Friday, June 19, 2009
umm, that's 6 ticks and an orchid
After I posted that last entry, I decided to check myself again, and yes, I found a 6th tick happily sucking away over my rib.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
5 ticks and an orchid
I started a hike yesterday that I've been wanting to do since I first got here. I set aside 5hrs round trip to reach the summit above the village of Costa. These mountains are the first ones in the range and unfortunately, I am still extremely curious of the views to the inside from that vantage point. Also, I planned on taking a bunch of bug shots to help convince myself to spend $920 on the Nikon 105mm mirco lens, which was $750 when I first laid eyes on it last year . Sometimes it doesn't pay off to wait.
The whole trail was moderately steep so it was a good idea that I took my camera so I could take pictures while I took breaks. This trail was immediately very grassy compared to the trail right behind my house so my immediate thought was "Ticks, merda". At first though, that didn't stop me from getting down in it trying to take some photos of the critters. Not until an hour and a half in, I find one the size of a small mole crawling up my leg. This was/is a big deal for me since I've been fortunate to have done quite a bit of hiking and have never, ever seen a tick. I'm a big scaredy cat, and by then I was becoming paranoid. About 20 minutes from the top I picked off my 3rd tick. And after contemplating it for a few minutes, I reluctantly decided that was enough. I'm going back! But I looked longingly at the top of the mountain as I turned around.
On my way down, I encountered an Italian hiker with his cane. I quickly asked in my bad Italian about the ticks (At this point, I don't even know the Italian word for ticks) and he informs me that there are sheep that graze in the area and that the place is "pieno". -The place is full of them! Mamma mia ! (I love this expression and they do use it all the time). He said I should wear "pantaloni lungo".
By the time I exit the trail I've picked off my 5th tick, the last bugger was a big one compared to the others. All that, and I only saw 1 orchid and it was a scraggily one at that.
Here are some shots with my crappy kit lens to justify buying that awesome macro lens!
Nymphalidae, Melanargia galathea
There's a little white spider hiding underneath one of the petals-no way my kit lens could focus on that!
These two are making beetle babies on a daisy- how cute!
Zygaenidae, Zygaena sp. - a day-flying moth
Zygaena sp. -another species in the same genus
some sort of pollinator action, I think it's Bombus lucorum, Lisa think's it's Apis mellifera, here's another shot of the same individual so someone can enlighten us:
Ta da! That's the orchid, Gymnadenia conopsea
Some useful vocab:
zecca, zecche (pl)= tick
pecora, pecore (pl) = sheep
margherita = daisy
farfalla = butterfly
coleottero = beetle
The whole trail was moderately steep so it was a good idea that I took my camera so I could take pictures while I took breaks. This trail was immediately very grassy compared to the trail right behind my house so my immediate thought was "Ticks, merda". At first though, that didn't stop me from getting down in it trying to take some photos of the critters. Not until an hour and a half in, I find one the size of a small mole crawling up my leg. This was/is a big deal for me since I've been fortunate to have done quite a bit of hiking and have never, ever seen a tick. I'm a big scaredy cat, and by then I was becoming paranoid. About 20 minutes from the top I picked off my 3rd tick. And after contemplating it for a few minutes, I reluctantly decided that was enough. I'm going back! But I looked longingly at the top of the mountain as I turned around.
On my way down, I encountered an Italian hiker with his cane. I quickly asked in my bad Italian about the ticks (At this point, I don't even know the Italian word for ticks) and he informs me that there are sheep that graze in the area and that the place is "pieno". -The place is full of them! Mamma mia ! (I love this expression and they do use it all the time). He said I should wear "pantaloni lungo".
By the time I exit the trail I've picked off my 5th tick, the last bugger was a big one compared to the others. All that, and I only saw 1 orchid and it was a scraggily one at that.
Here are some shots with my crappy kit lens to justify buying that awesome macro lens!
Nymphalidae, Melanargia galathea
There's a little white spider hiding underneath one of the petals-no way my kit lens could focus on that!
These two are making beetle babies on a daisy- how cute!
Zygaenidae, Zygaena sp. - a day-flying moth
Zygaena sp. -another species in the same genus
some sort of pollinator action, I think it's Bombus lucorum, Lisa think's it's Apis mellifera, here's another shot of the same individual so someone can enlighten us:
Ta da! That's the orchid, Gymnadenia conopsea
Some useful vocab:
zecca, zecche (pl)= tick
pecora, pecore (pl) = sheep
margherita = daisy
farfalla = butterfly
coleottero = beetle
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