Autumn
is nearly upon us and the birds are already flying south from
northern Europe and either staying or passing through Crete on their
way to sub-Saharan Africa. Find any stretch of water and you are
likely to see birds such as Ruddy Turnstones, Arenaria interpres
(top left); Common Sandpipers, Actitis hypoleucos (top right);
and possibly even a Spotted Redshank, Tringa erythropus (bottom
right). Look out also for the first appearance of the Black Redstart,
Phoenicurus ochruros (bottom left), which usually arrives
down here on the south east coast somewhere between late October and
the end of November.
The
flowers will start to appear after the first autumnal rains which
have been getting gradually later over the past five years; from
September 16th in 2013 to September 29th in
2017. I have chosen just three of them, but can you spot the
connection? The first one is the Autumn Buttercup, Ranunculus
bullatus, which grows throughout the Mediterranean, including
north Africa. The second is the Autumn Squill, Prospero autumnale,
which although it can be found throughout southern Europe and the
Middle East, for some reason can also be found in Great Britain
according to Kew Garden's world checklist. The third one is Crocus
laevigatus, which is endemic to Crete and is one of a number of
crocuses sometimes known as the Autumn Crocus as, like the others, it flowers at this time of year.
The
rains also bring forth the snails, of course, and the familiar Garden
Snail, Cornu
aspersum, starts
to appear in considerable numbers in gardens and supermarkets across
the island. Apart from being edible did you know that its yucky,
slimy secretions are used in American skin creams? The second one is
the Chocolate-band Snail, Eobania
vermiculata, which
also appears in gardens but not so often in supermarkets. They are
edible but considered inferior to Garden Snails by the Greeks so we
export them to France (mind you, that little nugget of information is
37 years old, so don't quote me on it). Finally, the Green Garden
Snail, Cantareus
apertus,
which has a shell that can vary from creamy yellow, through olive
green, to almost black but is easily recognisable if you pick it up.
It will blow bubbles all over your hand which reeks of slightly off
garlic and lasts for days. Incidentally Wikipedia notes that “In
Crete this species is active for 3–4 months after the first
rainfalls in October.”
Rubbish;
I've found them out and about at the end of March.
As
the seasonal rivers and streams start to fill, listen out for the a
capella amphibian assembly after dark. The frogs and toads become
very vocal in the autumn. The main singers being the Green Toad,
Bufotes viridis, (left) which I think is a very dull name for
such a beautiful animal, the endemic Cretan Frog, Pelophylax
cretensis (middle). This is a particularly vivid specimen,
they are usually much duller, and the diminutive European Tree Frog,
Hyla arborea, which, although small, certainly holds his own
in the croaking stakes.
Autumn
also sees the opening of the mushroom season and lets hope we have a
better one than last year when they were very few and far between. In
fact, the only ones I found were these Mica Caps, Coprinellus
micaceus, a
nice, edible mushroom but you have to get them in the pan within the
hour and, given the other caveats (see Voila
- Turkish Delight ) one wonders whether they're worth collecting
at all. Hopefully, this year we'll find a few more species.
That's
it for the almanack; next week sees the start of Steve's Sunday
Strolls and for those of you who are on the island during the next
fortnight here is where you can join me:
Sunday
23rd
September
11
am
Sisi
(see
last
week's post for details).
11
am
Ag.
Charalampos, Lassithi Plateau
A gentle stroll around one corner of the Plathini-Lagkada Wildlife Refuge and a handy village taverna where we can chat about what we have seen afterwards.
The
Extra Bit
A
big thank you to all who have taken the time to investigate my book
of short stories and an even bigger thank you to those of you who
have actually bought a copy (Amazon Kindle £1.99 or currency
equivalent).
Photographic
Bit
Many
of you have asked me
what photographic equipment I use so 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.Pictures
were edited with FastStone Image Viewer and combined with Microsoft
Paint.
*********************************************************************
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Thank you. The majority of my blog photos are processed through faststone.
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