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| Ierapetra East Beach |
Summer is
here at last. It started with the summer solstice on Sunday in this part of the
world and yesterday was Midsummer’s Day which always seems odd as by simple
mathematical reasoning one could logically deduce that the end of summer must
be on Friday (which, if my recollection of English summers of late is correct,
may not be far from the truth). The crux of the matter is that the solstice is an astronomical phenomenon, marking
the point when Earth’s tilt is most inclined towards the sun, whereas
Midsummer’s Day is a pagan festival celebrating the mid point of the year.
Pagans observe the solstice as well of course but this is a solemn occasion so
I guess you can think of Midsummer’s Day as a sort of ‘after show party’ but essentially
they both mark the same event.
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| Yellow Wagtail subspecies |
But to
return to our Cretan summer: as I’ve mentioned before our Spring has been very
cool and wet this year and the little seasonal river to the east of Ierapetra
is still running to the sea so I thought we’d head down there and see if there
are any wagtails about. We’ve met the White Wagtail (Road to Nowhere) and the Grey Wagtail (Dawn by the Riverside) but today we’re looking for the Yellow Wagtail. I
usually see them between March and May but I haven’t seen any this year so
maybe they’re running late like the river. He’s a very distinctive bird with
his bright yellow colouring and typical wagging tail but he’s a bird of many
heads, each pattern denoting a different sub-species. The top one is a
Grey-headed, the middle a Blue-headed and the plate at the bottom (from Collins
Bird Field guide) shows all of the group. So, keep your peripheral vision on
high alert for movement as we’re wandering about and we’ll go and have a look
at the plant life.
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| Beach Flowers |
This pink
flowered job is Sea Rocket, one of the mustard family and related to the rocket
that you put on your salads but I wouldn’t recommend it for human
consumption. The butter coloured lady up
by the road is a Yellow Horned Poppy which has spread considerably around here
in recent years and this rather inconspicuous plant, down here at our feet, makes
good eating. It’s Nettle-leaved Goosefoot and the shoots, stalks, and leaves
can be cooked like greens. On the other hand the one with little white flowers
on the opposite bank is poisonous. It’s called European Turnsole and horses
that eat too much of the stuff have a tendency to walk compulsively and
unfortunately there is no known treatment.
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| Insect inhabitants of the wetland |
Where we
have plants then of course we have insects and I can see representatives of at
least four different families as we push our way intrepidly through the giant
reeds like jungle explorers of old. Our old friend the Southern Skimmer
dragonfly is taking a breather on a bit of dead cane whilst a rather tatty Wave
moth is doing likewise on the Goosefoot. I wonder who’s under this log? That’s
a bit of a surprise, an early instar Southern Green Shield Bug. I’d have thought he
would have been happier on a living plant – he’s either lost or a slow learner.
Still, we’ll put him back as we found him and let him sort it out for himself.
But who’s this fellow lunching in the algae? Obviously a large aquatic larva of
some sort. Pass him up to me will you and we’ll have a look at him under the
field lens. Yes I agree, algae are slimy and smelly, never mind, all part of
the fun. Just rub your hands with some hot sand to dry them off – I expect the
smell will go in a day or two. Meanwhile look how the head is pointed and sunk
back into the thorax. The abdomen tapers to a point as well. This little
gentleman is going to be an Aquatic Soldier Fly when he grows up. A bit of a
misnomer as it is only the larva that lives in the water but this sort of
general habitat will be perfect for him.
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| The rivulet finally reaches the sea |
Shall we
follow the stream down to the sea now? Oh dear, a casualty of nature. A little
Cretan Water Frog who seems to have resigned from the game of life[1].
Catastrophic amphibian decline is, as you probably know, a worldwide issue of
concern for all of us. Since the 1980’s amphibian extinctions have accelerated
and are now thought to be running at over two hundred times the background
extinction rate. As amphibians occupy both terrestrial and aquatic habitats and
because their skins are particularly permeable they are very vulnerable to
environmental changes. As such they are a bit like the canary in the coal mine
and the implications for other animals (including ourselves) are somewhat dire.
However, important as that is, we cannot end the day on such a serious note so
let’s go and paddle in the shallows and watch the fish darting around the
rocks. [1] A member of the Greek Herpetological Society, who is probably more experienced at identifying dead amphibians than I am, is of the opinion that it was a Green Toad.
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| Aestivating Snails |
So I shall love you and leave you, here by the sea, and we’ll get back
together again sometime in September for more fun and frolics in the Crete
countryside.
Enjoy your summer or winter (delete according to hemisphere)
All the best and happy hunting
Steve
Daniels
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LINKS:
Naturalists
(the facebook page that accompanies this blog)
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