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Brigsteer Wood with Silver Washed Fritillary

21/7/2022

Flora at Park End Moss

In the extreme heat I thought upon butterflies, wondering if it suited them. I'll never know because 33 degrees didn't suit us and we couldn't face an uphill slog in full mid-afternoon sun on Tuesday 19th July.
After an overnight shower, Thursday was refreshing. Raindrops lingered on vegetation and the morning was still and warm. Young sparrowhawk were food-begging in the canopy, a heron flew over the catchwater. A dragonfly flew to and fro before us, otherwise all seemed quiet.

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Bittern at Leighton Moss RSPB

14/7/2022

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Great Crested Grebe

A bittern rose from the reed bed and flew before us, its legs trailing, the sun enhancing its ginger brown plumage. The interlude imprinted in my mind's-eye. In spring bittern were booming but I hadn't seen one for some years and this was a splendid sighting, seeming long and leisurely. Bittern are secretive with camouflage adapted to their reed-bed habitat so it's rare to see them. Young eels are part of the bittern diet and an RSPB conservation programme targets both species.

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Smardale flora in July

12/7/2022

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Scandal Beck, Smardale

'You should come every week to Smardale, no day is ever the same.' He's right, if only.
In a July heatwave 21 degrees was predicted for Cumbria. We drove through light rain and there was a fresh breeze on Smardale Fell where Bell Heather bloomed but Ling was in tight bud. I know a bank where Grass of Parnassus grows. We were too early but found Bird's-eye Primrose in its second flowering Swifts flew screeching over Scandal Beck and a heron came down beside the beck whose banks were thick with Meadowsweet.

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High Borrowdale with upland hay meadow and a gathering or two

4/7/2022

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HIgh Borrowdale hay meadow 4 July 2022

Borrowdale Beck and water-tracks draining off the fells bring music to the dale. Puddles along the track reflect a skyscape where rain is never far off and the sun spotlights a distant fell, for a moment.
Sand martins dart into nest-chambers in the steep bank of the beck, fewer than last summer. I hope their young have fledged and are on the wing. Borrowdale Beck is a tributary of the River Lune. This is Shap Borrowdale with Borrowdale Beck flowing beneath the Shap Road (A 6) at Huck's Bridge.

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Biodiversity of an upland hay meadow

4/7/2022

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Within the rich gold of an upland hay meadow there are subtleties of colour and structure. Two key plants ensure biodiversity, yellow rattle and eyebright. Both draw sustenance from grasses, tapping into their roots below ground in an invisible web. What we see is an intricate weave. I love the aesthetic and I focus on detail within the tangle, looking up into the flora of the hay meadow through a screen of grasses.
Here goes.

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Brigsteer Wood with Silver Washed Fritillary

Bittern at Leighton Moss RSPB

Smardale flora in July

High Borrowdale with upland hay meadow and a gathering or two

Biodiversity of an upland hay meadow

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