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| The purple ponds are teeming with microscopic life. |
We'll
make our way back to the main Sitia-Makry Gialos road to Lithines
where there are a few interesting ponds to the north west of the
village that are worthy of investigation not least of all for their
intriguing colour at this time of year. We are still awaiting
significant rainfall and the ponds are very shallow at the moment but
packed full of nutrients and it is these that are responsible for
their unusual colour. If you check them out under the microscope they
are absolutely teeming with microscopic life with nematodes, desmids
and the like flitting about at tremendous speeds all over the place.
But before we get down to them lets see what we can find on the way.
The
first signs of the upcoming change of season are here by the track
with these Wood Sorrels or Bermuda Buttercups which will soon be
adorning every roadside and olive grove. You can make a nice warming
winter soup with these; just bring a pot of chicken or vegetable
broth up to the boil, chuck in a handful of cooked rice and a handful
of wood sorrel leaves, simmer for about eight minutes. Finally stir
in a dollop of cream, salt and pepper to taste and serve with a
couple of the flowers floating on the top. (Obligatory word of
caution: Wood sorrel contains oxalic acid so if you suffer from
rheumatism,
arthritis, gout, kidney stones or hyperacidity then it may aggravate
the complaint but for the rest of us the odd bowl or two is fine).
You can also add flowers or leaves to salads for a sharp, lemony bite
if you wish as well. As with all wild plants, wash them well, remove
any bugs such as this Shield Bug nymph and pick away from roadsides
or other contaminated areas.
There
are the ponds down there which we have to find our way down to
somehow but first a Small Copper has just landed nearby. They like to
lay their eggs on Sorrel which is their caterpillar's food plant and
you could be forgiven for thinking that this is rather handy as we
have some wood sorrel nearby but not so. This is the old confusion of
common names. The Wood Sorrel is Oxalis
pes-carpe
in the family Oxalidaceae; Sorrels (without the wood) are plants of
the Rumex
genus
in the Polygonaceae family. The ambiguity arises because they are all
acidic tasting and the word Sorrel reflects this being derived from
the old French 'sorele' meaning sour.
Here
we are, down at the ponds without too much difficulty and there
doesn't seem to be too much activity on the surface but just take a
look at this rainwater ditch nearby where the water is a little more
free draining. The dragonflies are having a high old time, there must
be six pairs here at least, flying along in tandem with the males
clasping the females' necks with their special pincers. These little
Darters stay together after copulation and then the female gently
dips her abdomen into the water and lays an egg which, if we sit and
watch them for a few moments we can witness. There she goes, and
another, and another. These will hatch out into extremely predatory
nymphs and providing that the ditch doesn't dry up they can spend up
to three years in this stage before emerging as adults.
And
finally the ponds themselves and what an unusual, attractive colour
they are at this time of day. Not entirely devoid of life on the
surface, I can see one small, white insect skating along on the
surface but what precisely it is I cannot tell. No, I am not going to
wade in and take a closer look. I have a strong suspicion that
beneath this shallow water there lurks a good few inches or more of
evil smelling sludge with which I have no desire to get better
acquainted thank you. Well, that just about wraps it up for Autumn.
Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice and if you'd care to join me in
raising a glass to the shortest day of the year the the time of the
solstice, when the Earth is at its furthest point from the sun, is
16.48 Universal Time or almost ten to five Greenwich Mean Time as us
oldies prefer to call it. That's a most convivial time for a libation
out here in Crete being about ten to seven in the evening. So,
wherever you are and whatever you're celebrating, have a good one and
we'll meet up again on January 3rd
2018. Cheers!
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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