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.
My behaviour towards the end of our summer break was far from migratory; I almost exclusively stuck to my home patch. I must admit, I sometimes look back at my photos, or at MapMyWalk, and wonder why I didn’t go further afield; why not get out and climb some fells? Partly, it’s laziness and the fact that I don’t need to drive anywhere, but also, this summer gone at least, it was often weather related: the blue skies in these photos are almost certainly deceptive. This walk only began mid-afternoon and I can tell you I wasn’t sunbathing in the garden before I set-off. I know this because I didn’t sunbathe in the garden at all last August – the weather just wasn’t up to it.
Swallows – gathering to gossip about the long flight to come?
So, not a long walk, distance wise at least; not much over six miles, although that did take me four and a half hours. Lots of stopping and gawking, often, I’ve since realised, at creatures, like these swallows, which don’t live here all-year-round, and which are much more ready to travel beyond their home patch than I am.
Common Darter.
I went first to Lambert’s Meadow and back to the lush strip of Great Willowherb which grows along one margin of the meadow, hoping to find Migrant Hawkers there. The air above the field was very busy with dragonflies, but at first I didn’t spot any at rest. But then, on a Willow Tree, I spotted one. Then two. And eventually six, all in close proximity to each other. There were still more on nearby Guelder Rose bushes. Even though they are very colourfully marked, the stripes and mottling are surprisingly good disguise when they’re perched amongst foliage.
A couple of Migrant Hawkers.
I’ve since read that this social behaviour is peculiar to Migrant Hawkers; dragonflies are generally solitary, territorial and aggressive. Migrant Hawkers, however, have an unusual life-cycle; perhaps because in the southern end of their range they live in Algeria, where the pools where they breed can dry-out, their larval stage, typically at least two years for most dragonflies, is much shorter. On the other hand, they have an unusually long adult life and because they aren’t breeding for all of their adult life, the competitiveness which usually characterises dragonfly behaviour is not present.
Migrant Hawker, male.
They are also much more likely than other species to travel considerable distances in search of likely breeding territory, hence the name ‘Migrant’, although I think that also relates to the fact that weren’t a resident British species until relatively recently.
Migrant Hawker, male.Migrant Hawker. Male?
‘Britain’s Dragonflies’ is pretty clear that female Migrant Hawkers are predominantly brown with yellow markings. I saw several specimens which were definitely mostly brown, but with blue markings, like this one. So I’m a bit confused as to whether this is a male or a female.
Two Migrant Hawkers.Hoverfly – possibly Eristalis arbustorum, on an Ox-eye Daisy.Garden Snail.
From Lambert’s Meadow, I headed to Gait Barrows for a walk around Hawes Water and up on to the limestone pavement.
A mass of Common Knapweed in one of the Meadows by Hawes Water Moss.Hawthorns covered in berries.Ragwort and Hawes Water.Hoverfly – Helophilus pendulus, The Footballer.Deadly Nightshade, Atropa belladonna.
The two Deadly Nightshade shrubs growing beneath the low limestone crags close to Hawes Water, which I’d noticed when they were flowering earlier in the year, were now liberally festooned with berries. Apparently they are sweet to taste, which seems like a waste since, like all parts of the plant, they are hallucinogenic in small doses and highly toxic in even moderate amounts.
Deadly Nightshade berries.
In Greek mythology the three fates are Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. Clotho spins the thread of life, Lachesis measures it, and Atropos cuts it. In other words, Atropos personifies death itself, hence Atropa in the Latin name of this plant. Meanwhile, Belladonna, ‘beautiful lady’ comes from the practice by women of using some part of the plant to dilate their pupils.
Apparently, the plant is considered to be native only in the south of England and plants found further north are the remnant of plants grown in the past for medicinal purposes, which, perhaps surprisingly, given its toxicity, were legion. So: another migrant.
Hoverfly on Common Fleabane.
I think this is also Eristalis arbustorum; Eristalis species are the Drone Flies. Other photos show that this one has a pale face which is why I think it’s arbustorum. In honesty, I was more interested in the Fleabane which is not, despite its name, all that common in this area.
Wasps flit back and forth from a small hole in the ground.
Not the best photo, I know, but the best of the many I took. It had to be included to remind me of the happy moments when I watched, fascinated, as wasps ferried in and out. At the time I assumed that there was a nest in the hole. I suppose another explanation is that there was some abundant food source in there that they were exploiting.
