An October outing up two Wainwrights which I’ve never climbed before. Not sure how I’ve managed to avoid them. Anyway, my mistake: they were well worth a visit. In the photo above, you can see that there’s a lot of steep stuff on Eagle Crag and it’s not immediately obvious how you’ll get up there, but fortunately it’s all plain sailing; the path winds round to the left of the first knoll, Bleak How, and then finds a passage through the remaining complexities.
Fungi.
Having said that, after the initial easy plod along Stonethwaite Beck and then a boggy bit of field, I turned away from the valley path either too late or too early and then found myself fighting spiky, crumpled bracken uphill, but eventually managed to reach a sketchy path by the wall which then lead me around the craggy parts of Bleak How and on to the ridge.
Long Band on Coldbarrow Fell.
This stream, unnamed on the OS map, has carved quite an impressive looking amphitheatre below Long Band on the opposite fellside and I filed away the idea of having a gander there on a future walk.
My ascent route, approaching Eagle Crag..Knotts and Great Crag above Stonethwaite.
It was a fairly grey day, with occasionally the odd drop of moisture in the air and the apparent threat of rain, but none-the-less good walking weather.
A broad ramp.
The route follows a resourceful path which finds first a broad ramp with crags above and below, and then switches back up an easy-angled gully through what might have seemed impenetrable cliffs.
Looking down on Bleak How.Heron Crag and Langstrath.A steepish section.Looking to Sergeant’s Crag
On the last part of the ascent, the path loops drunkenly back and forth following broad ledges separated by short slabby crags. You could probably take a more direct route, but it’s pleasant walking so why bother?
Sergeant’s Crag and Langstrath.Sergeant’s Crag again.
Too many photos of Sergeant’s Crag? I liked the look of it!
The long Glaramara ridge.Looking north to Skiddaw.
On the top, the inevitable cup of tea, a video-call with my Mum and Dad, and a brief conversation with another walker. I saw surprisingly few that day.
Sergeant’s Crag.Again!Looking back to Eagle Crag.Eagle Crag again.Glaramara.
Not much more climbing to attain Sergeant’s Crag and then I took an off-piste route down towards Langstrath, aiming to avoid Bull Crag and Blea Crag and the crags around Lamper Knott. With hindsight, I’m not sure it’s a route I could recommend: there’s a lot of crags and even the grassy parts are liberally sprinkled with boulders and rocks. Still, I enjoyed it immensely.
An off piste descent.Approaching Langstrath Beck.
I wanted to come down this way so that I could have a peek at the renowned Black Moss Pot…
Blackmoss Pot.
There were quite a few wet-suited swimmers nearby, the ones who had just finished swimming advising and encouraging another group who had just arrived. I’ve never swum here myself and it’s on my wish-list, although not for a grey day towards the end of October!
Langstrath Beck.Stonethwaite.Map the first.Around six and a half miles – but there’s a lot packed into that short walk.
October half-term. On the Saturday I was in Lancaster for some reason. Whatever the reason, I crossed Carlisle bridge, which takes the railway lines over the Lune, but also has a footbridge attached. I like the view of Lancaster from there…
Lancaster from Carlisle Bridge.
On the Sunday, our old neighbour from when we lived on The Row, MM, was visiting his daughter and her family, who are now our neighbours (are you following?) We got chatting and he asked if I’d ever had a wander around Fell End Nature Reserve. Not only had I never visited, I didn’t even know it was there, which, given that it’s pretty close to home is a bit of a surprise.
MM offered to introduce me, drove us over there, lent me a pair of binos and gave me a guided tour. What a star!
Part of the herd of Fallow Deer at Fell End.
When we’d almost completed our circuit, we bumped into first one, then a second fungi expert, both of whom MM knew, and we set-off together for another turn around the reserve.
Honey fungus?
MM had been disappointed by the paucity of the fungi on display, but with a couple of knowledgeable tour guides, there was a fair bit to see after-all.
Hinge and Bracket fungus.
You’ll notice that I’ve pretty much given up on any attempt to identify the various brackets and toadstools. Fungi seem incredibly difficult to get to grips with.
Erm..slightly red looking fungus.
