Snippets of Wealth - Saturday 29th June 2019 - Dalton Crags, The Common - Thyme Leaved Sandwort, Green Spleenwort, Holly Fern etc

Asplenium scolopendrium variety (Click over to enlarge)

Photo: Dalton Crags on 29th June 2019

Today I led a small party up through Dalton Crags and we then entered and explored the Common whilst checking out both the Green Spleenworts together with our beautiful Holly Ferns.

We tried to record our butterflies which were quite prolific on account of all the good weather we are getting and we did manage to records 7 Painted Ladies, at least 10 of the large fritillaries of which we did manage to confirm 2 or 3 to be Dark Green Fritillaries, we also had 2 Small Pearl Bordered fritillaries of which one was well worn and faded. 1 Red Admiral, 4 Ringlets, 10 Small Heaths, 6 Meadow Browns and one very small Wall Brown which loved settling in the areas of the foundations for the Trig point itself. We were also lucky to record 2x Cinnabar moths and also a Brown Silver Lines Moth and a Latticed Heath Moth. 

Our birds were represented by Willow Warblers and young parties of birds as well, Garden Warblers, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a Green Woodpecker and noisy Redpolls. We also had a beautiful male Stonechat on view which was giving off his chacking alarm call. 

We did also check a couple of our Polygonatum odoratum (Angular Solomon's Seal) populations which have done OK but now they are finished they are being attacked with the beetle or fly which takes them down to a skeleton frame and leaves a sight similar to the look of 'filligree'.  It was mentioned that perhaps the flies responsible could well be Saw Flies.

 Arenaria serpyllifolia (Thyme Leaved Sandwort) Click over to enlarge

Photo: Dalton Crags 29th June 2019

I was gratefully told of a flower which goes by the name of Thyme Leaved Sandwort which was quite prominent midway along the main track which goes through the upper Dalton (or deforested) area. When I looked very close at the anthers I noticed they also had the pink tips just like you get with the Minuartia verna (Spring Sandwort), another species which does well on Hutton Roof and although nationally rare. 

Polygonatum odoratum (Angular Solomons Seal)

Photo: Hutton Roof 29th June 2019

shows flower turning into green berry

Strange aculeatum frond (Click over to enlarge)

Photo: Hutton Roof on 29th June 2019

 Hypericum montanum (Pale St John's Wort) Click over to enlarge

Photo:Dalton Crags on 29th June 2019

 Asplenium scolopendrium var marginatum (Click over to enlarge)

Photo: Dalton Crags 29th June 2019

Asplenium scolopendrium var: Ramosum - Click over to enlarge

Photo: Dalton Crags on 29th June 2019

Snippets of Wealth - Friday 28th June 2019 - Hutton Roof/Epipactis atrorubens/Dark Red Helleborine

Today I decided to check out some of the Orchids, one or two more had opened up and it was hard to photograph because of the sunshine, but I did manage one or two:

Snippets of Wealth - Thursday 27th June 2019 - Holme Stinted Pasture/Holme Park Fell High Brown Fritillaries/Dark Green Fritillaries and Ringlets etc

Dark Green Fritillary (Click over to enlarge)

Photo take on Hutton Roof.

Yes I decided today with being so nice weather to do some High Brown Fritillary and general butterfly watching over on Holme Stinted Pastures and Holme Park Fell. Not to be disappointed there were lots on offer, but they were so flitty and never landed for more than 5 seconds at a time, I had:

19 of the Large Fritillaries, at least 1 confirmed High Brown but sure there were more and at least 1 Dark Green, 3 Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries, 4 Small Heaths, 4 Ringlets, 9 Meadow Browns, 2 Chimney Sweeper Moths. And 7 Painted Ladys, 1 Red Admiral, 1 Large White.

Bullfinch calling, several Willow Warblers and Garden Warblers, 1 Chiffchaff, also lots of young bird parties.

Forgot to mention yesterday I had a young Cuckoo on the telephone wires whilst travelling up the Clawthorpe Road, could not stop so did not find out what the host bird was!

High Brown Fritillary photos taken today 27th June 2019

Photos: Holme Stinted Pastures

sorry they are distant photos but that's how it was, although if you enlarge the top photo you will see the red banding, and red spots, forewing indentation etc.