A patch of yellow flowers in one of the Gait Barrow meadows.Bird’s-foot Trefoil.Migrant Hawker, female.
Just below the extensive area of limestone pavement at Gait Barrows a large Blackthorn, which had grown out to be a small tree, proved to be another resting spot for a group of Migrant Hawkers.
This looks, to my untutored eye, very like a Rufous Grasshopper. It probably isn’t. My field guide shows the distribution of that species being solely along, or close to, the south coast. However, I looked up a more recent distribution map, and whilst they are largely restricted to the south of England, there have been verified sightings near Doncaster. Admittedly, that’s still a long way from here, but, on the other hand, they do like calcareous grassland, so this is the right kind of habitat. Maybe they’re migrating north too?
Wishful thinking aside, whilst trying to research whether or not it would be possible to find Rufous Grasshoppers in this area, I came across an old annual newsletter of the North Lancashire Naturalists Group. I’ve only read the Orthoptera section so far, but now I know where and when to look for Dark Bush Crickets locally, which might not excite everyone I realise, but is obviously right up my street. I also came across some familiar names of friends from the village who are members (and, in one case, Chair) of the group and are involved in recording. Why haven’t I joined myself? No doubt they would tell me what kind of grasshopper I have here.
At the point which I think of as the ‘top’ of the limestone pavement, where there’s a substantial memorial cairn, there’s a small set of steps with a rustic wooden handrail. As I climbed the three steps something seemed to fly away from the handrail.
‘That’s an unusual bird,’ I was thinking.
It seemed to land nearby, on or close to some bracken…
Can you see it?
I couldn’t. Or rather, I could, but it was so still and so well disguised, I thought I was looking at the end of a dried branch or twig. Fortunately, I decided to investigate.
Convolvulus Hawk-moth.
It was a Convolvulus Hawk-moth. I think this is probably the biggest moth I’ve ever seen; I’ve read that they can have a five inch wing-span. Their daytime defence strategy is to keep very still and hope not to be noticed. This one let me crawl right up to the bracken frond it was hanging beneath.
Convolvulus Hawk-moth.
This moth is native to North Africa and Southern Europe. It can’t generally overwinter in the UK, so this was a true migrant. The large, colourful, horned caterpillars live on Convolvulus – Bindweed. There’s plenty of that in our garden, but it dies back every winter, which I think is why the caterpillars can’t survive here. I’m not sure the photos do it justice: it was breathtaking.
Fortunately, nobody happened by whilst I was spread-eagled on the ground trying to find the best vantage points for photos.
Angle Shades Moth.
One final surprise for the day, on a leaf of a small Hazel sapling, an Angle Shades Moth. I knew that it was an Angle Shades, even though I don’t think I’ve seen one before. It’s bizarre that obscure facts like that stick with me, but that I can’t remember useful things like people’s names.
Angle Shades Moth.Angle Shades Moth.Another Common Darter.
If every local walk were as packed with interest as this one, I might never both going anywhere else!
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.
Another portmanteau post to catch-up on several walks, rounding off our Easter break. The walks, over several days were: an early morning Arnside Knott walk, an evening stroll across the Lots and to The Cove, a slightly extended Jenny Brown’s Point circuit, starting through Eaves wood, and a couple of walks in the Gait Barrows and Hawes Water area.
Magpie.
It seemed to take an age this year for the Blackthorn blossom to appear, and then, when it did finally arrive, it didn’t last very long, or at least, that’s how it felt to me.
Wren.
I hear and see Wrens a lot when I’m out and about, but rarely get a chance to photograph them – unless they’re feeling particularly territorial and pick a perch to stake a claim…
Singing Wren.Female Chaffinch.Warbler – possibly a Chiff-chaff?
I’m guilty of assuming that any warbler I see is a Chiff-chaff, although in the woods you can hear them almost all the time in spring and early summer so it may not be that daft an assumption.
Arnside Knott pano – extremely hazy.Cloudy evening at The Cove.Walkers on Quaker’s Stang – Clougha Pike beyond.Godwits?
Not a great photo, I know, but I’ve seen many photos online this year of Godwits at Leighton Moss and the colour of these birds makes me think that these might be some of those. It’s here to remind me, next year, that I need to get down to the hides to see them properly for myself.
Early Bluebells by Jenny Brown’s Point.Humphrey Head and Grange across the Bay.The Wolf House.Rabbit.Blackcap.The refurbished Summer House by Hawes Water.The beck between Little Hawes Water and Hawes Water.Very busy with small fish on this occasion.Lots of Blackthorn in the hedge, but just one bush flowering.Blackthorn flowers and a hoverfly, possibly a Drone Fly.Another Drone Fly?
