Adder The adder basked in the sun on a path ribbed with exposed roots beneath a larch. It must have sensed our approach but played dead, at first. We stopped, stepped back, and gazed. Sasha the spaniel kept clear.
A long, slim and beautifully patterned adder. The track was baked earth and tree-roots, seemingly rough ground but the adder glided smoothly between small stones and along a root, as if in slow motion. An interlude to admire, then it was gone.
A passing moment in the life of an adder. The long period of warm, dry weather must be perfect for them, warming the ground where they apricate, basking in the bright sun.
A hunting adder would take lizards, small mammals, and ground-nesting skylark and meadow pipit. And they're viviparous, giving birth to live young.
The zig-zag pattern along the length of the adder is distinct. Males are silvery-grey whist females are lighter or reddish-brown. The adder is a beauty, probably female.
The weather is auspicious, I know their habitat, but sightings almost always come out of the blue so if I return to look for it I may well be disappointed. You never know what the highlight of the day might be.
A long, slim and beautifully patterned adder. The track was baked earth and tree-roots, seemingly rough ground but the adder glided smoothly between small stones and along a root, as if in slow motion. An interlude to admire, then it was gone.
A passing moment in the life of an adder. The long period of warm, dry weather must be perfect for them, warming the ground where they apricate, basking in the bright sun.
A hunting adder would take lizards, small mammals, and ground-nesting skylark and meadow pipit. And they're viviparous, giving birth to live young.
The zig-zag pattern along the length of the adder is distinct. Males are silvery-grey whist females are lighter or reddish-brown. The adder is a beauty, probably female.
The weather is auspicious, I know their habitat, but sightings almost always come out of the blue so if I return to look for it I may well be disappointed. You never know what the highlight of the day might be.
I looked for cowslips where I'd found them over a week ago but the drought had starved them of water and they had neither grown tall nor had they lasted.
I'd promised spectacular flora along the escarpment but days of hot weather had forced flowers fast, scorched the rocky edge, and strong light blazed-out colour. But an adder sighting was special and more memorable. .
I'd promised spectacular flora along the escarpment but days of hot weather had forced flowers fast, scorched the rocky edge, and strong light blazed-out colour. But an adder sighting was special and more memorable. .
Next day, to Brigsteer Wood and enchanting butterflies. The woodland fringe is all shadows and sunlight, chiaroscuro. And the track through the wood is a sunlight butterfly ride so there were dancing butterflies all along our walk and in sunlit glades. Since my last visit Jack by the hedge had shot up, growing tall and spindly. Bluebells had faded and the blue flowers of bugle were the flower of choice for nectaring green-veined whites and orange-tips. Greenish-white flowers of spindle were fresh and sunlight cast shadows through translucent petals of yellow poppies.
Orange-tip are not rare but they're beautiful. In flight, or showing only the upper-wing, females can be hard to distinguish from whites but the underwing is distinctive, a lovely pattern of moss- green. Butterflies dance in flight, settle briefly down amongst the foliage. Today's images show translucence and quirky colours conferred by strong sunlight.. So a male orange-tip has one wing-tip in full sunlight showing yellow, the other looking orange as the light strikes at a different angle. I love this play of sunlight and shadow through delicate butterfly wings and sun-glazed foliage.
Butterflies are on the wing, dancing together, settling on flowers, nectaring, perhaps mating. Home again, images are tantalising. Shadow falls on a male orange-tip and colour one wing red. Beneath it, the white upper wings of a female - hard to see in sunlight.
I did return in a hope to reprise the adder sighting. But I came earlier and the larch tree cast deep shadows over the path and there was no sign of the adder. This morning, everyone I met seemed to have heard the cuckoo only moments before. I reckon he knows I'm on a cuckoo quest and he does not call to order.
Orange-tip are not rare but they're beautiful. In flight, or showing only the upper-wing, females can be hard to distinguish from whites but the underwing is distinctive, a lovely pattern of moss- green. Butterflies dance in flight, settle briefly down amongst the foliage. Today's images show translucence and quirky colours conferred by strong sunlight.. So a male orange-tip has one wing-tip in full sunlight showing yellow, the other looking orange as the light strikes at a different angle. I love this play of sunlight and shadow through delicate butterfly wings and sun-glazed foliage.
Butterflies are on the wing, dancing together, settling on flowers, nectaring, perhaps mating. Home again, images are tantalising. Shadow falls on a male orange-tip and colour one wing red. Beneath it, the white upper wings of a female - hard to see in sunlight.
I did return in a hope to reprise the adder sighting. But I came earlier and the larch tree cast deep shadows over the path and there was no sign of the adder. This morning, everyone I met seemed to have heard the cuckoo only moments before. I reckon he knows I'm on a cuckoo quest and he does not call to order.
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