My favourites by far with the little cluster of Earthstars which MM and I had missed the first time around.
Tree-climbing social fungus.Manky pancake fungus.Yellow disco dot fungus.Teasel seeds sprouting from a teasel seedhead.
Anyway, it was a lovely way to spend a couple of hours and both another visit to the reserve and another walk with MM are long overdue.
Okay, the Shaggy Inkcap was not one of the acts from the Lancaster Music Festival. This photo is the sole representative from our habitual Sunday walk around Jenny Brown’s Point, the weekend before the festival. I neglected to mention that my previous post shaded me into last October. So I’m now officially nearly ‘only’ six months behind!
Mid-October brought the aforementioned Music Festival, one of the highlights of my year, and, as has recently become a tradition, a gaggle of visitors to share the fun with us.
Peloton at Kanteena.
I broke with my previous self-imposed rule about not going to gigs on a school night and went to the Kanteena on the Thursday night. Local band Peloton opened (a ska version of ‘Psycho-Killer’ anyone?) They’re marvellous and we saw them again, later in the weekend. Next up were a sort of Latin rock-band from New York (who’s name escapes me) followed by perennial festival favourites The Uptown Monotones, who are from Graz in Austria, but who seem to have made Lancaster their second home.
Uptown Monotones at Kanteena.
As you can see, it wasn’t exactly thronged; unlike the rest of the weekend, when just about every venue was heaving. I think the festival may, to a certain extent, be a victim of its own success.
Siqian Li at work
On the Friday evening, I didn’t even need to leave work to begin my musical excursion. Over the weekend, classical pianist Siquian Li was playing all of the best pianos in Lancaster. Apparently, the very best is the one in our main hall at work. I had a front row seat and it was spellbinding. So good, in fact, that I persuaded our group to start with her performance at the Storey Institute the next day. UF was the first of our visitors to arrive on the Friday evening and once we’d met up we went to see…other stuff? I can’t remember now! Maybe we finished the night with the Uptown Monotones again at the Storey? Or the Gregson? Or was that another year? Oh dear. I can’t really remember many of the bands I saw at Reading Festival either, but that was at least 30 years ago. I’m sure we enjoyed ourselves anyway.
On to Saturday…
Across the fields to the railway station.Away from the Numbers at Kanteena.Harri Larkin at Lancaster Castle. Excellent.Lancaster Castle.Uptown Monotones in Lancaster Priory.A view over Lancaster.
I do know that on the Saturday evening some of us took some time out from the music to watch Alfie Moore, of ‘It’s a Fair Cop’ fame at The Grand Theatre. Very good he was too. TBH and I had also recently seen Bridget Riley at the Grand (I think). And at some point we saw Daliso Chaponda rehearsing new material for a Radio 4 show in a smallish room above the Borough Pub in Lancaster. Both of them were hilarious. Neither of these were that weekend, but since I didn’t take photos at either event I now have now clear idea about when they happened!
Reggie Mental at Kanteena.
Reggie Mental are another local ska band with a nice line in off-the-wall covers, ‘Inbetween Days’ for example, although they mostly cover late seventies British ska bands’ songs. The Kanteena was absolutely rammed for their performance.
A date for your diaries: this year’s festival is the 10th to the 13th of October. I’ve no idea of the line-up, but no doubt lots of local favourites will be there and hopefully some of the acts which seem to travel every year to entertain us.
What with Harrop Tarn being my new favourite swimming spot, after my visit last June, I was keen to share it with my nearest and dearest, so when A asked about a potential swim when her boyfriend L was visiting, that was the first suggestion which sprang to mind. The small parking area at Stockhow Bridge was already jam-packed when we arrived, but we were lucky to find some roadside parking close to the junction of the currently closed road around the western side of Thirlmere and the main road.
Thirlmere Reservoir.Helvellyn.
It was a beautiful day, quite warm, so the views back across the reservoir to Helvellyn and its satellites gave me frequent welcome excuses to stop for a breather and take photos during the steepish ascent.
The rocky bowl which holds Harrop Tarn.A and L racing each other on the stepping stones.
