I Love Arnside and Silverdale: April 2022

Monday, 18 April 2022

Rest of the Easter Weekend - Just local but lots happening (Nature Notes 15th April to 18th April 2022) Nice Moschatell Photos, New False Oxlip with 6 petals etc.

And check out more blogs at the bottom of the page.

So continuing over the Easter Weekend, I just had to get more and more exercise and what better than Slape Lane here in Burton, together with visits to local woodlands and checking out Lancelot Clark Storth. With bonusus of two Willow Warblers, two Chiffchaffs and at least one Blackcap and one Garden Warbler plus lots of Nutchatches...... the woodlands were "ALIVE"

The sun makes all the difference and gives you that extra! I had not gone long before I met up with the fabulous "Goldilocks" buttercups which unless you looked very careful could so easily be missed amongst the deepened backdrop of Lesser Celandine providing even more greens and yellows. I roughly surveyed the full area of Slape Lane and found a good split population at one third along and then again at the far end of the Lane by the crossroads, so there was not that much of it about. I had only just recently discovered these beauties right on my doorstep thanks to Richard. I took lots of photos over the coming days to try and highlight the features and profiles in readiness to make up a new page for my online "Flora of Hutton Roof", I think I have succeeded but you know how it goes, the photos are never quite good enough! but they will have to do for now.

Almost opposite on the same bridleway I found yet more Moschatel! perhaps 20 or so in the population. But just like someone said only a few days ago, once you find one population there is every chance you will find it everywhere. This was yet another population on the bridleway itself, but only the day before I managed to find a whopping 12ft diameter population within the mature woodland and they they lived happily side by side of the widespread Ground Ivy. I cant resist a photo even if I have taken the same thing a dozen times before (make that one hundred!). But I really do think that on this sitting perhaps I have got my best so far and soon I will move some of these over to my Moschatel pages.

Moschatel

Also in the bridleway banks were lots of fresh growing Greater Stitchwort and early leaves and their tendtrils of Bush Vetch soon to be budding up. Perhaps too early for Red Campion, Cleavers and lots and lots of Cows Parsley, Hogweed, on their way.

Soon arriving at one of the ancient woodlands, I needed to spend time checking out the many populations of pastel yellow primrose tucked in between the carpeted Wood Anemone interspersed with hiding Ground Ivy, never ever seen so much, the ground ivy seemed to be everywhere, but I had my eyes set on "the special one" today, and soon I was not to be disappointed with another special one looking up at me!..... the rare False Oxlip, the hybrid between the primrose and the cowslip (Primula x polyantha). Thats three I have found now in separate ancient woodland over the past two years, BUT I am confident I will not find another. This one today was even more special by having six (instead of five) lovely mid yellow coloured petals instead of five, but other than that as far as I could see everything was just how you would expect the hybrid to show, although if you was to be super picky and investigate and measure everything, there will be subtle differences I am sure. Here are a couple of photos showing the rarity.

False Oxlip (Primula x polyantha)

Unusual six petalled

False Oxlip (Primula x polyantha)

I found large areas of ancient woodland which were carpetted with Ground Ivy, in fact I am sure the area I found today just has to be the largest sector I have ever recorded covering some one hundred yards diameter approx.

Ground Ivy

Wood Anemone (blushing!)

I love to find Wood Anemone which are beautiful starlets! with some of them covering 2", but has the month progresses I usually can odd specimens which start to show a little mixed colour ranging from pinks to purples, this colour seems to frequent with age. I did find one showing in the carpet which had just started to get some of the pink (blushing.

Wood Anemone

Carpet of Wood Anemone

Just a little further along the bridleway and soon you notice some drop walls which also look as though they are horse jumps leading into some private woodland which from the view looks like being a bluebell wood in the making. Not far from hear is a stronghold for the beautiful "Water Avens" (Geum rivale) which with careful looking can be found in the sides. They are out now with just a few showing, but wait for another two to three weeks and you will if lucky see the most beautiful hybrid of the geums which hybridizes between both the Water and the Wood Avens and to which the yellow takes over the main colour of the dropped bellshapes. Absolutely stunning and cannot await for their arrival. The population here is good and there could well be up to 50 of the special hybrids.

Water Avens

Water Avens - main leaf

Soon entering Lancelot Clark Storth and checking out over in Pickles Wood new growth of 3" rosettes of the Herb Paris making their way through, also plenty of Sweet Woodruff and soon to be Bugle

ELM ?

I know little about trees but one intermediate sized tree just stopped me in my tracks it was beautiful, with a shade of green so special, I took photos and think it is a ELM but not sure just which sort, I think perhaps a hybrid and maybe belonging to the Dutch Elm family but thats only a guess. Here are a few photos:

A little further on hoping to find the early year Spring Sandwort, a good spot which always comes up trumps and yes I found just a single flower no more!

Spring Sandwort

Nationally a very rare plant, but well established on Hutton Roof with two or three thousand in total. Just here in Lancelot the numbers will be around the one hundred mark. I love the contrasting red anthers.

Blue Moor Grass

Its not just a good area for Spring Sandwort, but over the next month or two will be a stronghold for the Common Rock Rose and the Northern Brown Argus Butterfly, there will also be Spring Cinquefoil, Field Madder, Angular Solomons Seal, Lily of the Valley, Scarlet Pimpernell, Common Cow Wheat and the rare grasses of Birds Foot Sedge and lots and lots of Blue Moor Grass.

while here I though I would search for the Early Purple Orchids which were without doubt showing in very short supply this year, observations from two separate areas here in the bottom of Lancelot shown nil!

But my eye was immediately taken on this little posey of Rue Leaved Saxifrage, they are always something very special if you can actually manage to photograph them without the wind getting in the way.

Rue Leaved Saxifrage

Rest of the Easter Weekend 15th to 18th April 2022 which had Moschatel,

False Oxlip, Spring Sandwort, Rue Leaved Saxifrage

Recent blog: Polypodium Interjectum (Bifid examples) 16/02/22

Recent blog: Daphne Mezereone (9th Feb 2022) (4th Mar 2022)

Recent blog: Brantwood (1.2.22) (11th March 2022)

Recent blog -CHIFFCHAFFS OF BURTON 17th March 2022

CHECK OUT MORE BLOGS BELOW

If you want the most up to date blogs about birding and vismig and other stuff please click over this link:

Autumn Bird Migration over Burton in Kendal 2009, 2010, , 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021

Early movement and Spring Bird Migration over Burton In Kendal. 2020, 2021,

Monitoring our Swifts (Burton In Kendal - since 2010 - Check the summary for 2021 or any of the years previous histories.

Merlin chasing Skylark, yet Skylark evades capture by clever tactic

Notes on Lapwings (3rd March 2021) Demise (local 1960s onward) and also Winter Roosting on Factory Roofs in East Lancs between 1980s and 2000 see below the links:

Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) and Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)

Northern Greenland Wheatear (Oenanthe o. leucorrhoa)

Fieldfare numbers of Wintering Birds almost non existent Sth Cumbria

Money Spiders "ballooning"

Starlings

Brantwood, Coniston and its Ferns + Recent blog: Brantwood (1.2.22)

A Beech Mast Year

Chaffinch - large numbers overwintering/high beech mast yields

Crossbills (chicks in late December etc)

Redwing at roost (Birdy Brow-Kemple End)

Linnets - Extroadinary High numbers

Hutton Roof's Rinnentier (Rinnenkarren)