the first leaves and more flowers

In Irati we have two species of elder, one is the common Elder (Sambucus nigra) with whose flowers can make a delicious elderberry champagne ,with  their fruits jams, and is very abundant.
Another one is the red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa), quite scarce and in the Iberian Peninsula their distribution is restricted to Pyrenees and close mountains.
In Irati both are now getting leaves, although in lower areas they began three weeks ago.


Red elderberry(Sambucus Racemosa)



First leaves of the black elder

We should necesary not confuse the black elder with  the Dwarf elder (Sambucus ebulus) which is very toxic, and we can to differentiate from the black elderberry  because the Dwarf elder are  not have woody stems , they are green, and  smell bad.                       



Other trees that  are now in bloom  or removing the leaves are the Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) With their fruits we make the "Patxaran" , well-known alcoholic beverage of Basque origin; patxaran: Basa (wild/ forest) + Aran (plum /valley .), because their fruits are really small plum fruits, very acidic and astringent that  their have never been crossed with other species to increase their size and sweetness.



Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa)




Hawthorn

Red Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata) and
common hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) both  are in the Irati  forest of Aezkoa, because this is a transition zone between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean climate.They  have  begun sprout  their leaves.Their fruits, called in some parts of Navarre " Shepherd´s little apples" are edible but with very few use to have a big bone on the inside that makes the amount of meat in almost neligible. For lot of wildlife, mammals and  birds, they are a  very important meal,and  is not unusual to see  excrements  of the wildlife  with many bones of this shrub.


In this photo from March 31 of this year, we can see a young  Willow (Salix  atrocinerea) sprouting, inspired by the good weather we were having.

 Common willow (Salix  atrocinerea)

There are other  plants in flowering, typical of spring, like this violets, or the primroses  of  the photo below, which in Irati  we have two classes, the Cowslip (primula veris) and True oxlip  (Primula elatior), lack the first and more common the second one.
they have medicinal uses, but prímulaVeris, especially, is scarce and should not be used for such purposes because  there are plants with similar virtues and more abundants


European dog violet(viola riviana)











True oxlip  Prímula elatior




Cowslip (Primula veris)



Neighbours work.Xidran´s brigde.

The auzolan or community work was a common practice in all the villages of  the valley of Aezkoa until recent years. Gradually had been disappeared and now ,only come true in very few occasions as I show you now, but still continue.The bridge  that you see in the picture was fallen few years ago , and although it was too much problem for walkers, walking along the path that goes  from Orbaizeta to the swamp of Irabia,  it was certainly awkward for people in mountain bike .

We choose 7 small trunks 7 meters in length to the base of the bridge, and had one of them to see how looks it from the stream bank.It was obvious that was necesary  to rebuild the old  wall of stone made without mortar, wearing fine stones. we rebuild the first of the sides with stone slabs and concrete remains of the old work of Irabia channel which were inside..

Gradually we began to move the rest of the logs, to align them, and fill the gaps between them, with branchs of hazel or ash, and rocks..

                                                                                   .The next step was to do a  walkable and  continous surface .we thought that a surface made with tables  could lead to the formation of fungi and algae and favor the slips, so we decided to do it like the old-fashioned, cheaper and in the sense of avoiding slips, more reliable. We create a gentle slope toward the bridge, and fill it with that ground. In some time when the soil has settled, we'll take a little more in the gaps that have formed.

Enjoy it!

The arrival of spring

Today we have been in Irati, and we have seen that spring is coming slowly, as a multitude of flowers, insects (butterflies and ladybugs ) and some diferents songs of birds.

The flowers come in a beech forest before the leaves of the beech, this is  for the need to harness sunlight to complete their cycle before the dense beech leaves cause a constant shadow to fall.
  HAZEL( Corylus avellana)

Hazelforest (Corylus avellana)in Mendilatz mountain

At first, the hazelnut has been determined to be massively in bloom.
they are of the  Fagaceae family, such as oak, chestnut and beech.

They are monoecious, that is, each plant has two separate sexes but in  differents flowers. The most commonly seen are the male, measuring between 8-10 cm. long.





 Male flowers of the hazel


















Hierba del hígado(Hepatica nobilis)

LIVER GRASS (Hepatica nobilis)
This beautiful plant is the first to go in the woods. Very easy to recognize for this reason, and basal leaves (close to the ground) and trefoil.
We find them in different colors, ranging from white to purple through blue and pink.
Its name comes, as might be expected, their medicinal properties, which was used  the dry plant.

 




SPURGE LAUREL(Daphne Laureola)

The Spurge laurel, as the spanish name(Adelfilla) implies has some resemblance to the oleander,quite common  ornamental plant , and extremely toxic, like this.
He likes forests on limestone, as in this case.