There’s a bridge across Dob Gill near the outflow from Harrop Tran, but A insisted on a race across the stepping stones. And then again with a headstart. And again with a more generous headstart, but L is a triathlete and clearly very agile, and no amount of leeway was going to get our A across first.
L was ready and into the water before I’d even undone my laces. Then out again even faster. Apparently the water was cold. He wasn’t wrong. I guess triathletes are used to the luxury of a wetsuit. A is undeniably much hardier than I am: she and her friend S (the Tower Captain’s daughter for long-suffering readers) have instigated a new ‘tradition’ of going for an open water swim on S’s birthday. In March! This year that was in a stream up by Alston in the Pennines (it looked lovely, but A was a bit vague about the exact location). Last year it was in High Dam, with snow still sitting on the banks. Brrr. Never-the-less, on this occasion she took her time getting in and didn’t last much longer in the water than L had.
Harrop Tarnpano.
TBH took an absolute age acclimatising herself inch by squealing inch. By the time she was fully immersed I’d almost finished my first circuit of the tarn (like a lot of mammals adapted to cold water I have my own built in insulation). I could see that TBH intended to follow my lead, so I cut a corner and we swam a circuit together. Or almost together – like most people, TBH swims faster than I do.
Black Darter.
Not the most attractive dragonfly perhaps, but exciting for me because I’m not aware of having seen one of these before and I certainly haven’t photographed one.
Another stepping stone race. Only ever going to be one winner.Fly agaric?Elephant Hawkmoth Caterpillar.
The first time I saw, and photographed, one of these, was also on a walk with A. And her friend S and the Tower Captain come to that, way back in 2009. One of the photos I took then somehow ended up high on the list of results of an internet image search and for a few years that post would get heavy traffic every July and August when people were trying to work out what it was they’d seen clambering on their Fuschias.
My trusty steed in the small Gait Barrows car park.
In brief, I cycled roughly three kilometres to the small car park at Gait Barrows National Nature Reserve, then had a very slow wander, of roughly three kilometres, then pedalled home again.
Limestone pavement.
Since there’s not much more to say about this particular outing, a word about the tentative IDs. Although I’m still surrounded by field guides when I’m blogging (and am eagerly awaiting the release of the 4th edition of a UK hoverflies guide), much of my research these days is carried out online.
Hoverfly – possibly Syrphus ribesii.
Google Lens often gives me a good start point. Sometimes it seems fully confident and offers me numerous images of the same species along with a related search. At other times, frankly, it might as well throw up it’s notional hands and admit that it hasn’t got a scoobie – showing images of several different species, sometimes of a kind which aren’t even related.
To be fair, according to the National History Museum website, there are over 7000 species of wasp resident in the UK. A little confusion might be expected.
A Mining Bee?
Even in the case of hoverflies, where there are a relatively modest number of species (around 280 apparently), making an ID can be very difficult. For example, I’ve identified a couple of the hoverflies in this post as Syrphus ribesii, but apparently the species Syrphus vitripennis is almost identical, barring some very subtle differences.
Hoverfly – Helophilus trivittatus, I think.
This information comes from the excellent Nature Spot website. Nature Spot is about the wildlife of Leicestershire and Rutland, coincidentally where I grew up, but is often relevant to my more northerly current locale. If I could find something as comprehensive specific to Lancashire and Cumbria I would be thrilled.
Hoverfly, Eristalis tenax, the Common Drone Fly.
So, all of my identifications should be taken with an enormous pinch of salt. I’m well aware that I’m often going to be wrong, or simply clueless, but I’m learning all the time and I enjoy the detective work, even when it might lead to questionable conclusions.
Dragonfly – Common Darter.Dragonfly – Common Darter.Robber Fly?
According to this detailed presentation, the UK only has 29 species of Robber Fly, so maybe that’s an area in which I could make some progress? To be honest, at the moment I’m content to leave it at ‘Robber Fly’. Last summer, I watched one of these intercept and kill a micromoth; they are awesome predators.
