PICKING FRUITS ON THE BEACH

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There are many shallow, muddy inlets around the port, here in Liznjan, a small village on the Adriatic coast ... but one of them, although pretty similar to others at first glance - is pretty peculiar in what it offers to anyone who passes by ...
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... and this is some sort of guided virtual tour through this place ... and a surprisingly long post for such a small area :D.
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To avoid more strange names of small villages and long tedious explanations about where this actually is ... I'll mark the exact spot on pinmapple, the HIVE world map at the end of the post ... so you can see where on earth this is.
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With its muddy appearance and the occasional garbage brought by the winds and the waves, the place doesn't look particularly attractive ... far from the summer paradise from the travel agency adverts.
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There are two kinds of places in my vision of the world ( well two at least :D), those designed with the purpose to be enjoyable, and enjoyed as a whole ... and I mostly find them boring ... and those not completely (or not at all designed) that always look more or less like a mess at first glance, but are rich in details, contradictions and tons of stuff to explore.
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This is one of those messy paradises :) for the acquired taste ...
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... and while talking about the taste ... there are two apple trees growing so near to the water ...
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... that the fallen fruits float like little ducklings in the shallow bay at the end of summer, if the tide is high ...
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... or are stranded in the mud like some dead Apple - fish when the tide turns low ...
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... and those apples ...
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... are very tasty ... a bit less sweet than the usual supermarket ones, but the aroma is much stronger ... and, I don't know ... kind of exotic.
While I'm chewing the fruit on this photograph ... on the following GIF ...
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The Pachygrapsus marmoratus crab is chewing the algae that cover small stones in the shallows, in some parts of the bay.
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When the motion is stopped on a single shot ... I like to observe all those funny bubbles ...
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... and the way they change in every frame. The fly on the following photograph ...

... is the Lispe tentaculata, a species specialized for mud habitats ... these flies explore the vast areas uncovered by the low tide ...
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... and they are not the only insect species to do that. The fast and aggressive Tiger beetles are also hunting around. On this photograph you can see a pair mating.
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It's a very interesting habitat. Not far from these small land arthropods ... you can encounter another sea one running around.
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This tiny hermit crab ...
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... is disappearing in the mud ...
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... while I'm enjoying the blackberries.
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Blackberries here are growing very near to the water ...
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... and just like the apples ...
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... some shrubs are hanging above the sea.
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You can always see interesting stuff from the insect world while picking the berries.
This is the Metcalfa pruinosa planthopper, a species native to North America, but present also throughout the Southern Europe. This insect is very fond of blackberry plant, where can be often seen in big numbers.
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This very common European wasp, the Polistes gallicus, is eating the juicy matured berry.
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Here you can see another wasp of the same species feeding on a berry. These wasps are very numerous in the inlet when the blackberries are mature.
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This beautiful moth is the Dysgonia algira moth.
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These moths are much smaller ... and significantly less showy.
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I see them often on blackberries ... but I can't tell you the exact species. And now ...
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... let's take a break from all these insects.
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Let's go back to the muddy shore. Here you can see some seagrass and algae waiting for the change of the tide.
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This sea anemone is isolated with some plastic garbage in the small tidal pool.
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The crabs are running around freely.
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These are the Carcinus aestuarii crabs ... and they are mating.
These species inhabits muddy coastal habitats, from the tidal zone to the depth of 10 meters. They are present in shallow bays and river estuaries throughout the Mediterranean.
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Their color can vary.
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This is the same species.
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On this ... and the following few photographs you can see a considerable bigger species ...
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... with powerful pincers. This is the Eriphia verrucosa.
They live in the shallow water, from the tidal zone to the depth of 5 meters. You can sometimes at night see them wander in the vegetation about 5 - 10 meters from the coast in search for food.
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Among other things, these crabs are also a delicious and largely appreciated seafood.
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This interesting little creature, swimming here before my feet ...
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... is the Upogebia pusilla shrimp. They live buried in the mud and this is the only time I saw one so on the open.
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Here ... especially if you enlarge the picture ... you can see another Pachygrapsus marmoratus crab walking on the dry land ... this species also comes in a nice variety of colors from brown and olive green to gray and blue.
The minuscule animal on the following photograph ...
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... is a Collembola. Anurida maritima species, a land animal that inhabits the tidal zone.They are very small.
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And now ...
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... after this short walk across the mud ...
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... let's go back to the shrubs ...
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... back to the colorful berries ...
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... to change the feel and the colors of the post yet another time.
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The shield bug on this photograph is the very common Nezara viridula, present in a variety of habitats all around the world.
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While the berries are hanging over the shallows ...
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... this Podarcis sicula lizard, a wall lizard species ...
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... is taking a sun bath, camouflaged on the green foliage.
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On this photograph you can see the Oecanthus pellucens, a tree cricket species that lives in the southern and Central Europe.
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Here is a minuscule juvenile Harvestmen, standing on the matured berry.
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Here you can see some lovely, but still sour red blackberries ...
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... then some more mixed berries above the shallow sea, that you already saw at least a hundred times throughout the post :D ...
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... and here, with some seagull feathers lying on the shore ... this story ends - THE END.
[//]:# (!pinmapple 44.817661 lat 13.977349 long A small muddy inlet, where apples and blackberries hanging above the shallows. d3scr)
As always in these posts on HIVE, all the photographs ... and the GIF made from some of those photographs --- are my work.



