By the time spring arrives, much of Tunnel Beach is a riot of colour. There are Cyprus Tulips Tulipa cypria with their bold crimson petals, the more subtle pink of Cyclamen Cyclamen Persicum, White Rock Rose Cistus creticus, tiny Gladioli Gladiolus tryphillus and Crown or Poppy Anemones Anemone coronaria. Bougainvillea Bougainvillea glabra seems to come and go all the year round. Brightly coloured Mallow Leafed Bindweed Convolvulus althaeoides occasionally share their shady places with Friar's Cowl Arisarum vulgare. Wild Garlic Allium neopolitanum grows alongside Wild Asparagus Asparagus stipularis which is used to flavour Cypriot omelettes and washed down with a glass of local red wine.
In July or August, just when it seems too hot for anything to live let alone grow, the pure white flowers of the delicate and beautiful Sea Daffodil or Sand Lily Pancriatum maritimum appear among the dunes. Soon after, Myrtle Myrtus communis with its delicate white flowers produces masses of its blue and, more rarely, white berries to help feed the Autumn migrating birds.
Tunnel Beach also has a good orchid population. The 'rough' around the golf course contains large numbers of Pyramidal Orchids Anacamptis pyramidalis, Bug Orchids Orchis coriophora, Holy Orchids Orchis sancta and Serapias vomeracia. No English name has yet been traced for this last species but, as its name implies, the flower form bears a remarkable resemblance to the mouth parts of someone being sick! Another orchid grows from a seep seam half way up the cliff by the Tunnel's southern entrance. This is the beautiful Scarce Marsh Hellborine Epipactis veratrifolia, not particularly rare but seldom found at such low elevations. Ophyrs umbilicata attica is a very recent addition to the orchid list.
The real stars of the botanical show, however, are neither colourful nor attractive. The survey has revealed a number of rare herbs and grasses. These include Triplachne nitens, Centrapodia forskalli, Ifloga spicata and Stipagrostis lanata. The last three are very rare indeed and may even be new species to Cyprus - exciting finds indeed.
One very attractive, if unnatural, corner of Tunnel Beach is known to some as McCardle's Folly. Planted in the Spring of 1988 by erstwhile Course Member Ian McCardle, it lies beside the 9th brown and consists of a selection of local tree species including Olive, Bay Laurel, Jacaranda, Juniper, Fig, Orange, Lemon, Palm and Tamarisk. A few rose bushes at the centre complete the picture. All are doing very well and together they provide welcome shade and occasional colour.
Behind McCardle's Folly lies one of the best preserved areas of wilderness in the Study Area. Furthest away from the human activity associated with the Club House and the car park and watered from time to time by a waterfall which cascades down the cliff to the rear. It is a haven for birds and other creatures and it would be a sad loss indeed if it were ever to be interfered with.
The Entomology Section of the Dossier is developing more slowly. Ants, spiders, grasshoppers and dragonflies all abound and early work identified Lion Ants Myrmelon formicarius and Orb Weaver Spiders Argiope bruennichi. Beetles Nebira livida and Gnaptor spinimannus have been found along with the Stick Insects Phasmatidae and Praying Mantis Mantis religiosa. In the Summer, knowing golfers generally check before lifting a holed-out ball in case there happens to be a Scorpion, probably Buthus occitans, lurking beside it.
Acknowledgment goes to Mrs Ann Humphries who made a very professional start to her insect survey in 1998 but was sadly posted out, with her husband before the real insect activity got underway. At the time of writing, it is anticipated that a Cypriot entomologist newly recruited to work in the Joint Services Health Unit at Akrotiri might be persuaded to carry on the good work.
One part of the entomology section that has expanded is Lepidoptera. Thanks to Sq Ldr John Guthrie and his wife Myra, 16 of 59 or so butterflies and moths to be found in Cyprus have been identified and recorded at Tunnel Beach. The most spectacular, mainly on account of its size, is probably the Swallowtail Pipillo machaon giganteus but the Clouded Yellows Colius croceus, Pigmy Skipper Gengenes pumilio, Great Banded Grayling Brentisia circe and Painted Ladies Cynthia cardui, to name a few, are all attractive enough. The Grass Jewel Freyeria trochylus, thought to be the smallest European butterfly and one of the smallest in the world, was sighted last year and the hunt is currently on for the Levantine Leopard Apharitis acamas cypriaca. This beautiful little butterfly was last recorded on the top of the cliffs by then Warrant Officer S G Whitnall during his research in the mid-90s. It is a valuable species and much sought after by collectors and dealers.
The most obvious mammal resident at Tunnel Beach, particularly at dawn and dusk, is the Cyprus Hare Lepus cyprius. These large animals do cause some damage around the golf course as they scratch for moisture-filled bulbs during the dry months. Netting is carried out occasionally using personnel and dogs from the Cypriot Flora and Fauna Service. The live hares are removed to a local breeding farm where, it is imagined, they live happily - if not ever after. Hares are, in fact, much prized by Cypriot hunters and can fetch up to £45 each.
Cyprus Hare. Photo. J.Wilson.
More secretive among the mammals are the Red Foxes Vulpes vulpes and the Eastern Hedgehog Erinaceus auritus which is somewhat smaller than the English hedgehog and with large ears. The Black Rat Rattus rattus, having taken a liking to carobs, spends so much of its time eating and nesting in carob trees that it is known locally as the Carob Rat. They are a favourite quarry of the Feral Cats Felis catus that live at Tunnel Beach.
