I enticed The Tower Captain out for a walk with TBH and I by telling him it would be a pub crawl, which, in fairness, was exactly how it turned out. We had to work for our pints though. We first of all walked across the field to Silverdale Green, through Clark’s Lot to Hollins Lane and then down through Fleagarth Wood to Quaker’s Stang, thereby eschewing the villages own fine hostelries.
From there we went over Warton Crag to Warton.
Looking back towards the Coniston Fells.The Coniston Fells and Arnside Knott from near the top of Warton Crag.The Tower Captain and his dogs at the top of Warton Crag.
The dog on the left here, Bramble, is now completely blind, but the vast majority of the time you wouldn’t know it, which is pretty amazing. He does occasionally plow into fences or passing hikers, but mostly manages to lead the way with no apparent difficulty and obvious enthusiasm.
7-spot Ladybird.Warton, Millhead and Carnforth. Clougha Pike beyond.A view to Ingleborough.The Old School Brewery.
On the outskirts of Warton, we stopped for refreshments – beers and tea, at the Old School Brewery. We would have eaten too, but I think the vegan options were rather limited. To none. So we didn’t.
A pint of Blackboard, and other, inferior, beverages.
I really enjoy the OSB’s dark beer Blackboard, which is good because their bitters are, in my opinion, which is clearly out of step with that of the average bitter aficionado, over-hopped and therefore a bit too bitter. Not a view which is widely shared: their beers are extremely popular locally. We sat in the quirky wooden structure which was built to accommodate customers during Covid regulations and which is now, I believe, facing a retrospective planning application. I hope it is allowed to stay, it was certainly very popular on this August Bank Holiday Monday.
TC and TBH outside the Malt Shovel.
Since we’d failed to sate our appetites at the OSB, we wandered around the corner for some pub grub at the Malt Shovel, were I also had a nostalgic pint of John Willies Lees, which was surprisingly good, given that I never thought much of their bitter back in my Manchester days. I do recall having a soft spot for their barley wine, with its fearsome potency.
Another short wander brought us to Carnforth Station, where we just about had time, whilst waiting for our train home, to sink a pint of Lancaster Blonde from the Brief Encounter tearoom, so called because it was the setting for the 1945 film which is the station’s claim to fame.
A couple of pints of Lancaster Blonde from the Brief Encounter Refreshment Room.
A shortish post, by my standards, but a highly enjoyable way to spend a day.
Two more local strolls from the back end of August. The first was a quick trip to The Cove and around The Lots, with TBH, but since she wasn’t ready to leave the house when I was, I first walked across the fields to Stankelt road and around Clark’s Lot first.
Looking towards Grange from the Cove.And the other way from the Cove.Garden Spider.
This spider was in our garden, but only just, hanging just beyond one of our kitchen windows.
The following day I walked our circuit around Jenny Brown’s Point, but had a mooch around Lambert’s Meadow first. This slight path runs around the eastern edge of the meadow…
Lambert’s Meadow – very wet.
It’s where I take most of my photos – you can see here that’s it under a couple of inches of water, which isn’t uncommon at all in the winter, but which shows what a wet August we were having.
Harlequin Ladybird, with a raindrop on its back.Wet Guelder Rose berries.A couple of wasps and a fly.Hoverfly, possibly Eristalis arbustorum.Bog Hoverfly – Sericomyia silentis, I think.
“This is a large and brightly marked hoverfly, with 3 pairs of wedge-shaped yellow bars and reddish-orange legs.” It prefers wet heath, so Lambert’s Meadow is the right sort of spot.
The light wasn’t great, but there was plenty to see and photograph. In particular, a variety of snails seemed to be having some sort of rave. They were everywhere.
Garden Snail.Banded Snail.A slug and a few snails.
There were actually several more snails on these two tall stems, who knows why they were so busy that day?
