The cicadas have started calling. The fact that they haven't been has seemed very strange. They were one of the first things I remember hearing last year.
Not that there hasn't been plenty of wildlife here. If you sit, watch and listen for the half an hour around dusk (like I am doing now!) you can see and hear all sorts. The smaller birds, mainly warblers and tits soon stop calling and find their roosts for the night. Then the Red-footed Falcons arrive and you see their amazing aereal acrobatics whilst they feast on the many flying insects. They catch and eat the bugs in-flight whilst swooping and gliding over and between the bamboo and mulberry trees.
As the light fades they are replaced by several bats, which I think roost in the mulberry trees. The insects don't stand a chance! Once the light really goes you can often hear bull frogs shouting, although this is happening less now. You can also occasionally hear what I beleive to be a Scops Owl calling, i'd love to go find it, but don't really stand a chance, their call can be heard for miles!
That's also when the creatures in the bamboo start to make themselves known (based on the evidence from Tasmania, a certain BIG Northerner would completely brick it! ;)) I'm not even sure what they are, they are possibly rats, all I know is they make a racket, and when they decide to fight in the trees they like to use my tent as some kind of trampoline... It's not a nice way to be woken up at 3am!
On a side note, things with the turtles are going well, we have 8 nests in Xania now, on our 5km stretch of beach. Last year they only had 5 nests at this point, on 14.5km of beach, and none on the bit we are monitoring!
I'm off now cos the mosquitoes have come out and are starting to eat me alive!
That bloody cicada is still calling!!
Tuesday 23 June 2009
Saturday 13 June 2009
Xania
I've been in Xania (Or Chania or Hania or any other of the dozens of ways of spelling it) for almost 2 weeks now, I have no idea where the time has gone.
We are starting to get nests now too - after a week without anything, we've had our 2nd and 3rd nests within 2 days, the last one was found this morning whilst I was doing some nest relocations in Rethymno (it's my day off, what else would I do??).
Our camp is very nice, much nicer than the Reth camp, there is no electricity, but it's good to have somewhere that is just your own. The beach is nice too, but it's long. Morning Survey is a 5km beach walk, with a 5km walk back to the camp too! The Xania kiosk is in a great spot too - look at this view!
There are quite a lot of birds around in the Xania campsite too, we have a family of Red-footed Falcons visit us every evening to feast on the flying bugs. We also have lots of small warblers - one of which flew inside a hot car and got itself a bit dehydrated. The poor thing looked like it was on it's last legs - lots of water and half an hour in the shade and it was back full of life and shouting for it's mum!
That's it for now, I've got a few bits & pieces to do before heading back over to Xania.
Cya!
John
We are starting to get nests now too - after a week without anything, we've had our 2nd and 3rd nests within 2 days, the last one was found this morning whilst I was doing some nest relocations in Rethymno (it's my day off, what else would I do??).
Our camp is very nice, much nicer than the Reth camp, there is no electricity, but it's good to have somewhere that is just your own. The beach is nice too, but it's long. Morning Survey is a 5km beach walk, with a 5km walk back to the camp too! The Xania kiosk is in a great spot too - look at this view!
There are quite a lot of birds around in the Xania campsite too, we have a family of Red-footed Falcons visit us every evening to feast on the flying bugs. We also have lots of small warblers - one of which flew inside a hot car and got itself a bit dehydrated. The poor thing looked like it was on it's last legs - lots of water and half an hour in the shade and it was back full of life and shouting for it's mum!
That's it for now, I've got a few bits & pieces to do before heading back over to Xania.
Cya!
John
Wednesday 10 June 2009
Sorry!
It's been a while since my last update, but I have been very busy and haven't had much time to write! Anyway, I've installed a new app on my phone so I can write more often!
I have been in xania for just over a week now, things have been hectic. There wasn't much of a campsite when we got there, but this quickly changed, by the time Mik and myself (with a lot of help from Eric, a local musician/carpenter) got the kiosk built -which was much more difficult than the Reth one - the volunteers on camp (Lucy, Mel, Krysty and new arrivals Deborah and Colin) had pretty much sorted the roof, Walls and kitchen.
We started up the kiosk straight away, and Mik and I did the first morning survey on Thursday (with a massive hangover...) we found one set of tracks, but not much else. The beach we are monitoring is 5km long, and is mostly pebbles, so walking can be hard work - especially at 6 in the morning. After we arranged a couple of slideshows at local hotels, Mik left back for Reth. The following morning I started training the volunteers on the monitoring work, with instant success. We found Xania's first nest of the season!
Things are starting to settle down now, Krysty has left, which now leaves just me an 4 volunteers, but we might get a new person today.
Oh one last thing, I must say thanks to bernie 'clickety click' Dewhurst for taking the time out of his Crete holiday to pay me a visit. It was good to see a face from home, and the pizza ice cream went down a treat! Thanks!
John
I have been in xania for just over a week now, things have been hectic. There wasn't much of a campsite when we got there, but this quickly changed, by the time Mik and myself (with a lot of help from Eric, a local musician/carpenter) got the kiosk built -which was much more difficult than the Reth one - the volunteers on camp (Lucy, Mel, Krysty and new arrivals Deborah and Colin) had pretty much sorted the roof, Walls and kitchen.
We started up the kiosk straight away, and Mik and I did the first morning survey on Thursday (with a massive hangover...) we found one set of tracks, but not much else. The beach we are monitoring is 5km long, and is mostly pebbles, so walking can be hard work - especially at 6 in the morning. After we arranged a couple of slideshows at local hotels, Mik left back for Reth. The following morning I started training the volunteers on the monitoring work, with instant success. We found Xania's first nest of the season!
Things are starting to settle down now, Krysty has left, which now leaves just me an 4 volunteers, but we might get a new person today.
Oh one last thing, I must say thanks to bernie 'clickety click' Dewhurst for taking the time out of his Crete holiday to pay me a visit. It was good to see a face from home, and the pizza ice cream went down a treat! Thanks!
John
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