Blog launched: November 10, 2009

Monday, August 23, 2010

Artificial rain...

AAA3283 [Artificial rain]

... for thirsty flowers in the Monastery of Kaisariani on Hymittos Mountain


Mt. Hymittos: 08/09/2008, photo © Tony Taglides

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Colchicum parnassicum




BBB8168 [Colchicum parnassicum]

BBB8155 [Colchicum parnassicum]

Mt. Parnassos: 18/08/2010, photos © Tony Taglides

Friday, August 20, 2010

Capra hircus

BBB8120 [Capra hircus]

"Reduce your speed! Too much traffic ahead!"

Mt. Parnassos: 18/08/2010, photo © Tony Taglides

Testudo hermanni


BBB2380 [Testudo hermanni]
Clean, shiny and sparkling!
The creature was only about 6cm long when photographed.

Mt. Paneio: 19/10/2009, photo © Tony Taglides

Campanula versicolor

BBB8152 [Campanula versicolor]



BBB8149 [Campanula versicolor]

Mt. Parnassos: 19/08/2010, photos © Tony Taglides

Monday, August 16, 2010

Phalacrocorax carbo

BBB7664 [Phalacrocorax carbo]
Phalacrocorax carbo, commonly known as 'a cormorant', is a huge bird with a wingspan that in some species can reach up to 160cm. It's a great diver that can stay in the water for as long as 30" and almost always it emerges to the surface with a fish. Lots of fishermen used to see him as a competitor for fish; a fact that in the past led to the extinction of large populations of birds. Fortunately, that has stopped and at the moment there are more than 1.2 million of birds in Europe.

Kerkini: 06/06/2010, photo © Tony Taglides

Thursday, August 12, 2010

a rose from our garden

AAA0509 [rose]

  "Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?

Ah no, it's always just my luck to get
One perfect rose."

(Dorothy Parker, 1893-1967, US writer)

Holargos, 03/05/2008, photo © Tony Taglides


Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Jet ski

 DSCN1532 [Jet ski]

"At last I can have a ride!"
Acapulco: 22/01/2007, photo © Tony Taglides

Proussos monastery

AAA2837 [Proussos monastery]

A monastery in the idylic environment of Evrytania, Central Greece.

Proussos:14/07/2008, photo © Tony Taglides

Pancratium maritimum 1


BBB2131 [Pancratium maritimum]

A beautiful flower found in summer on the sand by the beach. At this stage the flower is at the end of its life-cycle. It will soon produce its "characteristic fruits [that] resemble pieces of charcoal; they are light in weight and float on the sea, which disperses them along the shore". [See: Papiomitoglou Vangelis Wild Flowers of Greece, Mediterraneo Editions, 2006]

Sounio: 07/08/2009, photo © Tony Taglides

Pancratium maritimum 2

BBB8049 [Pancratium maritimum]

Pancratium maritimum with large, white and fragrant flowers miraculously emerges from the sand that is generally considered sterile soil.


BBB8079 [Pancratium maritimum]



TRV900 Fr [Pancratium maritimum]


Sounio: 07/08/2010, photos © Tony Taglides


Aporia crataegi


BBB6338 [Aporia crataegi]

This beauty seems to be very human-friendly! It landed on my finger and posed for me for as long as I needed to take the picture with the other hand. The reddish marks on the lower part of the wing indicate that the butterfly has only recently emerged from chrysalis.

Lampokampos: 01/05/2010, photo © Tony Taglides

Amanita muscaria


BBB0781 [Amanita muscaria]

One of the most distinctive mushrooms,
beautiful but lethal!

Mt. Voras: 11/07/2009, photo © Tony Taglides