Probably the Banded Snail from the photo above – White-lipped.Two more White-lipped Snails.Crane Fly.Pirate Wold Spider – Pirata piraticus. Female carrying an egg sac.A very hairy bee – I don’t know which kind.A fly.Harlequin Ladybird Larva.A ladybird chrysalis – also possibly a Harlequin.
On my way down to Jenny Brown’s, I emerged from Fleagarth Woods into a small clearing which was mobbed with wildflowers, especially Common Knapweed. The flowers were really busy with bees and hoverflies, so of course, I took no end of photos.
A patch of wildflowers, mostly Common Knapweed.Hoverfly – a Syrphus species.Hoverfly – Pellucid Fly – Volucella pellucens.Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus).Drone Fly, possibly Eristalis Tenax, the Common Drone Fly.Hoverfly – Helophilus Pendulus – The Footballer. On Sneezewort.Honey Bee and a fly.Honey Bee on Common Knapweed.A tiny micro-moth.
My roaming through the flowers disturbed this frog…
A frog!
Had I realised how many different species of hoverfly were in that little clearing, I probably would have stayed to take even more photos, but until I got home to download and look at the photos I wasn’t aware of the variety.
Speckled Wood Butterfly.Honey Bee on Traveller’s Joy flowers.Traveller’s Joy flowers.Traveller’s Joy seeds.Looking towards Grange from Jack Scout.
Cove Road – Holgates – Far Arnside – Park Point– Arnside Point – White Creek – Blackstone Point – New Barns – Arnside – Black Dyke Road – Silverdale Moss – Challan Hall Allotment – Hawes Water – The Row – Hagg Wood
Holly Blue Butterfly.
Home again and a familiar walk around the coast to Arnside and then back via Silverdale Moss and Hawes Water. It was a walk which involved a lot of stopping and gawking, and during which I took nearly four hundred photos (I’ve edited them down a bit for this post!). It was a good day for butterflies, spiders, harvestmen, grasshoppers and various other things.
Harvestman.Nursery Web Spider.HarlequinLadybird nymph.Field Grasshopper?
I find Grasshoppers very tricky to identify. I found this guide useful, if not conclusive.
Harvestman.Brimstone Butterfly.
I spent a long time by a Buddleia at the edge of the caravan park at Far Arnside – it was very popular with the butterflies, with quite a few bees and hoverflies visiting too.
Peacock Butterfly.Large White Butterfly.A curious Robin.
Whilst I was snapping away, a Robin appeared close by in the hedge and watched me for quite some time.
Common Blue Butterfly (female).Field Grasshopper?Common Green Grasshopper?Bumblebee on a St. John’s Wort.Dropwort.Tiny orb web Spider.Looking south along the coast to Clougha Pike.Looking North to Grange-Over-Sands.Holidaymakers enjoying the mud.
I was surprised to see a few family groups dotted about on the mud of the Bay, with a full collection, by the looks of it, of beach paraphernalia. Of course, I love the area myself, so I shouldn’t be surprised at all that other people want to enjoy it too.
Heather on the clifftop.Bloody Crane’s-bill.Naturalised Montbresia.Approaching Park Point.And around the point looking up the Kent Estuary.Marsh Samphire.The foreshore at White Creek with lots of…Sea Asters.The estuary near New Barns.Lax-flowered Sea-lavender.Lax-flowered Sea-lavender.Approaching New Barns.At New Barns.A yellow composite (which is to say, I don’t know what it is!).Common Darter.Common Carder Bee (possibly) on Marsh Woundwort.I think that this is an Orache, possibly Spear-leaved Orache.A Rove Beetle, on the Orache, – one of the Paederus species.
Paederus species are widespread across the world and I was surprised to discover that one (or possibly more) of them can cause severe skin reactions.
The Kent near Anside.Another boat on the Kent.A particularly vigorous clump of Sea Aster.
This tall clump of Sea Asters was thronged with bees and hoverflies, particularly Drone Flies.
A Drone Fly on the Sea Aster.Gatekeeper.
A sixth species of butterfly for the day, not bad going.
