Spring in irati forest, The life explosion

Scilles blooming  in late april

Recently  the snow disappeared, and plants are quick to sprout with the high temperatures.
In the lower parts of the valleys beeches already have their new leaves of light green, while ash trees, walnut trees and oaks take it a bit more quiet.
Those same trees also lost leaves later in the fall. If you go to sleep later, then you wake up later.



 Beech forest flowers called prevernals plants need to rush to make their life cycle before the shade of beech leaves kill them. So even with some snow can start to sprout  and do all their cycle in a month and a half. Most of them are bulbs, like  asturiensis ,bulbocodium and varduliensis daffodils already emerged in April, although poet´s daffodil (narcissus poeticus) will come out in June, They are also bulbs like the asphodels (Asphodelus albus) the dogtooth violet (Erythronium dens-canis ) and others as  the Pyrenean squill, (Scilla lilio- hyacinthus) the upper and following pictures.

Pyrenean squill. One who dares to be different from the crowd violet.

Over the next three weeks, large areas of the beech forest will be covered with these flowers, creating an spectacular colorful, which joined with the leaves of the beech trees that will sprout in the coming days, give us an excellent opportunity to make some of the best picture that We can  made of a beech forest
They are also  blooming anemones (Anemone nemorosa), the golden Liver (Chrysosplenium oppositifolium), or Spurge laurel (Daphne laureola)

After the Pyrenean Squills will be replaced on the fringe of the forest by others such as foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea), gentians (acaulis, Verna, in the few areas lutea), etc

The last liverleaves of the year

Spurge laurel (Daphne lauréola)

Snakehead (Arum maculatum)

 Opening Fern

But not only Pyrenean squills warn us that something is moving in the forest;
Mammals signals are evident wherever we look. From nibbled Squills to badger droppings, deer, roe deer, hare, wild boar, etc ..
The scratch places of  the Roe deers are very curious. Males remove vegetation around a beech small, and rubbed against her so that even damage the bark is scraped. In this way,. others roe deer look and smell, that this territory belongs to someone.

Roe deer scratch place.

Roe deer horn marks

Also insects begin to move, encouraged by the development of their food plants, especially  caterpillars.
These are some kind of noctuidae or Erebidae, moth larvae, which feed on these leaves megaphorbic plants that live only with very high humidity. Here they are eating the  Adenostiles alliariae, that will blossom into June- July. inside the forest.

Birds do not keep quiet, and We can hear the repetitive chanting of finches or Song thrush(turdus philomelos) and sporadic different types of woodpeckers.

Here We have the unfortunate aspect that leave a dead tree, but standing, after to be used as 5 stars restaurant where birds find different menu larvae (Cerambycidae, bark beatles ..) appropriate for each species. Nuthatchs ( Sitta europaea) also come here to eat something

Feed holes of woodpeckers

White backedwoodpecker female eating on the ground

This female woodpecker eating and was rummaging among the leaves for 10 minutes. The photo has taken two weeks before, when I did a tour for a bird watcher. It is by far because we do not approach much to not bother. In fact, while we watched with telescope, she did not notice our presence.
Well, this is what I observed in a space of 1 hour and a half and I thought you might be interested.

Living in a valley in the Pyrenees, although it has many disadvantages, it also has its advantages, as can be in these sites only 5 minutes from home.
Here the last photo of another mammal, trying to leave no trace in the forest, just in your emotions.


If you want to know these places can write to: itarinatura@itarinatura.com

May 16, 2016

Beeches have taken all the leaf and the dimly lit in the forest is full. Yesterday had been a foggy day and it seemed that at any time magical fairies court could appear as something normal.
Ramsons (Allium ursinum) begins to replace the flower of squill, and in the meadows the Gentiana acaulis start the flowering..

Añadir leyenda

Gentiana acaulis

Ramsons (Allium ursinum)

The Crab apple and the incredible fungus Terana coerulea.

Typical wheather for this time would be have 1'5 m. of snow in the mountain or more, but the truth is that except two small snow, we have not to much snow or rain, not in the dimensions to be considered normal in winter.
On this photo you can see here the crab apple (Malus sylvestris) that I have in my garden in Orbaizeta (Navarre) It is an exceptional specimen for the specie because it measures more than 10 meters.

Crab apple or Baxako.(Malus sylvestris)

The last  year had been very good for apple  trees, and they gave an unusual amount of fruit. In this case,3 months later, the most of apples from this specimen remain still on the ground, in perfect conditions.

I wonder how a fruit can be three months above the ground, outdoors, and not rot.
Surely there will be many animals feeding with them.

Pecked apple by a blackbird (Turdus merula)

I could see apples pecked by birds, probably from blackbirds (Turdus merula) but I could also observe eaten and defecated remains of carnivores like foxes.

With these apples, we make a liquor made with anise, very  much appreciated in these Pyrenean valleys, both in Navarra and in our neighboring valley of Garazi / Cize and Xiberoa / Soule across the border; the Baxaka or patxaka.

I picked up two boxes of these apples, which gave to my neighbors, and I did a test with few of them in white wine, to try out how it would catch the flavour of s the baxaka in white wine.
After three months I filtered, and bottled.
The result was a white wine with an astringent touch, and with a flavor reminiscent of quince.
I dont think so it is going to be fashionable to go bar hopping, but is cool.

It really heat up the stomach!!

Terana Coerulea

To finish, I leave you with this photo of a cobalt color mushroom,  eating this stick of boxwood. Although the picture clarifies a little bit, it has an extraordinary blue color. It´s the Terana coerulea,
Here you are two links:


http://www.biodiversidadvirtual.org/hongos/Terana-coerulea-(Lam.)-Kuntze-1891-img80449.html

http://eol.org/data_objects/26929958

He was elected fungus of the 2009 by the German Mycological Society, for the great antibiotic action on Streptococcus pyogenes, who causing bacterial pharyngitis, and framed in the type of meat-eating bacterias!
You see, a twig with a nice color, but it is much more than it seems!

The essential things are  invisible to the eyes!

Because of the altitude, in some lower  places of Navarre  three weeks ago they started flowering, but  is now, when we  can see them in flowering ,always in places where water is near , either surface or underground.


grey willow(Salix atrocinerea)

In the streams or between the wood, now we can see trees of white or yellowish flowers  in the case of plants with male flowers, and green in the case of plants with female flowers.
It measures about 11 meters high.It grows fast and usually die soon, in the scale of Time of the trees.

Its wood is not very good quality, but like all willows, especially in its bark and flowers, there is the active ingredient called Salicin, from which later would take the salicylic acid (Does it sound?) Popularly known as aspirin . Today, this acid is synthetic, no  from the plant.

Smell their leaves, or scrunch up a dry twig in yours hands and then   you will remember that smell like the medicine cabinet.!







 Male Flowers

Although it may be obvious, one might note that the leaves will sprout later than we now see, though not so in all species.

If that might be interesting to tell who has not had a chance to look, that species removed before the leaves are often the first to lose them , so I think that seems to have a certain number of days in which plants have leaves ,and  would change in deciduous species would be the time at which they start.
In any case, the weather will happen before or later.

.



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)



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)