Back in the fabulous Canary Islands for the first two weeks of March - Gran Canaria!
But first some flowers to celebrate another Doctor of Entomology retiring, Marianne - collaborator, and love of my life.
We stayed on the west side of the Isleta peninsula, north of the capital Las Palmas - a remnant of volcanic landscape with some encroached on nature.
In our
apartment, a continual background noise of waves crashing against basalt rock.
And the intermittent curlew-like cries of
whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus), of the subspecies islandicus, which spent each day feeding below our window. They overwinter here, and will soon fly across the Atlantic to breed in Iceland.
Joining them, Yellow-legged Gulls (
Larus michahellis). The subspecies found on the Atlantic islands,
atlantis, has darker grey wings than those in the Mediterranean - resembling the lesser black-backed gull. I identified these on the chunkier blunter ended bill with a broader red patch.
In the intertidal zone the red rock crab Grapsus adscensionis, found in the West Atlantic from Spain to southern Africa.
I sketched the ramshackle fish restaurant and huts close by, perched over the surf.
We walked along the shore of the peninsula.
Among the rock pools we watched the strange mating behaviour of local humans.
In the pools, Rock Blennies (
Parablennius parvicornis).
Sanderlings (Calidris alba). They usually scurry along the edge of the surf, picking off prey from the surface of the sand. Their name derives from 'sand-ploughman'. I love their white winter plumage - so elegant. They will fly up to the Arctic to breed, journeying thousands of kilometres and transforming into a reddish brown. Here it is the eastern sub-species alba (the western is rubida).
The path goes inland from the coast.
Here desert plants thrive. The floor is covered with 'ice plants', named after the tiny crystalline structures which cover them and glisten in the sunlight. The Crystalline Ice Plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum) was brought to the eastern islands from Africa in the early 19th century for the production of soda and soap (taken from its high sodium carbonate content). The synthesis of soda brought an end to this, and now it is a weed of the coast.
The Slenderleaf Iceplant (M. nodiflorum), known as 'Cosco' in Spanish, is a Crystalline Ice Plant in miniature - both species turn from green to red in hot and dry conditions. It is an introduced native of the Middle East - an invasive weed.
There are also local plants. Tetraena fontanesii is found in Macaronesia and northwest Africa.
Euphorbia aphylla is native to the Canary Islands, found on the north coast of Gran Canaria.
Schizogyne sericea is a type of daisy. It is native to the Canary Islands and Madeira.
It's difficult to escape
Aloe vera. A native of the Arabian peninsula, it is now cultivated throughout the tropical areas of the world. It is used in cosmetic and medicinal products, though I don't believe any real benefits have been proven scientifically.
I love walking through dry terrain and watching flashes of red or blue before me, the flashed wings of grasshoppers in flight. Here there are a number of blue flashers of the genus Sphingonotus. S. rubescens, is found throughout the Canary islands and across north Africa to India.
Gallotia are Lacertid lizards confined to the Canary islands, where they have diverged over the past 20 million years of the islands existence into a range of species and subspecies. Their closest relatives are the Sandrunner lizards in the Mediterranean. In isolation, some have become gigantic vegetarians.
On the peninsula I saw the Atlantic lizard (Gallotia atlantica), one of the smaller lizards. It has been described as the sub-species delibesi, and thought introduced from Lanzarote, but others say it is the same as the mahoratae subspecies on adjacent Fuerteventura - which seems the most likely to me.
In the air, the call of Berthelot's Pipit (
Anthus berthelotti) - walking from bush to bush in search of insects - a native of the Canary Islands and Madeira.
The Old town of Las Palmas maintains some charm.
It inspired me to make another sketch...
...and us to buy fish for dinner.
A short bus ride into the interior from Las Palmas are the Viera y Clavijo botanical gardens - named after the dream of a local 18th century botanist, and finally made substance in 1959 on the slope of Barranco Guiniguada by the Swedish botanist Eric Ragnor Sventenius.
A statue of Sventenius sits in the gardens.
And his remains lie in a clearing under one of his trees.
Close by there is a fountain, on the wall of which are placed medallions of the heads of 18th-19th century naturalists who contributed to knowledge of the nature of the Canary Islands.
Two of these are Sabin Berthelot and Philip Barker-Webb, who together wrote the definitive 19th century natural history of the Canary Islands - respectively the ethnology and botany, with collaboration from others on zoology. (Darwin's copy can be downloaded online). The Pipit we saw on Isleta was named after Berthelot by another head on the fountain - the 19th century Berlin naturalist Carl Bolle (after whom the Canary Island's Bolle's Laurel Pigeon is named...).
Island gigantism is a biological phenomenon in which the size of organisms isolated on islands increases dramatically in comparison to its mainland relatives, due to lack of competition. Since 1959 the plants here have had plenty of time to grow.
Fluttering around the Spring flowers, many Canary Speckled Woods (Pararge xiphioides) - only found in the Canary Islands.
Also, the large slow flying Monarch (
Danaus plexippus).
The Tropical Tent-Web Spiders (Cyrtophora citricola) make such complex and beautiful webs in the cacti.
Canary Islands Chiffchaffs (Phylloscopus canariensis) have a browner less green-yellow body than the common Chiffchaff, and a very marked eye stripe. They were building their nests in the trees. Here it is the nominate subspecies. The other subspecies, exsul, is on Lanzarote.
In my blog from Lanzarote I discussed the relationship of the African Blue Tit, which occurs there, to other Blue Tits. The sub-species on Lanzarote, degener, has a white bar on the wings as the subspecies in Africa, ultramarinus. The Gran Canaria subspecies, hedwigae, has no bar on the wings. Bear in mind Lanzarote is closer to Africa than it is to Gran Canaria!
And appearing from under a rock the other lizard found on Gran Canaria, the magnificent Giant Gran Canarian Lizard (Galliota Stehlini) - an endemic to the island.
We took the bus as far as we could into the centre of the island, to San Mateo, and walked up to Hoya del Gamonal under the highest point of the island at just under 2,000 metres - Pico de las Neves.
Around San Mateo the almond tees were in flower.
The path winds up through Spring flowers and flitting warblers.
Glowing brightest of all the Californian poppies (Eschscholzia californica) - actually introduced from guess where.
And more giants: a dandelion as tall as me, and with a woody stem - Sonchus acaulis...
...and the Canary Buttercup (Ranunculus cortusifolius).
Small Coppers (Lycaena phlaeas) flew here.
A chunky oil beetle, Meloe tuccius, munched on the grass. If disturbed it will release oily droplets containing the irritant cantharidin. The hatched larvae attach themselves to bees and eat the bee larvae back in its nest.
In the botanical garden, we really liked the collection of succulent Aeonium - Tree Houseleeks as we call them - most of which (36 species) come from the Canary Islands. Higher up in the pine forest they lined the path, though I know not which of the five species restricted to Gran Canaria.
I didn't realize that there were orchids in the Canary Islands, but there are eight species. This is Orchis canariensis, found in the high pine forests of the central and western islands.
But enough of this boring wildlife, we're here to party - it's carnival!
And on the last night of carnival, a 'sardine' is carried through the streets to the sea to be burned to signify the end of winter and the beginning of Spring - and for us, the beginning of our new life together.