People paddling in the Kent at Arnside.Blue-tailed Damselfly.
Over the years, I’ve taken countless photos of Blue-tailed Damselflies, but curiously, I don’t recall noticing the rather gorgeous two-toned wing-spots which are characteristic of the species before.
Former Custom House Arnside – now home to the Sailing Club.
I’ve walked past the Sailing Club in Arnside many, many times. I’ve often thought of joining – I’ll no doubt get around to it at some point – but I’d never been inside their clubhouse. I have now. But I’m getting ahead of myself – that post is still some way off.
Bittersweet.The footpath beside Black Dyke.
I’d only set-off from home mid-afternoon, so it was getting quite late. I’d originally intended to follow the path beside Black Dyke, but as you can perhaps tell, it was pretty water-logged, testament to what a wet year 2023 was. So instead, I turned left and headed East…
A drier alternative, heading East.
…towards some very dark looking skies.
Ominous clouds.Blue skies back the way I’ve just come.
Long-suffering readers might know that I love to be on the edge of a weather front like this with strongly contrasting weather evident in different directions.
Silverdale Moss and Middlebarrow.More threatening clouds.The remnants of the Cloven Ash.Hawes Water.Dandelion clocks.Common Knapweed.Thistleheads.Inman Oaks – nearly home.
You may have noticed that no Skylarks appear in this post. The fact is, that I was listening to Horace Andy’s marvellous 1972 debut album ‘Skylarking’ whilst I was choosing the pictures for this post. Now that I’m almost done, my soundtrack is the similarly laidback reggae of John Holt’s ‘1000 Volts of Holt’.
A really delightful walk and a precursor to another family get together the following day.
I thought I could real-off a quick portmanteau post to dismiss the final week of July. The weather was very frustrating – I repeatedly studied the forecasts and made plans for promising looking days ahead, only for the forecasts to change and for more unpredictable, showery weather to arrive. I read a lot, and pottered around in the garden, between showers, or escaped for short local walks.
Garden Snail.
But even pottering in the garden throws up interesting, to me at least, subjects for photos, and that applies twice over to a lazy wander to Lambert’s Meadow. So I have a lot of pictures, and have decided, after all, not to try to cram them all into a single post.
Garden Snail.Late light on The Lots.Sunset from The Cove.Common Carder Bee.
Most of these photos are from our garden. Marjoram self-seeds all over the flower beds and is brilliant at attracting pollinators.
Wolf Spider. Possibly Pardosa amentata.
Marjoram leaves are not very big, so this spider was pretty tiny, but I like its mottled patterns.
One of the many forms of Harlequin Ladybird.Unidentified bug.Honey Bee – Italian?
Over the summer, I took a lot of photos in the garden, but I often missed the most interesting things that appeared. One afternoon there was a tiny, colourful Mint Moth. Another day I saw a large hoverfly, which I’m pretty sure was my first Volucella zonaria, the Hornet Hoverfly, which has the size and colouring of a hornet.
Cultivated Angelica with wasps.
This last photo is not from our garden, but from a colleague’s, who threw a party. I’m a bit rubbish at parties, small talk is just not one of my talents, so I took photos of wasps instead! I thought that this tall, striking plant looked very like Angelica, aside from the fact that the flowers were purple, and I’ve since discovered that Angelica Gigas, or Korean Angelica, has purple flowers, so I suspect that’s what this was. The wasps were obviously loving it, and I’m very tempted to get some for our garden next summer.
The Sunday of the Art Trail weekend at the end of June. I was out early for a solo wander, and then later with TBH and J touring a few more art venues.
Common Spotted-orchid.A group of almost entirely white Common Spotted-orchids.White-lipped snail.Seven-spot Ladybird pupa. I think. And a host of aphids.
