I Love Arnside and Silverdale: Snippets of Wealth - Tuesday 27th August 2019 - Dalton Crags

Tuesday, 27 August 2019

Snippets of Wealth - Tuesday 27th August 2019 - Dalton Crags - Hutton Roof Ploverlands

Painted Lady today in Dalton Crags

Photo: 27th August 2019 - Dalton Crags

Yes I do agree with friends - they have been saying all week that the Painted Ladies along with it's cousins Vanessa atalanta's (Red Admirals) have been constantly moving through South on their migration. I took special note this morning and reckon when I did have the chance to glance up the ladys were coming through regular at every 3 minute intervals or thereabouts.

One thing I did notice with the Vanessa specimens I had this morning was that the lovely fresh looking gingery brown specimens which were obviously recently hatched were busy on their foodplants and moving in all directions of the compass with casual and seemed quite at ease, yet the more aged or worn or lighter looking or insipid specimens were the ones on the go and all moving South with haste and appearing to give no attention whatsoever to any food sources which lay beneath them. Whether that's pure coincidence or whether that actually means something I am not sure, but that was certainly the situation.

It was brilliant also for the Wall Browns and there were lots of them on Ploverlands, even several pairs of them doing their fighting or fluttering in tandam or maybe even thats courting in butterfly terms! but whatever it is so good to see this species doing well yet again on Hutton Roof Common.

I was lucky enough also this morning to see the Small Copper, but just as I tried to take a photo off it went, but again another special on Ploverlands. Quite a good number of Small Tortoiseshells today and it's a real treat to see numbers getting "nearly" back to how they used to be in the 90s!

My main purpose today was to see just how the Ploverlands community of Gentianella amarella (Autumn Gentian) were fairing. It's never been the best place in the World for this species, yet I have always found a few to the East side of Ploverlands. I searched, and searched and searched and the situation appeared almost like I experienced on the Farleton side, but here today I never even had a single specimen. It makes me wonder now if last years failure has carried on through to this year as well. I think it may have something to do with the dryness in 2018 and the shortage of water, with similarities not too distinct with some of our precious loved orchids....... It's strange we are not getting the AG's when we are getting the Gentianella campestris (Field Gentians)

I did find a nice little sample of (Sagina procumbens) Procumbent Pearlwort.

A cracking morning for birds on the ground, but little to none on the move overhead, but in Dalton Crags had a single party of six Stonechats, a large party of 15 Linnet, Green Woodpecker x1, and a true bonus with Spotted Flycatchers x2, also a party of 6 Meadow Pipit and a couple of Swallow hawking the Crags. Even a noisy si-si-si-si calling party of Long Tailed Tits

On Ploverlands I had a contained party of 7 Blackbirds, some males and some females. When your a migration follower and you see a party of so many in a group on high places like this allsorts runs through your mind, thinking to yourselves where have they come from! but then I say to myself now come on settle down and get back to LOCAL....

A few photos of some nice things this morning...