Park End Moss, the Lyth Valley
 Sow thistle sparkling with raindrops Atlantic lows dominate the week's weather, with rain never far off. Downpours and moments of respite when sunlight sets raindrops sparkling, confers colour. Raindrops poised as if defying gravity, ephemeral. To slip and slide, to be lost.
This sow-thistle holds raindrops and, I think, looks particularly attractive when the sun illuminates its beetroot -red umbrellla-leaves. A few bees are nectaring amongst the drenched flowers of willow-herb.  Looking north approaching Queens Road A skyscape livid and brilliant, bruised and louring clouds etched with silvery light. A week of Atlantic lows with sudden downpours. A morning walk along Queens Road gave dramatic light. Turn you back on the road and there are vistas over pasture and old orchards, to the fells.
 Stair-rods during a downpour Rain came down in stair-rods. If I'd thought we might find some shelter beneath the trees I was mistaken. Waterproofs were useless, we were quickly drenched. Hail stones struck the water of the lake and pitted its surface in splashes. Veils of rain fell over the castle. We leaned against walls and tree-trunks but the rain penetrated. We might shelter in the stone gazebo at the end of the raised walk-way above the lawns. During moments of respite we sloshed through the grass around the lake and a up to the terrace with its herbaceous border and bunches of grapes, to the gazebo.
 White wings dance through summer flowers, ethereal and elusive. Whites come early and are everywhere. In the walled kitchen garden brassicae swarm with caterpillars in a trail of frass. Pieris brassicae, the Large White and Pieris rapae, the Small white. Gardeners hope to harvest cabbages for the kitchen, tempting butterflies to choose nasturtiums for their caterpillars' food-plant. Visitors delight in butterflies and unless you grow brassica it's unusual to watch caterpillars munching the leaves so they are something of a novelty.
 Brimstone, resembling a leaf in wing-shape and venation White butterflies seem plentiful this summer. I've neglected them in favour of butterflies more striking and less familiar. Seeing a flutter of white wings over The Ghyll buddleia passers-by name them Cabbage whites and go their way. Rose hips and blackberries are ripening, buddleia flowers are fading, it's 26 degrees by mid-afternoon and butterflies keep coming. Mostly whites, but which whites?
On a short-cut by the buddleia track I glimpse a pale butterfly and stop in my tracks. It's the first brimstone I've seen on these flowers whose butterflies I've been studying.  Gatekeeper A cloud of white butterflies flitted over the garden. I wish, like Patrick Barkham, a gatekeeper had been amongst them. I'm pleased to have seen one recently at Arnside Knott.
The range of species I've recorded locally at The Ghyll recently is surprising. I have not previously seen Comma and Painted lady so close to home and I'd love them to visit the garden too. They pop-up on a Buddleia bush at The Ghyll but I wonder about the flight-paths hereabouts, and how they connect as butterfly rides- or are there obstacles that bar their way?  Hemp agrimony and a view to the Kent estuary A drift of hemp agrimony is a nectar source for several species of butterflies we seek. Saturday 3rd August is sunny and bright with named storm Floris scheduled to arrive on Monday, bringing unusually high winds for this season, and significant rain. So the chance of seeing High Brown Fritillary, Brown Hairstreak and possibly Purple Hairstreak has attracted ecologists and butterfly enthusiasts. Between us we should find them if they show, if they're here. Some populations have a tenuous hold at Arnside Knott.
 Meadow cranesbill and panorama Smardale pastoral and a panorama of fells lies beyond floral embankments along the disused railway track. Layers upon layers of history are all about us at Smardale. Its pattern of flora and fauna is familiar, and dynamic. Impossible to predict what we'll find this July.
Wayside flowers are wet from recent showers but the morning grows brighter and warmer. White butterflies are on the wing, then meadow brown. There are drifts of great burnet, meadow cranesbill and willowherbs.  Comma and spider with prey What's in a name? The sylvan experience isn't about taxonomy- I remind myself. The essence of life is dynamic, the pulse and rhythm of the place. A Red Admiral settles on my shoulder, a Silver Washed Fritillary comes close- and all the while there are insects on the wing, delving flowers and fluttering through the herb layer.
I follow the flight of a Comma and my camera discovers a strand of spider silk that seems to run from its wings, through shadows that reveal the spider and morsels of its prey. Here's an arachnid hunting-ground. Hemp Agrimony is in full bloom and attracts various insects seeking nectar. The wood is full of surprises and it's best to go there ready for anything.  Close-up of Frog Orchid Careful! Don't tread on this delicate flower. It's so small you may not see a cluster of tiny frog orchid growing in short turf beside the path. It took us some searching to find it and I knew where to look from previous years. And this image isn't what I saw- my camera sees differently.
A small cluster of Frog Orchid intermixed with Red Clover and at a glance the two species looked similar. Some of the clover was fading and browned-off. My impression of Frog Orchid is of olive-brown flowers with merely a hint of pink- resembling a flower that had bloomed and was spent.  Comma on Buddleia Studying butterflies, I'm drawn into the rhythm and pulse of their lives. I fine-tune to sense the weather that draws them forth- temperature and humidity, sun and at most a light breeze. The instant cloud veils the sun, they're gone. Returning as the sun returns, often to the same flower. I am immersed in butterflies and bees and hoverflies jostling amongst the flowers.
Some years, I've had no more than a Comma at a distance and an indifferent image. Today. Comma settle on flowers at my feet, and within touching distance. And I follow the butterfly as it nectars on Buddleia. |
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