I’ve always assumed, I think because of the rather crumpled appearance, that ladybirds like this were in the act of actively transforming from their larval form into an adult. I suppose I was right, but I hadn’t thought about the fact that there might be a pupal stage at all. I suppose lots of insects go through a pupal stage, but I generally only tend to see ladybirds in this phase. I wonder why they so often seem to choose such obvious spots – you’d think they would all get picked off by birds or other predators. This one was on the thorny stem of a Teasel and, since ladybirds prey on aphids, looks well set for a good meal when it metamorphoses into its adult form. The aphids seem to be in all sorts of sizes and two completely different colours – I have no idea whether they are of different species or not.
Seven-spot Ladybird.Two-spot Ladybird pupa. (According to Google Lens).
I also found a Twenty-two-spot ladybird, tiny and yellow and rather natty, but sadly none of my attempted photos were very sharp.
Dolycoris Baccarum – Hairy Shieldbug.Lime Tree in flower.Hazelwood Hall.
Hazelwood Hall was one of the art venues, which suited me since it provided another opportunity to have a peek at a Thomas Mawson designed house and garden.
Cove Road – Holgates – Far Arnside – River Kent – New Barns – New Barns Road – High Knott Road – Redhill Wood – Arnside Knott – Heathwaite – Hollins Farm – Holgates – Cove Road.
Honesty
So, I’ve been striking recently. Apparently, our Unions are now telling us, we’ve won and the fighting is over. It feels like a pretty Pyrrhic victory to me, but I’ve edited out the little rant which was originally here and will leave it at that. Anyway, as you may have gathered, on strike days I withdrew my labour, but I didn’t feel inclined to stand on a picket line, or to march with a placard. Instead, I went for a walk. (Actually, on some days I ended up working at home, for nothing, to keep on top of the paperwork, more fool me).
This route was one of the variations of a walk around the coast to Arnside and back over the Knott, but you won’t find many of the familiar views here, partly because it was a very hazy day, so that the views weren’t as fine as they usually are, and partly because there were so many other distractions for me and my camera. I didn’t get far from the house before I’d stopped to photograph the multicoloured display of wildflowers along the lane: purple Honesty, yellow and orange Welsh Poppies, tiny white flowers of Garlic Mustard, the yellow suns of Dandelions and the deep blues of Green Alkanet.
Green Alkanet.
This alkanet was a little further from home, but not much: it was sitting on the bank along Cove Road. It always seems to attract lots of pollinators, particularly bees, so I paused to investigate and wasn’t disappointed…
Hoverfly – Rhingia Campestris.Osmia bicornis, Red Mason-bee, male.
Solitary bees don’t necessarily live alone – I think they can often nest in proximity to one another – but they don’t live in a hive. All of the females are fertile and there are no worker bees. Female mason bees construct a nest using an existing hole or crevice and some form of building material. In the case of Red Mason-bees I think the building material is mud. From what I’ve read, males exist solely to mate and have a fairly short life in their adult form, so I was perhaps lucky to photograph a couple of these tiny creatures during this walk.
Bombus pascuorum – Common Carder Bee.
The Common Carder Bee is a Bumblebee and considerably bigger than the mason bee. They do seem to be fairly common in this area at least. They also seem to have a penchant for blue and purple flowers, which complement their ginger colouring perfectly, although I’m not sure that its vanity which drives their choice.
Cowslips.Male Blackbird.Dandelions.
This field between Holgates Caravan Park and Far Arnside had a single strip covered with Dandelions between the path and the fence.
Small White butterfly (I think).
I wasn’t the only one appreciating the abundant Dandelions.
Honey Bee.
At the edge of the field before reaching the road at Far Arnside, the path passes a small copse, and at the edge of those trees there’s a big patch of Nettles. There’s often lots to see amongst Nettles and I chose to step off the path to see what I could find.
Harlequin Ladybird (I think).Hoverfly – possibly Epistrophe eligans.
If you look closely, you can glimpse the photographer in this one – this is my idea of a perfect selfie!
A Nomad Bee – species hard to determine from a photo apparently.
