Wednesday 20 June 2018

Crete Nature Almanack 2018 – Summer



Summer is here, the temperatures are regularly over 30C (86F) and sometimes over 40C (104F), so there is only one place to be; the sea. The shallow waters are teeming with fish like these (Yellowtail Barracuda I think) whilst Brittlestars clamber among the rocks and Sea Hares mate among the seaweed fronds.




Flowers are few and far between in the height of summer but as you wander along the beach look out for Sea Daffodils, Yellow Horned Poppies and Sea Rocket.




If you wander inland through the grasses see if you can find some of these amazingly beautiful insects. It's a Cretan Bright Bush Cricket and you'll only find it here on Crete (if you're lucky!)




And finally... towards the end of August watch out for the massed congregations of European Barn Swallows as they gather together for their migration to sub-Saharan Africa.



The Extra Bit

The Crete Nature Blog will take its annual summer vacation now but I'll be back in the autumn with more delights of the Cretan countryside. Have a great summer folks (or winter if you're in the southern hemisphere).

LINKS:
Share your nature thoughts, photos and comments on Naturalists (the facebook page that accompanies this blog)

Explore the region with the #CreteNature interactive Hiking and Nature Map


6 comments:

  1. BBC posted an article about Crete's role in WW2, which made me curious about what the wildlife in Crete is like...so I did what I always do when I want to see what can be found somehwere... I searched on iNaturalist! It's very cool that someone is working so hard to document the wildlife of Crete on a website like iNaturalist! Keep it up, you have another fan here (from Miami, Fl!)

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  2. Thank you so much for your work that you share! It is so helpful! We come to Crete every year, and always end up our time by staying in Makrigialos. We have been coming to Crete since my daughter was 8! She is now 26! We go all over the island exploring! Perhaps we will catch up with you next Sept for a walk! Hoping to walk the Dead gorge next year!

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  3. Thanks for your kind comments. Unfortunately I wasn't able to work much in August and September so I've just caught up now.

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