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.
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.
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 to try to identify a bramble. ' Some 250 species, but numerous segregates and microspecies' writes botanist Marjorie Blamey. I think it's 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. I have one image where seed has set and green druplets show. I need to come back in September and if they're black with a whitish blue then dewberry it is. The flora of the sand dunes changes as summer advances so there's always more to come back for.
Consulting two botanists/ ecologists Rubus pruinosus is suggested for the bramble showing below. Initially, a flora ID App suggested Himalayan bramble which seemed to me doubtful. Is an programmed to location and habitat, for instance? The dune slacks at Sandscale Haws host a range of botanical challenges. In mid-June the sand is warm and dry but what is it like here in winter storms? There's nothing to compare with local knowledge and field-craft when it comes to an appreciation of Nature.
Consulting two botanists/ ecologists Rubus pruinosus is suggested for the bramble showing below. Initially, a flora ID App suggested Himalayan bramble which seemed to me doubtful. Is an programmed to location and habitat, for instance? The dune slacks at Sandscale Haws host a range of botanical challenges. In mid-June the sand is warm and dry but what is it like here in winter storms? There's nothing to compare with local knowledge and field-craft when it comes to an appreciation of Nature.
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