No Place Like Home

Out & About

Spring is here at last. I don't know about you but it seems a lot longer than thirteen weeks since the winter solstice. One thing about spring is that life is so abundant that you don't have to go far to look for it. Come with me into the olive grove next door and I'll show you. Absolutely bursting with blooms: Poppies, Pimpernels, Mallow and Medicago, Shepherd's Needles and Vetch. I can see at least fourteen different flowers from here but the one I'm particularly interested in today is the ubiquitous Garland Daisy as they really attract the insects. Look, we've got a Mirid Bug, a little black Crabronid wasp, a hoverfly and three different beetles. Not a bad little haul.

Now, I need your help. As I was coming back from Ierapetra on Saturday (March 23^rd) I stopped off at the beach to have a look at the pink carpet of Catchfly that adorned the upper levels and I found myself surrounded by hundreds of Painted Ladies. These amazing little butterflies migrate from Africa to northern Europe but not usually in such quantity. I have had reports in of 'huge numbers counted over Israel and Cyprus' and also Rhodes and Nisyros. Locally they have been spotted from Ierapetra to Agios Fotia but not as far as Makry Gialos. So, keep your eyes peeled and please let me know of any sightings of large numbers either here on Crete or elsewhere in Europe as I am part of a project that has been monitoring their migration. * Also, in the weeks to come, look out for large numbers of their caterpillars. They are not fussy eaters and have been recorded on over 300 different plants so they may turn up anywhere. (Please use the comments box below – thanks).

Next, a bit of amazing nature. Come into the garden. About three years ago my Loquat tree gave up the ghost, it had rotted away at the base and I found it lying forlornly on the ground. I decided to leave it there as a natural part of the ecosystem. This year, however, I moved the bird table and needed a prop so the Loquat stump was pressed into service. As you can see, I didn't dig it into the earth, I just sort of wedged it in place. So, you can imagine my surprise when I found it sprouting new leaves. That is one incredible recovery.

Fieldcraft & Foraging

Meanwhile, I have a rocket in my pocket. Or to be more precise a few salad Rocket leaves (or Arugula in American English); Eruca sativa for the botanically minded. It has a lovely, peppery taste and I tend to pick leaves from the centre of the stem. They'll need a good wash as the Heath Snails also seem to have a liking for it and rocket can be added to almost any savoury dish that wants pepping up but mostly it is added to salads. Being English, for many years I thought that salad was chopped lettuce, tomato and cucumber and spring onion if you were feeling adventurous (in much the same way as the complete book of English meat sauces was to be found on the back of a packet of Bisto gravy). I also thought that salads had to be eaten cold by law. If you pop over to Steve's Wild Kitchen you can join me in a barbecued pork chop, baked potato with a rather tasty warm mushroom, orange and rocket salad. 

In The Lab

I've been spending a little time with grasshoppers recently and, although I'm not a great proponent of pinning insects merely to decorate the walls, occasionally one does need to get up close and personal which can be a bit difficult when the object of interest jumps ten feet as soon as you get within spitting distance. Finding that setting boards cost anything between five and twenty five quid (plus VAT and delivery) I decided to make my own. All you need is a bit of polystyrene packaging at least 5mm thick and a Stanley knife. Cut a V shaped groove about 4mm wide by 4mm deep and there you have it. It may not look very professional (but there again, neither does my pinning) but it's perfectly adequate. This, incidentally, is a Red-winged Grasshopper, Oedipoda germanica.

• Latest Painted Lady Update

Thanks to Ian Burry who informs me that he saw a considerable number of Painted Ladies In Neapoli yesterday (26^th March) heading up the valley towards Selinari.

