40 Saints II – Land of the Levitating Goat

Rather a scenic little walk this morning as we continue along the track eastwards along the southern slopes of Agioi Saranta musing among the mysteries of nature as the goats pecefully levitate about a foot above the ground. (OK, so I caught him in mid air as he dashed across the track; don't spoil the llusion). Last week we were looking at the rock rose family, the Cistaceae, with that little Fumana we found. There are a couple more examples here; the Pink Rock Rose (Cistus creticus) and the white Sage-leaved Rock Rose (Cistus salviifolius). The essential oils from the leaves are used to combat psoriasis and eczema and are also held to be effective against acne and wrinkles. I wouldn't advise trying it here and now, it will just highlight your wrinkles a nice shade of green. It is a useful plant in the field though as, applied to cuts, it stops the bleeding and disinfects the wound.

I see that the goats are heading for that little cave up there, probably their Zen Temple. Meanwhile, closer to the ground it's nice to see some beetles emerging into the world. Our old friend the 7-spot Ladybird is exploring this Juniper Bush and down in the undergrowth is this hairy litle flower chafer (Tropinota). These start to appear about now, peak through the spring months and then tail off in June and July after which you rarely see them until the following year. You'll mainly find them around the Mediterranean but one adventurous little soul has been spotted and verified in The Ukraine.

Signs of humans on the landscape: a large, circular, raised compound; filled with earth and fenced in – possibly to stop that large rock from escaping. To be honest, I have no idea what it's for but I highly suspect that it has something to do with goats. From our point of view the area is littered with construction debris such as this plank of wood. I wonder if anyone is underneath? A pair of Smooth Land Slugs of the Deroceras genus cosying up together. Slugs are not everyone's favourite animal but some people, such as Dr Heike Reise in Germany, examines these creatures in intimate detail. Very intimate in the case of Deroceras. Apparently they have a huge range of different shaped penises, “some of them truly bizarre” to quote from her paper in the American Malacological Bulletin¹. Who knew?

More signs of humans on the landscape. These cisterns are dotted around the hills of Crete, collecting water from the mountains and delivering it to the greenhouses below. A good place to sit and watch for a bit as I've spotted a pair of Crag Martins swooping in low for a drink. As usual when you set up a camera the birds buzz off to pastures new. Never mind, there's a nice little Hoverfly here so if I just change camera settings... the Crag Martins come back. Reset the camera, focus in... and they're off again. They're just having a laugh, aren't they?

We're nearly at the end of today's little jaunt and up to our left is that promontory of rock which I think we'll name Ravenscrag for reference. Last week we were watching a pair of ravens which we named Huginn and Muninn (from Norse Mythology) and decided to keep an eye on them to see if they are a breeding pair. I've been watching them for the past half hour and they certainly seem to have made Ravenscrag their home. There's one of them now look; just coming in to land. Maybe we'll get a better view next week when our journey takes us around the back. 

The Extra Bit

1 A review of mating behavior in slugs of the genus Deroceras(Pulmonata: Agriolimacidae)* Heike Reise

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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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

Cretan Flora

Flowers of Crete;

BIRDS OF CRETE

Crete Birding

Greek Butterflies and Moths

Aquaworld Aquarium

Visit Greece (National Government Tourist Office)

Say It With Flowers

Following on from last week's walk I thought we'd cross the road, stroll up past the Remembrance garden and explore the meadow and hillside beyond. I call this track Recreation Road on account of this small fenced in sports pitch on our left here. There are quite a few wild flowers to the right of the track which we'll stop and photograph as we're going to use them later but first let's get down in the grass and see what's happening.

These pendulous grasses, looking like culottes hanging out to dry, are wild oats from which we've been cultivating oats for ourselves and our livestock for thousands of years. I see that the 7 spot ladybirds are out in force in all their disguises. Being beetles they undergo complete metamorphosis (see In The Arms of Giants) and here we have an adult, a pupa and a larva. The only thing missing from the life cycle is the egg. OK, now we have a hill to climb. Keep photographing the flowers (there are plenty of them) and we'll have a look at them when we get to the top.

This looks like a nice flat rock with a view, now let's have a look at your flower photos. A nice selection but you can do a lot more with flowers than just admire their beauty and put a name to them. In the days before mass electronic communications lovers used to exchange flowers, often in secret, to send messages. The first one is a bit confusing because it is called a Corn Marigold although it isn't a marigold. Scientifically it is a Glebionis segetum but only since 1999. Before that it was Chrysanthemum segetum (the name was changed because of the confusion with the florists' Chrysanthemum). For our purposes though we will treat it as a yellow Chrysanthemum which, in the language of flowers, signifies slighted love. The second one, the wild gladiolus, means 'give me another chance' and the Star-of-Bethlehem in the middle requests a reconciliation. The blue hyacinth followed by the white chrysanthemum affirms that I will be constant and true. So much more romantic than a text message isn't it?

