Just for fun, here are a few miscellaneous photos that didn’t make it to the main walking pages, but never the less sparked my interest.
Here is a little chap that joined us for lunch
Always Keep Your Eyes Open
No matter what the time of year it is important to keep to the tracks, so to cause as little disturbance to the local wildlife as possible.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep your eyes open. Left we see last seasons eggs from a ground nesting bird, probably a red legged partridge.
For those of you that wander the tracks and trails of Lanzarote. Ever wonder why you see so many snail shells.
Well wonder no more, they obviously grow on tress!
Angel Hair
Depending on the time of year, the photo below was taken mid July. You quite often come across some spikey bushes on the side of the path that are covered in a strange golden shroud.
The actual bush, Aulaga (Launaea arborescens) is very common on Lanzarote. This is partly due to the fact that its thorns protect it from grazing goats. Nevertheless it has enemies, often it is seen covered in this mesh of orange brown threads.
This mesh can only be removed with great difficulty, as it is closely interwoven with the Aluaga. The threads are a plant called Angel Hair (Cuscuta approximata). It is a parasite extracting water and nutrients from its host plant. Everything Cuscuta needs is extracted from the host plant through specially developed organs growing into the host, hence Cuscuta is almost completely lacking in chlorophyll.
Just For Fun – History Links
There are a couple of external sites which have proved useful during my wanderings.
The sites are in Spanish, so if it helps I have made an attempt to summarise a few topics of interest in the History section.