Much-Birding-in-the-Marsh

 

When the wind is howling, fit to blow you off your feet, going out for a walk can be a bit daunting, even for the most enthusiastic of naturalists. Much better to pack a thermos of hot soup and head for one of your local bird hides.

[Tip: search 'bird hides near me' in Google Maps]

Which is where I'm taking you today. Campbell Marsh RSPB reserve, to be precise. Up on the Solway Firth. The first hide is open, facing the wind, and you can hardly prise the door open. Nothing much going on at the second, but third time lucky. We're out of the wind, and there are birds to be seen. A large flock of Widgeon, albeit a distant flock. However, we do have a Little Egret pottering about down here, and he's just been joined by a Grey Heron. Little Egrets are on the rebound in Britain. They used to be plentiful (in 1465, a banquet for the new Archbishop of York reputedly included a thousand of them). They were then slaughtered in their millions in Victorrian times, to provide feathers for women's hats, which is one of the main reasons that the RSPB came into being, and finally, they got fed up and moved south to mainland Europe. They were virtually extinct in the UK by the 1950s.

Apart from the heron and the egret, there doesn't seem to be much happening outside at the moment. Meanwhile, I suggest we take a tip from that Orb Weaver spider up there, happily devouring some species of fly, and break open the soup.

Lights, camera, action. A flock of Barnacle Geese are just honking in. Back in the 12^th century, it was thought that these birds hatched from the Goose Barnacle, hence their common English name. In Ireland, the myth persisted until fairly recently, and they could be eaten during Lent, as they were considered to be fish, and not poultry. I have a sneaking feeling that this was just a work-around!

It's all happening now. A trio of Whooper Swans have just arrived. These are larger than the similar looking Bewick Swan, and have more yellow on their beaks. They overwinter here, having bred in subarctic Eurosiberia. When they prepare to migrate, they have a sort of head bobbing competition. The bobbiest bird gets to lead the migration. Swan democracy!

And another Little Egret has just arrived, much to the chagrin of the initial Egret, who was first upon the scene. At least, this looks to be more of an aerial argument, rather than a courtship display. But who knows? This November has been the warmest on record, so maybe they think it's Spring. A wonderful display, though, whatever the motivation.

Oh, this is really the icing on the cake. A pair of Marsh Harriers. The lighter colured male is highly distinctive, whereas the darker female is a little harder to recognise. To add to the confusion, the dark one could be a juvenile. The young of both sexes look very similar to the adult female. These are wetland specialists, feeding on small mammals, small birds, insects, reptiles, and frogs. They are ground nesting, typically in reed beds. Nearly extinct in the UK by the early 20^th century, due to persecution, habitat destruction, and pesticide poisoning, they have come back strongly, and are rated as 'of least concern' by the IUCN.

So, from a slow start, it has turned into quite an exciting morning. Oh, and if the title of this post rings a bell, then you must be even older than me. Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh was a BBC radio comedy show from the 1940s and 50s. And, talking of things from the past, following on from Steve's History of Things, I have just launched a new magazine which you can find on Steve's Nature Plus.

All the best,

Steve

Beetles and Butterflies; spiders and scorpions; woodlice and worms. How do you tell them all apart? To say nothing of crane flies, dragonflies, bee flies and yet more butterflies. Are they all flies? If not, why call them so? If you're fascinated but confused by the beautiful world of the very small, then this is the book for you. 82 pages of information on all aspects of the world of minibeasts, with over 100 photographs and illustrations, this book will help you track down and identify any arthropod, in its adult or juvenile state, anywhere in the world. See all of my books at author.to/SteveDaniels

Follow me on Steve's Nature Plus

and also on Twitter Steve's Nature, Facebook Steve Daniels Naturalists, and Instagram

Steve Daniels Cumbria

Once More Onto The Beach, Dear Friends

Back in the middle of November last year we began our Descent into the Milonas Valley and here we are in the middle of April rapidly approaching the sea. Back then we were accompanied by Red Admiral and Painted Lady butterflies and now the Old World Swallowtails have joined us. I saw the first ones at the end of March and like the poppies that we saw last week they are now appearing about a month later than in 2006. A similar trend can be seen with the first swallows although the swifts are much the same as they were then. Only the vine leaves seem to be bucking the trend; they are now appearing about a month earlier. As we were discussing last week, the seasons are going out of synch.

