Blog Archives - Cumbria Naturally

Bog pimpernel, sundew and butterwort, Kentmere

30/6/2021

Deer on a Kentmere crag

Wildlife watching in Kentmere, we're being watched. Deer pause on a crag topping a fell-side of foxgloves. Their short tails suggest they're red deer. A large, pale bird flies over the crags and away. A kestrel hovers above Tongue Scar where Rough Fell ewes and mature lambs seek shade beneath the trees and in the shadow of the barn wall as the mid-day sun beats down on us all.
In water-tracks, in ditches and in wet fell-sides are the bog plants and mosses I love,

Starry saxifrage and the marsh forklet, Kentmere

30/6/2021

Kentmere, where water-tracks drain down the fell-side

Life begins at the spring-line, where water bubbles up from the earth. There are nameless water-tracks where seep and trickle sustains an intricate flora. Micro-habitats whose ecology is become familiar. How will today match what I’ve found here before at this season? Where water drains off the fell-side, down into the River Kent, here I hope to find the flora I love. Becks run dry, the sun scorches plants growing on hot rock but where there are water-tracks fed by springs a weave and tangle of flora flourishes.

Hay meadows at High Borrowdale

27/6/2021

High Borrowdale hay meadows

On Friday it rained all day and, two days later, there are puddles along the track beside Borrowdale Beck, although water in the beck is low. Tall thistles come into flower, topping lush grasses. There are small heath butterflies and chimney sweeper moths. A stonechat is clamorous, flitting from perch to perch where saplings are planted.
The High Borrowdale hay meadows are beautiful as the sun burnishes drifts of flowers.

Late June 2021, Scout Scar

23/6/2021

Swifts fly low about me, thrillingly close above my head. Insects must be flying low this morning.
A sole patch of dyer's green-weed has come into being almost overnight. I've been looking out for it..
Roses bud and bloom. Thistles are budding. Brambles are green, budding but with few flowers. I'm hoping for butterflies, searching for them. A few common blues, small heath, dingy skipper. Walk through tall and seeding grasses and small moths rise but where are the butterflies?

Cinnabar moth, South Walney

17/6/2021

Cinnabar moths mating, South Walney

A bright and sunny day on South Walney, with a fresh breeze. I had hoped to see cinnabar moths and we were in luck, a brood was on the wing and some were mating. Their striking scarlet and black colouring warns predators not to eat them, they contain toxins. The moth lays its eggs on ragwort, the foodplant of its caterpillars who ingest its toxins safely and so the moth inherits them. The moth flies by day and at night. Cinnabar moth, Tyria Jacobaeae. Ragwort's Latin name if Senecio Jacobaeae.

South Walney in June

17/6/2021

Perspective toward Piel Castle, South Walney

Something shifts the moment we cross Jubilee Bridge onto Walney Island. We leave behind Barrow in Furness and fast roads, the pace slows as we drive beside the salt marsh, heading for South Walney Nature Reserve. Birdsong reaches us through the open windows (these are Covid times.) Cistercian Way, said the OS map. Now it's designated the England Coastal Path. These were the domains of Furness Abbey and Piel Castle looms in the distance. Mid-June is a season I'm not familiar with on Walney Island, so there are surprises in store.

Henbane, Hyoscyamus niger

17/6/2021

Henbane, Hyoscyamus niger, South Walney

‘Did you say hideous?’
‘Yes, I did. Menacing. As if it could decide to go for a walk in somebody’s direction.’
‘It looks like a potato field.’
She isn't seeing potatoes, she's seeing Triffids.
We have neither of us met this plant before. It's a speciality of the sandy coastal habitat of South Walney but I haven't been here before in mid-June. I had a mental picture of the flower but I was unprepared for the bulk and sprawl of the plant.

Gorse die-back in the UK 2021

12/6/2021

Linnet in flowering gorse 20 May 2020

Gorse is important habitat on Scout Scar and Helsington Barrows. Linnet and redpoll depend on its shelter in the breeding season and its seeds are a food source. So are the insects caught hovering over its flowers in a sequence of images I took In May 2020.
So when I noticed gorse die-back in late May 2021 and realised how extensive it was across this area I reported my findings to Natural England. I wanted to know if the problem was widespread and if the cause were known

Lark ascending, Cunswick Fell

12/6/2021

Skylark poised for flight and display-song

A glorious June morning. Sunlit white cloud patterns the blue and a refreshing breeze trembles and shimmers drifts of cow parsley, buttercups and seeding grasses. Lark song fills the air yet the lark ascending always surprises as the bird launches from secrecy into song-flight and display. Impossible to gauge just when and where that song-flight might commence. Surprise song, then seconds to try for the photograph before the lark is high in spiralling ascent, warm tones almost translucent in sunlight, then lost in cloud.

Redstart and linnet, with milkwort

6/6/2021

Male redstart in full song

A day or two ago, we found a redstart nest with the female flying in furtively, delivering insects to her brood. Today, a male sings loudly from display perches below Scout Scar escarpment. Perhaps he's hoping for a second brood. The canopy is now in full leaf so he was hard to see, despite his loud song. In this image his beak is wide, his bright gape visible.

Roe Deer, Helsington Barrows

4/6/2021

Roe deer with bright reddish summer coat

Roe deer browse amongst the hawthorn scrub and in the shadows beneath sunlit yew trees. The warm reddish-brown of their summer coats and their large ears are striking. They/ve seen us but they linger under the trees. A peaceful scene until something startles them. Their barking would have been puzzling if we'd heard it unawares.

Stonechat and fresh flowers on Scout Scar

2/6/2021

Bird's foot trefoil on limestone clitter

A south-east wind keeps the day fresh and wind-shear shows in high cloud. At this season fresh flowers appear overnight. Brid's-foot trefoil is bright yellow. There's white bedstraw and everywhere the white May of hawthorn in bloom. Yellow hawkweeds show. The ground looks dry, patterned with fine cracks. Hard to remember how cold and wet it was for most of May