Just a few...

...Pics.

With the wonderful warm conditions here in North Cyprus, sorry all you back in the UK, here are a few photo's I have taken. There are a myriad of strange and beautiful creatures that abound here. There are of course a few that are not guite so beautiful and not quite so charming to be around and yes, if given the chance, they will appear here on my blog as well. I have yet to come face to face with a couple, namely the Blunt Nosed Viper and the Tarantula.

This not so wonderful hornet sounded like an Apatche helicopter buzzing  round my living room and frightened the shit out of me. I sprayed it with fly killer and twenty four hours later it was still breathing! This beast was well over an inch long.

This is a Carpenter bee gathering pollen. It is about an inch long. Yes it was a small Sunflower.

Carpenter bee going in for a smooth landing

This is a tree frog (Hyla Savigny) They are very small so I had to heavily crop, therefore the image is not a sharp as it should be. I took this photo back in 2003.

These little 'critters' are Cicada's and make the most horendous noise from sunrise to sunset.

Here is a Cyprus bee. A lot less scary than a Hornet.

A baby Preying Mantis, no more than an inch long. This little fella sat on the base of my lamp for a few hours, grabbing at anything that flew past its nose but without much success.

Here he is from a slightly different angle. His head movements were slightly unnerving as it's head moved from centre to right or visa versa in one rapid movement.

Here he is again, peeping over the top and giving me the evil eye; as in, come any closer and I'll bite your head off.

This little wonder of Nature has been guarding its territory since early this morning, in my back garden.

P.S. I passed my open divers course on the 18th July and I'm now a certified PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) diver, able to dive to a maximum depth of 18 metres (60 feet)