As well as being liberally festooned with flowers, this Blackthorn was attracting a host of insects. I spent quite a while snapping away, capturing as many as I could, thinking I was probably getting a variety of bees and hoverflies, only to find that the photos all seem to show the same species of hoverfly. Not to worry – it kept me happy for a while anyway.
Robin.Willow Catkins.Footpath through Gait Barrows.
The verges of this track through Gait Barrows had a fabulous display of Primroses. I’ve been thinking that this was a vindication of the management plans of the current warden of the reserve, but then I realised that Primroses and Cowslips, both food plants of the rare Duke of Burgundy butterfly, have been planted out around the reserve. Anyway, however they get there, I really appreciate them when they’re flowering.
I’m not the only one. Dark-edged Bee-flies are very fond of them too. I did see them on other flowers this spring, but most of the time, they’re on, or close too Primroses.
A Bee and a Violet.Catkins, proving to be a bit of a puzzle – maybe Hornbeam?Warbler – Chiff-chaff?
I got very excited about the possibility that these warblers weren’t Chiff-chaffs, because they weren’t chiff-chaffing, but then I discovered that Chiff-chaffs also have contact calls, and so now I’m not so sure.
Warbler – Chiff-chaff?Robin.Blue Tit.
I don’t know whether this is a male or a female, since Im getting by on human colour perception…
The blue tit (Parus caeruleus) has been classified as sexually monochromatic. This classification is based on human colour perception yet, unlike humans, most birds have four spectrally distinct classes of cone and are visually sensitive to wavelengths in the near–ultraviolet (300 to 400 nm). Reflectance spectrophotometry reveals that blue tit plumage shows considerable reflection of UV light. For example, the blue crest shows peak reflectance at wavelengths around 352 nm. Furthermore, the blue tit is sexually dichromatic for multiple regions of plumage, including the crest. Choice trials performed in the laboratory indicate that females prefer males with the brightest crests. This study has implications for both intra– and interspecific studies of sexual selection, as well as future classification of dichromatism, which should not ignore the possibility of variation in reflectance in the UV.
If this is a male, I hope, for his sake, that he has a really bright crest.
Tiny waterfall on Leighton Beck.Fields by Black Dike.
These fields had until recently been flooded. It looked as though the dike been dredged. It was a pleasant surprise to find that I could walk home this way, especially since I’d walked past this path only a few days before…
Small bridge, very recently submerged.
To see it completely underwater and definitely unpassable without waders.
I saw a lot of Brimstone butterflies this spring, but they refused to pose for photos. The same is true, to a certain extent, of Orange-tips. This Comma was more obliging.
Dark-edged Bee-fly, Bombylius Major.Male.
It’s unusual to see a bee-fly with its wings not in motion. Even when they aren’t hovering, they still rapidly flutter their wings, which, in the case of Dark-edged Bee-flies, can make it look like they have tiny little bat-wings too small to fly with, because the clear part of the wing isn’t immediately obvious. I know that this is a male because his eyes meet in the middle. Females have a pronounced gap between their eyes.
Warbler. Chiff-chaff?
I watched a pair of birds carrying nesting material, including the feather in the photo here. I have lots of photos of them slightly out-of-focus or obscured by a branch, but for once, my patience paid-off and I managed a solitary sharp image.
Gait Barrows.Willow Catkins, and a pollen-covered Hoverfly?Cairn on the limestone pavement.View across the limestone pavement.Arnside Knott seen across the limestone pavement. Long-tailed Tit.Path through the limestone.Ash flowers.Nuthatch.Herb Paris.Blackcap.
I rarely see Blackcaps, and then I see two in consecutive days. Easter is a great time for walks around home, because the birds are all busy and, with no leaves on the trees, there’s more chance than usual of catching a photo.
Back at home, our lawn had been raked again by our mysterious nocturnal visitors…
Another Sunday, another training walk. We decided to make this one a local wander. I think TBH had requested something quite lengthy, which I had dually planned, but then forestalled that plan by heading out for an early run, so that we eventually cut our walk a little shorter to compensate.
Anyway – we walked around the coast to Arnside, but then not back over the Knott (shock, horror), but rather continued along the river to Storth and back via Hazelslack, Leighton Beck Bridge and Hawes Water. In all, 11¾ miles, according to MapMyWalk at least.
