Glorious

It was a bright, sunny and warm morning today, so we set out for a 7 mile walk through Shipley Park, towards the Visitors' Centre near Heanor.  This route took us across the meadows around Shipley Hill.  The trees here are looking beautiful in the sun with their newly-emerging foliage, bright and colourful against the blue sky.

From here, we walked across the fields towards Cinder Hill and the Visitors' Centre before turning our steps in the direction of Mapperley Reservoir.  We were so glad we did, as the Blackthorn bushes around the reservoir were looking at their very best.

Some were absolutely covered in blossom.  It was difficult to see where any more flowers could have been placed.

I'm afraid, I went a little mad with the photos of these glorious blossoms, but who could blame me?

Go on then, just one more...

We returned via Mapperley Wood, what Malcolm and I know more usually as  Bluebell Wood and our name for it was very appropriate this morning, but I'll save those pictures for tomorrow...

Bright

Having waited for so long for the Spring to finally arrive, everything seems to be desperately trying to catch up now.  The Hedgerows are looking fantastic at the moment.  I mentioned the Cherry trees and their showy blossoms, but the Blackthorn bushes are trying to out-do the Cherries with their blossoms.

Under the hedges, close to Straw's Bridge several large patches of Cowslips are in full flower now.   One particular patch has some larger-flowered, orange flowered plants among them as well as one plant which seems to be a hybrid between the two distinct types.

Some of the flowers are not as colourful as these, but are still well worth noticing.  Among these are the Field Maples which are covered in pale, lime-green flowers which, unless you take a close look, you might mistake for their newly opening leaves

Closer to the ground, fresh green swathes of Dog's Mercury are carpeting parts of the countryside.  Again, these little flowers need close inspection to really appreciate their beauty and are sadly, usually overlooked and when growing in your garden, dismissed simply as 'weeds'.  There is no such thing of course, a 'weed' is simply a flower in the wrong place..!

Brimstone and Cherry

Back home from our Mediterranean wanderings and things are looking a bit more 'Spring-like'. The weather has taken a long-awaited turn for the better and, as we expected, the trees and flowers of our local environs have started to catch up with things.  Butterflies too have started to make their presence felt, with Orange Tips, Peacocks and Small Whites flitting about.  Among these, we found a solitary Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) resting on a Narcissus flower.

These butter-coloured butterflies are often considered to be the originators of the name 'Butter-fly'.  They are among the first to appear each Spring and the shape of their folded wings camouflage them very well among the newly opening leaves and flowers.
In the sunshine of the last few days, the Cherry trees have started to open their blossom in spectacular fashion, both white...

...and pink.  This one seeming to be trying to out-blossom it's neighbours - and succeeding with brightly coloured knobs on.

Some trees have, of course yet to open a single leaf and the woods which surround Mapperley Reservoir are still dotted with bare branched individuals.  These look stately and 'artistic' when viewed from directly below, looking into the blue sky.  Quite lovely!

In The Pink

Today, just a few last pictures from our jaunt around Santa Ponsa and these all have a 'pink' theme.  As I mentioned the other day, there were some lovely walks to be had around the area and the Spring flowers were very good too.  In the woodland of the Puig de Sa Morisca, we found several, starting with that most ubiquitous of Mediterranean plants, the Grey-leaved Cistus (Cistus albidus).

With petals which resemble crumpled tissue paper, and also rather wrinkled, greyish leaves, these small shrubs are common throughout the region and at this time of year make a wonderful show, particularly under the shady pines.
Another well known and abundant flower to be found in the Med' is the thistle-like Galactites (Galactites tomentosa), sometimes called Milk Thistle.  Here, the flowers were being attended to by a number of pollen beetles which seemed intent on their labours in amongst the flower petals

Yet another common flower and another with pinkish petals is the Field Gladiolus (Gladiolus italicus).  Again, they were fairly abundant in the shade of the pine trees, but their bright little flowers, held on a stalk up to two feet high, made them a joy to find.

A much smaller flower next and one which goes by the common name of Virgin's Mantle or in Spanish, Manto de la Virgen (Fagonia cretica).  Found all over the Balearic Islands as well as the Alicante region of Mainland Spain, it is a plant which enjoys the arid conditions of a rocky coastline and seems to respond well to a tough habitat.