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25 comments
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beautiful beautiful beautiful walk! crabs... snails... berries.... and the sand! I simply love the location and the stuff you pay attention too. also: a nice portrait. you do have a good hands (its a shame you didnt win that Hands contest at steemit)

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Thanks :) This summer I will revisit the location with better macro equipment, to find more minuscule stuff in the tidal zone.

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Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! 🎉🥳🍍

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And so does every post as well!

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  • Go to Pinmapple
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Wow! What a treasure of a place... That's a lot of flora and fauna - amazing lot you've captured!

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Gosh! So much to see on the beach. Those apple trees look very attractive, I would get a few apples and a bucket of blackberries. But I have to be careful about those wasps.

That big crab is very fierce with two big pincers. No jellyfish in the water which is good! This is such a lovely place to spend to spend the afternoon hours.

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True :) it's a good place to be immersed in nature.

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I wish I had a beach close by!

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:) It's a nice thing to have at hand in summer.

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Haha that voyeuring of wildlife mating :D I do take such shots too (snails, insects etc.) but it always feels kind of weird :D

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Crab crawling around. Wow I love this natural habitat

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Thanks :) Glad you like the post.

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Brother, these apples are spectacular and those blackberries are beautiful, you are enjoying two fruits that in my country are quite expensive in the market and that are not available here. That video of the crab eating seaweed from a stone is spectacular, not every day you can see a video like this and share with nature in that way, how brother is doing. The color of the lizard is not seen. insects mating and for a change a shrimp that I had not seen either. brother beautiful work done those are so clear that it seems that I am there. greetings brother stay home

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:) Thank you, makes me happy that you like these details from the nature in my area. I also enjoy to watch reports like this from all around the world here on Hive, and I enjoyed it on Steemit before. I saw so many animals and plants that you rarely or never see in professional documentaries, there is a lot that can be seen on platform like this where people share their experiences. Have a great day :) Greetings.

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Beautiful tour and pics! :)

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Thanks. :) Glad you like this muddy place.

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@borjan I really like the work of nature. All these in their natural habitats.

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:) Glad you like the post ... and the nature with its small interesting details.

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Just beautiful pictures of insects and marine life ...
In a couple of days, let's go collect the cherries, the wounding has already begun

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Ah, cherries ... my absolute favorite among fruits ... I like many fruits, but after I eat them a lot, I get enough and I don't want to eat them for a while ... never experienced that with cherries ... I never had enough of cherries, I could always eat that stuff.

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