Bog myrtle catkin buds against an icy tarn In the darkness, a pair of tawny owls called until they were lost to the dawn chorus and the first glimmer of light.
From Rosthwaite, I climbed up through chilly shadows and into the sun as I approached Joppelty How. Clarity, with Bassenthwaite showing in the distance and streaks of snow on the northern fells. Heather habitat was the dominant motif of this walk, both on Brund Fell and around Dock Tarn. Frogspawn at the foot of a ladder stile. Not a good choice, Mrs Frog.
From Rosthwaite, I climbed up through chilly shadows and into the sun as I approached Joppelty How. Clarity, with Bassenthwaite showing in the distance and streaks of snow on the northern fells. Heather habitat was the dominant motif of this walk, both on Brund Fell and around Dock Tarn. Frogspawn at the foot of a ladder stile. Not a good choice, Mrs Frog.
Bog myrtle comes early into catkin and I didn’t intend to miss it. But my heart sank to find shrubs had been thoroughly browsed, new shoots and buds nipped off by sheep or deer. During a prolonged period of snow-cover this might have been their only food source. Toward Dock Tarn I found budding catkins but when should I return? The landscape was in winter colour although the oak wood below Lingy End was green with mosses and the first wood sorrel flowers appeared.
Homeward bound, via St Johns in the Vale, I stopped beside the beck to talk to a young farmer. They had bought a digger and were clearing mounds of rock and gravel, debris dumped during the flood of November 2009. The cost of moving it off the land proved prohibitive to farmers, and there were conflicts of interest in the clear-up. Closer to the farm, sections of the bank of St John’s Beck had collapsed with a build-up of gravels and rock reaching under the bridge. They wanted to reclaim a hay meadow and to prevent major flooding in the future, but it’s a salmon river and he told me Natural England didn’t want it disturbed.
Saturday 17 April. In Iceland, Eyjafjallajokull began to erupt during March, and by 15th April eruptions were more forceful, with plumes of ash. This volcano erupted through an ice cap, and exploded to create silica particles dangerous to aircraft engines. Jet aircraft must fly at high altitude for maximum efficiency, they could fly neither above nor below the cloud of volcanic ash and in an emergency they must descend through the ash without the specialist equipment to detect it. So the skies over Europe were shut down and there was a profound peace. Gin-clear skies were predicted, and a light westerly breeze. Up on Joppelty How there was no sign of this plume of ash ejected to some 33,000 feet but already depositing a layer of fine material on the ground in Shetland.
During the week there had been high pressure with warm weather and days of sunlight. Bog myrtle grew thick about outcropping rock with catkins of warm gold, full of pollen and aromatic. The outer casing of the bud tinged them rosy-brown and there were deep pink flowers whilst the leaf buds bided their time. Exquisite bog myrtle catkins. A vole or mouse scurried into the cover of a tussock of winter-pale grass. A pair of goosander swam on Dock Tarn
Homeward bound, via St Johns in the Vale, I stopped beside the beck to talk to a young farmer. They had bought a digger and were clearing mounds of rock and gravel, debris dumped during the flood of November 2009. The cost of moving it off the land proved prohibitive to farmers, and there were conflicts of interest in the clear-up. Closer to the farm, sections of the bank of St John’s Beck had collapsed with a build-up of gravels and rock reaching under the bridge. They wanted to reclaim a hay meadow and to prevent major flooding in the future, but it’s a salmon river and he told me Natural England didn’t want it disturbed.
Saturday 17 April. In Iceland, Eyjafjallajokull began to erupt during March, and by 15th April eruptions were more forceful, with plumes of ash. This volcano erupted through an ice cap, and exploded to create silica particles dangerous to aircraft engines. Jet aircraft must fly at high altitude for maximum efficiency, they could fly neither above nor below the cloud of volcanic ash and in an emergency they must descend through the ash without the specialist equipment to detect it. So the skies over Europe were shut down and there was a profound peace. Gin-clear skies were predicted, and a light westerly breeze. Up on Joppelty How there was no sign of this plume of ash ejected to some 33,000 feet but already depositing a layer of fine material on the ground in Shetland.
During the week there had been high pressure with warm weather and days of sunlight. Bog myrtle grew thick about outcropping rock with catkins of warm gold, full of pollen and aromatic. The outer casing of the bud tinged them rosy-brown and there were deep pink flowers whilst the leaf buds bided their time. Exquisite bog myrtle catkins. A vole or mouse scurried into the cover of a tussock of winter-pale grass. A pair of goosander swam on Dock Tarn
Click on images to enlarge.
Bog myrtle is distinctive for its fragrance. And its catkins are one of the earliest flowers of the fells.
Bog myrtle is distinctive for its fragrance. And its catkins are one of the earliest flowers of the fells.
RSS Feed