No matter, we will enjoy the spring while there is still a spring to be enjoyed and I see that the Silver Wattle is now bursting into golden globes of flower. This shrubby tree, which is also known as Mimosa, was originally a native of Australia but has been widely introduced into the Mediterranean and is pretty well naturalised here in Crete. Apparently these are traditionally given on International Women’s Day in Italy and a few other European countries. Seeing as that was on March 8^th I can only presume that it flowers earlier up there – or it did when the tradition began.

The stream is now placidly flowing between banks of vegetation: great tall reeds and the pungent tree spurge are on the opposite bank while over here straggly asters are poking through the lesser reeds and grasses. I see that we have a flower chafer taking a rest in the sun on this one. These are big, bumbling beetles which emerge in considerable numbers in the spring months and give rise to various stories in folklore. Their relatives are known as May bugs or June beetles in the UK.

Here’s an interesting little critter; it’s a Grove Snail and the interesting thing about these are that they come in many guises, from pale and almost unmarked like this one to bright yellow with chocolate bands. The one thing that they all have in common is the brown, slightly protuberant lip at the base of the shell. Snails with different patterns are called ‘morphs’ (having more than one appearance in nature is known as polymorphism) and which morph is prevalent in an area is determined partly by the genetic make-up and partly down to the preferences of their predators (who tend to go for the commonest morph as being tried and tested as it were).

Here we are at the end of the vegetation; a sprawling tamarisk and then the beach. There’s also a lentisc bush with a nice orb web stretched across it and the architect has just spotted us. It has run along the top anchor line and taken refuge under a leaf. You may wonder how they get that first anchor line, which may be metres long, into place. The answer, as Bob Dylan observed, is blowin’ in the wind. The spider produces a very thin line of silk and just lets it drift. When it snags on a distant piece of vegetation the spider feels the vibrations and reels it in until it’s taut. It then runs back and forth along the line, like a demented tightrope walker, laying strengthening lines until it has a cable strong enough to support the rest of the web (the construction of which we discussed in The Incredible Shrinking Safari).

The Extra Bit

And so we reach the end of the Milonas Valley having followed the stream from its origins in the Thriptis mountains all the way down here to Ferma Bay. Would you believe it? Even down here on the beach we still have tadpoes. I don’t give much for their chances of survival but toads are r-strategists like last week’s kestrel and produce far more offspring than could ever hope to survive. Might make a nice lunch for that Little Ringed Plover though. Talking of lunch there’s a nice little taverna by the beach - a drop of ouzo and a few mezedes would go down a treat in the spring sunshine.

*********************************************************************

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)

Cretan Flora

Flowers of Crete;

BIRDS OF CRETE

Crete Birding

Greek Butterflies and Moths

Aquaworld Aquarium

Visit Greece (National Government Tourist Office)

Over The Ridge

Route to the ridge

The sun is shining, the thermometer is reading twenty degrees Centigrade and there’s hardly a cloud in the sky. Down here in the south east of Crete we do have winter, complete with biting north winds and flurries of sleet and snow, but it usually only lasts for about a fortnight and that fortnight has now passed. If you look out from the terrace here you’ll see a faint track above the pink house. I’ve walked this many times but I’ve never gone ‘off road’ as it were and attempted to scale the ridge above it so, as we’re all feeling revitalised by the sun, I thought we’d take advantage of this Spring-like day and see what’s up there. We’ll drive up to the track (I’m not feeling that energetic) and hike off into the wilderness together.

(Clockwise) Storksbill, Groundsel, Henbit, Small White

This is a promising start. Not ten yards from the car and already we have a profusion of small flowers growing amid the grass and Wood-sorrel at the edge of the track. There’s Mallow-leaved Storksbill, Common Groundsel and Greater Henbit in this little patch alone and they’re all being fussed over by a Small White butterfly. Not having a good eye for size, I used to get confused by Small and Large Whites. Here’s the trick: Small Whites only have a black smudge at the corner of the wing; in the Large White that smudge extends at least half way down the edge of the wing. Females of both species have two black dots on the topside of the wing, the Small White Male has one dot and the Large White male has none. They all have two dots on the underside of the wing and this sometimes shows through as a faint smudge on the top side just to confuse the issue but this fellow here is most definitely a Small White male.