I’ve joined several Natural History forums on Facebook and am learning a lot as a consequence. Nomad bees are completely new to me. They’re cleptoparasites, which means they lay their eggs in the nest of a different species and the young will eat the food provided by their hosts for their own young – just like cuckoos. Nomad bees pick mining bee nests, amongst others, with some species possibly targeting a specific host species, whilst others might be less choosey.
7-spot Ladybird.Sarcophaga carnaria. A flesh fly.Sloe Bug – Dolycoris baccarum.Green Dock Beetle,Gastrophysa viridula, female.Mating Green Dock Beetles and photo-bombing weevil, possibly Phyllobius argentatus.
There were some Docks amongst the Nettles, and Green Dock Beetles on both.
Green Dock Beetles and weevil again. There are several green species of weevil, so this identification is even more tentative than the rest.Yellow Dung Fly – Scathophaga stercoraria.Another Harlequin Ladybird. Probably.
All that from one little patch of Nettles. Keeps me occupied.
Swallow.I think this is a Mistle Thrush, rather than a Song Thrush, but I’m not entirely confident.Honey Bee.
The hedges in the caravan park at Far Arnside were alive with Honey Bees, which were surprisingly difficult to photograph on the tiny hanging white flowers.
At the edge of the park, there was a fabulous display of spring flowers.
Bugle.Another male Red Mason-bee.Another 7-spot Ladybird.
I have a blurred photo of a Bee-fly here, which was notable because it was poking it’s very long proboscis into Ground Ivy flowers and not the Primroses which they seem to favour.
Daisies, Ground Ivy and a tiny bee.
Ground Ivy flowers are superficially similar to Bugle, so the two could be confused, but the leaves are completely different.
Andrena tarsata, female. Tormentil Mining Bee. On Spring Cinquefoil?
I’m told that this is a Tormentil Mining Bee, which is nationally scarce, so I hope that it’s true. But I’ve also read that Tormentil Mining Bees rely on the pollen from Tormentil and whilst this flower is a Potentilla, a related species, it’s definitely not Tormentil which likes acid soil and, crucially, has four petals not five. This bee unwittingly plays host to the larvae of the even rarer Tormentil Nomad Bee. I shall be on the lookout, now that I know!
Looking to Grange.Cockle.A view of Arnside Knott and White Creek from the sands.Red-breasted Merganserson the River Kent.Hoverfly – possibly Syrphus ribesii.Hoverfly – could be Cheilosia pagana.Forget-me-nots.Holly Blue butterfly on Cotoneaster.Honesty.The path by Dobshall Wood.Herb Paris.Herb Paris flower.Dog Mercury.
Dog Mercury and Herb Paris are closely related, but Dog Mercury is much, much more common.
Teesdale Violet.
The Teesdale Violets near the top of Arnside Knott, were caged to stop them running away. Probably. Or to stop the Rabbits chomping them. Because Teesdale Violets are rare – apparently a few have been spotted at sites in Wales. Other than that, they can be found in Teesdale, as you might expect, and on Ingleborough and Arnside Knott. The Arnside variety are special because the flowers are white rather than the usual blue. I think you would need to be an expert to know that these weren’t plain old Dog Violets, but the cage was a bit of a give-away. Also – I saw a tip-off in yet another Facebook group.
One of the advantages of teaching, it can’t be denied, are the very generous holidays. And what would you do with those holidays? Decorate the house of course! Famously, painting the Forth Road Bridge, colloquially at least, is a Sisyphean task, needing to be recommenced as soon as it has been finished. It sometimes feels like our household decorating is on a similar scale. On this occasion, with A imminently leaving home*, she and Little S were swapping rooms. Both rooms needed redecorating, in the case of A’s room, twice, after she decided she didn’t like the pink paint she had initially chosen. All of their belongings had to be shifted, the furniture was moved and in some cases replaced. It was a major undertaking.