Blue skies over the River Kent.
You can probably tell from the first photo, with TBH in several layers and gloves, that with the day starting overcast, it wasn’t particularly warm, but as we walked around the coast a few patches of blue began to appear and eventually it turned into a warm and sunny day, so that we were both a bit over-dressed.
River Kent salt-marshes pano.Whitbarrow Scar across the Kent.Stile surrounded by ‘clart’ between Hazelslack and Leighton Beck Bridge.Leighton Beck Bridge from Leighton Beck.Beetham Fell.New shelter at Gait Barrows.
There’s a smart new structure in the National Nature Reserve at Gait Barrows – I’m not sure what the intended uses will be. I can see myself maybe pausing here for a cup of tea from time to time.
The view from inside the shelter.Hawes Water.
By the end of our walk, all the clouds had gone; quite a contrast with the earlier. So, typically British predictably unpredictable weather!
Into June. A slightly longer local walk this time, to Hawes Water and the limestone pavements of Gait Barrows.
Peacock Butterfly on Bird’s-eye Primrose.Peacock Butterfly on Bird’s-eye Primrose.Bird’s-eye Primroses.Female Damselfly. I think one of the forms of Blue-tailed Damselfly, which come in several colours.And my best guess is that this is another form of the same, with its green thorax and lilac ninth segment of its abdomen. Even my field guide admits that female Blue-tailed Damselflies are ‘confusing’.Bird’s-eye Primroses and a bug, possibly Oedemera lurida. But equally, probably not.Common Blue Damselfly, male.Blue-tailed Damselfly, male.A gaggle of geese.A holey leaf. Guelder Rose I think.
I took a lot of photos of partially devoured leaves this spring; I was amazed by the extent to which they could be eaten and not collapse, whilst still remaining recognisably leaves. I never saw any creatures which were evidently munching on the foliage. Maybe it happens at night.
Scorpion Fly, male.Bird’s-eye Primrose again. With possibly Oedemera lurida again?Northern Marsh Orchid.Yellow Rattle.Germander Speedwell.Micro Moth on Yellow Rattle.
In the grassland at Gait Barrows these tiny moths hop about, making short flights around your feet, landing in the grass and apparently disappearing when they land. Close examination sometimes reveals that they have aligned their bodies with a blade of grass or a plant stem and are thus well-hidden. I was lucky, on this occasion, to get a better view.
I think that this might be a sawfly, but I’m not even confident of that, let alone what kind of sawfly.Angular Solomon’s Seal.Angular Solomon’s Seal.Bloody Crane’s-bill growing in a gryke.Lily-of-the-valley.
I met a couple who were holidaying in the area, mainly to see butterflies, but they were looking for the Lady’s-slipper Orchids. I took them to the spot where, for a while, they grew abundantly, but there was nothing there to show them. Such a shame. At least I know that they are growing more successfully elsewhere in the region, but I don’t know where. I think the consensus is that the spot where they were planted on the limestone was too dry.
Brown Silver-line Moth.Dark Red Helleborine, I think. Not yet flowering.Maidenhair Spleenwort.Lilies-of-the-valley.
The lack of Lady’s-slipper Orchids was in some way compensated by an abundance of Lily-of-the-valley. In my experience, although there are always lots of the spear-like leaves, flowers tend to be in short supply. This year there were lots. I must have timed my visit well.
Tired Painted Lady.Painted Ladies: they have Union Jacks on their faces.
This is from a couple of days later from a neighbour’s garden. We had an afternoon buffet and an evening barbecue to celebrate the jubilee. Being a fervent monarchist, obviously, I was full of enthusiasm for a party. Especially since the weather was so warm and summery. Well…I’m all for extra Bank Holidays. And get togethers with the neighbours, particularly if I’m excused from decorating as a result!
Hagg Wood – The Row – Challan Hall – Hawes Water – Challan Hall Allotments – Silverdale Moss – Back Wood – Leighton Beck – Coldwell Meadows – Coldwell Parrock – Gait Barrows – West Coppice – Hawes Water – Challan Hall – Waterslack – Eaves Wood – Inman’s Road
Autumn colour in Eaves Wood.
Covid laid me up for a little over two weeks. Not a pleasant experience, obviously, but it could have been worse. The first week of that fortnight was half-term, we’d planned to meet up with my Brother, who was over from Switzerland with his kids, and my Mum and Dad. We’d also booked a night away to celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary. All that went out the window. On the plus side, I did listen to a lot of radio dramas.