Robber Fly?Dragonfly – Migrant Hawker.Green Shieldbug.Dragonfly – Migrant Hawker.Dragonfly – Migrant Hawker.A wasp, or a sawfly?Green Shield Bugs – an adult on the right and an earlier (final?) instar on the left.Dragonfly – Common Darter.Dragonfly – Migrant Hawker.Another wasp or sawfly – I’m inclined to think wasp, due to the narrow connection between the thorax and the abdomen.Hoverfly – Melangyna umbellatarum
Many hoverflies are mostly black and yellow, but I do often see these small black and white hoverflies. I’m less successful and capturing them in photos though, so was happy to get this one.
A 14-spot Ladybird and a Drone Fly.Hoverfly – Helophilus pendulus.Butterfly – Red Admiral.Another Green Shieldbug.Common Carder Bee on Knapweed.A Crane Fly.Shieldbug – Troilus luridus, the Bronze Shieldbug.Robber Fly.Hoverfly – Eristalis Pertinax – The Tapered Drone Fly.Butterfly – Speckled Wood.Butterfly – Speckled Wood.Hoverfly – Helophilus pendulus.Eyebright.Late summer fungus.Butterfly – Red Admiral.Butterfly – Red Admiral.Hoverfly – Syrphus ribesii, potentially.Dark Red Helleborine leaves – no flowers, something had been munching on the plant.Dragonfly, Common Darter.Sedum.Butterfly, Speckled Wood.
Whilst these photos are all from the tail end of last summer, I’m happy to report that on Tuesday afternoon, the rain paused briefly in its recent onslaughts, and I was back at Gait Barrows, in glorious spring sunshine snapping photos of shieldbugs, butterflies and particularly abundant hoverflies. Marvellous.
B and I had been discussing various plans for a night or two away somewhere, but dodgy weather and the fact that B was quite busy between work and social commitments had prevented that so far. However, the forecast looked half reasonable, and B could spare me an afternoon and the following morning, so we hastily packed (fortunately my gear had dried out in the day since my wash-out walk from Austwick) and set-out for Patterdale. We parked at Cow Bridge, just north of Brothers Water. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the car park wasn’t full, especially given that it’s free.
Fungi in Deepdale Park.
We used the permission path beside the road through Low Wood. The map shows a much more direct route through the woods on to the Hartsop above How ridge, but I would have been much happier to take the less steep route even if I hadn’t been carrying camping gear. Actually, B had volunteered to carry the tent, so although I had the food, pans and stoves, my pack wasn’t as heavy as it might have been.
Fungi. Possibly Amanita rubescens?Gavel Pike.
Gavel Pike looks very dramatic from this direction, which is a bit misleading, but it’s a Birkett which is well worth taking a detour to visit when climbing St Sunday Crag.
Arnison Crag and Place Fell either side of Patterdale.Arnison Crag, Great Mell Fell, Place Fell, and Angle Tarn Pikes from Gale Crag or thereabouts.“So, where are we going to camp?”
The long ridge over Hartsop above How is a lovely walk. It gave us lots of opportunity to look ahead to the various potential campsites I’d identified. I let B make the decision and he was most taken with the idea of dropping down into Link Cove, the craggy corrie below Hart Crag and Scrubby Crag. Although I left the choice to B, that was my preferred option too. I’ve visited Link Cove a couple of times before, ascending in to it on the way up Fairfield from Deepdale, with Andy and Uncle Fester years ago and I’d been wanting to return.
B admiring Dove Crag, Hart Crag and Fairfield. Before succumbing to ‘ant attack’.
There were a lot of flying ants about. We’d decided to stop here for a drink and a snack, but this little knoll seemed to be a particular focus of their attention and we were quickly overwhelmed and decided to move on.
Link Cove dead ahead.Link Cove.
There’s no path into Link Cove. We took a line which angled down below the darkly shadowed crag on the left of the photo above, then climbed again onto the small ridge in the middle of the cwm. This was rough going, but I love getting off-piste into dramatic scenery like this.
Tent pitched.
It was hard to find any level, dry ground to pitch the tent on. This spot was probably more level than it looks in the photo, but it wasn’t as dry as we might have liked. Then again, after the weather we’d had, it was always going to be hard to find a spot which wasn’t soggy.
Camp in Link Cove.Looking down Deepdale.