Tunnel Beach, particularly in the summer, is not a place for the faint hearted. Many of Cyprus's reptiles are to be found there and some of them in quite large numbers. Most dangerous is the Blunt Nosed Viper Dabria (Vipera) lebetina, a relatively short (< 1.5 metre) but powerfully built snake that is easily recognised by its heavy, flat fronted head. Because of the possible presence of this creature, it is common practice to carry a 1 Iron when searching in bushes and long grass for lost golf balls - just in case.
Another venomous but less dangerous snake is the Montpellier Malpolon jugalris, easily recognised by its obviously slender tail part and less dangerous because it is back-fanged. That means that its fangs are right at the back of its mouth and provided you can resist any temptation to stick your finger down its throat, you are unlikely to be bitten by it.
The longest snake that one is likely to encounter at Tunnel Beach is the Large Whip Snake Coluber jugularis jugularis. It can grow to 2.5 metres in length but is harmless to humans. This snake is very agile and is reputed to be able to rear up and 'look a man in the eye' but this behaviour has never been witnessed by the writer. Because it likes to eat the young of the Blunt Nosed Viper, the Large Whip Snake is often tolerated in Cypriot gardens, including some among the Families Quarters.
Most of Cyprus's lizards are to be seen at Tunnel Beach. Largest among them is the Agama Agama stellio which can grow up to 30 centimetres long. More common are the Spiny Footed Lizard Acanthodactylus schreiberi, the Snake Eyed Lizard Ophisopps elegans and the Troodos Rock Lizard Lacerta leavis troodica. Common Chameleons Chamelio chamelio chamelion are occasionally seen making their slow, lumbering way along the branches of trees or shady tracks changing colour as they go and Kotschys Gecko Cyrtopodion kotschyi can be found hiding under rocks. Green Toads Bufo viridis may sometimes be seen in the stop-cock pits looking for some shade and moisture.
Agama. Photo.J.Wilson.
Pride of place among the reptiles at Tunnel Beach is the marine turtle. The Loggerhead Turtle Caretta caretta nests on the beach itself and Green Turtle Chelonia mydas' eggs are occasionally re-located there when they have been laid on busy beaches where the nests are unlikely to survive.
Turtles in this location are monitored by the Episkopi Turtle Watch Group which is made up of volunteers, both military and civilian and their dependents. From early June to late August group members undertake daily early morning patrols of Tunnel Beach, and others, looking for the tell-tale tracks that indicate that a turtle has been ashore the previous night. Each track is carefully investigated. Some turn out to be 'false crawls' where a turtle has simply walked up the beach, turned around and walked back to the sea again or 'tries' where a turtle has, at least, made some attempt to dig a nest before returning to the sea. When an egg chamber is located, it is protected with a wire cage to keep predators out and marked with a sign asking that it not be disturbed. The nests are then monitored throughout their seven week incubation period.
As hatching time approaches, Turtle watchers mount all night vigils to ensure that hatchlings are able to emerge from the nest and reach the sea safely. Predators such as dogs, foxes, feral cats and sea gulls, usually Yellow Legged Gulls Larus cachinnans, are kept at bay. It can be quite a struggle for the tiny turtles to make it to the sea and it is sometimes tempting to pick them up and carry them down to the water's edge. This is not encouraged, however, as it would disrupt the chemo/sensory bonding process which is thought to enable female turtles to return, some 15 years later, to the beach that they were born on in order to lay their own eggs.
Baby Logerhead Turtle. Photo. Marrie Allen.
Hatching times and other details are carefully recorded as are the numbers of infertile eggs, dead hatchlings and embryonic deaths when the nest is finally excavated usually three days after the turtles first started to emerge. It is not unusual, during this process to find a few live hatchlings trapped in the bottom of the nest so it can be quite rewarding despite the mess and the smell.
At the end of the season, all the data collected is submitted to Dr Andreas Demetropolous, previously the Director of Fisheries in the Republic of Cyprus who also runs the Cypriot Turtle Preservation Project at Lara on the west coast to the north of Paphos.
During the Summer of 1998, twelve nests were hatched on Tunnel Beach and no fewer than 575 baby turtles were seen to reach the sea safely. Once they are in the water, nothing more can be done for them and the attrition rate is high. It is estimated that, left to their own devices, little more than 1% survive to reach maturity. Thanks to Turtle Watchers, this figure is considerably enhanced by the elimination of the many losses that would otherwise occur in unprotected nests and during that perilous journey from the nest to the sea.
The geology of Tunnel Beach is one area that still needs to be addressed. The cliffs that border the site on three sides look extremely interesting and the grossly distorted strata in some parts suggests a violent and painful birth. If there is anyone already in Cyprus, or anyone about to go there, who would like to be involved in this part of the Study, please contact the writer.
So, that is what lies beyond the Tunnel - well, some of it at least. A veritable Jurassic Park with lizards that really do look a bit like dinosaurs and a great deal more besides. What next? Well, the survey work will continue and every effort will be made to replace those 'specialists', who are so willingly giving up their own time to help with the Study, as and when their turn comes to be carried kicking and screaming to the airport. In particular, we need to find out more about the bats that have recently been seen flying in and out of the Tunnel itself.
The work done over the past three years has already resulted in the Tunnel Beach Study Area being included in the Sovereign Base Areas Administration's List of Sensitive Sites and it is hoped that, by the time of publication, the designation of this Site may have been further enhanced.
