Cordial, Roses, Bees, Emperors, Galls and More.

September 27, 2023 beatingthebounds8 Comments

Two shortish local walks from a Sunday in mid-June. The first was only about a mile and a half, around the local lanes in search of elderflower, which I’d realised was coming to an end. I still managed to find plenty for TBH to produce our usual annual supply of cordial.

PXL_20230618_094827249 — *A White-tailed Bumblebee.*

Naturally, there were plenty of distractions between Elder shrubs, principally bees on the many wild roses and brambles flowering in the hedgerows.

PXL_20230618_095011644 — *Another White-tailed Bumblebee.*

I was amazed by the size of the pollen baskets on this bumblebee, her foraging expedition was clearly even more successful than mine.

PXL_20230618_095023236 — *Hedgerow Roses.*

PXL_20230618_095116006 — Hoverfly – possibly *Syrphus ribesii*. On Field Rose, I think.

There are several different species of wild rose in Britain, but I think the two most common are Field Rose and Dog Rose. I’ve never known how to distinguish between the two, but a bit of internet research suggests that the tall column in the centre of this flower makes it a Field Rose.

PXL_20230618_095431884 — *Common Carder Bee.*

Later, I was out again for a meander around Eaves Wood and Middlebarrow Wood and then on to Lambert’s Meadow. It was around five miles in total, and packed with interest.

PXL_20230618_100849938 — *Harlequin Ladybird larva.*

Another selfie – this ladybird larva hitched a lift on my wrist.

Eaves Wood and Middlebarrow Wood are really just the one woodland. The former is in Lancashire and the latter Cumbria; Eaves Wood is owned by the National Trust and the woods on the north side of Middlebarrow are owned, I think, by Holgates and by Dallam Tower Estate. But I don’t suppose the local flora and fauna notices the distinctions.

The glades and wider pathways in Middlebarrow Wood were dotted with Common Centuary. It’s usually pink, but many of the flowers I saw were almost white. I wonder if the long sunny spell had made them fade?

PXL_20230618_124051198 — *Common Centuary.*

Having waited years to get my first photo of an Emperor Dragonfly, I managed to photograph three in the woods on this Sunday. This is my favourite photo…

I’m fairly sure that this is a male. The female would have a thicker black line running down the abdomen. The green thorax, yellow costa (line along the top of each wing) and the brown wing-spots are characteristic of Emperors.

There seem to be several species of Soldier Fly with a shiny green thorax. I only got one photo – a clearer view of the abdomen might have helped with an identification, but not to worry, I’m always thrilled by shiny insects.

P1390066 — *Hoverfly – possibly Eristalis Tenax – Common Dronefly.*

I seem to have seen lots of Silver Y moths this summer. It’s a migratory moth which can arrive here in the summer in large numbers. Apparently, they do breed in the UK but can’t survive our winters. They seem to move almost constantly, which is why the edges of the wings are out of focus above. However, when they stop moving and fold their wings, they almost disappear…

PXL_20230618_113222000 — *One of my favourite bits of path on Middlebarrow.*

PXL_20230618_114421940 — *Common-spotted Orchid.*

Middlebarrow Wood has several areas of limestone pavement. Many of the trees growing from the clints and grykes looked parched, with papery, yellowing leaves. This tree, on the other hand, looked very healthy, but many of its leaves held large galls.

Galls can be caused by rusts, fungi, wasps, sawflies, aphids and quite possibly other things which I’ve forgotten about. Another fascinating phenomena which I know far too little about.

I thought that if I could identify the tree, then I might have more hope of identifying the gall.

The large, pointed and toothed leaves, along with the fissured grey bark, have led me to conclude that this might be Wych Elm.

PXL_20230618_115642598 — *The bark – Wych Elm?*

I didn’t manage to identify the galls, but if I’m right about this being Wych Elm then I suspect that the most likely occupant of the gall is an aphid.

P1390091 — *Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly.*

PXL_20230618_120820583 — *Limestone Pavement.*

PXL_20230618_121028816 — *Yew tree topiary.*

Roe Deer seem to be very fond of Yew and will keep small saplings neatly trimmed like this one.

PXL_20230618_121124187 — *Limestone Pavement.*

PXL_20230618_121807172 — Hoof Fungus, or Tinder Fungus, *Fomes fomentarius*.

Apparently, the flesh of Tinder Fungus burns slowly, making it good for lighting fires.

“This is one of the bracket fungi found among the possessions of Otzi the Iceman, a 5000 year old man whose body was preserved in a glacier in the Ötztal Alps on the border between Austria and Italy, where it was discovered by hikers in 1991. It seems likely that Otzi was carrying this material in order to light a fire at the close of a day whose end he did not live to see.”

