|18-5-2019| Through rural paths "Caminhos Velhos"

The team chose the <500m altitude trails east of central Caldeira to explore the rural paths and trails within the vegetation, way below the orographic clouds that were pretty dense this morning.

The spring is slowly starting, and the excited robins, azorean chaffinches, black birds and even gold crests are not impressed by the misty weather at all.

The endemics are growing fast under these wet and sunny days, branching and growing new leaves, such as the Azorean laurel in the picture below.

But it is mostly the invasive plants that are flowering at the moment. These thrive outside dense vegetation areas, on the roads by the pastures. While only the very first hydrangeas are starting to bloom, for perhaps more than three months the white calla lilies have flowered vividly. Also the the Himalayan "British-carpet" Polygonum capitatum, enchanting the roads with extensive carpeting in Faial and Pico, is now sided by margaridas that were brought from South America, in the photos below.