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)

Wildlife, Weeds and Who's Who in the Undergrowth

White Mustard

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been writing this whimsical diary of the Cretan countryside for a year: taking you with me as I wander up hills, delve into caves, venture beneath the waves and generally poke my nose under logs and stones to the chagrin of the animals dwelling beneath. It’s even more surprising that so many of you from all around the world continue to traipse around with me every week. Thank you. So get your boots on once again, grab your sweep nets and we’ll go and explore the weed strewn hillside for the last time this year and see what we can find on this fine, sunny morning.

This looks like a fertile hunting ground. Untouched by man since some new olive trees were planted here a year or so ago we’ve got plenty of grasses; mallow and crown daisy in leaf and a large patch of white mustard in flower. There are a lot of similar looking plants in the mustard (or cabbage) family, all having four yellow petals, and two of the key things to look at in detail are the beak-like fruits (called siliquae) and the hairs (or lack of them) on the leaves and stem.  Armed with this information and a good field guide you soon get adept at recognizing them.

(Coleopterans) Beetles

The beetles are back in numbers I see, and at all stages of development. Beetles undergo complete metamorphosis, that is, they start life as an egg, hatch out as nymphs and then pupate (like these ladybirds are doing) before emerging as adults in their many and varied forms. Some are big and showy (like this furry flower chafer) and some are really tiny like this little fellow I’ve just caught in my sweep net. Judging by his diminutive size and those clubbed antennae it could be a skin beetle (aka leather, carpet, larder beetle etc. as their larvae eat a number of man made products and can be quite a pest). The adults however tend to go for pollen which explains what he’s doing up here among the flowers.

(Hemipterans) Bugs

OK, your turn. There are two things to remember when wielding a sweep net. One, make long, low sweeps back and forth, just brushing the tops of the plants. Two, when you look into the bag make sure you don’t poke someone’s eye out with the other end. No, I’m fine, I ducked just in time. Oh, and a third thing: carry it with confidence. A middle-age person carrying a butterfly net may look eccentric but a middle-aged person trying to pretend that they’re not carrying a butterfly net looks a right plonker. Let’s see what you’ve caught. Aha, bugs by the bucket load, marvellous. This begs the question: what exactly is the difference between a bug and a beetle? Aside from the fact that ‘bug’, particularly in American English, is used to refer to any insect, scientifically bugs and beetles form two different orders (Hemiptera and Coleoptera).  As about half the insects that you come across in the field are either one or the other, differentiating between the two is a useful trick. Flight and bite is a good way to remember which is which. Beetles have hard, wing cases (elytra) which lift apart allowing the wings beneath to unfold and rather roundish faces with a pair of jaws (mandibles) used for chewing. Bugs have softer, more membranous wings (particularly at the ends) and often rather narrow faces always ending in a tube (proboscis) used for sucking up liquids. These then are all bugs: pointy at one end and soft at the other.

Orthopterans (Crickets and Grasshoppers)

While we’re on the subject of insect orders, I’ve rounded up a couple of other closely related fellows: a cricket and a grasshopper. These form the order Orthoptera and are easily recognized by their long, muscular legs adapted for jumping. Females of both types have an egg laying tube (ovipositor) at the back but only crickets have a pair of sensory organs (cerci) protruding from their rear ends. So, the chap on the left is a cricket, the chap on the right a grasshopper.  On the whole crickets tend to look somewhat flatter as well as they hold their wings against their bodies whereas grasshoppers hold their wings up more, like the roof of a house.

Gastropods (Snails and Slugs)

Let’s lay down in the grass a little and prod about in the roots. And here we find some lovely little slugs and snails (which tells me that this grass is probably a bit damp). Whereas beetles, crickets and the others fall into the class ‘insects’ (having six legs) within the phylum ‘Arthropods’ (animals with their skeletons on the outside), slugs and snails are in a class of animals called gastropods along with the occupants of the sea shells you find washed up on the beach. The thing they all have in common is a broad, tapered foot on which they glide about. They are part of the phylum ‘Molluscs’ or ‘Mollusks’ in American English. (languages evolve like species: if you separate them by a continent they have a habit of going their separate ways). This phylum contains all the soft bodied animals without a backbone which includes most of the items on the seafood menu such as clams, oysters, squid and octopus. 

Yellow-legged Gull

All of which reminds me – it’s nearly time for lunch. The weather seems to be closing in a bit too. Just look at that shaft of sunlight bursting out from the clouds over the sea. You can almost envisage angels descending from heaven. 

Well, maybe not angels but there are plenty of Yellow-legged Gulls flying about. They usually form an overwintering colony on the smooth rocks to the east of Livadi Beach so I must pop down there later on in the week to see how they’re doing this year.  Until next week then, when a whole new glorious twelvemonth awaits us – happy hunting and Happy New Year.

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LINKS:

Naturalists (the facebook page that accompanies this blog)

Flowers of Crete

BIRDS OF CRETE

Crete Birding

Aquaworld Aquarium

Visit Greece (National Government Tourist Office)