Crete Nature Catch-up
Series 1 - Welcome to Lasithi	Series 2 - The Rhythm Of Life	Series 3 - A Journey Begins
Series 4 - The Milonas Valley	Series 5 - This Is Ferma	Series 6 - Upland Villages
Series 7 - The Forty saints	Series 8 - Sunday Strolls	Series 9 - (Current series start)

Steve's Books (well, just the one at the moment)

Not Just For Twisted Women by Steve Daniels  A light-hearted look at life through the eyes of the fairer sex. Kindle Edition 1.99 pounds sterling (or equivalent). Paperback Edition 4.99 pounds sterling (or equivalent).. Read snippets, samples and stuff at Steve's Books

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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)

The Urban Wildlife of Agios Nikolaos

Unfortunately we seem to be spending a lot of time in and around hospitals at the moment; in fact Mrs D is collecting hospials and departments like cards in a game of old maid. At the end of March she collected Pneumology from Agios Nikolaos and while we were there samping the delights of their cuisine (one night it was just a plastic bowl of wet rice) I managed to escape a few times and find a bit of peace with the urban wildlife. Here are a few of my favourites:

Fumaria capreolata, White Ramping-Fumitory

I hadn't seen this one before. Apparently the quaint English name indicates that it is a white flower, rearing up, with smoky leaves.

Psilothrix viridicoerulea, Soft-winged Flower Beetle

These are very common over here at this time of year and just look at the amount of pollen he's transferring as he makes his way among the flowers.

Syrphidae, Hoverfly

Beetles, bugs and bees are not the only pollinators of course; flies such as this Hoverfly (here pollinating some Cretan Viper's Grass, Scorzonera cretica), contribute vastly to plant pollination (see The Far Side).

Polistes bucharensis, Umbrella Paper Wasp

Spring, of course, is nest building time and this individual is bosy building her umbrella shaped nest. I'm sticking my neck out a bit with the species identification but for all you hymenopterists out there here is a link to the relevant scientific paper: Revision of the West Palaearctic Polistes Latreille, with the descriptions of two species – an integrative approach using morphology and DNA barcodes (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

Christian Schmid-Egger,1 Kees van Achterberg,2 Rainer Neumeyer,3 Jérôme Morinière,4 and Stefan Schmidt4

Philaeus chrysops, Goldeneye Jumping Spider

With all these insects about it is no surprise to find a few preatory spiders about. These are both the same species; the one on the left sporting the long, hairy beard is the female and the colourful one on the right is the male.

Limax flavus, Cellar, Tawny Garden or Yellow Slug

Just because you are a slug doesn't mean that you can't make an attempt at looking pretty (in fact some of the sea slugs are prettier than any piece of jewelery). The top two tentacles are it's sight organs and the lower two are its olfactory organs. If the slug loses any of them through not pulling it in quick enough it can grow a new one.

The Extra Bit

You may be wondering where all the larger animals such as the urban fox are - well, the fox never made it to Crete. We have our own subspecies of Badger and Hedgehog but I didn't see any in the town. As for the birds, I didn't get to photograph any but I was serenaded by a beautiful nightingale as I slipped out of the hospital for a cigarette at four in the morning.

Next time: something for the butterfly lovers. See you soon, Steve.

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)

Sklavoi – Village of the Slaves

When you look at a map of an area there are often a number of exciting looking places to investigate but at first glance Sklavoi does not appear to be one of them. Which is why I want to go there for I often find the most interesting things where they are least expected. For instance the connection between this little church down here, grasshoppers and the bomb disposal squad. The church is dedicated to St. Barbara, a young lady of Christian persuasion who's father was an out and out pagan. When he learnt of her conversion he went at her with a sword whereupon the wall of the tower (in which he kept her) exploded. Babs finished up, unharmed, in a mountain gorge alongside two very surprised shepherds. Her father pursued her, one of the shepherds betrayed her and he was turned to stone for his treachery. Not only that, his entire flock was turned into grasshoppers (which seems to have been quite popular in the past – see Chrysopigi - Source of Gold). She was caught and tortured and about to be beheaded by her father as a final punishment when he too was detonated by a bolt of lightning and Barbara escaped. In honour of her going out with a bang as it were, she is now the patron saint of all those who work with explosives.

I am also intrigued by the village name for Sklavoi is Greek for slaves and Crete was never big on slavery. What slaves there were seem to have been reasonably well treated and it was here in Crete that the tradition of the 'servants-day-off' where the slaves were waited upon by their masters probably first originated ^[1]. We are not the only animals to indulge in a bit of slavery. These ants down here are workers busy dismembering a dead gecko. These particular ants were born in the colony but the Blood Red Ant of Northern Europe, the U.S. And Asia will raid the nests of other ants and kidnap the pupae and larvae and enslave them. I sometimes wonder if we humans were ever the first to do anything.

