The Hills We've Got to Climb, Will ease the Problems of your Mind

And now for somewhere completely different....
It was holiday time for us, but then I suppose any walk away from work is a holiday.
This was a week away in Crete. Somewhere we had visited two years ago. We don't usually go back to the same place for a holiday, well not in such a short space of time but we needed a quiet break and having a knowledge of somewhere made it easy to kick back and relax quickly.

We negotiated the indignity of airports and flying (something I personally abhor) and as we had ingratiated ourselves with the locals last time we were here, we had arranged our own flights, accommodation and taxi to pick us up from the airport. The third part proving to be a perfect luxury as it disposes with the never ending coach journey of a package deal.

Manos our friendly taxi driver greeted us with a smile and a handshake as we exited the terminal. It was around 10pm and within 30 minutes we were at our boutique hotel in Sissi.

Next morning was all about clear blue skies and the smell of Mediterranean heat.

We had breakfast, then I was off to reacquaint myself with the area as Sarah chilled by the pool.

The hotel is small and on the edge of town. A short walk away are olive groves and a patch of heathland by the coast.
As I reached the dry dusty heath I saw two distant Purple Heron off shore. 

   

The heath is more like a patchy brownfield site and is vulnerable to fly tipping from nearby development. Mainly soil and rocks but still detrimental to the landscape.
Last time here I saw Crested Lark, Sardinian Warblers and Swallowtail Butterfly but all was quiet upon my return this morning.   

Around my feet there were many grasshoppers pinging around my footfall. They are experts at camouflage.

As it was so quiet, I switched to head inland into the olive groves. I knew of a patch where a type of Phacelia grew next to the olive trees. This a magnet for Butterflies and I was soon to be rewarded.

Not a week ago, Chris and I had been sent on a wild goose chase after these little lime and yellow beauties at Pennington on the South coast of the UK.  Here I was in 30 degree Grecian heat as Clouded Yellows' lapped around my feet.

Along with these were two smaller specimens engaged in an immense battle for territory. On first observation I thought these were Langs Short Tailed Blues but they proved to be Geranium Bronze.

The Geranium Bronze is regarded as a pest throughout Europe . It was accidentally introduced through imported plants from its native South Africa in the late 20th Century and has rapidly spread. In fact the last time we were here I wasn't aware of them, either through my ignorance or their absence.

   

The Olive groves were full of fruit. Given another couple of months, they will be harvested.

Mallow Skippers are a surreptitious species that inhabit the groves here. You need a keen eye to catch them and keep your eyes fixed on their swift movements.

Common Blues that we see often in the UK are prevalent here also and fed on the abundance of flowers surrounding the Olive trees.

Yet more Clouded Yellow crossed my path. Their underwing is striking but I always strive for shots of their upper wing. When at rest they always have closed wings so you need to be sharp with the shutter to catch them.

Occasionally I managed it...

They are so quick it helps to have the setting on multi shot.

I noticed one species keeping to the shaded areas which normally leads me to believe it to be a Speckled Wood. This one was different I surmised. Mainly by it's colouring and by the way it flew.
It was old worn and tatty but after it rested before me I could see it was a Wall Brown.
Another species Chris and I had been searching for back home without success. They are almost extinct in Hampshire but have strongholds in Sussex. A once ubiquitous species in the UK, it is now difficult to find.
They are quite common still in Europe however and it took me 2500 miles to encounter one!

It was quite fond of my feet too. I tried not to flinch as I focused on my foot.

I turned back towards the hotel. It was nearing lunchtime and I had passed a cafe overlooking the sea. I thought it a good place to take Sarah for lunch.
Next to the hotel a family of cats patrolled the street. Cats are so common in Greece and neutering isn't widely adopted but there are people striving to help the burgeoning population. If you see a cat with the tip of it's ear missing it has been deprived of it's reproductive capabilities.
This is needed as the estimates of one cat having an average of 2.8 kittens per litter over nine years can amount to 11.6 million cats in total if left unchecked. Seems impossible but the facts are out there, I've checked...!
Some are pets but many are strays but being the soft touches we are, along with many others, we spend a lot of our food budget on these adorable animals. We have two at home, so we are suckers.       

