Owlsland in April
The Mountains in Spring - Birds and Wild Flowers
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After a wet, mild winter, which brought flowers out much too early and had the almonds in blossom by January 16th, a couple of weeks' hard frost at the end of January wreaked havoc in the orchards and in the garden. Then the sun came out in February, and there has been no rain for 9 weeks! So the flowers are all a good month early, and Spring has come to the village. |
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Everywhere you look is growth. All around us is breathtakingly green, every shade imaginable, though perhaps we notice it more when we know just how dry it all gets in the height of summer. These are old almond trees, blossom past, replaced with "çala", the unripe green baby almonds.
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Wildflowers are pushing through on every patch of grass, and the mountains are covered in carpets of them. Sweep seems to like looking at them!
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What's amazing is how many species grow in each small area.
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| Anemones, venus's looking glass, chamomile, cranesbill all fight for space. The effect is stunning. |
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Look at these colours! |
| They are so many and so varied you could spend all day just looking at them, and taking photographs. This is salep, which is used in the manufacture of the famous "Maras" Turkish ice cream.
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The trees are a riot of blossom. Though the time for the most spectacular, the almond blossom, is past, others have taken its place. Perhaps the most showy of these is pear, with its masses of white blooms. |
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But plum is also beautiful. Hopefully, there will be lots of plums (and so plum jam!) later this year. |
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It's easy to get carried away by the flowers - till you see the birds! The air is full of birdsong. It's mating season, so there is frantic nest-building on all sides. This is a black redstart.
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There's very loud persistent intermittent drumming as the woodpecker lays claim to his territory.
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The reason for Owlsland's name! One of the many Little Owls you can hear calling now. |
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This chap calling from the topmost branch is Cretzschmar's bunting |
| The swallows are nesting - they came back this year on March 11th. We're really excited that the pair who successfully raised a nest of babies in our garage last year (despite our family of moggies!) are fixing up their nest ready for this year's brood! |
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Mating season for the tortoises too, they've completely awakened from their hibernation, and set about the serious business of finding a mate. |
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As have the hedgehogs : you can hear them snuffling at night. |
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The Garden in Spring - Herbs & Flowers & Wildlife
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Mating season for frogs too : you'd think that a valley as dry as Bezirgan wouldn't provide good habitats for frogs and toads, but not so. You can hear the frenzied croaking at night, as the females call to attract a mate. Some have obviously succeeded - the pond in the garden is full of tadpoles!
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With the winter having been exceptionally mild and wet, the plants are well ahead of what we'd normally expect.
The rosemary bushes have surpassed themselves for both scent and flowers. They're attracting whole swarms of bees, mostly honey bees, but far more carpenter bees than we've seen in previous years.
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There have been a few brave early butterflies flitting round over the past month, but now more and more are appearing.
This is a green hairstreak.
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Some, like these two Southern Festoons, simply take your breath away! |
| Another Southern Festoon, this time very obligingly posing for a close-up photo on the rosemary |
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Since the garden is now ten years old and the trees have become well established, the carpet of wild flowers in the orchard this year was the nicest it has ever been. |
The Village in Spring - What's happening on the farms
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Like March, it's still time for babies!
Erol's Mum's goat has just surpassed herself, producing triplets this year!!
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And all three are little nanny goats - shown here at less than 24 hours old. |
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Feed needs to be carried from the mountains to feed the goats. This load is scrub oak (and is just as heavy as it looks).
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Lucerne planted in autumn for animal feed is growing strong and green. It's just starting to flower.
Bran loves lying in the field, so lucerne must also be comfortable! |
And that's a taste of April in the mountains -
Come and visit, see it for yourself!
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