A Dark Green Fritillary (Click over to enlarge)

Photos: Holme Stinted Pastures

Here is a photo of the more common Dark Green Fritillary again feeding on bramble

Snippets of Wealth - Wednesday 26th June 2019 - Hutton Roof/Dark Red Helleborines/Dark Green and High Brown Fritillaries/Holme Stinted Pastures

Our first atrorubens of the year........

Epipactis atrorubens (Dark Red Helleborine) Click over to enlarge

This was the first one I found so far in almost full flower. A lovely specimen showing much varietal form of 'bicolor' eg both red and yellow

Epipactis atrorubens (Dark Red Helleborine) Click over to enlarge

This was the first one I found so far in almost full flower. A lovely specimen showing much varietal form of 'bicolor' eg both red and yellow

Epipactis atrorubens Click over to enlarge

This is Specimen No.13a and is a member of the Specimen No.13 family. The main No.13 lies only a short distance away. Only two flowers have yet opened although you can see both are already showing the 'bicolor'

Epipactis atrorubens Click over to enlarge

This is Specimen No.13a and is a member of the Specimen No.13 family. The main No.13 lies only a short distance away. Only two flowers have yet opened although you can see both are already showing the 'bicolor'

We checked the orchid areas making sure everything was OK, and it was great to see we had one plant in almost full flower and another one with flowers just starting to open up, but the majority will be at least one week to ten days away. 

Nearly forgot had a young Cuckoo on the lines

Also some nice butterflies seen which included: 5 Painted Ladies, 2 Small Heaths, 1 Dark Green Fritillary, a couple of Ringlets and Meadow Browns. A couple of Speckled Woods.

Speckled Wood Butterflies (Click over photo to enlarge)
Photo: Hutton Roof 26th June 2019
Two well worn Speckled Woods.

****************************************************************

Later moved over to Holme Stinted Pastures and then up on Holme Park Fell.  There were lots and lots of beautiful butterflies especially the large Fritillaries including at least 11 fritillaries, unable to identify because they were so flitty.

I met a old butterfly friend doing the circuit (and he had already had a High Brown), also a further two gentlemen getting photos of butterflies, and one of the guys showed me a lovely photo he had just taken of a High Brown which showed the red spots clearly on the underwing and the minimal dot on the forewing.  Also I had 4 Small Heaths, 2 Common Blues, 1 Meadow Brown, 2 Ringlet and 2 Dingy Skippers.

Lots of variety within the Common Spotted Orchids
Photos: Holme Park Fell on 26th June 2019

Snippets of Wealth - Saturday 22nd June 2019 - Limestone/Heath Bedstraw/Holly Ferns/Common Vetch/Wild Strawberry

Top: Galium sterneri (Limestone Bedstraw) versus Bottom: Galium saxatile (Heath Bedstraw)
Click over to enlarge

Top: Galium sterneri (Limestone Bedstraw), bottom is Galium saxatile (Heath Bedstraw)
Click over to enlarge

On Hutton Roof we have both Galium sterneri (Limestone Bedstraw) and Galium saxatile (Heath Bedstraw) and although the Galium sterneri (Limestone Bedstraw) is a much rarer plant nationally, here it remains the commoner of the two.  The reasons are the Galium sterneri (Limestone Bedstraw) is found more or less throughout the full 100 hectares of Hutton Roof, whilst the Galium saxatile (Heath Bedstraw) although found in much more larger density and matt forming quantities it remains to be found only in areas of open heathland just like we have got at the Trig Point, Ploverlands and Uberash roughs.

It can sometimes be difficult to tell which are which at first glance and therefore you need to check them close up by using a small hand lens.

You can tell by the shape of the leaf, but the conclusive can be by seeing which way the bristles on the edges of the leaves are pointing eg: Bristles going backwards and point to the stem are Galium sterneri (Limestone Bedstraw), whilst bristles going forwards are Galium saxatile (Heath Bedstraw).  Please enlarge the above photos to see the examples.

Galium saxatile (Heath Bedstraw) (Click over to enlarge)

I had all the regular bird species today including several, Garden Warblers, Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Linnets, Green Woodpecker, also Stonechat in Dalton Crags. Also breeding Redpoll at both Trig Point and also on Uberash. Also Tree Pipits.