White-lipped Snail
When a lull in proceedings provided an opportunity to sneak out for a bit, I didn’t go far, but went on a Lambert’s Meadow safari, to see what I could see. On this occasion, the first thing I spotted was a gorgeous bluey-green weevil on a nettle. My photographs of the tiny creature didn’t come out well, but I saw another later. After that, my eye seemed to be in, and it turned out, of course, that there was plenty to see, if you looked carefully.
Brown-lipped snail.A nettle leaf nest. Lots of species live on nettles, including many of our common, colourful garden butterflies. Another Brown-lipped snail.Water Avens.Ragged Robin and Guelder Rose.Guelder Rose.Cucumber Green Orb Spider.
This spider was tiny. The photos (I took loads) don’t really do it justice; to the naked eye it seemed to be luminous yellow. I was very chuffed to have spotted it, since it was absolutely miniscule.
Guelder Rose flower with a very long-legged fly. Some sort of mosquito?Green Shield Bug.Scorpion Fly, male. The curled ‘stinger’ is for display only.And again – possibly the same fly.A leaf beetle – possibly Chrysolina polita.
Leaf beetles have become firm favourites – they are so often bright, shiny, metallic colours. As often seems to be the case, once I’d seen one of them I suddenly seemed to spot lots more.
Mating Chrysolina polita (perhaps).I drew a blank with this one. It had orange elytra (hard front wing which protects the hind wing). I think it is probably some kind of Soldier Beetle.A colourful fly.Common Blue Damselfly.Azure damselfly (I think).Yellow dung fly, male.Common Carder Bee on Ragged Robin.Another Scorpion Fly. This time a female, without the extravagantly curled tail.And again.7-Spot Ladybird.
I don’t know why this should be the case, but I often seem to spot ladybirds in the hedges along Bottom’s Lane.
Ladybird, probably a Harlequin.Ladybird, probably a Harlequin.Wych Elm seeds. I think.
My modus operandi on my entomology wanders is to walk slowly scanning the vegetation for any movement on contrasting colours. I kept getting caught out by Wych Elm seeds which seemed to have settled all over the place – a good sign I hope.
Dewberry Flowers?
These flowers seemed to be a bit on the big side to be bramble flowers, and based on the fact that I’ve found Dewberries before along Bottom’s Lane before, I assume that they are Dewberry flowers.
Dewberry Flowers?
As ever, I’m more than ready to be corrected by anybody who actually knows what they are talking about.
New Sycamore LeavesSpangles – made by tiny gall wasps.Ants and aphids.
I remember reading that ants ‘farm’ aphids, but I’m not sure that I’ve often seem them together.
A Soldier Beetle, possibly Cantharis Rustica.Weevil, possibly Phyllobius pomaceus.Cantharis Rustica again, I think. You can see the ‘robust mouth parts’ well here. (Source)
When I got home, in no hurry to be indoors, I had a wander around our garden, photographing some of the ‘weeds’ growing there.
Pink Campion.Welsh Poppy.Bumblebee on Aquilegia. Aquilegia Vulgaris.
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.
Another walk during which I took more than two hundred photos. This was a longer walk than the last one I posted about, taking in Lambert’s Meadow and parts of Gait Barrows. It was still only around five miles, which, in ‘butterfly mode’ kept me occupied for three hours.
Yellow composites – can’t identify them, but they look good.Another Seven-spot Ladybird on a Spear Thistle.Meadow BrownWhite-lipped Snail and a Copse Snail.
I was looking at something else altogether, when I noticed that a patch of nettles on the perimeter of lambert’s Meadow were surprisingly busy with snails.
Whilst most snails in the UK live for only a year or two, apparently Copse Snails can live for up to seventeen, which seems pretty extraordinary.
Another White-lipped Snail?White-lipped Snail.Another Copse Snail?Common Spotted-orchid.Meadow Brown.Ringlet.Meadow Brown.
There were some Comma butterflies about too, but they were more elusive and my photos didn’t come out too well.
A St. John’s Wort – possibly Pale St. John’s Wort.Busy Marsh Thistle.A faded Bumblebee?
