefully now I know we have one nearby.
Sarah

Wind Change Blows Away African Dust

The dust clouds that have covered Corfu over the last few days began dispersing yesterday and should leave a much cleaner and less muggy atmosphere behind them.

The thick clouds of dust from North Africa are a normal phenomenon for this time of year, brought on by strong southerly winds caused by Saharan depressions.

A change in the wind, which turned northerly yesterday, is expected to help blow the dust away, according to the National Meteorological Service.

Short Haul Flying. Socially Unacceptable?

Concerns about the environment will make short haul flying "socially unacceptable" for many people in the near future, a poll for Eurostar shows.

More than a third (37%) "agree or strongly agree" that in a few years’ time, environmental concerns will rule out short flights where there is an alternative of going by train.

The independent YouGov survey of 2,246 people shows that more than half the UK public (57%) is concerned about environmental impact when planning a journey of 300–400 miles.

I was particularly interested to read the above as my three UK-based sons (ages ranging from 19 to 29) have long been telling me that they do not approve of flying within Britain when there is an alternative (train or car - they do draw the line at buses!) Recently they even turned down the suggestion, for ecological reasons, that they might like to Easyjet over from London to Corfu for Greek Easter. Personally I'm sure that families separated by more than 500 miles should be exempt from such concerns, but maybe that is the mother in me!

I was able to point out that their father and I quite often use the bus service between Corfu and Athens rather than Olympic or Aegean. I didn't tell them that it was usually for financial reasons, though.
Susan

Sunday Lunch Corfu Style

In the winter we often go out for lunch on Sundays. When the weather is bad we head for one of the little mountain restaurants with fireplaces and wonderfully warming 'in a pot' meals (lamb in a pot, wild boar in a pot, etc.).

Now summer is upon us and we are combining work with a quick break for lunch, so we began by going down to St. George to check that the bulldozer man had finished clearing the land for our next building project (yesterday he had to stop as his bulldozer got tangled up in some old wire from bedsprings). He had finished so that was one success.

Next we popped round to the previous development where yesterday I dropped off some kitchen tiles, but hadn't got a key so just left them on the balcony, and no of course they weren't stolen.

Great, time for lunch - decided to go to a friend's restaurant near Boukari who had assured us he was open every day - every day except Sundays apparently! Drove back to the main Boukari restaurant (briefly famous for Rick Stein cooking lobster there although they had been cooking for approximately 40 years before that) which looked extremely busy which tends to equate to a slightly delayed meal and we were too hungry to wait.

So off we went along the coast to Petriti, home to at least three fish restaurants. We noticed the road is being improved and thought how much better it will be. Until we came round a corner and found work was definitely still in progress and a bulldozer was abandoned in the middle of the road. Since the sand was piled high on both sides we reversed back to Boukari where the restaurant was, if anything, busier.

Decided to take the long route to Petriti and finally got there about an hour and a half after starting to 'go out for lunch'. We went to Stamatis- but all three restaurants are just as good - and had a wonderful meal of fresh squid, horta (the stuff like dandelion leaves which is terribly good for you) and whitebait. We also ordered barbounia (red mullet) but were given so much food that we couldn't manage them, so they were packed in foil and came home with us for dinner tomorrow. And all for 42 euros, including a rather strong, murky but tasty, local wine. And of course the view - priceless!
Diana