Butterfly species were really good today with my first large Fritillaries x2 not sure whether they were Dark Greens or High Browns in Lancelot Clark Storth, also had Large Skippers x2 in Dalton Crags, 2xPainted Ladies in Lancelot, also Speckled Woods and 23 Small Heath and 1 Common Blue, also had Small Pearl Bordered butterflies x2.

On setting out today I wanted to check out the Vicia sativa (Common Vetch) which we have some nice examples within Plain Quarry, they are such a beautiful species but rather short lived in my opinion. 

They are now seeding and have gone into seed pods which you can see in the next photo. 

Vicia sativa (Common vetch)

Photo: 22nd June 2019

Showing going to seed with pods

Wild Strawberries are at their best now especially in Dalton Crags with good yields throughout. I did manage the following photo which shows you just how many can be present in a square metre!

Fragaria vesca (Wild Strawberries) at Dalton Crags on 22nd June 2019

Polystitchum lonchitis (Holly Fern) No. 1

Photo: Hutton Roof on 22nd June 2019

Polystitchum lonchitis (Holly Fern) No. 2

Photo: Hutton Roof on 22nd June 2019

Both our precious Polystitchum lonchitis (Holly Ferns) are at their best now and seem to be doing well.  No.1 is by far the stronger specimen, yet No.2 although a far less strong specimen does have the added interest of their being it's cousin the aculeatum growing alongside it and maybe one day a 'Ilyricum' hybrid might just appear closeby....

This is such an interesting frond in my opinion (Click over to enlarge)

especially with the wide gaps between the rows of pinnae

Photo: 22nd June 2019 Hutton Roof.

Arenaria serpyllifolia (Thyme Leaved Sandwort) (Click over to enlarge_

Photo: Hutton Roof on 22nd June 2017

Photo: Hutton Roof on 22nd June 2019

Snippets of Wealth - Thursday 20th June 20129 - Hutton Roof - Dark Red Helleborine/Peacock butterfly/Angular Solomons Seal/Epipactis Atrorubens/Painted Lady Butterfly

Peacock butterfly full grown larvae on Stinging nettles (Click over to enlarge)

Photo: Hutton Roof on 20th June 2019

At this time of year I find it of interest to check out any stinging nettle that maybe bordering fields because as a rule I will probably see evidence of the Peacock Butterfly or I should say the Peacock's larvae like here in this photo. I have seen this both at the Plain Quarry car park and also in fields close to the Clawthorpe Road. It's just the right time for the full grown larvae and we should start to see their butterflies from late July and through August..

Its lovely to see the emergence of Wild Thyme and I expect to soon start seeing the Dark Green Fritillaries taking advantage of the crop

Tymus polytrichus (Wild Thyme)

Photo: Hutton Roof on 20th June 2019

Although quite windy today, it's kept fine and I have been able to see one or two butterflies. It was nice to see a couple of Painted Lady's together in Lancelot Clark Storth, I did manage a sort of photo. I have seen a lot of these flying about over this week and wondering if they have had one of their special (every few years) mass migrations! if they have I have not noticed it.

Several years ago whilst with a late friend we witnessed the mass migration going over the Beetham Caravan Park when we saw hundreds of them heading North with odd individuals going through at the rate of one per every two minutes or so and flying at a low down 25-30ft height. It was great to see.  It's spot on with the timing for them, let me try and explain.

I remember many years ago whilst in Minorca, it was May 8th, its easy to remember because it's the wife's birthday, when thousands upon thousands of them I witnessed crossing passed us in groups of 20 plus some were hitting the gable end of the villa with such a clout, you think they would have killed themselves, but no, they just dropped a little whilst they adjusted their routing and set off again but this time much higher to clear the building.  We also watched them coming in off the sea in hundreds.  Sadly lots were road casualties all over the place, it was sad, but I guess on the amounts coming through the casualties were probably minimal by ratio. They had arrived here from the Atlas Mountains and were passing through here on their way to France. This huge passage must have involved millions if not billions and lasted over a couple of days. It was said that by early to mid June they would have reached Britain and sure enough they had.

Also 2 Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries having a quick chase before heading their separate ways.

