Looking north from Scout Scar escarpment on Christmas Eve
From Christmas Eve to New Year's Eve there was fair weather, most welcome after a the rains of November and early December. On the night of 27th December a cold and starry night was followed by a light ground frost next day. Fair weather, but the light was different on each day- as this photographic sequence shows.
So close to the shortest day the sun is low in the sky. Walk south and the sun dazzles. The moment it dips below the horizon the Scout Scar ridge is cast into gloom and light is gone by early afternoon.
So close to the shortest day the sun is low in the sky. Walk south and the sun dazzles. The moment it dips below the horizon the Scout Scar ridge is cast into gloom and light is gone by early afternoon.
Christmas Day saw bright sun although a dark mass of cloud, edged with brilliance, hung over Morecambe Bay and cast deep shadow on the Scout Scar ridge. The distant fells were floodlit, a play of golden fell and shadows. The Langdale Pikes look mysterious. The nearer, lower fells sunlit gold and winter trees etched on gold.
The day brought forth a host of walkers and dogs- often off leads sometimes distant from their owner. This intensity of recreational disturbance impacts on wildlife and it's one of the factors why Scout Scar today is a different experience from when I wrote About Scout Scar twenty years ago. I saw a sole buzzard this Christmas. No kestrel, no fieldfare, no redwing.
The day brought forth a host of walkers and dogs- often off leads sometimes distant from their owner. This intensity of recreational disturbance impacts on wildlife and it's one of the factors why Scout Scar today is a different experience from when I wrote About Scout Scar twenty years ago. I saw a sole buzzard this Christmas. No kestrel, no fieldfare, no redwing.
28th December
The fells were hidden in mist and low cloud. I love the muted colours of winter woods and birch trees are always distinctive with their amethyst hue. Younger trees and new growth show deep red-brown bark that colours the trees. The downy birch sequence shows scars where new branches appear and catkins only show on more mature trees.
The fells were hidden in mist and low cloud. I love the muted colours of winter woods and birch trees are always distinctive with their amethyst hue. Younger trees and new growth show deep red-brown bark that colours the trees. The downy birch sequence shows scars where new branches appear and catkins only show on more mature trees.
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