 

Phrygana

As we start our climb we are passing through a habitat known as phrygana, a limestone scrubland where the plants are well adapted to the ferocious summer sun. Many of them are dense, low growing and have spiny leaves so watch your legs. The stiff, twiggy branches also make great anchor plants for the Orb Weaver Spiders. These are the familiar spiral webs that trap insects which we discussed in The Incredible Shrinking Safari  last May. I said then that not all of the web is sticky but there was one thing I neglected to mention: the spider has a special third claw designed specifically for walking on the non sticky parts of the web so he doesn’t get caught in his own trap. Neat huh? Incidentally similar habitats around the world have different names such as garrigue and maquis and those of you of a certain age may have unwittingly come across another, chaparral, as immortalised in the 1960’s American TV series The High Chaparral.

A walk through the firs

Ah, the ground has levelled out a bit as we enter a stretch of pine woodland so let’s stop for a breather and listen to the birds. I can hear chaffinch (with his descending trill at the end), the rattling song of a Sardinian Warbler and the liquid warblings of blackbirds. How absolutely delightful. No, I won’t sit down thank you. To tell the truth when I was photographing the last orb weaver the loose stones slipped beneath me and I found myself reversing at some speed into a bush whose leaves must have been the original template for the hypodermic needle. Consequently my rear end now has more perforations than a Tetley tea bag. Such are the delights of wildlife photography. Oh look, a Speckled Wood butterfly making his way purposefully along the path. I think he must be a patroller. Male Speckled Woods mate as often as they can in their adult lives and have two distinctive mating techniques. Some, the territorials, will find an appealing sunny spot and defend it throughout the day, waiting for a female to fly by. Others, the patrollers, will fly through the trees actively searching out a female. The female, who only mates once, has the final choice of the type of male they prefer. Sounds familiar. OK, once more unto the ridge dear friends. What an amazing number of grasshoppers up here, mainly Red-winged but that was definitely a big Egyptian that just went whirring by like a clockwork flying machine. 

Summit Approach

Out of the trees and it looks as though we have a bit of a climb ahead of us. The plants are beginning to thin out now but here’s one on the phenology list. Just starting to come into flower: it’s Cretan Ebony. Between 2004 and 2010 I observed this flowering locally between February and April.  Since then I’ve seen it between March and June. True, it is late in the month and it’s hardly in full flower but a noteworthy sighting all the same.

“Are there any geologists in the group?” Correct me if I’m wrong but this grey lump, wedged in amongst the conglomerate, looks suspiciously like volcanic lava.  This is interesting because, as far as I know, Crete has never been a volcanic island. However, as I mentioned last week as we were following our nature trail around The National Archeological Museum in Athens, there was a massive volcanic eruption on the island of Thira (Santorini) about three and a half thousand years ago which had a devastating effect here on Crete. Could this have flown a hundred miles through the air all those years ago? [Answers in the comment box below please. SD].

View from the summit

Well, here we are at the summit and just look at that view. If you look at the horizon you can actually see the curvature of the Earth from up here. If you’re wondering what those white eyesores are dotted among the olive groves down there, they’re greenhouses covered in plastic sheeting. However, of late I’ve noticed that some of the newer greenhouses like those down there in the middle have utilised a far more harmonious green covering. I do hope this trend continues. We may as well have a poke about while we’re up here. Some lovely foliose lichen over there and my first rhinoceros beetle of the year, hello little fellow, one of the Pentadon species I believe. And here’s a bird to round the expedition off nicely, a Blue Rock Thrush. I only ever see them down here at this time of year and then, not often. Usually they’re much higher up but the winter must have driven him down. Talking of ‘down’, that is the direction in which we must now go. Watch out for loose stones and prickly bushes on the way back, certain tender portions of my anatomy are still smarting from my earlier encounter.

Until next week – happy hunting.

***********************************************************************************

LINKS:

Naturalists (the facebook page that accompanies this blog)

Flowers of Crete;

BIRDS OF CRETE

Crete Birding

Greek Butterflies and Moths

Aquaworld Aquarium

Visit Greece (National Government Tourist Office)