I also felt like I’d missed out on a half-term’s worth of walking. So, in mid-November, on the Saturday after my first week back at work, when the skies were virtually cloud free, I was itching to get out for a walk.
Some Inman Oaks, Farleton Fell and the distant Howgill Fells.
The autumn colours were splendid, and there was fungi in abundance, particularly in Eaves Wood. I very much enjoyed the views and the light and the sunshine and taking lots of photos.
Spindle berries.A Harlequin ladybird.
A drystone wall between the woods around Hawes Water and the meadows by Challan Hall was festooned with Harlequin ladybirds. A non-native species, which arrived in the UK as recently as 2004, they are enormously varied in colour and patterns. The air around the wall was full of them too. As I paused to get some photos with my phone, they began to land on me too. Apparently, they hibernate together in large groups. I assume that this wall, with its many cracks and crevices, is an ideal spot for that.
Whilst I was enjoying the weather and the sights, the walking was another matter. After about a mile, I was already feeling quite fatigued. Anyone with any sense would have turned back, but I kept walking away from home, getting increasingly tired. In the end, I walked a little over six miles, but the last couple were pretty purgatorial – I felt so tired I was tempted to lie down by the path and have a nap.
Unidentified fungi growing on the remains of the Cloven Ash.
After this walk, I took it easier for a couple of weekends and have been okay since, except it took a while for my senses of smell and taste to come back, and now that they have some foods which I formerly enjoyed now taste revolting; peanut butter springs to mind, which used to be a favourite. Almonds too. Curiously, the things which taste bad all have the same foul flavour.
Across Silverdale Moss – Middlebarrow Quarry, Arnside Tower, Arnside Knott.
Anyway, back to the walk – I was taken by the contrast of the yellow leaves of the Blackthorn thicket and the blue sky behind, but also by the abundance of Sloes on the Blackthorn…
More Spindle berries.Leighton Beck.A partial view of Lakeland Fellsfrom Coldwell Meadow.Gait Barrows limestone pavement.And again.
This bench, near Hawes Water was very welcome and I sat on it for quite a while, although it was fairly wet.
Hawes Water.Hazel leaves catching the light.Another Harlequin.King Alfred’s Cakes.Tall Beech trees in Eaves Wood.Candlesnuff Fungus. Probably.
There was an absolute riot of fungi in Eaves Wood, fascinating to see, but extremely difficult to identify.
Unusually, I think I’ve enjoyed this walk more in retrospect than I did at the time. Can’t wait for some more bright and sunny days.
Unusually, for my recent posts, all of these photos are from a single lazy local walk, a few miles spaced out over several hours, during which I took lots of photos and stopped for several brews.
Bugle.Sun-dappled path through Middlebarrow Wood.Mayflowers.Arnside Tower doorway.The view from Arnside Tower over Silverdale Moss to Beetham Fell.Green Hellebore in Middlebarrow Wood.I don’t think I’ve noticed the large size of the seeds which develop inside the flowers.Sweet Woodruff.Herb Paris.Reed beds at Silverdale Moss.Paddock near Far Waterslack.Buttercups.Daisies (of the Galaxy?) Dove’s-foot Crane’s-bill.
Quite clever of this tiny flower to incorporate both the names of two birds and two hyphens in its name.
Heading towards Hawes Water.A swimmer.
I managed quite a bit of swimming this summer, but am still jealous of this solitary bather, since I’ve never swum in Hawes Water. It’s quite hard to see how you could get in through the reeds, although a couple of the houses on Moss Lane have private jetties.
Bird’s-eye Primroses growing in some of the cleared land. Vindication of Natural England’s tree-felling policy?Femal Mallard.Tadpoles and fish in the stream between Little Hawes Water and Hawes Water.Azure Damselfly (I think).Bluebells, Gait Barrows.Limestone Pavement, Gait BarrowsAngular Solomon’s-Seal growing in a grike.Looking towards Trowbarrow from a brew stop.Eaves Wood.Inman Oaks.Blue Tit. I watched blue tits going in and out of this fissure last spring. I wonder of it was the same pair nesting this year? This Nuthatch was also in-and-out, of a neighbouring tree, presumably bringing food to a nest.Male Blackbird on our garden wall.
RobinDrone flyBlackthorn.Red-tailed Bumble-bee on Gorse.Bee Fly.Air-borne Hoverfly.Leighton Beck and Creep – i’ – th’ – call Bridge.
