Whitebeam, the white tree Whitebeam might seem to be a mass of flowers but its illusory. Not flowers but tulip-like leaf buds show the white undersides of leaves. Whitebeam, the white tree.
The ground cracks with drought but it's a glorious day, the season of hope and beneath this tree and all along the escarpment hopeful saplings come into leaf, slivers of would-be rowan and whitebeam that may come to nothing on such stony ground, on the exposed escarpment.
The ground cracks with drought but it's a glorious day, the season of hope and beneath this tree and all along the escarpment hopeful saplings come into leaf, slivers of would-be rowan and whitebeam that may come to nothing on such stony ground, on the exposed escarpment.
There was a time, not so long ago, when I challenged myself to photograph cuckoo each spring. And succeeded. As numbers decline I search and search to glimpse or even hear one, and I know where to look, I know their territory. It's so quiet up on Scout Scar, there's so little birdsong. I hear green woodpecker and redpoll but no linnet. Skylark are singing and I come upon two stonechat territories. Off-piste and walking across limestone clitter, I hear their warning calls and find myself encircled, the bird flits from one cluster of shrubs to another. Seeing me off, so it hopes. But I love stonechat so I linger to look and listen.
In early May I always find redstart singing from display perches along the escarpment edge. Today, I hear several but cannot see them. Last May, I was up here delighting in the beauty of the place. Then on 12th June Brisgteer Bridge was closed and all about Scout Scar was out of reach. It is impossible to tell the sense of loss. So from the reopening on 1st February everything feels so much more precious.
Scout Scar escarpment becomes the loveliest rock-garden in early May. The very edge of the cliff and the rock-face are adorned with yellow flowers. This limestone cliff faces west, south-west and now it's in full sun so the Hoary rock-rose, a speciality, opens its petals full-wide. The vista from the escarpment is spectacular so the linear walk is popular. But the sheer drop and the wavering nature of the cliff-edge protects it. Redstart sense they're safe nesting directly below the cliff and no-one treads on these delicate flowers. There are early purple orchids but this is the season of yellow. Different species pop up every day, fresh and new. The pale flowers of Hoary Rock Rose that cannot bear competition and appear only in this niche habitat. Common Rock Rose comes a little later, abundant widely dispersed. There's Horse-shoe vetch, Bird's Foot Trefoil and the first of the hawkweeds, hawkbit, hawksbeard.
In seeking to highlight the flora and wildlife of Scout Scar I distort the experience. I see walkers some twenty yards from the cliff-edge and I know they're seeing none of these flowers, nor are they aware of the singing redstart. Today, vistas are spectacular. The flowers of this limestone grassland, the flowers at our feet, can be tiny and inconspicuous. Mountain everlasting is specific to this geology and comparatively rare. You'd have to be down on your knees to see the detail of the exquisite Milkwort.
I puzzle over finding no flower-buds on Whitebeam. And I cannot find any of the pineapple like rosy flowers on Larch this year. Sometimes, trees are lavish in flower and fruit one year, the next year they seem to be taking a rest. Spring has been sunny, and dry, so flowers set-seed are over more quickly. And as the ground is so dry others are starved of water and slow to appear. Where is the refreshing rain? None in the forecast.
In seeking to highlight the flora and wildlife of Scout Scar I distort the experience. I see walkers some twenty yards from the cliff-edge and I know they're seeing none of these flowers, nor are they aware of the singing redstart. Today, vistas are spectacular. The flowers of this limestone grassland, the flowers at our feet, can be tiny and inconspicuous. Mountain everlasting is specific to this geology and comparatively rare. You'd have to be down on your knees to see the detail of the exquisite Milkwort.
I puzzle over finding no flower-buds on Whitebeam. And I cannot find any of the pineapple like rosy flowers on Larch this year. Sometimes, trees are lavish in flower and fruit one year, the next year they seem to be taking a rest. Spring has been sunny, and dry, so flowers set-seed are over more quickly. And as the ground is so dry others are starved of water and slow to appear. Where is the refreshing rain? None in the forecast.
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