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La Riserva
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The Reserve Naturale Orientata dello Zingaro
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| The Natural Reserve of the Zingaro is situated
in the extremity of the tyrrhenian west coast of Sicily and
it is the continuity of the set of calcareous reliefs of the
Mesozoic origin in the Palermo area, near to Monte Cofano. In
the reserve, is important for the vegetation the general climate
indicated by annual average temperature of 19° C and by
a rainfall of 645 mm. Also when the weather don't rains, often
there are on the mountains beneficial fog banks that comes from
the sea and that maintains local damp microclimates. |
| Beyond to common species of the Mediterranean
area in the reserve there are particular elements very interesting
like the Limonium flagellare (limonio), the Helichrysum rupestre
var. rupestre (perpetuino), the Dianthus rupicola (garofanino),
the Centaurea ucriae (fiordaliso di Sicilia), the Brassica bivoniana,
the Helichrysum pendulum, the Seseli bocconei (finocchiella),
the Brassica drepanensis (cavolo selvaggio), the Hieracium cophanense,
the Minuartia verna subsp. grandiflora, the Lithodora rosmarinifolia
(erba perla), the Convolvolus cneeorum (vilucchio turco) and
the rare Limonium todaroanum (limonio di Todaro). This seminatural
ambient, result of a millenary action of the shepherd, farmer
and crafts-man man, shelters endemic expressions like the Serratula
cichoracea subsp. Mucronata (that is presents in the north-african
coasts too) and a lot of orchidee terricole (kind of orchid)
like the Ophrys lunulata (ofride), the Ophrys oxyrrhynchos,
the Orchis commutata and the Orchis. In the nearness of the
emergent rocks begin to grow the endemic Allium lehmanni, the
Iris pseudopumila (giaggiolo), the Ranunculus rupestris (ranuncolo)
and the Micromeria graeca subsp. fruticulosa (issopo). The vegetal
scenery is dominated for a part from apparences of ephemeron
or perennial grassland composite by the Cymbopogon hirtus (barboncino
mediterraneo) and from the Ampelodesmos mauritanicus (disa).
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| Around the northern slopes of Mount "Passo
del Lupo", where you can see a beautiful wall covered with
a very old plant of ivy, are found reptails of ilex wood and
in the west end of the reserve also some cork-plantation fragments.
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| The Riserve shelters about six hundred
species of vascular plants and also about one hundred of "macromiceti",
bryophyte, ferns and lichens in full flowering in the begin
of spring. Some areas become reforested with local essences;
in other areas will not become executed any intervention to
control if and how the vegetation develop naturally; other areas
are opened to the controlled pasture, to value the quantity
of live-stock compatible with the preservation of the existing
grassland. Little areas, at last, are legitimately cultivated.
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The Zingaro and
its animals
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| The Reserve isn't a zoo-safari, so to meet
the animals will be casual and you can't program it. Like every
other ambient typically Mediterranean, the Zingaro still shelters
very rare species of animals. The " Aquila del Bonelli"
(kind of eagle) regularly reproduce laying one or two eggs.
The "Coturnice di Sicilia" (kind of bird), inhabitant
of the glades and the bushes, still succeed to maintain stable
populations into the Reserve, in fact, thanks to the area protection
she succeed to repeoples large and external areas. |
| During the walk into the Zingaro, besides
the rare animals you can also see: among the birds the Hermit
Sparrow; The wild Pigeon; the Imperial Crow; the Falco Pellegrino
(kind of hawk); the Kerstel (little hawk with brown-tawny colours
dotted with black spots and with yellow legs; and the majestic
Buzard with big wings. In the thick of the vegetation you can
hear the sing of many other birds, for example the sing of the
little "Scricciolo dell'Occhiotto", an elegant, grey
insectivore with black head and red rings around its eyes; or
the sing of the Buntings and of the Nightingale of river. You
can see these birds in the first hours of the morning, in Spring
and in Autumn, surely you can't see they in the warmer hours
or in August. |
The Wolf fan will be satisfied
to recognize its typical trace, the characteristics excrements,
that in the different periods of the year, contains insects,
rat coats or fruits seeds; fan can recognize too the quills
of hedgehog.