Have you noticed something odd about this rock on which we are sitting? There are strange markings upon it. That one by my hat looks like a paw print. There are no claw marks which would suggest a member of the cat family (as only they have retractable claws) but the fourth toe imprint requires a bit of imagination. It could, of course, just be a coincidental arrangement of pebbles that have now been washed away. The other one though is surely a fossilized imprint. If those streaks emanating lower right could be interpreted as legs one would think in terms of a giant millipede but if not some sort of large cane grass springs to mind. All of which is pure speculation so I'll send a couple of photographs to some palaeontologist friends of mine and see what they make of them.

There's a track up here that leads to an abandoned hotel with a lane that will take us back down to the main road. Now, here's a lady that you may not have noticed before as she's rather small. Down here at the base of this concrete balustrade. She's an ichneumon wasp and you can tell it's a she by that long pole sticking out of her backside. That's her egg laying tube or ovipositor. She'll use that to pierce the skin of some poor insect larva and lay her egg inside. That larva, such as the ladybird larva that we saw earlier, then becomes a live-in larder for the wasp's own offspring. The wasp will target a particular insect in which to lay her eggs. I think that this particular species lays her eggs in gall wasps (see Where Mary Sleeps).

I've just remembered; I've got a little something for you. As we're wandering around the village I thought that you might like a map of the main walking tracks. I'll be adding the blog posts to our Interactive Hiking and Nature Map as we go along which you can access from your mobile phone or whatever but you may find this handy to refer to in the meantime. At the moment we're standing in the middle of the big white star.

The Extra Bit

If you'd like to revive the art of flower messaging this is a great little site to get you started: http://languageofflowers.com/

As you can see I am still relying on my little Nikon Coolpix S33 so the pictures aren't quite as sharp as normal. A new camera is on order.

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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

Cretan Flora

Flowers of Crete;

BIRDS OF CRETE

Crete Birding

Greek Butterflies and Moths

Aquaworld Aquarium

Visit Greece (National Government Tourist Office)

Black Witches’ Butter and Pixie Cups

Cistus, Buckler Mustard and Bee Orchid on the Hidden Plateau

Here we are again, back on The Hidden Plateau and, as I promised, by missing out the caves I’ve  found us an easier route up. What with all the spiders, insects and other stuff we discovered last week we didn’t spend much time on the flowers but there really is an amazing variety up here. There are two different Cistus bushes with their showy flowers in pink or white, Buckler Mustard with its strange seed cases like ancient war shields and the beautiful Lesser Yellow Bee Orchids. I’ve just done a quick count and found no less than twenty different species in flower up here and the whole plateau can’t be bigger than a couple of football pitches at most.

Froghoppers and Ants above the South West Cave

Here at the south western edge it looks as though we’re on top of another cave. I wonder if that goes any deeper? A shame we can’t get down to it from here. Another time maybe. Meanwhile I’ve found a bit of a puzzle. Take a look in the base of this Asphodel. Do you see that little orange blob sitting in a sea of bubbles? That is the young nymph of a Froghopper (or Spittle-bug as they call them in the USA). They produce the froth for two reasons; one, to stop them drying out and two, to protect them from predators. Now Froghoppers are closely related to Planthoppers which are regularly attended by ants who, in their turn, are very partial to a sweet liquid called honeydew that the Planthoppers produce. However here we have an Ant and Froghopper combination that I haven’t come across before. I’m not sure how much success the ants are having though.

Crab Spider, Black Witches' Butter and Pixie Cup

This next bit is somewhat overgrown with bushes so there’s only one thing for it, we’ll have to get down on our tummies and slither through snake style.  It’s a bit uncomfortable but there’s plenty to see while we’re down here. (One thing you learn as you start to get old - if you're down on the ground don't get up until you are sure there's no reason to get straight back down again). There’s a lovely little Thomasid Crab Spider for instance, easily recognizable from the strange shape of his abdomen and some great little fungi growing on some moss covered dead wood. There’s Black Witches’ Butter and some Pixie Cups as well – don’t you just love fungi names?

Soldier Beetle camouflaged in Sun Spurge

Ah, it looks like we’re through to more open ground and we have an interesting little beetle wandering around in the Sun Spurge. These are called Soldier Beetles because one of the first to be described had a colour pattern resembling that of the red coats worn by British soldiers of the period. This particular one is a species of Malthodes of which nine have so far been described that are endemic to Crete. Those yellow swellings at the base of the wing cases mimic exactly the anthers of the spurge and if they sit quietly in the shadows then they’re very difficult for predators (and naturalists) to spot.

Rescued Beetles above Ferma Ponds

Here we are back at our starting point and I see that those little ponds above the village have filled up so that looks like a good place to explore next week. Meanwhile we have a couple of water storage tanks here and I see we have some suicidal beetles floundering about on the surface. Pass me a stick will you and we’ll rescue them. Two Tropinota Flower Chafer Beetles and a 7-spot Ladybird successfully saved from a watery grave; our small contribution to wildlife conservation for the day.

Until next week, happy hunting.

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With special thanks this week to Michael Loizides at Mediterranean Fungi for his help with fungus identification and also to Cosmin Manci and Michael Geiser  at Coleoptera for their detailed comments on Malthodes Soldier Beetles.

LINKS:

Naturalists (the facebook page that accompanies this blog)

Flowers of Crete

BIRDS OF CRETE

Crete Birding

Greek Butterflies and Moths

Aquaworld Aquarium