Considering
that this is supposed to be a tour of the upland villages of east
Crete you could be forgiven for wondering why I have brought you down
here to the coastal resort of Makry Gialos. Apart from the fact that
it is a beautiful little place and well worth visiting in its own
right it is also the point where one of the main winter watersheds
reaches the sea. If you remember back to Chrysopigi
and
Skordilo
we
passed beneath the massif of the Ornos mountains and we have now
circled around to the mouth of what is grandly called the White River
(or Aspros Potamos) in Greek. So today I thought we'd take a gentle
riverside stroll and see what is about before motoring up to Pefki
next week.
Well,
this is it folks and if you are wondering where the water is then I
have to tell you that we are still awaiting any significant rainfall.
What little flow there is appears to be choked with Giant Cane and
after last week's escapade I'm in no hurry to get down amongst it.
We'll cross the road up there and when the reeds clear a bit keep
your eyes peeled for Wagtails. The White Wagtails, Motacilla
alba
are quite abundant and there is also a good chance of seeing a Grey
Wagtail, Motacilla
cinerea. We
are probably a bit early for the Yellow Wagtail, Motacilla
flava
as they don't usually turn up until late March or April but if you do
spot one take a good look at the head colouring as they come in a
number of different flavours: black-headed; ashy-headed, blue-headed
etc.
Here
on the wall of the
Villea Village
we have a
handy map which shows the route all the way up to Pefki. We're only
going as far as Aspros Potamos today which is a pleasant, flat stroll
suitable for all but there's plenty to see just along this little
stretch. As far as winter flowers are concerned mauve is the colour
to look out for starting with the Windflowers, Anemone
coronaria. These
actually come in a variety of shades ranging from pure white to pink
but there are a few mauve ones down here at our feet conveniently
illustrating my point. In the soft earth at the side of the track we
also have the much maligned Mandrake, Mandragora
officinarum, which,
contrary to folklore does not scream and send you mad if you pull it
up by the roots. It is however, highly poisonous, being packed full
of tropane alkaloids and is best admired from a distance. Finally we
have that well known garden herb, Rosemary, Rosmarinus
officinalis, which
this newly emerged Large White is drying her fresh wings upon. In the
kitchen most of us associate the leaves of this plant with lamb as
they have a strong flavour and need a similarly robust meat to
accompany. The flowers though have a more delicate and sweeter
flavour and sprinkled over a chicken breast or pork escalope pan
fried in butter at the last moment add a lovely twist to the meal.
Now
here's a little butterfly that you won't come across very often. It's
a Mallow Skipper, Carcharodus
alceae.
Other species are available but as far as I am aware this is the only
species recorded for Crete and I have seen them before on this track.
The adults will feed on a variety of flowers (this one is enjoying
the Wood Sorrel) but they lay little pink, knobbly eggs upon various
species of Mallow which is the preferred foodplant of their
caterpillars, although they are not averse to Hisbiscus as an
alternative, both of which are in plentiful supply in these parts
although the Hibiscus is imported.
Well,
this is as far as we go today. As you can see, it's all uphill from
here but it is a lovely walk if you don't mind a bit of climbing.
Meanwhile I'm a little disappointed that we haven't found any fungi
today but, as I say, we're still waiting for the rain. However, it
just so happens, that down by the harbour I know of a lovely little
taverna that boasts a magnificent bracket fungus, Innotus
tamaricis, growing
on a tamarisk tree at a very convenient distance from a table. I
really do think that we should go and see how it's getting on.
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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