Also had Tree Pipit, Garden Warbler, several Willow Warblers, a couple of Chiffchaffs, a pair of Mistle Thrush, Marsh Tits

Found some more Lily Of The Valley, and I checked on some of our regular Polygonatum odoratum (Angular Solomon's Seal), of interest is how the plants get attacked every year without fail a beetle munches into it and you can see the holes it leaves, but eventually it will take it down to a skeleton or frame just like "filigree".  Here are a couple of photos to show you how it starts off....

 Polygonatum odoratum (Angular Solomon's Seal)

Photo: Lancelot Clark Storth (CWT) on 20th June 2019

  Polygonatum odoratum (Angular Solomon's Seal)

Photo: Lancelot Clark Storth (CWT) on 20th June 2019

 Polygonatum odoratum (Angular Solomon's Seal)

Photo: Lancelot Clark Storth (CWT) on 20th June 2019

Our orchids are just about holding on this year and it will be very interesting just to see how things are going to turn out, but again today I have found out that we have lost my very first Schmalhauseneii hybrid Specimen No. 1 which has given up the ghost and not even tried to come through.  Although considering it has completed 6 previous years I guess we cannot complain, because hybrids I have noticed rarely get passed this age anyway and the stronger plants like hybrids etc are prone to problems especially after severe drought situations. 

Here is a couple of shots for you of one of our atrorubens coming on nicely

Snippets of Wealth - Tuesday 18th June 2019 - Holme Stinted Pastures and Holme Park Fell.

It was my intention today to check out the rare hybrid orchids which we have had in the past near to the top of Holme Stinted Pastures, but I was quickly disappointed to find that most of the specimens have already been nibbled off before they have had chance to show.  Also the nearby population of Adders Tongue ferns have also had 99% of all their spikes nibbled as well. I am not totally surprised having noticed the cattle all over this area more recently.

All's not lost, they had missed just one, a very small specimen which I have managed to get a photo of and shown below:

I am not sure just what this orchid is? for my money I would consider it to be a hybrid and would think perhaps Northern Marsh Orchid played a part, but never sure with these.

The area does lend itself to Common Spotted Orchid, but other than that I have never noticed any main colonies of anything else in the area, although last year I did have some stunning hybrid varieties and there were only a couple of cattle present.  If you want to check these stunners from last year why not click on the following link:- 

https://epipactisatrorubens.blogspot.com/2019/01/common-spotted-orchid.html

Also today I did have a couple of nice orchids which I think maybe Common Spotted Orchids shown below

Yesterday was also good for the occasional butterfly and it was lovely to have a Painted Lady although well worn which did allow me to take a photo, besides that I had a Small Heath butterfly and a Common Blue male butterfly and the moths were not left out either with a new for the year appearance of the Chimney Sweeper Moth and also a Cinnabar.

Painted Lady butterfly

The flowers were also doing OK today with the fresh emergence of Asperula cynanchica (Squinancywort) and also some Hypericum pulchrum (Slender St. Johns Wort), the Galium sterneri (Limestone Bedstraw) is doing well.

Todays birds included several Garden Warblers, 2 Blackcaps, 3 Willow Warblers and 2 Chiffchaffs.

Hypericum pulchrum - (Slender St. John's Wort)
Photo: Holme Stinted Pastures 18th June 2019

Ophioglossum vulgatum - (Adders Tongue Fern)
Photo: Holme Stinted Pastures on 18th June 2019
95% of the Adders Tongue had been cattle grazed just like this one above, but thankfully we did have at least one survivor (shown below)

Ophioglossum vulgatum - (Adders Tongue Fern)
Photo: Holme Stinted Pastures on 18th June 2019

Asperula cynanchica  - (Squinancywort)
Holme Stinted Pastures on 18th June 2019
Top photo: collective and bottom photo shows creeping nature

 Veronica serpyllifolia (Thyme Leaved Speedwell)
Photo: Holme Stinted Pastures on 18th June 2019 

 Veronica serpyllifolia (Thyme Leaved Speedwell)
Photo: Holme Stinted Pastures on 18th June 2019 

Veronica serpyllifolia (Thyme Leaved Speedwell)
Photo: Holme Stinted Pastures on 18th June 2019 

Veronica serpyllifolia (Thyme Leaved Speedwell)
Photo: Holme Stinted Pastures on 18th June 2019