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| Praesos archaeological site |
A
couple of weeks back we were overlooking the Venetian hill fort of
Monte
Forte
and this week's little excursion takes us even further back in time
to the Ancient town of Praesos. It's pretty well an old pile of
stones now and nobody lives there but hopefully we'll find some
wildlife. Well, here it is and it looks like we've got a hill to
climb so I'll tell you what I know about the place on the way up. Two
thousand two hundred years ago it was inhabited by the descendants of
the Minoans and they were having a pretty hard time of it. This was
because most of Crete had been taken over by the Dorians from
mainland Greece and Praesos was one of the last outposts. These Dorians held
Itanos to the north and Ierapetra to the south and Praesos finally
fell to the Ierapetran Dorians in 155BC. Incidentally Praesos
is
also a genus of Geometer moths but as to why is a bit of a mystery as
they are found in Australia I believe.
When
they weren't being attacked they lived pretty well. There were more
animals about in those days including deer and boar which are no
longer here and they farmed both livestock and crops. Roasted and
stewed meats were both on the menu along with green vegetables and,
looking around, they certainly seemed to have a wide variety of herbs
to flavour things up with. Just in this small area I can see Sage,
Fennel and even some Pot Marjoram. Such a redolent array is also very
attractive to butterflies of course and I can see quite a number
flitting about. Let's try to get on closer terms with some of them.
 |
| Wall Butterflies, Lasiommata megara |
Hmm,
voyeuristically close it would seem. These are a pair of Wall
Butterflies, doing what comes naturally. The
female is underneath with her wings spread while the male is on top,
facing backwards, with his wings closed (a position I doubt you'll
find in the Kama Sutra). Often, when they are not mating, they hold
their wings two thirds open on a flat surface (such as a wall which
is how they got their common English name) in order to get the warmth
from both direct and reflected sunlight. However, in the heat of the
Cretan day you are as likely to find them sheltering in the shade.
 |
| Huntsman Spider, Eusparassus walckenaerius |
Oh
look, a little room. I wonder if there's anybody in? I've found
someone under a stone in the corner – come and meet her. This lady
(and I think that from her size we may assume that she's a lady) goes
by the delightful name of Eusparassus
walckenaerius
and she and her kin are fairly common Huntsman Spiders here in Crete.
I appreciate that if you are not fond of spiders then she may give
you the heebie-jeebies and this is why you've just demonstrated the
old stage direction 'exeunt omnes in divers alarums' (or something of
that ilk) but she's an incredibly useful little predator. For one
thing she'll take on some of the larger insects like cockroaches
which none of us particularly want hanging about the house. Anyhow,
I'll gently replace her stone and we'll see if we can find something
a little cuter to have a look at.
 |
| Balkan Green Lizards, Lacerta trilineata |
We
are now at the top so it seems to be a good place to lounge with the
lizards in the sunshine and admire the view. That's Sitia that you
can see in the distance nestling on the shores of the Aegean.
The
Extra Bit
It
is about this time of the year that I start to feed the birds at home
and this year I've set up the trailcam to record the various species
and any other non avian visitors to the table. So far I've only had a
trio of Great Tits and a handful of Italian Sparrows but it's early
days yet. I'll keep you posted.
P.S.
Iris the Mediterranean Mantis is still clinging to the Fennel by the
gate.
Photographic
Bit
Many
of you have asked
me what
photographic equipment I use so here's a quick rundown on the cameras
used for each picture. For details of aperture settings, shutter
speeds etc. my pictures will be on Flickr
within
a few days and that has all the geeky stuff.
Picture
1 Canon EOS 1300D
Insets
Picture
2 Nikon COOLPIX S33
Insets Canon
EOS 1300D
Picture
3 Canon EOS 1300D
Insets
Picture
4 Nikon COOLPIX S33
Insets Canon
EOS 1300D
Picture
5 Nikon COOLPIX S33
Insets Canon
EOS 1300D
Extra
Bit pictures Trail
Camera RD1000
Pictures
were edited with FastStone Image Viewer and combined with Microsoft
Paint.
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LINKS:
Share
your nature thoughts, photos and comments on Naturalists (the
facebook page that accompanies this blog)
See
detailed pictures on Flickr
Read
more about the flora and flora of the island in The
Nature of Crete (Flipboard
Magazine)
Explore
the region with the #CreteNature interactive Hiking
and Nature Map
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