Source

PXL_20230618_121926082 — *A Middlebarrow Oak.*

PXL_20230618_125130587.PANO — *A Middlebarrow pano – Humphrey Head, Hampsfell, Arnside Knott.*

PXL_20230618_125159320 — *Fireplace, on very dry ground.*

I’m obviously not the only person to admire the partial view from this spot in Middlebarrow Wood.

PXL_20230618_131223228 — *The Ring of Beeches in Eaves Wood.*

PXL_20230618_132916320 — *Cultivated Roses.*

On the Row, I was admiring roses again, but this time it was garden varieties.

This pink species is very popular in gardens on The Row and seemed to be flourishing everywhere.

PXL_20230618_134225154.PANO — *Lambert’s Meadow pano.*

P1390096 — *A Roe Deer in Lambert’s Meadow.*

PXL_20230618_160601817 — *A cheeky Roe Deer buck lunching right by our patio doors.*

Field Day

September 14, 2023 beatingthebounds10 Comments

Hagg Wood – Bottom’s Lane – Burtonwell Wood – Lambert’s Meadow – Bank Well – The Row – Gait Barrows – Hawes Water – Limestone Pavement – Hawes Water Summer House – Sixteen Buoys Field – Waterslack – Eaves Wood – Elmslack.

PXL_20230617_152158880 — *Common Spotted-orchid.*

Mid-June and a rambling route which criss-crossed itself several times, and which, despite being a mere seven miles, took me over five hours to walk, probably because of the constant distractions – I took almost five hundred photos, almost all of insects of one sort or another.

P1380646 — *Possibly an ichneumon wasp.*

It felt at times as if the creepy-crawlies were putting on a show for my benefit. Having said that, I’m not sure that I’ve become more observant, but I’ve certainly become more aware that insects can have a close relationship with particular plants and that it’s often worth pausing to take a closer look.

These Figwort Sawflies are a case in point. There were quite a few about at Lambert’s Meadow, always on or near to the Figworts which grow there and which is the food plant of the larvae of this species.

I thought they were pretty striking and their bold colours seem to have lent themselves to photography on what was quite a dull day when some of my photographs, particularly of damselflies and hoverflies, for example, didn’t come out too well.

There were a few mating pairs about.

What struck me about the mating pairs was the extent to which they were constantly on the move, twisting and turning, occasionally flying short distances, all whilst still coupled together.

This pair…

…circled around this Figwort leaf before briefly taking to the wing and hopping over to an adjacent Meadowsweet flower…

Then briefly touring that before heading back to the Figwort.

I’d been seeing photographs online of Figwort Weevils, tiny creatures (3mm long) which have a very striking grey pattern on them. Now that I was on the lookout, I realised that there were loads of them on our local Figworts. They’re a bit tiny for my camera…

I first encountered Scorpion Flies a few years ago, and I’m still always pleased to see them. There seemed to be plenty about on this day.

P1380704 — *Peacock butterfly caterpillar.*

There were far fewer Peacock caterpillars on the nettles by the Guelder Rose thicket. Whether they’d been eaten or had dispersed to pupate I don’t know. Perhaps a bit of both – I think this was the last time I saw them.

P1380714 — *Peacock butterfly caterpillar.*

P1380740 — *Peacock butterfly caterpillar.*

The Nursery Web Spider carries her eggs around in a silken sac before weaving a nest for her babies. Hopeful males woo females by presenting them with a wrapped body of captured prey.

PXL_20230617_123934201 — *Gait Barrows – fields by Hawes Water Moss.*

PXL_20230617_123900664 — *Small Skipper Butterfly.*

P1380781 — *Large Skipper Butterfly and an unidentified bee.*

P1380785 — *Soldier Beetle and Meadow Brown Butterfly.*

P1380791 — *Another unidentified insect.*

P1380813 — *Tephritis bardanae – a fruit fly whose larvae live in galls on Burdocks*

I passed several large Burdock plants which were generally very busy with Aphids and attendant Ants, and also with these tiny flies. Trying to identify these lead me down an interesting wormhole: there are numerous species of small fruit flies which have elaborate and often very pretty patterns on their wings. Fascinating.

P1380834 — *Common Carder Bee, I think.*

P1380860 — *Hoverfly, possibly Syrphus ribesii.*

P1380869 — *Ants on Burdock, farming Aphids.*

Close to Hawes Water there were two large Belladonna shrubs. They were up a bank behind lots of other vegetation and so, perhaps fortunately, rather inaccesable.

