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| Autumn crocus, Colchicum pusillum |
We'll
continue to make our way northwards today and gradually drift
eastwards as we approach the zenith of our circular tour. I have
found, in the thirteen years I've been on the island, that Crete has
very distinct changes of seasons. Soon after the autumn equinox, clouds begin to make their way back, nervously encroaching upon the
wall-to-wall sunshine and blue skies of summer, and eventually the
rains will come. This valley to our right is the perfect place to
admire the acres of sky above us and there's a rocky outcrop just
here where we can be monarchs of all we survey so let's get out and
do a bit of rock scrambling. Magnificent view isn't it? But look what
I've found nestling in between the rocks at our feet. The first
Autumn Crocus of the year. This is the earliest that I've seen one,
my previous observations have been three or four weeks later in the
year.
Hello,
what's this? It appears to be a pot handle of some kind. I've no idea
how old it is, it could be Minoan, Roman or made last week. I shall
have to take it home and show it to a lady I know who's potty about
such things. I'll let you know when I find out a bit more about it.
Meanwhile we may or may not have a clue in the landscape. If you look
down there to our left you can see a pair of incongruous outcrops.
These are the remains of a hill fort called Monte Forte (which,
rather unimaginatively, is Italian for Hill Fort). It was built early
in the 13th century when the Venetians held the island and
spent about a hundred years amusing itself by being occupied and
reoccupied by opposing forces before an earthquake put a stop to all
that malarkey in 1303. It was rebuilt in the 14th century
but no-one seemed to have a use for it and it gradually fell into
rack and ruin. Whether or not this has anything to do with our pot
handle I'm not sure but the Museum of London is in possession of a
jug of similar vintage, the handle of which looks remarkably similar
(to my untrained eye at least).
 |
| Parent Bug, Elasmucha grisea |
Enough
of the history, let us carry on to Paraspori and have a look at these
springs and see if we can find some wildlife. So, this is the spring,
set in a pleasant picnic area shaded by massive plane trees and I've
found someone rather interesting on this stone wall. Most shield
bugs, and this is one, are not renowned for being particularly
attentive mothers; they lay their eggs in little cases and then
wander off and forget about them. This one however is called the
Parent Bug and she will look after her offspring, carefully rounding up any
adventurous individuals with her antennae, right up until the third
instar (which roughly equates to our teenage years) when she will
allow them to move off in small groups to forage for their favourite
foodstuffs which is the sap of various trees. After that they
gradually disperse.
There's
a little path leading down from the picnic area with a rather fine
Ivy hedgerow alongside it. Ivy is very important at this time of year
as it is coming into flower when many other plants are still waiting
for a decent drop of rain and as you can see the wasps and bees are
loving it. There's a Speckled Wood butterfly flitting about as well
and some tiny white blobs that one may not immediately recognise as
insects. These are Oleander or Ivy Scale Insects (Aspidiotus
nerii) which attack both plants
as well as palms and citrus trees among others. These are females and
they will remain attached to the leaf beneath these waxy plates and
give birth. The males, having done their job, fly off and die within
a couple of days so they are rather more difficult to spot.
 |
| Penicillium mould on a fallen orange |
Now,
what do we have on the floor down here? An early fallen orange
covered in a blue/green mould. Moulds are part of the fungi kingdom
and are very important (though not always welcome) in the decay cycle
of an ecosystem. This one is probably
Penicillium
digitatum (although
it may be P.
italicum they
are very similar)
and
it lurks around in the soil of citrus growing areas such as this just
waiting for the fruit to fall. It only needs a small chink in the
fruit's waxy armour and it's in to the rich juices inside. Once there
it reproduces millions of times, sending its thread like mycelia
throughout the interior and producing its own spore filled fruits on
the outside. The spores, when they hatch, are carried by the air;
some to fall upon the soil and some to adhere to undamaged fruits.
For this reason great care has to be taken when harvesting and
handling the fruit because if it is damaged in any way then they're
in like Flynn once more. These microscopic fungi are
responsible
for 90% of citrus fruits lost to infection after harvesting
which is not good news for us but without them, then in the natural
order of things, the nutrients bound up in the fruit would not be
returned to the soil and it would soon become impoverished. Rot and
decay isn't pretty but it is essential and a major part of the autumn
season.
The
Extra Bit
A
couple of weeks ago we were debating whether we had found signs of a
meteor strike. I am indebted to Chad Johnson at Learning
Geology
for showing me that this type of geological feature can be caused by
the natural erosion of a dome. Thanks Chad.
Do
you remember the mantis I found eating a shield bug last week? Well
she's still sitting motionless in the same patch of fennel a week
later apparently having moved no more than a few inches in the entire
week. I haven't seen any more potential prey items on the fennel so
she's either been snaffling them while I haven't been looking or
she's getting very hungry. As her scientific name is Iris oratorio
I've taken to saying “Good
morning Iris” to her when I go out (much to the consternation of my
neighbours who are wondering if they should send for the man with the
straitjacket).
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 Nikon Coolpix S33
Insets Canon
EOS 1300D
Picture
2 Nikon Coolpix S33
Insets Handle:
Canon EOS 1300D Jug: Museum of London (via
Pinterest)
Picture
3 Nikon Coolpix S33
Insets Canon
EOS 1300D
Picture
4 Nikon Coolpix S33
Insets Canon
EOS 1300D
Picture
5 Canon EOS 1300D
Insets
Extra
Bit Canon
EOS 1300D
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
amazing! Can't wait to get back out there somewhere after so long
ReplyDeleteWe'll have to meet up when you come over.
ReplyDelete