Monday, July 20, 2015

Lady's Slippers, Dukes and a Ghost Deer.

In the north of England, on the borderland between Lancashire and Cumbria lies a hidden kingdom rich in strange wild creatures, exotic-looking butterflies and mythical plants. Known only to a few, but passed by many as they journey to the honeypot that is the Lake District. But if the weary traveller heading north to the land of mountains and lakes on the M6 were to accidentally leave the motorway a junction earlier they might discover this hidden land of reeds, mosses and limestone pavements and its abundant wildlife.
Most well-known in this fabulous land is the RSPB reserve of Leighton Moss with its secretive Bitterns, squealing Water Rails and gliding Marsh Harriers. But venture further down the narrow winding roads flanked by dry-stone walls and you will find other natural wonders.
My trip last May was to the Natural England reserve at Gait Barrows; an area of Carboniferous limestone pavement; rock formed before the great age of the dinosaurs. This beautiful area is home to scarce butterflies and some even scarcer plants. Not long ago the beautiful Lady's Slipper Orchid was on the verge of extinction in this country, so close that the only known site where it was found was a closely guarded secret; the site itself being closely guarded as well! But this beautiful plant has been part of a Species Recovery Programme and seedlings from the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew have been planted at various suitable locations, Gait Barrows being one of them.

Gait Barrows' limestone pavement (iPhone photo)
The footpath from the small car park was signposted with images of the orchid so finding them was a piece of cake. Although the first plants that I photographed were a cluster of Herb Paris, an unusual-looking plant that was used by medieval herbalists to ward off witches.

Herb Paris
I hardly saw a soul at this gem of a reserve never mind any witches, but that might have been due to the dull overcast conditions, or maybe everyone had gone to the Lake District that Saturday.
The Lady's Slipper Orchids were an amazing sight, their gaudy yellow "slippers" contrasting markedly with the claret-coloured petals and the dark green leaves. I took many (careful!) photographs and, I although |I know it is impossible to capture the true beauty of such a rare and exotic looking plant with a mere camera sensor, the images failed to do justice to these exquisite yet gaudy rarities. The clouds failed to clear and as I prefer natural light to flash I decided to visit nearby Foulshaw Moss and hope that the weather improved by the afternoon.
Retracing my steps along the footpath I heard the breathless song of a sylvia warbler, and was pleased to confirm what my ears were telling me when I glimpsed a Garden Warbler secreted in the centre of some bushes; its song being very similar to that of a Blackcap.

Garden Warbler
Fowlshaw Moss is an area of lowland raised peat bog and Cumbria Wildlife Trust are doing a sterling jobof restoring this habitat back to its former glory. They have introduced the rare White-faced Darter and Ospreys also nest on the reserve. From the raised boardwalk, with the aid of my 'scope I could see the two Osprey parents in trees near their nest. But what was that ghostly white shape moving through the reeds below the trees? Eventually the apparition moved into the open and revealed itself as a Red Deer, only it was white! I took a few distant record shots of this unusual animal. The warden later told me that this albino deer had been present in the area for a number of years and it had even shocked an unsuspecting motorist by dashing across the main A-road to Barrow; the driver thought he had seen a giant sheep!

Red Deer at Foulshaw

Willow Warbler


"Ghost" Deer
The day was brightening up so after photographing a confiding Willow Warbler, I returned to Gait Barrows to try and photograph the orchids again.
It was well worth the return visit as the sun was now shining and I managed some nice back-lit shots of the Lady's Slipper Orchids. Not only that, it was now warm enough for a few butterflies to emerge from their hiding places and tempt me to break out the macro lens.




Gait Barrows is home to some rare butterflies including the beautiful Duke of Burgundy, which was once thought to be a fritillary but most authorities now place it with a group of mainly neotropical butterflies called the metalmarks. All this is beside the point because the Duke is a stunning little butterfly, and even better a few were feeding on flowers right by the footpath. The areas of the reserve which contained their caterpillars' foodplants were roped off to avoid trampling, and rightly so. But the adults were no respecters of safety and flew jauntily over the tape and gaily flaunted their checkered upperwings at all passers-by.