Needless to say, every part of the plant is extremely poisonous.

Years ago, bushes grew, for a couple of summers, by the River Kent between White Creek and New Barns, but I haven’t seen any since.

P1380925 — Fourteen Spot ladybird – *Propylea quattuordecimpunctata*.

I liked ‘quattordecimpunctata‘ which seems like much more of a name to conjure with than ‘fourteen spot’.

PXL_20230617_140641666 — *Angular Solomon’s-seal.*

P1380959 — *A Robber Fly with prey. Possibly an Awl Robber Fly.*

There always seem to be lots of tiny day-flying moths about. Usually, they’re briefly visible as they flit from one plant to another, then disappear as they land. This unfortunate moth was intercepted mid-flight however, but this small but ruthless predator.

P1390002 — *An Orb Weaver with a very large damselfly meal.*

PXL_20230617_155240271 — *Oedemera lurida again?*

PXL_20230617_161600147 — *Another Leafcutter Bee, I think.*

PXL_20230617_192910221 — *Live music on the Institute Field to round off the day.*

After a couple of years absence, the village Field Day was revived this summer. After years of helping to organise it, I’m no longer involved, but the new team seem to have done a superb job. In the evening, there was music on the field, with three singers, all of whom were very, very good – much better than you might expect at a village fete. All in all, a very enjoyable day.

Welcome to the Working Week

September 1, 2023 beatingthebounds6 Comments

Monday

PXL_20230612_180722388 — *River Kent, Hampsfell, Meathop Fell.*

Another week’s worth of evening strolls, from mid-June and a week when, unusually, I managed to get out every day, although most of the walks were quite short.
The exception was on the Monday evening: B and A, his girlfriend, wanted to walk her dog around the coast to Arnside. I drove his car to Arnside, so that they could drive back, and did the same walk in reverse.

PXL_20230612_180207166 — *River Kent, Hampsfell, Meathop Fell.*

It was a beautiful evening, warm and sunny. There were lots of other people out walking and a fair few swimming in the river. But there was what looked like a huge storm, roughly, I would guess, over the Coniston Fells, giving some dramatic skies.

PXL_20230612_181052688 — *Same view with small boat!*

PXL_20230612_181059077 — *Along the Kent to the viaduct.*

PXL_20230612_181618326 — *B, his GF and her dog C.*

I hadn’t walked all that far before I bumped into B and A, who had set-off much earlier.

PXL_20230612_182052538 — *Hampsfell and the Kent from near New Barns.*

PXL_20230612_184335605 — *Looking back from the cliff path.*

PXL_20230612_185015808 — *Six-spot Burnet Moth on Bell Heather.*

I was taking photos of the late evening light on the Bell Heather when this Six-spot Burnet Moth appeared, apparently from within the heather. I was slightly frustrated that I hadn’t brought my camera when I spotted what I think was a female Black-tailed Skimmer Dragonfly on a tree above the cliff-top path.

PXL_20230612_190151901 — *Lady’s Bedstraw.*

PXL_20230612_190422859 — *Bloody Crane’s-bill.*

PXL_20230612_190554624 — *Bloody Crane’s-bill seeds.*

I found an area on the cliffs which was covered with Bloody Crane’s-bill plants; it’s a shame I didn’t stumble across them when they were all flowering. The photo does show where the name ‘Crane’s-bill’ originates – with the shape of the long thin seeds. This is a geranium, Geranium sanguineum, and the genus’ name, geranium, also derives from the Greek word for crane.

Tuesday

How many times have I walked past this magnificent tree, and I’m still not sure which kind of Lime it is, but I’m beginning to think that it’s a Common Lime, a natural hybrid of Small-leaved and Large-leaved Limes.

PXL_20230613_193405558 — *Late, low sun.*

Wednesday

PXL_20230614_200127243 — *An evening glow on the village.*

Thursday

PXL_20230615_200626972 — *Another late walk.*

Friday

PXL_20230616_200949216 — *TBH at the Cove.*

PXL_20230616_200756620 — *A view from the Cove – Humphrey Head, Grange, Hampsfell, Park Point.*

The post’s title is stolen from an Elvis Costello song, whom I’ve been listening to a fair bit recently.

“Welcome to the working week,
Oh, I know it don’t thrill you, I hope it don’t kill you,
Welcome to the working week,
You got to do it till you’re through it so you better get to it.”

I’m back to work on Monday. Can’t wait.

Beating The Bounds

A Blog about walking, thinking about walking, reading about walking…….and maybe other stuff

Month: September 2023

Cordial, Roses, Bees, Emperors, Galls and More.

Field Day

Welcome to the Working Week