Once we were pitched and organised, we left our gear and set-off unencumbered for a circuit of Link Cove. I thought the map suggested that The Step would give a good ascent route and that proved to be the case.
The High Street range from ‘The Step’. Looking across Link Cove to Hart Crag. Our tent is to the right of that short rocky ridge in the cove.St. Sunday Crag.Looking down Deepdale. Hartsop above How ridge on the right.Black Tippet and the northern buttresses of Fairfield. Cofa Pike on the right.
You can’t beat this sort of exploration – we had great views into Link Cove, then suddenly we hit the far side of the ridge and found terrific views of the northern steeps of Fairfield. From Scrubby Crag we decided that a detour to take in the summit of Fairfield was called for.
Dollywaggon Pike, Nethermost Pike, Helvellyn and Striding Edge.Cofa Pike and St. Sunday Crag.
The skies to the east were looking increasingly grey and it was clearly raining not too far away. It would surely be only a matter of time before we got our own shower.
Looking west. Scafells, Gable, Dale Head, Maiden Moor, Northwestern Fells.Rainbow Weather.Looking down Rydal. Great Rigg and Heron Pike on the right. Windermere, Coniston Water and Morecambe Bay in the distance.Link Cove, Deepdale, Hartsop above How. Sunshine and showers.
I thought we could descend, with care, the gully to the south of Scrubby Crag, but B took one look at it and clearly doubted my sanity, so we climbed Hart Crag instead, descended the ridge towards Hartsop above How and then repeated our route down into the cove and back up to our tent.
St Sunday Crag.Descending towards our camp.
Of course, eventually it began to rain and didn’t stop for quite some time, even though the sun was still shining too…
Dove Crag.
We thought we could pick out the path to the cave on Dove Crag which is meant to be a good bivvy spot.
A Link Cove frog.
We were using the tent which we’ve borrowed (seemingly indefinitely) from Andy. It’s not the lightest, but it’s amazingly spacious and the huge porch was superb in the wet – perfect for me to sit in and cook our evening meal (filled pasta, pesto, dried fruit and custard, very satisfying).
Second Day
A breakfast view of Scrubby Crag.
This early morning photo might be a bit misleading. Once again, we seemed to be on the divide as far as the weather was concerned. To the west, all was blue sky and sunshine; to the east, low cloud. And although the wind was, I was sure, blowing from the west, the cloud was sweeping up Deepdale towards us. Still, we at least had sunshine whilst we breakfasted and packed up.
A Crab Spider. Xysticusspecies. I think.Ascending The Step again, with atmospheric clouds.
We wanted to regain the main ridge, and could choose to retrace either our ascent or our descent routes of the previous evening. Despite its initial steepness, we agreed that The Step was much the easier going of the two. With the cloud sweeping in across the crags, it was atmospheric too.
Hart Crag.The ‘view’ to the East.And to the West. Coniston and Langdale Fells. Heron Pike and Great Rigg in the foreground.Looking South from Dove Crag. Windermere, Coniston Water and Coniston Fells.
As you can see from the photos, the weather was really odd, but it gradually improved as we wandered over Dove Crag and then Little Hart Crag and finally along another delightful ridge to High Hartsop Dodd.
Middle Dodd, Little Hart Crag and Red Screes.Looking down Scandale. Scandale Tarn in the foreground.
I have several spots in the area earmarked as potential wild-camping locations. Scandale tarn is one of them.
Middle Dodd and Red Screes.The complex terrain at the head of Dovedale.B descending towards Brothers Water.Looking down on the Romano British enclosed stone hut circle.
I’ve waffled on before about this amazing archeological site. Historic England has a thorough physical description, but doesn’t supply much detail about who lived here and how they might have lived.
Another view of the settlement. The knoll on the right is the site of the oval cairn.A final rest stop.Looking up Dovedale.
This was effectively a day’s walk divided in two, which I think is probably a good way to plan an overnighter. We both enjoyed it immensely and were both keen to go again. B also wanted to borrow some gear and take some of his friends wild-camping, but then he got a job pitching and packing-up much bigger tents (marquees) and his availability became severely restricted. Who knows, maybe next summer we’ll get a mutually convenient spell of settled weather and manage to fit some more trips in?