Dogs are quite prevalent too but not quite as much. This one looked on purposefully from a nearby rooftop.

We headed out for lunch which overlooked the sea.
Noisy Cicadas occasionally struck up their orchestrated mediterranean chirruping in the trees just opposite from where we sat. That quintessential sound out here.
I located it on the trunk as I supped my cold beer.

They are truly masters of disguise....

The views from the top of the cafe was quite stunning across to the mountains.

Geranium Bronze Butterflies could be seen again. They seem to be everywhere(well at least on the Geranium plants) and clearly becoming a problem. Whether or not, they are still such pretty specimens. Just in the wrong continent and brought here by our own fair hand.

Along the path back to the hotel the Opuntia Cacti grew to enormous sizes. I have grown these at home. They are half hardy grown outside and are extremely spiky. 

One thing I had noticed on my travels here is the the way these white snails congregate in numbers and being white, deflect the heat to survive the intensity of the 30 plus degrees before emerging in the evening.

Back at the hotel the cats and kittens were chilling out in the back yard.
Day one was done and so enjoyable it was to be back to a place we knew so well. The evening wasn't far away and we were determined to reacquaint ourselves with that too. The Tavernas awaited us....

Day two dawned clear and hot before we had even emerged from our slumber. We were yet to see a cloud.
Klyde the barman at our hotel had pointed us in the direction of the beach we hadn't been to before. I quietly explained lying on a beach wasn't top of my list of things to do on holiday.

Sarah and I negotiated the rocks around to a holiday complex which was more in keeping with a Meditteranean version of Butlins.
I left Sarah to relax on the beach as I passed the grounds full of mainly German, Dutch, Belgian and French holidaymakers in the olympic sized swimming pool...  

Passing this man made extravaganza and being given quizzical looks from the bronzed europeans with camera and binoculars slung around my neck, I left the compound and ascended the dusty path up towards the mountains.
No sooner had I left this artificial human habitation I breathed a sigh of relief and immersed myself into nature once more...
Straight away a Red Backed Shrike popped up onto the shrubs in search of some tasty morsels.
I had seen one briefly here two years ago so I was hoping for better views this time.
Ironically like the Wall Brown and Clouded Yellows, this had been seen briefly back home (not by me I hasten to add) so I was happy to stumble across this carnivorous raptor. 

A pair of Stonechat were next along as I reached the main path that circled the edge of the mountain side.

Dotted all around and below me were patches of scrub. I could hear the calls of Sardinian Warblers within them. Obtaining a decent photograph of these decidedly shy birds is another matter entirely.

I gave the universal 'pishing' alarm call and it's curiosity got the better of it.

As I ascended the pathway the views back down behind me to our resort looked quite impressive.

The mountains weren't too shabby either.

The path followed the edge of the mountain until it reached a small resort about a mile away. There wasn't too much about, just great views across the calm Aegean Sea.

Next to the resort was a building site which, in common with many a Greek building site looked like it hadn't been worked on for a few years. Nature had reclaimed a lot of it. A Blue Rock Thrush shot up the mountain side and Crested Larks could be seen occasionally flitting from rock to rock.

Some mountain goats followed behind me to grab a drink from one of the leaking water pipes that stretched around the pathway.
They weren't the only ones to make use of this oasis.
What I initially thought were normal Swallows turned out to be the rarer Red Rumped Swallow. Something we very rarely see in Britain and my first ever sighting.

Their rumps show the white from a distance.

The orange-red is more obvious from close range

I thought they were descending for a drink but it seemed they we imbibing the gravel to help with digestion.

Another Red Backed Shrike- a male this time- gave me a brief view on the fence of the building site before heading up the mountain side and out of sight.

One of the few lasting flowers around were these Foxtail Lillies or Urginea Maritime.

It was time to saunter home. Saunter being the operative word. In this heat the least strenuous the better. I followed the goats but left them to ascend the rocks alone!

As I exited the path near the resort, the Stonechats were still looking for insects from their perches

Along with some Great Tits too.
Another hot day with some little gems along the way.
Now for a siesta to recharge the batteries to summon up the energy to feast at another Taverna in the evening....

The title of this post is a lyric taken from the track, Mountain by Dreadzone from their Lp Dread Times