Let's wander down out of the village and see if we can find any autumn flowers. Quite a variety in the environs of this magnificently twisted old olive tree. Quick quiz: look closely and see if you can spot the odd one out. Did you spot the little Mirid Bug peering over the edge of the right hand petal of the yellow Squirting Cucumber? How about the Southern Green Shieldbug nymph nestling between its fruits below? Or the pair of beetles investigating the centre of the Autumn Crocus to the left? A little Autumn rain, the flowers come out, the insects appear and nature's larder is re-stocked once more. The only one without an entomological attendant appears to be the budding Autumn Squill.

This really is a delightful little stroll and beautifully warm for the time of year and I see that we have caper bushes in great abundance. I still haven't tried pickling the leaves as they do in Italy but the little flower buds are delicious on a bit of fish or a pizza. Seems like I'm not the only one who likes capers. A brood of caterpillars. These are Large Whites. Traditionally they are associated with cabbages or other brassicas but although their preferred food plants do indeed tend to be members of the Brassicacae family they have quite a range of host plants from different families.

What a wealth of life we have along the roadside here. I told you that Sklavoi would be interesting. Down on the road we have another of those Huntsman Spiders that we found up in Praesos and sitting on a leaf a little Crab Spider that's recently migrated from a yellow flower and hasn't got round to changing colour yet. Plenty of wasps around the ivy flowers, mainly the common European Wasps which the Americans call Yellowjackets, but also this red and black one which is a Spider Wasp. The adults feed on nectar but their young dine on live spiders. When the female lays an egg she'll seal a spider in with it that she's previously paralysed with her venom. The spider has to be large enough to feed the youngster until he's large enough to fend for himself so the little Crab Spider is probably safe but I'd advise the Huntsman to keep at least one of his eight eyes on the sky above him. And finally... one of those tall plants with small flowers that may be overlooked. Pity really because their flowers are quite charming and the plant, which is a Verbascum or Mullein, contains high levels of Rotenone which we use to treat head lice and scabies. Apparently the US government also uses it to kill fish in rivers but why they should wish to do this is beyond me.

This little track seems to lead back up into the village so that will make a nice circular walk. 

The Extra Bit

^[1] http://culture-of-peace.info/books/history/crete.html

So far on the bird table we've had birds, cats and a black rat but this is one animal that I was rather surprised to see, especially as the bird table is only four feet from my bedroom window. It's an endemic Cretan Stone Marten which lives only here and on a few islands in the eastern Mediterranean. It is slightly smaller than the European Stone (or Beech) Marten of which it is a subspecies. It's not totally unusual to find them around human habitation at night but even so, four feet is quite close. I'm taking it as the ultimate proof that I do not snore like a chainsaw (whatever Christina might say).

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 Konica Minolta

Picture 2 Nikon Coolpix S33

Insets Konica Minolta

Picture 3 Nikon Coolpix S33

Insets Canon EOS 1300D

Picture 4 Nikon Coolpix S33

Insets Canon EOS 1300D

Picture 5 Nikon Coolpix S33

Insets Canon EOS 1300D

Extra Bit Trail Camera RD1000

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)

The Springs of Paraspori

Autumn crocus, Colchicum pusillum

We'll continue to make our way northwards today and gradually drift eastwards as we approach the zenith of our circular tour. I have found, in the thirteen years I've been on the island, that Crete has very distinct changes of seasons. Soon after the autumn equinox, clouds begin to make their way back, nervously encroaching upon the wall-to-wall sunshine and blue skies of summer, and eventually the rains will come. This valley to our right is the perfect place to admire the acres of sky above us and there's a rocky outcrop just here where we can be monarchs of all we survey so let's get out and do a bit of rock scrambling. Magnificent view isn't it? But look what I've found nestling in between the rocks at our feet. The first Autumn Crocus of the year. This is the earliest that I've seen one, my previous observations have been three or four weeks later in the year.