Elmslack Lane – Castlebarrow – Eaves Wood – Hawes Water – Moss Lane – Trowbarrow Quarry – The Trough – Storrs Lane – Myer’s Allotment – The Row – Hagg Wood.
Flowering Nutmeg.
The light and shadow in this picture suggest sunshine, but this was taken late afternoon, after another day of mixed weather.
The Dale from by the Pepper Pot on Castlebarrow.
I was doing what I generally doing in those circumstances: making the most of a break in the weather, without straying too far from home in case it turned wet again.
Fungi in Eaves Wood.Fungi in Eaves Wood, possibly Amanita rubescens.Ruin in Eaves Wood.Hawes Water.The Old Summerhouse by Hawes Water.
I took lots of pictures of insects during the walk. Once again, I was only using my phone camera, I don’t remember why. In the poor light, the depth of field was low and I have a lot of sharp photos of flowers with blurred bees resting on them. Until I reached this Burdock plant near Hawes Water anyway.
Burdock.
I love Burdock for its great vigour and it’s punky purple flowers, but this one was thronged with pollinators, making it even more to my liking.
Busy Burdock.
It was the ginger bee here which I first tried to photograph, but, for some reason, none of the shots were sharp again.
Burdock fly and one or other species of White-tailed Bumblebee.Marmalade Hoverfly and White-tailed Bumblebee. Marmalade Hoverfly.White-tailed Bumblebee.Burdock Fly – Terellia tussilaginis.
The nymphs of these tiny, colourful flies live in galls on Burdock plants.
Path by Hawes Water.Hemp Agrimony.Deadly Nightshade bush.
Zooming in on this photo reveals that the belladonnas flowers have now been superseded by the highly poisonous shiny black berries.
Hawes Water.Gloucester Old Spot pigs at Hawes Villa.Meadow Vetchling.14 Spot Ladybird – Propylea quattuordecimpunctata.Broad-leaved Helleborines.
At this time of year I always try to fit in a visit to this spot on the track which leads into Trowbarrow Quarry where there are always a few flowering Broad-leaved Helleborines.
I kind of orchid, the flowers have muted colours, but I’m always pleased to see them.
Tree Bumblebee.Large Rose Sawfly.Trowbarrow Quarry.Carabiner Gate.The Trough.Narrow-leaved Hogweed.
This Hogweed, growing on the verge almost opposite the Leighton Moss visitor centre, seemed a little odd to me. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, but wondered whether it was Giant Hogweed. It’s actually all wrong for that, but I now thinks it’s from a sub-species, Narrow-leaved Hogweed.
Dark-winged Fungus Gnats.
I was intrigued to read that the outer flowers in a spray of Hogweed blooms are zygomorphic, but have discovered that it just means, rather prosaically, that they have only one axis of bilateral symmetry. I think that might make me almost zygomorphic myself.
Narrow-leaved Hogweed.Narrow-leaved Hogweed. The narrow leaves. Tufted Vetch.Robin’s Pincushion Gall. Bistort. Common Carder Bee.Agrimony.Leighton Moss from Myer’s Allotment.Red-tailed Bumblebee.Parasol Mushrooms.
These mushrooms, growing in a group of perhaps a dozen in one of the clearings at Myer’s Allotment, qualify as the best find of the day.
Parasol Mushroomcap.
They were huge. At least a foot tall and almost as wide.
Parasol Mushrooms – notice the snakeskin stem.
Apparently they’re really good to eat, but I didn’t know that at the time, and anyway I’m a bit suspicious of large mushrooms – I’ve been unpleasantly surprised before.
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.
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.
Another White-tailed Bumblebee.And another.
I was amazed by the size of the pollen baskets on this bumblebee, her foraging expedition was clearly even more successful than mine.
Hedgerow Roses.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.
Common Carder Bee.Dog Rose.
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.
Common Blue Damselfly.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.
Common Centuary.
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?
Common Centuary.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…
Emperor Dragonfly.
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.
Soldier Fly.
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.
Hoverfly – possibly Eristalis Tenax – Common Dronefly. Silver Y Moth.