Getting dark fan can hear sweet-sounding sing of the nightingale
or the strong and lugubrious sing of the Owl, a nightly predatory
of wood that adapts himself to live in the rocks of the Reserve.
In every season is easy to meet the Sicilian Lizaeds, an exclusive
specie of Sicily, that lives only in low height zones, and thath
has got longitudinal clear lines with green or brown colour.
Is easy to meet the wild rabbit, very common in all the zone,
or the Weasel, little predatory of different kind of rodents
and little birds. |
The smaller fauna is too easy to observe:
Grasshoppers, Mantis, Coleopters, different species of Butterflies
and violaceae "Xilocope" populates every ambient of
the Reserve. Between these little fauna there are too: the big
"Panfago" (a green Grasshopper that can't fly) or
invertebrata nearly extinguished for the excessive collection
of the collectors. You'll be lucky to see these little animals
if you walk in Hush. Animals are rather timid so you can see
it only if there aren't any noise around.
Never mind if you had to leave your dog at the entrance of the
Reserve in fact wild animals fears dogs that could chase they
and disturbs their biological rhythms.
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The Zingaro and the sea
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| The sea is an essential component of the
Zingaro and you can understand it looking the different kinds
and forms of rocky vegetation and by the designs that the sea
erosion lives on the rocks. |
| There are various relations between sea
and earth: the salty spay of the sea that are deposited on the
vegetation conditions its composition and its development. |
| From the sea derive the " hidden precipitations"
that under shape of fog and dew refresh the little plants crawling
or exploding from the fissures of the rocks. Into the sea throw
down waters and pebbles not withholdings from the ground. Under
the water the water-bearing stratum is unloaded. |
| The coastal waters of the Zingaro are still
uncontaminated, but the near inhabited centres are a danger
for them, being the sea a most sensitive thermometer of the
health of the mainland. The institution to marine Park, destined,
is hoped in short times, to conjugate itself with the terrestrial
Reserve, will be able to impose an opportune adaptation to the
drainages of the neighbouring city areas into the sea. |
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The rocky walls
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| The tawny beards of the "Cystoseira
stricta" (kind of alga with leafy thallus, resistant to
the waves) surrounded the rocky features to the tide level. |
| The fronds of this most common alga, with
wrong feared from bathers, are a reassuring testimony of an
elevated degree of waters purity. |
Under the first meter of height, the "Cystoseira
stricta" cedes the step to others "cystoseire"
with a more delicate appearance. They are stirred to the bifurcate
laminae of the "Dictyopteris membranacea" and of others
tawny algae.
Where the blue of the sea is uniform are more frequent the animals
with the floral appearance: anemones, the delicate calyx of
the sea rose (beaniana Sertella), the beautiful isolated madrepore
(Caryophyllia spp.) and colonial (caespitosa Cladocora) that
they cover the cliffs of the Marinella.
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| Right under the tide "blooms"
the "daisies" of the Astroides calycularis (in truth
polyps of one madrepora), that inflame the walls of brilliant
colours from the orange to the red fire. Sponges with red, yellow
or violet tones, cover coastal caverns and under-ground passages.
There are also many of Karst caves. |
| Go beyond the coloured external rooms,
the atmosphere makes uniform, the upholstering faunas the walls
thins away and in the darkness swarms of shrimp dance.
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The beaches
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| To the comparison of the vertically walls,
the stony beaches aren't many populated, but the littoral puddles
are covered from the elegant "Padina pavonica" and
from the little green umbrellas of the "Acetabularia"
(kind of alga constituted by a single giant cell) between which
wriggle shrimps and blennies. Intense animal life swarm in the
shelters under the stones. |
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Fishes
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| The sea of the Zingaro there are only few
fishes, above all represented by "Labridi" and "Blennidi"
with colourful liveries. The absolute prohibition of underwater
peach and nets from mail, causes of such poverty could concur
the enrichment and the diversification of the ittica fauna. |
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