NARCISSUS( N. varduliensis/N. bulbocodium)







All kinds of wild narcissus are legally protected as interesting  flora, and in these two cases, are endemics plants too, that is, they only exist in a small area .In some cases this area may be all or Pyrenees Mountains or Cantabrian mountains, or just a valley or a mountain.



Narcisus varduliensis

golden bells(Narcisus bulbocodium)

OPPOSITE-LEAVED GOLDEN SAXIFRAGE( Chrysosplenium oppositifolium)

This little plant is quite common in  some parts of Irati, and can cover large areas especially in sinkholes (ground subsidence due to the existence of a cave under it) where the moisture is more concentrated.



OPPOSITE-LEAVED GOLDEN SAXIFRAGE( Chrysosplenium oppositifolium)



LESSER CELANDINE(Ranunculus ficaria)

This specimen is the first of its kind to come out in Irati, sheltered from the north where snow still remains on the north slopes. Its leaves, fresh out, may be edible.A little bit later they become and inedible.  In the old days, had been used to treat hemorrhoids.

really bitter

 LESSER CELANDINE(Ranunculus ficaria)

The escilas are a hermaphrodite flowering plants of a certain size, that they are now beginning to sprout in the forest.We can see see their flowers in full swing by late April,  to early May, depending, as always,  of the weather.In that time, and in some places, they are thousands of them, carpeting the entire floor of the beech forest green and blue. This plant is especially important in Irati  because is a part of  a kind of typical beech association in limestone.In the time of massive flowering  we'll talk about it.

SCILLA (Scilla liliohyacinthus)



SCILLA (Scilla liliohyacinthus)

Stinking hellebore

Our second flower of this year show belongs to this small plant poisonous  and unpleasant smell (notice how attracts insects for make the pollination) and flowers quite discreet.
Like all plants, could be medicinal depending  the dose, but in this case is not recommended like home remedy via internal to be very toxic.

in case of poisoning could take an infusion of mallow (Malva sylvestris) and marshmallow (Althaea officinalis).


stinking hellebore(Helleborus foetidus)









































stinking hellebore´s flower



Green hellebore (Helleborus viridis)

It has another close relative, the green hellebore (Helleborus viridis) over the fetid Atlantic climate is more Mediterranean. In Irati we can find both but predominantly viridis, because the Aezkoa valley is a place of climatology transicion between atlantic and mediterranean areas.area Now sprouts in places where the snow melts.

The hard winter

February is usually a very cold month in Irati, and the snow covering the entire forest, and this brings difficulties for non-hibernating animals who need find  food.
The snow always makes easier the observation, because the contrast with the snow is higher, and  they can be seen at certain points when they go to feed.




Jay( Garrulus glandarius)

Here's a Jay (Garrulus glandarius) in an area for livestock barns, looking for food in the snow .The jay is a bird related to the crows, quite common in all these valleys, often very visible from the road, shy and very noisy. Always associated with forests of a certain size, is one of the best settlers of oak, to contribute very effectively to dispersion of its acorns, which they eat some of them.

In this photo we  can see a female Blackbird (the local name is Tordo or zozoa, in basque), taking shelter from the snow under a female holly (Ilex aquifolium). As is evergreen, offers a warm coat, and the little berries for eating , very poisonous to humans.
Females differ from males because they  feathers are browner and  the beak  is less  yellow-orange than males, too much black.

Female


  common blackbird (Turdus merula)



 Tit (Parus caeruleus)

In this one, we have a Tit (Parus caeruleus), thoroughly inspecting all holly leaves, looking for remains of cochineal, a parasite of the leaves he had during the spring and summer.

Finally, we have this fox (Vulpes vulpes) photographed from the road to Orbaizeta , and was eating grass in a meadow, as dogs sometimes do, and possibly seeing if I was lucky enough to feed something more substantial.

 

Red Fox(Vulpes vulpes)



Galanthus nivalis in flowering(14-1-2011)

Here we have  the first flower observed in this year.Is a kind of Lily, a relic of the Ice Age, and is classified as very rare. It is not very large, between 10-30 cm. and we can find in the north of Navarre  in very few places.

Landagoien waterfall

At the entrance to Irati by Orbaizeta, just before going under the water piped  from the Marsh of Irabia to Betolegi hydropower plant, we have a nice jump of about 10 meters which Legartza race, the same as moving the machinery of Orbaizeta old arms factory, made ​​before lead into the river Irati.

It is quite unknown to the general public, it does not appear in any magazines or signposted path leading to it, though access is too easy.

 Landagoien waterfall(6th of november  2011)

  Today, due to heavy rains, offers a stunning picture, but has not been possible to take a picture from the bridge down, the best place for it, due to the large amount of water that splashed all inside.For this reason, I put a picture above, with less water.