Voila – Turkish Delight

What a beautiful late Autumn day. Just the sort of day for strolling around an uninhabited historic village and looking for wildlife. This one, called Voila (pronounced Vo-i-la as opposed to the French voilà) is Venetian in origin under the fiefdom of the Salomon family but when Crete was taken over by the Ottoman Empire^[1] in the mid seventeenth century it became the headquarters of one Jen Ali, a famous commander in his day. Nowadays the tower, on which Turkish motifs can be readily discerned, are guarded by a small Cretan frog where armed janissaries once stood. I wonder if there are any bat roosts hidden within?

Unfortunately not, nor anything more remarkable than an old pigeon's nest. It was also rather chilly in there and as the sun is shining down magnificently on the south east side of the village I suggest we make our way over there, nosing through the ruins as we go, and see if we can find some more wildlife. That's better, the ground is covered in lichen covered stones and a host of tiny flowers. These lovely little crocuses, Crocus laevigatus, are particularly attractive I think before they are fully open. Those deep lilac streaks on the underside contrasting strikingly with the snow white petals and then, gradually, the divided orange stigma are revealed. Like a firework in slow motion.

And where we have flowers then of course we have insects and it really is a thriving metropolis down here. Let us repose upon the carpet of Wood Sorrel leaves and observe the action at eye level. There's a small black wasp doing a complicated waggle dance amid an audience of harvester ants here and on one of the crocuses a red and black Soldier Bug nymph is exploring his new world. A few minute black fly-like insects on that Colchicum over there, no bigger than its stamens, require closer inspection and a Marmalade Hoverfly has been attracted to the bright yellow composites that are also dotting the scene like Belisha Beacons along the highways. Sunbathing on the stones a Short-horned grasshopper is looking forward to a light salad lunch whilst nearby an Ameles mantis waits in motionless ambush for a somewhat meatier meal. I could lie here all morning fascinated by this miniature world but there is something I have yet to see this autumn and I wonder if we'll find any examples up by that church up yonder?

This is the church of Agios Giorgos and the last resting place of the Salomon family (they're in the extension apparently if you'd like to go in and say hello). Personally I'm going to do a bit of bird watching. There's a great view of the village, the valley and the windmill dominated hills behind and the first thing I see is a pair of large birds of prey rapidly approaching the spinning blades. A bit distant but I think that the lead bird, at least, may be a Griffon Vulture. There's also a Buzzard on the corner of that building down there. He's spotted something... and he's off. And scanning around to that stand of Weaver's Broom down to our right a Stonechat has just landed. I saw a Black Redstart as we passed through the village of Chandras as well. They started arriving in the second week of November and my own personal lodger has occasionally roosted above my bedroom window when the weather has been less than conducive to spending the night in the open.

Meanwhile I do believe that the items for which I've been looking are lurking alonside the roots of this tree. Our first fungi of the autumn and edible ones at that. These are Mica Caps and if you look closely at the cap you can see the tiny glistening specks that give it the name. A couple of words of warning before you squirrel them away into your bag. Firstly, they must be cooked within the hour or they dissolve into a horrible squidgy inedible mess. Secondly, some related species react with any alcohol in your stomach so it is inadvisable to drink about three hours either side of eating them. Thirdly, they're rather good at picking up heavy metals from the soil so avoid collecting them from roadsides or polluted sites. And finally... I think I see the local priest arriving and he may have something to say about you pinching his breakfast. In all honesty, once you've covered points one to four and checked that there are no fly larvae lurking within, their flavour is so very delicate that you wonder if they were worth the trouble.

The Extra Bit

^[1] If you would like a good read about this period of Cretan history in the east of the island then Yvonne Payne's dramatic account of the Kritsa heroine, Rodanthe is well worth adding to your library. Details here.

Now, cast your mind back two years ago to the day we explored the grounds of the Porto Belissario Hotel. There we found a Western Conifer Seed Bug and I opined that it was the first time that it had been recorded on Crete. It turns out that I was correct and I am most grateful to Torsten van der Heyden for crediting me with its discovery on the island in his paper published on November 20^th in the entomological journal Arquivos Entomoloxicos Galegos

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 1 Canon EOS 1300D 2,3 Nikon COOLPIX S33

Picture 2 Canon EOS 1300D

Insets Canon EOS 1300D

Picture 3 Nikon COOLPIX S33

Insets Canon EOS 1300D

Picture 4 Nikon COOLPIX S33

Insets 1 Canon EOS 1300D 2,3 Nikon COOLPIX S33

Picture 5 Nikon COOLPIX S33

Insets Canon EOS 1300D

Extra Bit Konica Minolta

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

Cretan Flora

Flowers of Crete;

BIRDS OF CRETE

Crete Birding

Greek Butterflies and Moths

Aquaworld Aquarium

Visit Greece (National Government Tourist Office)

Porto Belissario

Porto Belissario - the hotel garden ecosystem

Welcome back. Did you have a good summer/winter break and are you all refreshed and eager for another season of traipsing round the Cretan countryside, sliding unintentionally down scree slopes and backing into thorn bushes? Good. With so much strenuous work ahead of us I thought we’d better start with a holiday. For our first two weeks we’ll be staying at the delightful Porto Belissario Hotel here in Ferma. There is method in my madness. As many of you are not fortunate enough to live on this beautiful island but only get to visit it for a short while then you will most probably be staying in apartments or a hotel such as this with manicured lawns and herbaceous borders. This, of course, is a totally artificial environment but one worthy of closer investigation.

