Back On Home Territory

After a couple of days walking and flower spotting on limestone country, today we returned to a walk from home. There are so many variations on the walk from Coniston to Tarn Hows it would be impossible to grow tired of it. Then of course, at this tome of year with all of the wild flowers coming out, the idea of getting tired of this walk could never be a consideration. We counted 41 different species of wild flower on our walk today, here are some of the images from that walk.

A welsh poppy growing on Shepherd's Bridge.

A lot of gorse around on the walk up to Guards Wood.

There's been some clearing / coppicing on the north eastern edge of the woods, but lots of replanting of hardwoods too.

Looking down to Boon Crag and the lake.

Bluebells in the woods above Boon Crag.

The Gondola starting its first trip of the day.

Tarn Hows Cottage.

Tarn Hows.

Cowslips don't usually appear around here, so I think someone must have planted this one, but it is flourishing.

Yewdale Woods.

Silverdale.... Green Winged Orchids

There is a field near the centre of Silverdale that is called Post Office Lots. It is managed by the National Trust and at this time of year has a magnificent colony of Green Winged Orchids. Here are some of the images I took there today.

These are Early Purple Orchids which also grow there in great numbers.

Early Purple Orchid.

Green Winged Orchid 

Green Winged Orchid

All the remaining images are of the Green Winged Orchid.

Warton Cragg, Near Silverdale, Lancashire.

The area around Arnside & Silverdale is a very special one, with numerous nature reserves protecting rare plants and animals. The walks are always enjoyable, but at this time of year, when the woods and limestone pavements are in full bloom, they are spectacular. These are some of the images I captured on Warton Crag during our walk there today.

Lots of Early Purple Orchids in evidence.

Lots of Bluebells too.

This particular Early Purple stood 18 inches high.

There are rare butterflies on Warton Crag, but the only one I managed to photograph today was this Speckled Wood.

Orchid amongst the bluebells.

Also, Cowslip amongst the bluebells.

An unusual False Oxlip. A hybrid of the Primrose and Cowslip.

The top of Warton Crag with it's beacon and triangulation point.

On the way down through the wood we were lucky to see this roe buck. Look closely and you will see he has a nice set of antlers.