Sandscale Haws Today is the summer solstice, the longest day. Sandscale Haws is the perfect place to celebrate with MIdsummer Day falling on 24th June.
Across the Duddon Estuary lie the Lake District Fells. The sand dunes unfurl carpets of summer flowers before us, with changing species and patterns. When the sun is at its zenith the dune flora responds with a release of nectar and a wonderful herbal fragrance.
Across the Duddon Estuary lie the Lake District Fells. The sand dunes unfurl carpets of summer flowers before us, with changing species and patterns. When the sun is at its zenith the dune flora responds with a release of nectar and a wonderful herbal fragrance.
At midsummer, Sandcale Haws appeals to the senses. In the sand dunes a whitethroat sings with skylark and meadow pipit. A stone chat calls and I hear grasshopper. With different flowers come sudden bursts of colour. Focus on a magenta pyramidal orchid and there's pink restharrow and yellow rattle in the weave. I kneel to breathe in the fragrance of lady's bedstraw and my knees sink in warm sand. Burnet rose has fragrant white flowers and hips of atro-rubens. The fragrance of white clover is sublime.
The dune-system is dynamic, constantly changing, and the floral diversity of Sandscale Haws is a delight and a challenge. We come upon goat's beard, Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon, Tragopogon pratensis with its parachute seed heads and green flanged flower buds. No sign of its yellow flower.
We see pyramidal orchid the moment we set forth but later we come upon clusters of them, with early marsh orchid and common spotted orchid. Somewhere, there are bee orchids but we do not find them. The National Trust species list reminds us how much there is to discover. Some eight years ago I came here on a field-trip and our guide was Neil Forbes, the National Trust's coastal ranger. He's an excellent naturalist with a comprehensive and detailed knowledge of this mosaic of habitats. He will know when and where the bee orchid flowers.
In reflecting on this midsummer day I look back upon previous visits and the micro-habitats where we saw the specialities of Sandscale Haws. We seek butterflies in vain. This is the June quiet time, between broods, so I await the butterflies that July might bring forth with eager anticipation.
The dune-system is dynamic, constantly changing, and the floral diversity of Sandscale Haws is a delight and a challenge. We come upon goat's beard, Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon, Tragopogon pratensis with its parachute seed heads and green flanged flower buds. No sign of its yellow flower.
We see pyramidal orchid the moment we set forth but later we come upon clusters of them, with early marsh orchid and common spotted orchid. Somewhere, there are bee orchids but we do not find them. The National Trust species list reminds us how much there is to discover. Some eight years ago I came here on a field-trip and our guide was Neil Forbes, the National Trust's coastal ranger. He's an excellent naturalist with a comprehensive and detailed knowledge of this mosaic of habitats. He will know when and where the bee orchid flowers.
In reflecting on this midsummer day I look back upon previous visits and the micro-habitats where we saw the specialities of Sandscale Haws. We seek butterflies in vain. This is the June quiet time, between broods, so I await the butterflies that July might bring forth with eager anticipation.
It's always a joy to come upon dune pansies. And there are the tiny flowers of eye-bright with yellow rattle- both are saprophytic, taking their nutrients from grasses and weakening them and so creating a more diverse flora. Yellow rattle has set-seed and we come upon a dune slack where it's dominant.
The challenge I set myself is how best to identify a bramble. ' Some 250 species, but numerous segregates and microspecies' writes botanist Marjorie Blamey in her Illustrated Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. I think it might be dewberry, rubus caesius. It is 'a low and sprawling shrub with slightly prickly stems.' Having taken a sequence of images I check the trifoliate leaf, bud and flower. A flora ID app suggested 'Himalayan Bramble' which seemed questionable.
Consulting two botanists/ ecologists Rubus pruinosus is suggested for the bramble showing below. The dune slacks at Sandscale Haws host a range of botanical challenges, like hybridisation. I asked my botanist expert her view on Apps for identification. Approach with caution, she suggested. She found them 'surprisingly accurate' but that's with an approach of low expectation. She had tried out three different apps and notes their American bias. She continues to rely on field-craft, close scrutiny and the key in a field guide. So, apps are not programmed for the complexities of a location like Sandscale Haws. Go with an expert botanist, she suggests. (is she free?). She or Neil Forbes could explain the micro-habitats of Sandscale Haws. Early marsh orchid on sand dunes! Although the dune slacks may flood in winter. And what is the PH of sand dunes? A glance at a pebble beach shows the range of geological specimens that fetch-up there.
Consulting two botanists/ ecologists Rubus pruinosus is suggested for the bramble showing below. The dune slacks at Sandscale Haws host a range of botanical challenges, like hybridisation. I asked my botanist expert her view on Apps for identification. Approach with caution, she suggested. She found them 'surprisingly accurate' but that's with an approach of low expectation. She had tried out three different apps and notes their American bias. She continues to rely on field-craft, close scrutiny and the key in a field guide. So, apps are not programmed for the complexities of a location like Sandscale Haws. Go with an expert botanist, she suggests. (is she free?). She or Neil Forbes could explain the micro-habitats of Sandscale Haws. Early marsh orchid on sand dunes! Although the dune slacks may flood in winter. And what is the PH of sand dunes? A glance at a pebble beach shows the range of geological specimens that fetch-up there.
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