Hello, what's this? It appears to be a pot handle of some kind. I've no idea how old it is, it could be Minoan, Roman or made last week. I shall have to take it home and show it to a lady I know who's potty about such things. I'll let you know when I find out a bit more about it. Meanwhile we may or may not have a clue in the landscape. If you look down there to our left you can see a pair of incongruous outcrops. These are the remains of a hill fort called Monte Forte (which, rather unimaginatively, is Italian for Hill Fort). It was built early in the 13^th century when the Venetians held the island and spent about a hundred years amusing itself by being occupied and reoccupied by opposing forces before an earthquake put a stop to all that malarkey in 1303. It was rebuilt in the 14^th century but no-one seemed to have a use for it and it gradually fell into rack and ruin. Whether or not this has anything to do with our pot handle I'm not sure but the Museum of London is in possession of a jug of similar vintage, the handle of which looks remarkably similar (to my untrained eye at least).

Parent Bug, Elasmucha grisea

Enough of the history, let us carry on to Paraspori and have a look at these springs and see if we can find some wildlife. So, this is the spring, set in a pleasant picnic area shaded by massive plane trees and I've found someone rather interesting on this stone wall. Most shield bugs, and this is one, are not renowned for being particularly attentive mothers; they lay their eggs in little cases and then wander off and forget about them. This one however is called the Parent Bug and she will look after her offspring, carefully rounding up any adventurous individuals with her antennae, right up until the third instar (which roughly equates to our teenage years) when she will allow them to move off in small groups to forage for their favourite foodstuffs which is the sap of various trees. After that they gradually disperse. 

There's a little path leading down from the picnic area with a rather fine Ivy hedgerow alongside it. Ivy is very important at this time of year as it is coming into flower when many other plants are still waiting for a decent drop of rain and as you can see the wasps and bees are loving it. There's a Speckled Wood butterfly flitting about as well and some tiny white blobs that one may not immediately recognise as insects. These are Oleander or Ivy Scale Insects (Aspidiotus nerii) which attack both plants as well as palms and citrus trees among others. These are females and they will remain attached to the leaf beneath these waxy plates and give birth. The males, having done their job, fly off and die within a couple of days so they are rather more difficult to spot.

Penicillium mould on a fallen orange

Now, what do we have on the floor down here? An early fallen orange covered in a blue/green mould. Moulds are part of the fungi kingdom and are very important (though not always welcome) in the decay cycle of an ecosystem. This one is probably Penicillium digitatum (although it may be P. italicum they are very similar) and it lurks around in the soil of citrus growing areas such as this just waiting for the fruit to fall. It only needs a small chink in the fruit's waxy armour and it's in to the rich juices inside. Once there it reproduces millions of times, sending its thread like mycelia throughout the interior and producing its own spore filled fruits on the outside. The spores, when they hatch, are carried by the air; some to fall upon the soil and some to adhere to undamaged fruits. For this reason great care has to be taken when harvesting and handling the fruit because if it is damaged in any way then they're in like Flynn once more. These microscopic fungi are responsible for 90% of citrus fruits lost to infection after harvesting which is not good news for us but without them, then in the natural order of things, the nutrients bound up in the fruit would not be returned to the soil and it would soon become impoverished. Rot and decay isn't pretty but it is essential and a major part of the autumn season.

The Extra Bit

A couple of weeks ago we were debating whether we had found signs of a meteor strike. I am indebted to Chad Johnson at Learning Geology for showing me that this type of geological feature can be caused by the natural erosion of a dome. Thanks Chad.

Do you remember the mantis I found eating a shield bug last week? Well she's still sitting motionless in the same patch of fennel a week later apparently having moved no more than a few inches in the entire week. I haven't seen any more potential prey items on the fennel so she's either been snaffling them while I haven't been looking or she's getting very hungry. As her scientific name is Iris oratorio I've taken to saying “Good morning Iris” to her when I go out (much to the consternation of my neighbours who are wondering if they should send for the man with the straitjacket).

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 Canon EOS 1300D

Picture 2 Nikon Coolpix S33

Insets Handle: Canon EOS 1300D Jug: Museum of London (via Pinterest)

Picture 3 Nikon Coolpix S33

Insets Canon EOS 1300D

Picture 4 Nikon Coolpix S33

Insets Canon EOS 1300D

Picture 5 Canon EOS 1300D

Insets

Extra Bit Canon EOS 1300D

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)