Lake District, May, Day 4

Despite lying in bed listening to the dawn chorus, when we opened the blinds it was to a misty, foggy morning.  Fortunately the wind had dropped away completely and it was much warmer.  Whilst sorting the cameras out a call from Heather alerted me to the fact that a red kite was circling bove the caravan; totally unexpected and away from its normal range.  As the day went on the skies cleared and the temperature rose to 18C.  We waited until late morning for the weather to improve and then set out for Gait Barrows.  As we turned into the track leading to the car park we realised that we had driven past from Leighton Moss to Arnside on numerous occasions without realising it was there.  We looked forward to our first visit.  Setting out into the reserve my aim was to find The Duke, Duke of Burgundy butterlies and, perhaps, pearl bordered fritillary.  Fortunately we met two butterfly hunters who gave us directions to the colony as we would never have found them as they are off all the regular reserve trails.  When we reached the spot the were a few other people and so we were able to find them relatively easily.  Their habitat is roped off to protect these vulnerable, extremely rare and declining insects.  Although I had read up about them and knew they were tiny (common blue size), they were more difficult to spot than I expected as their orange chequered pattern allowed them to merge into the background unlike common blues.  When settled they were nearly impossible to see but they tend to keep fluttering up and then the trick is to see where they settle.  Fortunately we obtained some excellent close views.  There were three individuals in the spot we were in and, others nearby, possible half a dozen or ten all told.  I was pleased to get distant dingy skipper images too.

After finding our way back to the car, we headed for Arnside, thirsty and enjoyed our drinks sitting in the warm sun on the terrace of the Albion overlooking the Kent Estuary.  Bliss!  On returning to the site it was BBQ time and the weather remained warm enough to eat outside.  The nearly full Flower moon came up while there was still light in the sky and it looked beautiful.  Tomorrow morning, just before dawn not only is it full moon, it is also a total eclipse, but at the moment the weather is forecast to be cloudy but one never knows.  An excellent end to a fine day.

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Red Kite

Red Kite

Limestone pavement, Gait Barrows.

Hart's Tongue Fern

Hart's Tongue Fern

Brimstone

Brimstone

Brimstone

Dingy Skipper

Dingy Skipper

Dingy Skipper

Duke of Burgundy

Duke of Burgundy

Duke of Burgundy

Duke of Burgundy

Duke of Burgundy

Duke of Burgundy

Duke of Burgundy

Duke of Burgundy

Duke of Burgundy

The Flower Moon

Lake District, May, Day 3

Despite firmly crossing fingers last night we woke again to gloom, slight drizzle and a chill wind.  There seemed to be worse places to go than Holker Hall, somewhere we had been wanting to visit for some time so, mid morning, we set out.  We took the quickest satnav route to get there and were soon pulling into the car park.  We went round the house first, originally built in the 1600s.  The family wing is still the original building but what is now the guest wing was completely rebuilt in 1870 after being destroyed by fire.  We were interested to discover that the house and estate belongs to the Cavendish family, the same as Chatsworth.  However, in 1908 the then Duke of Devonshire split the estate and now different branches of the family live in the two houses.  We enjoyed our tour of the hall and then went for some excellent leek and potato soup for lunch in the courtyard café before setting off into the gardens, a mix of informal, formal and parkland.  We enjoyed the wild flower meadow complete with camassias, although it is yet to come into its prime.  There is a labyrinth designed to look like a stone circle and an interesting sundial shaped as a bowl with the needle in the bottom.  The formal part of the garden contained tulips looking their best, rhododendrons just coming into flower and azaleas, perhaps past their best.  There is also the Holker Lime a magnificent specimen 400 years old.  We decided to return to the site via Newby Bridge and Windermere and then up the road through Crook and past the Wild Boar Inn to which we must return for a meal before too long, maybe wedding anniversary time.

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Lake District, May, Day 2

Barely light, I lay in bed listening to blackbirds singing to each other around the site.  The liquid, bubbling notes of the nearest came the tree near the van.  This early, the many rabbits on the site were out feeding and were confiding.  It was cold out, though, with a chill wind, grey skies and 'spitting in the wind'!  Hopefully the day will improve.  Plans are to check out the green-winged orchids at Silverdale, lunch at Leighton Moss so we could buy some bird seed for the bird table.  Lastly we needed to go to Kendal for some essential shopping.

In the event the weather was so cold and gloomy that we decided to be lazy, have lunch and then go out.  In the fullness of time, full winter gear donned, we pulled up outside the new post office in the centre of Silverdale, gathered together camera and drawing equipment and set out.  We walked down the slope, past the old post office and through the narrow gate stile into Post Office Lots.  The first meadow was being grazed by cattle so contained no orchids.  Squeezing through another gate stile set in the limestone wall we were immediately among orchids.  The first swarm comprised mainly green-winged with some early purples well past their best, but it was blowing a hooley which made photography difficult.  Further down the field we could see another couple, also intent on orchids, disappear into a hollow so we decided to investigate.  Here were more orchids, this time all green-winged. Despite being cold and windy it was surprisingly bright so low ISO and high shutter speed were no problem.  This orchid, rare in the UK, is very similar to the more common early purple, the main difference being the lateral sepals (wings) marked with parallel greenish brown wings.  The leaves also have no purple blotches unlike the majority of early purple.  To find these beautiful flowers numbering in their hundreds, was a delight and so, job done, it was time to move.  Having had lunch at 'the unit' we just called in at Leighton Moss for bird seed and then called in at Booths in Milnthorpe rather than go into Kendal before retreating to the warmth of the van.  As the evening progressed the weather became increasingly gloomy until it was very definitely raining.  Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

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