Here
we are, having turned sharp left at the Asteria Taverna in
Koutsounari and that massive block of limestone before us is the area
which we shall be exploring together for the remaining winter weeks
and on into spring. It is designated Agioi Saranta, or the Forty
Saints. These were a group of Roman Christian soldiers who were
martyred for their beliefs, at Sebaste in Turkey, in 360AD. The
method of their martyrdom sends shivers down your spine. They were
stripped naked and left on a frozen pond all night in sub zero
temperatures. Why they should be commemorated here is something which
we may or may not find out along the way but first we have to get up
there. So we'll leave the old jalopy at the end of the road and walk
up that track to our left and
see what adventures await.
A
fairly steep climb to begin with to get the muscles working and a
fairly typical phrygana landscape with low, mat growing plants
including this little Rock Rose that is just coming into flower;
Fumana. Like all rock roses (family Cistaceae) they have a couple of
tricks that help them cope with this harsh environment. Firstly, they
do not work alone. Beneath the soil they work in tandem with fungi of
the Tuber genus (the genus
which includes truffles) to absorb the scarce nutrients. Secondly,
they have a very hard coating to their seeds, some of which remain
dormant in the soil for long periods. Should there be a wildfire, to
which this type of habitat is prone, the seeds split open and
germinate giving them an advantage over other plants. Onwards and
upwards. This
is beginning to look like an expedition to “The Land That Time
Forgot”.
Another
plant here where we turn right and head eastwards. This is one of the
Asphodels which will soon be coming into flower and if you look
closely at these leaves you can see that it is swarming with tiny bug
nymphs. Many of these look very similar so trying to identify them
can be a problem. Having said that, I think that these may be
Dionconotus
neglectus and
the reason I think that is because we've come across them before.
Cast your mind back to March 2015 when we found The
Chamomile Lawn.
We
found a host of these in their adult livery on some Yellow Asphodels.
Although the literature says that they are polyphagous (eating many
plant types), on a regional basis it makes sense for them to stick to
the type of plant with which they are most familiar if it is in
plentiful supply.
Now
this is what I've been aiming us towards today, a little cave perched
half way up the rock face. It doesn't look like too difficult a
climb. Give me your hand and we'll attempt an ascent. Reasonably
accessible in a trouser ripping sort of way; now who's lurking
within? A bit of a midden where some small animal has been having a
feed (we must get round to investigating some of these middens as
they provide a wealth of information) but for the moment we have a
fine example of the architecture of a Funnel Web Spider. Don't be
alarmed, the Funnel webs (family Agelenidae) are a pretty harmless
bunch and not related to the infamous Sydney Funnel-web which is a
type of funnel-web tarantula from a different family.
Take
a closer look at the web. Hang on, I'll give you a leg up. It's like
a perfectly woven hammock, anchored at the top by a couple of lines
and positioned to catch anything tumbling from above. It isn't
adhesive but insects have a number of sticky out bits that get
entangled in the mesh. The spider resides in that silk tunnel at the
back to which one corner of the hammock is attached allowing the
spider quick and easy access. Drop a little stone into the hammock
and see if anyone comes to investigate. What a shame; it appears to
be unoccupied. Ah well, lets go back to the entrance and sit and
admire the view for a while before we continue.
There
are some great views even at this low level. I should imagine that
they'll be quite spectacular when we get up top but for today I think
we'll just concentrate on the mid level because, if my eyes don't
deceive me, that is a butterfly that we haven't seen before. You may
be familiar with the Comma (Polygonia
c-album)
which is widespread over Europe but this is it's cousin, the Southern
Comma (Polygonia
egea). According
to IUCN it's major caterpillar food plant is Common Pellitory (which
isn't common round here) with a note that it also probably feeds on
Nettles (also not particularly abundant in these parts) as well as
Willows and Elms which are non existent here. So keep your eyes
peeled for little grey caterpillars that appear to be sprouting
yellow Christmas trees and see what they're feeding upon. You never
know, we may discover a new host plant.
Have
you noticed that deep cronking sound that's been accompanying us for
most of the morning? The owners of those sonorous, if somewhat
unmelodic, calls are flying above us. They're a pair of ravens and
they seem to be orbiting the very summit. I wonder if they are a
breeding pair? As we're going to be up here for the next few weeks
we'll keep a close eye on them and see if they'll allow us a little
glimpse into their lives. As we hope to become more intimately
acquainted I suppose we had better give them names. How about Huginn
and Muninn (Thought and Memory) after Odin's corvid companions in
Norse mythology?
Next
week we'll continue circling the summit and see who else lives among
the forty saints and hopefully Huginn and Muginn will continue to
keep us company.
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