Evening Light in the Meadows

On Thursday evening, with the in-laws baby-sitting, TBH and I managed to get out for a walk together. Not only that, but we were out a little earlier than I usually manage so that the sun was still shining when we set off from Jubilee Wood car park. TBH must have liked what she heard about my Monday walk because we were intent on reprising that route.

The sun was lighting the sorrel seeds to great effect:

Crossing the meadow this time I didn’t spend ages taking endless photos of grass seedheads, but I did stop to capture the silverweed…

Not much evidence of the yellow flowers here, but it’s the leaves which are really striking.

In the damp, and very shady, meadow by Haweswater the Irises were home to a number of very sluggish bumble bees and several snails:

We explored another small open area by the lakeside which has more bird’s-eye primroses…

…but which also looks as if it might be swallowed up by bracken. Whilst we were there a marsh harrier briefly appeared over the treetops. Too briefly, I’m afraid, for me to even attempt to get a photo.

Since we’d made an earlier start we had time to venture a little further into Gait Barrows and take a turn around one of the fields beyond Haweswater. We’d been in shade for a while, but this field was in full sunshine and how glorious it looked. Again the grasses had been allowed to grow and were dotted with a great variety of flowers. Huge amounts of yellow rattle have colonised. There were also many orchids. The photos I took of them only add to my confusion as again each plant’s flowers seem to very slightly in form.

It seems to me that this…

…could be heath spotted orchid. Whilst this is probably northern marsh orchid…

…almost looking purple despite my camera’s best efforts.

There were many more flowers though, some spread throughout the field, like the buttercups spilling over with sunlight…

Whereas others were more localised. A large patch of yellow, evident from quite some distance, turned out to be a colony of bird’s-foot trefoil…

Elsewhere there were oxeye daisies…

Our return journey was enlivened by an encounter with a roe deer, probably the same one that I saw on Monday. This time it was just beyond the edge of the wood and I thought that I might get a photo, but between the speed of the deer and the low light I failed. Next time!

We took a slightly different route back via Waterslack and Eaves Wood and in the process discovered a hole in the field, sadly fenced off with barbed wire (health and safety!) which seemed to be an old well, neatly lined with stones.