The Duke
I also found another sadly-declining species hunkered down in the leaf litter, a gorgeous Pearl-bordered Fritillary. It is named after the seven "pearls" that edge the border of its underwing.


Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Pearl-bordered Fritillary's underwing
And after a fabulous day enjoying the stunning wildlife of the area I finished off by photographing a singing Chiffchaff against the now blue sky. A fairy-tale ending after all.

Chiffchaff






 

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Snowdon and Conway

In one week's time I will be taking part in the International Snowdon Mountain Race, a fell race that runs to the top Wales' highest mountain via the Llanberis path. Although I have competed in this race twice before I am not a pure fell runner and definitely need to train on the route, so last week I drove to beautiful Snowdonia and ran slowly to the summit.

View from the summit looking towards Llanberis (iPhone photo)
 
Despite it being a warm July morning there were not a lot of people on the mountain, which at times can be as busy as the proverbial Piccadilly Circus. The summit was shrouded in cloud so I had to pause for a few minutes to take a photograph, that's my excuse anyway! The run down was a breeze, and I was soon enjoying my picnic lunch overlooking the calm waters of Llyn Padarn.
I had a number of options planned for the afternoon, if I had been very warm I had planned a wild swim in the plunge pools on the Watkin Path, but the skies had become overcast and the temperature had plummeted from the mid-week record breaking highs. Likewise, looking for Silver-studded Blues on the Great Orme or Keeled Skimmers near Betws-y-coed were both dismissed due to the lack of sunshine. So I headed for Conway RSPB reserve which is often a good place for seeing Stoats.
By the time that I was pulling into the reserve carpark the wind had strengthened and rain was beginning to fall; not ideal conditions for watching wildlife. Undeterred, I strolled down the estuary path carefully watching for any signs of Stoat activity. The tide was in and there were plenty of waders roosting on the main reserve. From the hides I could see flocks of Oystercatchers and Redshanks waiting patiently for the tide to turn. A few Little Egrets were feeding on the pools; I remember when this bird was a real rarity. I travelled to Fford Bay near Caernarfon, not that far from Conway, in 1987 to see my first ever Little Egret, how times have changed.
I was not successful in my search for Stoats but an afternoon watching the birds was more than enough consolation.
 
Oystercatchers heading to the estuary


Shelduck (note the rain splashes on the lake)

Oystercatcher acquiring its white winter throat collar



 
 
And just to prove there are Stoats at this site, here are two photos that I took two years ago.
 
 

 
 

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

River Dee Meander

Last week the country experienced some of the hottest days since records began, well, down south at least. So I thought Saturday would be a good day to catch up with some insects on the River Dee in Cheshire.
I drove to Farndon  where the Dee forms the boundary between Wales and England. This area had proved very productive for insects such as the Banded Demoiselle in the past and I hoped to take some photographs of this delicate riparian species.
Unfortunately the weather was having other ideas as a strong breeze was blowing and the sunshine was intermittent to say the least. I struggled to find any damselflies and there were no dragonflies at all. I have seen the scarce Club-tailed Dragonfly at this site before but July is probably past the end of its flight period.
But there were a number of common butterflies on the wing including Small Tortoiseshells, Meadow Browns, Large Skippers and a solitary Red Admiral. I eventually found a few Banded Demoiselles but they were a bit elusive in the breezy and frequently dull conditions. Highlight of the walk was a Spotted Flycatcher with a beakfull of insects that perched on the top rail of a wooden gate; if only I had had my other lens on my camera and not my macro!

Meadow Brown


Large Skipper

Small Tortoiseshell

 
Male Banded Demoiselle


Female Banded Demoiselle