Blog Archives

To Warriners Wood: orange-tip butterflies and bluebells

27/4/2020

Male orange-tip nectaring on woodruff

The bluebells of Warriners Wood were to be the highlight of my morning's walk. And Herb Paris, Paris quadrifolia, An April day with tree flowers, leaf buds unfurling, the canopy a luminous green and the herb layer a haze of bluebells. Mosses were sprinkled with petals of cherry blossom. Four hazel nuts clung to the trunk of a hazel, as if stuck to the bark. A blackcap sang loudly and brown butterflies flitted about the bluebells.
In spring especially, I set out with a wish-list- flora and fauna I hope to find- like the elusive Herb Paris which I came upon in Warriners Wood some years ago, but not today.

Kendal Golf Course to Helsfell Hall

23/4/2020

Wood sorrel beneath the shade of a woodland fringe

A warm day, Thursday 23 April. There were male orange-tip butterflies on the wing, settling on flowers in the under-storey. so caught-up in a spiralling dance their wings almost touched my face. A brimstone and a green-veined white too.
Ewes with lambs in the pasture on the track to Hellsfell Hall. Someone had adorned a ewe with the rainbow motif that reminds us of children during the Covid 19 lock-down. I've seen the emblem displayed in windows, now travelling the pasture on the flank of a ewe. The morning was so warm that lambs stretched out luxuriating in the sun beside their mothers. A peaceful scene.

Green Hairstreak

22/4/2020

Green Hairstreak

High pressure and a strong NE wind once again. A bright and sunny day. It would be mid to late morning before the sun rose high enough to power down the track into the wood, into glades sheltered from the wind. Brimstone butterflies and whites were on the wing. I returned to the sunny bank seeking the newly emerged brood of green hairstreak. And between two violets on a cushion of moss there it was, wings closed. Once the green hairstreak has settled it scarcely moves.
It's flight is a flicker of green and brown mingled, until it settles with closed wings and the green under-wing is revealed.

Green Hairstreak Butterfly

21/4/2020

Green Hairstreak, Callophrys Rubi

The east wind was strong and boisterous, so I dipped down to a sunlit bank and sat listening to the bleating of lambs and a willow warbler. A sudden loud gust set the birch trees dancing. In a flutter of sunlit green a small butterfly vanished amongst blue moor grass, a clump of violets, a trail of bramble where I found a leaf of a distinctive hue. A green hairstreak butterfly. The sunlit bank was sheltered from the wild wind on Scout Scar and green haristreak returned again and again, to disappear amongst the grasses. Once glimpsed, that flush of colours and sheen on the wing draws the eye and the green hairstreak cannot hide.

Trees on Scout Scar

20/4/2020

Flowering ash tree against a stunning sky

Which will be first on Scout Scar, arriving from Africa, the redstart or the cuckoo? There will be more redstarts and a male appears every year in the same slender whitebeam, last week in April, first in May. As the leaf-buds swell like pale tulips. The cuckoo returns, if he returns, to the same territory but he can be elusive.
At this season I spend hours admiring tree-flowers as I search the tree tops for the chiff-chaff who sings so loudly you’d think he’d be easy to see.

Scout Scar: just being

16/4/2020

Tree flowers with chiff-chaff

What are they staring at, she and her dog? She awaits my approach, eager to share her find. Well, her dog found it. An adder, right on the path, basking in the warm sun. No sign of it now, It’s vanished into the safety of a juniper bush. 'Black, with well-defined markings.' She’s excited by her find, and so am I.
Curlew can be heard from Kendal Race Course, most mornings. Redpoll and linnet too. The first early purple orchid appears, deep purple and hugging the ground.

April 14th, 2020

14/4/2020

Male orange-tip butterfly

An air-frost and a ground-frost overnight and there's a chill to the early morning. But the wind direction has changed from NNE to SW and the day is bright and milder. Toward mid-day it's warm and bright enough for this male orange-tip butterfly to venture forth, seeking to establish a new terrain.
There's the soft call of linnet and as I watch from behind a wall one flies over my head and I hear the sound of linnet's wings.

Good Friday on Scout Scar

10/4/2020

Gorse on Good Friday

A hazy sunlight on Good Friday. Gorse where linnet nest is a blaze of colour. The birds often sing from slender trees in a thicket of gorse.
Redpoll fly over-head, calling. Meadow pipit in song flight will parachute down into the tussocks. Any time now the cuckoo should come, with luck.
Blue moor grass is in flower, around Easter time. A rare grass, i'ts prolific on Scout Scar limestone. Its flowers of purple- blue open fast in the warm weather.

Scout Scar: wildlife and locals

8/4/2020

Female linnet 8 April

Nothing is as usual on Scout Scar. Not really. LInnet are returned to breed in thickets of gorse and I found this female above a blaze of yellow.
Beautiful and constantly changing cloud-patterns this morning.
And larksong. Skylarksong is my salvation. I look up into the clouds hoping to catch a glimpse, sometimes yes, sometimes no. And listening, listening, trying to pinpoint the sound.

Staying at Home: April 6th, 2020

6/4/2020

Pussy Willow for Palm Sunday

There's a haze of green as leaf buds unfurl. On the evening of Palm Sunday Her Majesty The Queen addresses the nation at a time of crisis. She reminds us of who we are, who we aspire to be.
Next morning, the songsters of the dawn chorus sing joyfully. On 6thr April the dawn chorus coincides with The Shipping Forecast and I'm spoilt for choice. The blackbird suddenly morphs into Arctic Tern and Tweet of the Day.
Drink in small joys around you, says Katya Adler, the BBC Europe editor.

Scout Scar: all creatures great and small

4/4/2020

Male skylark on a bright day on Cunswick Fell

Headline of the morning: ‘I’ve got castrations stacking up. Nine colts.’ It’s emergencies only for an equine vet. The colts must wait.
A paramedic with North West Ambulance Service is having a moment of respite from Covid 19 emergencies.
He planned to write ‘Thank You’ on the grey bin we put out for recycling. I had leaned out of a high window and yelled my thanks to the sole refuse collector and driver of the van. Usually, there’s driver and a team of four. Next time, a round of applause for paramedics too.

Erratic Quest on Scout Scar

3/4/2020

Erratic with pistaciio-coloured lichens

I wandered, erratic on Scout Scar. There was no route. A cloud, mizzly day . The inspiration was a sharing of our stories with two young women I met. 'You feel better for being here, even when it's raining.' We agreed. There were few folk abroad today, so we felt ourselves to be hardy. The dedicated We tell more about ourselves in these bizarre times, how we are faring. We wish each other well. ' Seen two red kites this morning,' a woman tells me. More of us are looking about us, listening to bridsong. Skylark singing .

Stonechat returns to breed

2/4/2020

Male stonechat 31 March

31 March, began bright and with never a cloud. By mid-day overcast. A stonechat in display flight , brilliantly lit. A male skylark, crest erect, took off and began to sing.

Zig zag choreographic moves down the Brigsteer Road as we all avoid each other, merrily, social distancing