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Sandscale Haws at the summer solstice

21/6/2022

Sandscale Haws

Today is the summer solstice, the longest day. Sandscale Haws is the perfect place to celebrate with MIdsummer Day falling on 24th June.
Across the Duddon Estuary lie the Lake District Fells. The sand dunes unfurl carpets of summer flowers before us, with changing species and patterns. When the sun is at its zenith the dune flora responds with a release of nectar and a wonderful herbal fragrance.

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Scout Scar: quaking grass with dropwort and scabious

20/6/2022

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Dropwort with quaking grass

'You should be on Scout Scar,' he said, meeting me by chance. He's a runner and it's a favourite location for him too. Neither of us should be in town on such a day.
There was bright sun with a hint of fair-weather cloud- perfect for photographing veils of flowering grasses and the flora of the cliff-edge. Quaking grass is tremulous and intricate. Dropwort has pink buds opening into white flowers. I found them intermingling, with yellow hawk-bit and a shower of quaking grass seed-heads against the sky, the hazy fells in the distance.

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Scout Scar in mid-June

17/6/2022

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Flowering grasses of the cliff-edge

The roe deer flew by me on a South West wind. He came out of nowhere, as if he had leapt up the cliff-face to alight by the hollow where I lay picturing flowers of grass against a blue sky. Momentary and magical. A buzzard mewed and raven soared on the wind.
This is the season of flowering grasses. Ox-eye daisies grow along the cliff-edge and the wind shook the flowers of quaking grass to and fro about their white petals. Lingering in my mind's-eye, the fleeting moment of roe deer, the wind-trembled grass of the cliff-edge.
At this season the flora of the Scout Scar escarpment is glorious, and fast-changing. Fragrant white bed-straw and purple thyme mingle with common rock rose. Hoary rock rose has seeded, and vanished. The deep pink buds of dropwort open into a froth of white flowers. Squinancywort appears, its white petals streaked with pink.

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Foulshaw Moss with redpoll, siskin, tree sparrow, reed bunting, and water rail

13/6/2022

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Male redpoll with red forecrown and breast

In spring and summer I hear and glimpse redpoll in flight whenever I walk on Scout Scar. Groups of them flit amongst the scrub and small trees, rarely settling.
To study them, I come to Foulshaw Moss and immerse myself in the experience. We settle into the hide and wait quietly. A great spotted woodpecker calls, a brood has left the nest this morning. One appears on the far side of a feeder, only the tip of his head and tail visible. Redpoll feed, heads dipped into the feeders and backs toward us.

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Fly Orchid, Ophrys Insectifera

11/6/2022

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Looking up into a fly orchid, worm's-eye view

What you'll first see when you find fly orchid is several dark flowers on a slender spike. Flowers are deep violet-brown, the sepals green, the plant tiny. It's found on calcareous soils sometimes in the shade of trees on rough, grassy ground.
Fly Orchid, Ophrys Insectifera. 'The fly orchid relies solely on insect pollination, so it mimics an insect in appearance and emits pheromones to lure the male into thinking he’s found a female. Trying to mate with the flower, he transfers pollen in pseudocopulation.' Cumbrian Contrasts. Lie on the ground and look closely into the flower and you'll begin to see how interesting it is. Fly orchid mimics an insect, specifically the female Gorytes wasp. I haven't seen a fly orchid being pollinated and wouldn't recognise the Gorytes wasp.

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June Flora on Scout Scar, with Fly Orchid

7/6/2022

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The Lyth Valley from Scout Scar escarpment

Below Scout Scar escarpment, down in the Lyth Valley. the farmer is taking a crop of grass for haylage. Patterns appear as he works and, from the cliff-top, I look out across a patchwork of pastures in shades of summer. Rain is forecast for tonight so there's a sense of urgency.
The cliff-top is at its loveliest at this season, the first week in June. Hoary rock rose is its speciality, abundant on the rock-face, its lemon flowers only opening to bright sunlight. Common rock rose lasts longer and is scattered more widely over the escarpment.

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Sandscale Haws at the summer solstice

Scout Scar: quaking grass with dropwort and scabious

Scout Scar in mid-June

Foulshaw Moss with redpoll, siskin, tree sparrow, reed bunting, and water rail

Fly Orchid, Ophrys Insectifera

June Flora on Scout Scar, with Fly Orchid

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