I suspect that this Bumblebee was once partly yellow, but has faded with age. A bit like my powers of recall.
Male Large Skipper.Female Brown Hawker.
Lambert’s Meadow was superb this summer. It felt like every visit brought something new to see. I can’t remember ever having seen a Brown Hawker before, so was excited to see this one. In flight it looked surprisingly red.
Later I saw another…
Brown Hawker.
…this time high on a tree trunk. I’ve read that they usually hunt in the canopy, so I was very lucky to get so close to the first that I saw. The fact that they generally haunt the treetops probably explains why I haven’t spotted one before.
I love the way the light is passing through dragonfly’s wings and casting those strange shadows on the tree trunk.
Guelder Rose berries.Male Small Skipper.Great Willowherb
As I made my way slowly around the meadow, I noticed that a group of four walkers had stopped by some tall vegetation, mostly Figwort and Great Willowherb, at the edge of the field and were enthusiastically brandishing their phones to take pictures of something in amongst the plants. I had a fair idea what they might have seen.
There were a number of Broad-bodied Chasers there and, after the walkers had moved on, I took my own turn to marvel at their colours and snap lots of pictures. They’re surprisingly sanguine about you getting close to them with a camera.
Common Knapweed.Male Small SkipperA Sawfly – I think!On a Yarrow flowerhead.
This Sawfly was another first for me. I’ve spent a while trying to identify which species it belongs to, but have reluctantly admitted defeat. Depending on which source you believe, there are 400 to 500 different species of sawfly in Britain. They belong to the same order as bees, wasps and ants. If you’re wondering about the name, apparently female sawflies have a saw-like ovipositor with which they cut plants to create somewhere to lay their eggs.
Soldier Beetle on Ragwort.
There were Soldier Beetles everywhere, doing what Soldier Beetles do in the middle of summer. This one was highly unusual, because it was alone.
Meadow near Challan Hall.Creeping Thistle.
Creeping Thistle is easy to distinguish from other thistles because of its mauve flowers. The fields near Challan Hall had several large patches dominated by it.
Red-tailed Bumblebee on Spear Thistle.Ladies Bed-straw.Swallow.Burdock.Three-spined Stickleback.Three-spined Stickleback.Leech.
I was watching a pair of Wrens which had a nest very close to the bridge over the stream which flows from Little Haweswater to Haweswater, and also watching the sticklebacks in the stream itself, when I noticed a strange black twig floating downstream. But then the ‘twig’ began to undulate and apparently alternately stretch and contract and move against the flow of the water. Soon I realised that there were several black, worm-like creatures in the water. Leeches. The UK has several species of leech, although many are very small, which narrows down what these might have been. I suspect that they are not Medicinal Leeches – the kind which might suck your blood, but the truth is I don’t know one way or the other.
Mushroom.
A wet spell after a long dry spell always seems to provoke a bumper crop of Field Mushrooms. This summer that happened much earlier than in 2018, when the fields were briefly full of mushrooms, and in not quite the same profusion, but for a few days every walk was enlivened by a few fungal snacks.
More mature mushroom.
I only eat the smaller mushrooms raw, before the cup has opened and whilst the gills are still pink. The bigger examples are very tasty fried and served on toast, but they need to be examined at home for any lurking, unwanted, extra sources of protein.
Common Centuary was growing all over the Gait Barrows meadows in a way I’ve never noticed before. I made numerous return visits, hoping to catch the flowers open, but unfortunately never saw them that way
Another Gait Barrows view.A native allium – Wild Onion?
I think that this is Wild Onion, also known as Crow garlic. A lengthy section of the hedge-bottom along Moss Lane was full of it. These odd looking things are bulbils – which is how the plant spreads. Whilst trying to identify this plant, I came across photos of another native allium – Sand Leek – growing on the coast near Arnside. It’s very striking, but I’ve never spotted it. A target for next summer.
Beating The Bounds 