Early April, when the birds and the bees are all busily going about their work, most trees are still leafless and there’s lots of spring blooms. When the sun shines, my favourite time of year.
Early April, when the branches are mostly bare and the birds are busy mating and nesting is a great time to spot and take photos of birds. This Bullfinch photo is a bit of a cheat, since it wasn’t taken on a walk, but through our window, by where I was sitting on a Thursday evening.
On the Friday, when I got home from work, having finished for the Easter break, I headed out for a wander round Heald Brow, to the south of the village.
View of The Howgills.Forsythia catching the sun.Hazelwood Hall.
I think someone had been doing some major pruning, because a better view of Hazelwood Hall had opened up from the adjoining Hollins Lane. My interest in the hall is due to the gardens, which I believed to be designed by Lancaster architect Thomas Mawson, although the current Wikipedia entry is slightly confusing on that score and seems to imply, in one section, that in fact Mawson’s son Prentice was responsible, only, later on, to state that it was Mawson himself who designed the garden working with another son Edward.
Hazelwood Hall 1926
Certainly the tiered terraces, the loggia and the use of stone pergolas are very similar to other Mawson gardens I’ve visited.
On Heald Brow, I noticed a Great-spotted Woodpecker in a very distant tree. I’ve included the photo, rubbish though it is, just to remind myself that I saw it, because, quite frankly, I was chuffed that I could pick it out in the tree-tops.
Likewise this Bullfinch. I know that it’s the second of this post, but I don’t seem to have seen many this year.
The Saturday was a glorious day, a great start to our holidays, so I set-off for Gait Barrows in search of birds and butterflies.
Violets
I did take no end of photos of butterflies and other insects and even more of birds, but above all else I took pictures of Primroses which seem to have proliferated all around the reserve.
Primroses with Bee-fly.Blue moor grass – typical of limestone grassland.Hazel catkins catching the sunAll that’s left of one of the former hedgerows. Still need to have a proper look at what’s grown back.A Drone Fly, I think, but it’s the texture of the wood which I really like.
There were Drone flies everywhere and I took lots of, I suppose, quite pointless photographs of them, but then occasionally what I took to be another Drone Fly would instead transpire to be something more interesting, like this Bee-fly…
I was quite surprised to see this machinery in the woods by Hawes Water, but the path from Challan Hall around to Moss Lane, which is supposed to be wheelchair friendly, had been getting increasingly muddy and Natural England were having it widened and resurfaced, so bully for them.
Cherry blossom?
I can’t really identify lichens and, I think because I can’t, I don’t always pay them the attention they merit. I think this is Ramalina farinacea, but I wouldn’t take my word for it, and, looking again, I think there are probably at least three different lichens in the photo above.
Honeysuckle leaves, some of the earliest to appear, catching the light.
Although it was months ago, I remember my encounter with this Comma butterfly very vividly. It was sunning itself on some limestone, as you can see, and I slowly edged toward it, taking a new photo after each stride. Eventually, I upset it and it moved, finally settling on a nearby tree-trunk, at which point I started edging forward again.
What struck me was that, if I hadn’t seen the Comma land, I don’t think I would have picked it out. Whilst the underside of its wings are drab in comparison to the patterned orange of the upper wings, the underwings are beautifully adapted to conceal the butterfly in a superb imitation of a tatty dead leaf.
This…
…is a warbler. I don’t think it’s a Chiff-chaff, they have a very distinctive song which I can actually recognise, so I can recall getting excited because this had a different song. Sadly, I can’t remember the song at all, and can’t identify which warbler this is without that additional clue.
No such confusion here…
…this is a make Kestrel. I wish I’d managed to capture it in flight when it’s colours looked stunning.
And I suspect that this is a Chiff-chaff…
Though I couldn’t swear to it.
Another mystery here…
…with a bone suspended in a Blackthorn bush. I know that Shrikes impale their prey on the thorns of this tree, but Shrikes are quite small and I think that this bone is probably a bit too big for that. Also, Shrikes are very rare in the UK these days and are not generally seen this far West (although I know that they have occasionally been spotted at Leighton Moss).
Ash flowers beginning to emerge.More Hazel catkins.And again!White violets.
I was back at Gait Barrows the following day, but the skies were dull and I didn’t take many photos. On the Monday, I had another local wander, including a visit to The Cove…
The Tuesday was a bit special, so I shall save that for my next post…
Beating The Bounds 