Common blue, Polyommatus Icarus mating A pair of common blue butterflies was mating- oblivious to walkers close-by on the track approaching Smardale Gill Viaduct. It's unusual to have a long and leisurely interlude in which to contemplate butterflies, bringing home a cache of images.
The flower-rich embankments are a butterfly sensation on a fine summer's day, as butterflies flit about the flowers, seeking nectar, claiming territory. Sometimes, their flight is so unpredictable-restless that a fleeting glimpse is all you see.
The flower-rich embankments are a butterfly sensation on a fine summer's day, as butterflies flit about the flowers, seeking nectar, claiming territory. Sometimes, their flight is so unpredictable-restless that a fleeting glimpse is all you see.
During the summer of 2014 I was writing Cumbrian Contrasts and my new book would include a chapter on Smardale. So I was eager to gather images. On 21st July, I took copious photographs of guelder rose with ripening fruit. It was four years before I had the image I wanted- a deep rose autumn leaf like a hand offering glossy berried. Coincidence is all. A rough and stormy autumn can strip leaves from the bushes before they colour.
Restharrow, Ononis repens, was flowering on a steep bank near the lime-kilns. There was wood cranesbill, Geraniium sylvaticum, and bloody cranesbill of magenta flowers.
We glimpsed a small skipper, its wings a flash of gold. Up onto Smardale Fell where the fossils of the limestone wall always attract me. As we descended toward Scandal Beck and the packhorse bridge another small skipper showed, nectaring on vetch. Two hasty images was all I had to ensure I had identified it correctly.
Beyond the bridge, we stopped to watch a colony of shiny green beetles clambering over stems of grass.
Restharrow, Ononis repens, was flowering on a steep bank near the lime-kilns. There was wood cranesbill, Geraniium sylvaticum, and bloody cranesbill of magenta flowers.
We glimpsed a small skipper, its wings a flash of gold. Up onto Smardale Fell where the fossils of the limestone wall always attract me. As we descended toward Scandal Beck and the packhorse bridge another small skipper showed, nectaring on vetch. Two hasty images was all I had to ensure I had identified it correctly.
Beyond the bridge, we stopped to watch a colony of shiny green beetles clambering over stems of grass.
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