Introduced plants: Hibiscus, Bougainvillea, Date palm, Frangipani

So, Cretan flower guide in hand, let’s go into the garden and see what we can find. And here we hit our first problem; the guide only lists flowers that are native to Crete and many of the plants that you will see in urban settings are introduced. So here’s the low down on four that you may well come across. The one with the showy red flowers is Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. We do have a native Hibiscus on Crete, Hibiscum trionum, but it is rare and only found in one area. This one is a cultivar originally from Africa and Asia. The second one is Bougainvillea from South America and (a good trick question for quiz enthusiasts) the petals are white. The magenta surrounds that look like petals are bracts, a specialised type of leaf. The palm tree is a Date Palm, Phoenix dactylifera, from Asia, producer of the well known sticky fruit. There is only one palm tree native to Europe, the Cretan Date Palm Phoenix theophrasti, which you can find behind the beach at Vai on the east coast. And finally…the beautiful white flowers with the yellow centres are Frangipani (Plumeria sp.) from South and Central America.

Western Conifer Seed Bug, Leptoglossus occidentalis

Now you may have noticed that the Porto Belissario is not an entomologists’ dream. The hotel is scrupulously clean and woe betide any ant that tries to set up a colony in the garden. I did however, spot this fellow on my way to breakfast who obviously hadn’t seen the warning sticker on the front door informing insects that the hotel regularly uses the services of a local insect control company. Not only should he not be in the hotel grounds, he shouldn’t even be in Europe. He is a Western Conifer Seed Bug from the USA. Hitch-hiking around the globe on exported lumber, he first turned up in Europe (northern Italy to be precise) in 1999 and has been spreading his way around mainland Europe ever since. To the best of my knowledge this is the first time it has been recorded in Crete. So, a good start to our first foray of the season, a new insect on the island (you may recall that last year we found the first Leafhopper Assassin Bug Zelus renardii on the island - see Red Autumn). Good news for us maybe but not for the pine trees as it can reduce the number of pine nuts by 95% [1] 

Feral Pigeons - flocking behaviour

Now, what do you say we have a quick dip in that rather inviting looking swimming pool followed by a spot of lunch and bird watching on the terrace? That was refreshing, pass me a slice of pizza would you? I see that the Ferma pigeon flock are giving an aerial display over the sea. As you know we have been keeping records of the number of Feral Pigeons and the number of Collared Doves in the village to see if the latter is displacing the former as it is in other parts of the world (see Hey hay!). 

The present flock is down from 18 to 16 since 2010 and Collared Doves are up from 2 to 4 in the same period. I must admit I have a fondness for the bumbling old Feral Pigeon with his makeshift nest of twigs and his idea of a perfect landing being to crash into a tree and stop. This aimless flying about and sudden change of direction that we’re watching now isn’t quite as pointless as it seems however. If you watch closely you’ll see that the same two birds are always at the front and when they veer off the rest of the flock follow suit. They’re competing for title of ‘Leader of the Flock’ and all the feeding, roosting and mating privileges that comes with rank. Keep your eye on that almost black one about a third of the way back – every now and then he breaks rank and goes walkabout. My guess is that he’s a younger bird with pretensions to becoming a flock leader. He’s hoping someone will follow him. There he goes look. Bad luck son, better luck next time. And back he comes into the flock, suitably subdued for a short while at least.

White Sea Bream, Diplodus sargus sargus

And now, after a suitable pause to digest that magnificent pizza let us descend the steps to the beach and indulge in a bit of snorkelling and I’ll introduce you to some of my fishy friends. This one, cruising along the bottom, is a White Sea Bream, one of several species of Sea Bream that you can see down here. They belong to the Sparidae family and have quite a distinctive shape with the top of the head sloping very steeply. That mouth, with lips that look as if they’ve recently visited a cosmetic surgeon, conceals a strong jaw and teeth designed for crushing the crustaceans, molluscs and corals on which it feeds. We’re more accustomed to seeing them on a plate of course with a side order of chips as they’re one of the tastiest fish around and, thankfully, still reasonably plentiful unlike many of our food fishes.

I think that’s enough excitement for one day, next time we’ll venture outside the hotel grounds and see what other habitats we can find in the locality and yes, I’m sure we can fit in another snorkelling session as well. Would it be awfully inappropriate of me if I had fish for dinner tonight?

Until next week – happy hunting.

See all the pictures including insets in detail on Flickr

[1] Roversi et al. 2011 via First record of  Leptoglossus occidentalis (Heteroptera: Coreidae) in Greece P.V. PETRAKIS 2011

Thanks also to Matt Smith at The Amateur Entomologists' Society for providing the initial identification of Leptoglossus occidentalis.  

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