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…
Silver Y Moth.Large Skipper Butterfly.Possibly a Flea Beetle.One of my favourite bits of path on Middlebarrow.Common-spotted Orchid.A Gall.
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.
And another.
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.
Wych Elm?
The large, pointed and toothed leaves, along with the fissured grey bark, have led me to conclude that this might be Wych Elm.
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.
Wild Privet.Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly.Limestone Pavement.Cotoneaster.Yew tree topiary.
Roe Deer seem to be very fond of Yew and will keep small saplings neatly trimmed like this one.
Limestone Pavement.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.”
The last Saturday in May, which is to say the first Saturday of our Whit week half-term. With the sun shining, I decided to make my way back to Trowbarrow Quarry to have another gander at the Fly Orchids in better light.
Clark’s Lot. Or Sharp’s Lot.
At the right time of year, damselflies are plentiful and seemingly everywhere. Walking up towards Trowbarrow from Storrs Lane, it was very warm amongst the trees and they seemed to be particularly abundant. Naturally, I took no-end of photos.
Common Blue Damselfly, female, green form.Large Red Damselfly, female.Blue-tailed Damselfly, female.Common Blue Damselfly, male.Germander Speedwell.Common Blue Damselfly, male. Azure Damselfly, male.Andrena species – a mining bee.Fly Orchid.Fly Orchid.Common Damselflies, mating pair.Common Damselflies, mating pair.Fly Orchid.
Nevermind the fact that this flower is supposedly impersonating a wasp, to me the middle flower looks like some sort of demonic Star Wars character, a horned, loon-eyed, dark-cloaked member of the Sith order.
Dog Rose.Bird’s-foot Trefoil.Northern Marsh-orchid.Trowbarrow Quarry.Dryad’s Saddle.
I think this may have been the day when, as I walked home along Park Road, past Silver Sapling, the Girl Guide camp-site, a Stoat popped its head up from a woodpile just on the other side of the wall and stared at me. I wasn’t quick enough to get a photo, but it was a marvellous, close encounter. I say, Stoat, because I think that’s what it was, but it could have been a Weasel – I didn’t see the tail to see if it had the Stoat’s distinguishing black tip.
Later, TBH and I walked around the coast to Arnside for a chippy tea on the promenade.
Round the coast to Arnside.Sea Campion.Allium Unifolium, One-leaved Onion, American Garlic.
As we approached Arnside, we were both very struck by three large and very striking clumps of Thrift. With hindsight, whilst it’s exactly the right pale pink for Thrift, the right height, flowering in the right sort of spot, at the right season, I don’t think it is Thrift after all. The flowers strike me as being the wrong shape, with slightly too pointy petals, and Thrift has fine, ‘needle like’ leaves, whereas these look much thicker. Google Lens suggests that this is Allium Unifolium, One-leaved Onion, also known as American Garlic. As the name suggests, it’s not native, being native to the coasts of California and Oregon and must, I suppose, have escaped from a garden somewhere. Always something new to see!
Emesgate Lane – Stankelt Road – The Green – Burtonwell Wood – Lambert’s Meadow – The Row – Hawes Water – Gait Barrows – Coldwell Meadow – Back Wood – Coldwell Limeworks – Silverdale Moss – Challan Hall Allotment – Hawes Water – Waterslack – Eaves Wood.
Bugle.
In the meadows around the campsite we’ve visited in the Dordogne, it isn’t only the diversity of the wildlife I enjoyed, it’s the sheer abundance. Everywhere you turn there seems to be something new to see, or probably three or four new things. Every tardy step sends a shower of grasshoppers in all directions. A single flower can be crowded with butterflies, hoverflies and shield bugs. I tend to think that, even in the woods and wet meadows and nature reserves around home, whilst we’re fortunate in that there is usually lots to see, we lack that profusion, a bit more searching is required.
Water Avens.
Lambert’s Meadow was doing its best to contradict that assumption on this dull Saturday in early May. Everywhere I looked there were wildflowers in a myriad different forms and colours.
Marsh Valerian.
Actually, the most notable flowers, by number alone, were the Ribwort Plantains, which aren’t featured here, since my photographs weren’t very satisfactory.