Lastly, a new 'tick' for me and one we were lucky to find as it was right at the end of it's flowering period.  The flowers of this pale form Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis) were showing signs of coming to an end, but it was still a joy to find.  In some parts of the Mediterranean - particularly the Eastern end - the tuberous roots of this plant are dried and ground into a starchy flour called Salep and is used in drinks and deserts, but this one seemed safe enough.

Farming

Continuing with yesterday's historical theme, we discovered another, larger reconstructed hut within the archaeological park of Puig de Sa Morisca.  This one would have belonged to a Farmer, or Smallholder and his family, about two thousand years ago.  Malcolm seemed to be sizing it up to move in and indeed there would have been plenty of room inside.  You couldn't criticise the location either.

Inside, there was a raised platform at one end - probably forming some sort of sleeping area, and several niches built into the walls for storage and cooking, but as I said to Malcolm, with a roof like that, you couldn't be too picky about insects dropping into your vichyssoise!

Back outside and the views up the hill to the rocky outcrop were breathtaking.  Just the place to be on a hot, sunny day as the pines provided some wonderful shade and as we seemed to be the only people on the hill at the time, the peace and quiet were just perfect.

Among the wildlife to be found here, there were several Swallowtail Butterflies flitting about.  Now sadly very rare in Britain, these little stunners are still fairly easy to find around Europe and especially the Mediterranean regions.

This one had lost one if it's 'tails' but was still absolutely beautiful and with it's three-inch wingspan, made quite an impression.

Sa Morisca

Close to the resort of Santa Ponsa, there is an area of woodland surrounding and covering a central, rocky peak known as Puig de sa Morisca or the Moorish Peak.

The area also contains an archaeological site of great importance with more than fifteen separate sites of particular interest around the hill.  This was the site of settlements which were in use between 850 BC and 1229 when King James 1st invaded the island.  Dotted around, are the excavated remains of several houses, towers and industrial buildings.  Right on the top, at an elevation of around 390 ft above sea level, what is now known as Tower III, affords some wonderful views of the surrounding countryside.

The tower itself dates from the Talayotic Period between 850 - 650 BC.  the walls were about 6 feet thick and was used as a defencive tower looking out over the whole area as well as the natural port below.

Built around the outside of this tower, are several later buildings with many architectural details still visible, including the large central stone to support the roof.

Among the other buildings which dot the hillside, many were used for light industry, including charcoal burning and farming.  Among these, some living accommodation is still to be seen, rebuilt to provide the visitor with a better idea of how things looked.  Inside one of these, a very suspicious-looking Iron-age individual was still to be found, rather unconvincingly preparing afternoon tea...!  Good grief, it's Malcolm!

More history tomorrow perhaps...

Flora

Around the countryside which surrounds Santa Ponsa, there were plenty of opportunities to discover some of the flora of the area.  Many of these were new 'ticks' for me and my life list has increased somewhat because of it.  The first picture today is of a flower which I had ticked off before, but one which deserves a mention because of it's bright colour.  The Astericus maritimus.  Very common around the Med', this is a delightful little flower and forms large mats of bright yellow daisy-like flowers.

Moving on from a familiar plant, to one which was new to me.  Sometimes called Mediterranean Lineseed, the Bellardia (Bellardia trixago) is a member of the Broomrape family and native to the whole Mediterranean area.  with finely toothed leaves and an inflorescence consisting of pale, pink-and-white flowers held in a conical spike.  Like other Broomrapes, this plant is parasitic and takes some of it's nutrients from surrounding plants.

From the Bellardia, we moved on to a lower growing plant and another new one for me.  This one was small, mat-forming and covered with bright purple flowers.  Coris (Coris monspeliensis) is a member of the Primula family and another native of Spain, although this one is spreading around the Med' too.

The next new plant to me was a member of the Citrus family - although you would never know it just to look at it.  Small, yellow and rather ragged-looking flowers topped this grey-leaved plant and it goes by the name of Fringed Rue (Ruta chalepensis).  Used as a remedy for a number of inflammatory diseases, it contains a substance which can cause blistering of the skin in bright sunlight.

Yet another new 'tick' for my list was an attractive, lily-like flower with white petals and a distinctive black ovary in the centre.  It is commonly known as Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum arabicum) and these beautiful little flowers stood about a foot tall with the cupped flowers opening up to the sky.  It is actually a member of the asparagus family, but again, you would never know it.

Lastly for today another familiar plant to me as we have seen it growing around the Med' many times.  The Common Asphodel (Asphodelus aestivus) is an attractive flower with a reddish-brown stripe running the length of each of it's petals.

All for today, more to follow...!