White-lipped Banded Snails.
There were lots of Banded Snails in evidence; I wondered whether they were mating?
White-lipped Banded Snails.
I walked my usual slow plod along the eastern edge of the field, not seeing, snails aside, the butterflies and dragonflies I’d hoped for. The Guelder Rose were almost in flower, the Figworts strong stems were still relatively short, but looking promising for the weeks ahead. It was only when I decided to sit for a moment on the end of the bridge which takes the footpath across the small ditch which crosses the meadow, that I realised that the central part of the meadow was thronged with Orange-tip Butterflies.
Lambert’s Meadow.Cuckoo Flower
Cuckoo Flower is the food-plant of Orange-tip caterpillars and Lambert’s Meadow has plenty of it.
Orange-tip Butterfly, male.
The butterflies were in constant motion, so it was hard to get photos, but I was happy to enjoy the feeling of being in a field full of butterflies again.
Bee-fly on Cuckoo Flower.
Satisfying too, whilst pursuing the Orange-tips, to notice a Bee-fly sampling Cuckoo Flower nectar rather than their usual fare of Primroses.
Marsh Marigolds.Meadow Foxtail?Toothwort.
I haven’t spotted anything like as much Toothwort this spring as I usually do, so was doubly pleased to spot this single stem flowering on the path corner near Hawes Water where I had thought the clearance of some Hazel shrubs had killed off the Toothwort.
I went looking for the Angular Solomon’s Seal and was pleased to find it sprouting in several grikes on the pavements, although it was too early to find it flowering.
Sycamore leaves and catkin.
I was also hoping, I suppose, that I might see a Duke of Burgundy butterfly again, although I wasn’t massively optimistic after so many years of unsuccessful visits.
So this was a pleasant surprise…
Duke of Burgundy Butterfly.
My best guess is that this is a female.
“The females are elusive and spend much of their time resting or flying low to the ground looking for suitable egg-laying sites.”
Duke of Burgundy again.Sarcophaga carnaria?Eudasyphora cyanella.Hoverfly – Helophilus pendulus. Male.Speckled Wood Butterfly.Barren Strawberry.Maidenhair SpleenwortHerb Paris.Cowslips.Creep-i-the-call waterfall. A bit obscured by vegetation.Water Avens.Coldwell Limeworks.Middlebarrow and Arnside Knott across Silverdale Moss.The Cloven Ash.King Alfred’s Cakes on the Cloven Ash.Fomes fomentarius. Possibly.
There’s a newish bench by the fallen remnants of the Cloven Ash, with views across Silverdale Moss, and I stopped there for a drink. On brambles growing around the dead tree I spotted a Cardinal Beetle. The battery in my camera was dead, so I had to rely on my phone.
I was quite pleased with the results. Cardinal Beetles live under the bark of living or dead trees as do their larvae, so it was probably no coincidence that I saw this beetle so close to the Cloven Ash.
Pendulous Sedge.Ramsons.
Later, after a late lunch, and with a recharged camera battery, I was out again for a short turn by the Cove and across The Lots.
The Cove.
There was only really one reason I’d come this way….
Orchids on The Lots!
…more abundance. I’m sure I’ve seen figures for this year, but I can’t seem to find them online, however, I did find a quote of over five thousand Early Purple Orchids and more than eleven thousand Green-winged Orchids for 2022.
Of the two fields, only the northern one has orchids, and on the steep bank at the northern end of that field, where the orchids all seemed to be Green-winged, I was chuffed to find a great deal of Kidney Vetch too.
Whilst I was crawling around taking photos at the other end of the field a chap asked me if I could distinguish between the two orchids. I can, but I made an absolute hash of explaining how.
Early Purple Orchid.
The Early Purples have been flowering longer, are generally taller, don’t have the fine green stripes on the flowers or the prominent spots, which are on the leaves instead.
Green-winged Orchid.
I tend to think that the Green-winged Orchids are more often found in unusual colours: pinks and whites, but this spring there were a number of white Early Purples too.
Early Purple Orchid – white form?
The following day I was out further afield, doing a longer walk in unfamiliar terrain and with even more satisfying results.
Beating The Bounds 