A meander down a ghyll.

In glorious sunshine, Tom - who is briefly back home, took a walk down Pow Gyll and the headwaters of the River Waver.

The River Waver. 

Top left: an iron rich tributary, bottom left: butterbur and wood anemone, top right, otter spraint and bottom right: otter footprints. 

Top left: trace fossil burrows and tracks in sandstone, bottom right: a palaeosol-coal-sandstone succession, top right: sandstone beds with asymmetrical ripples, middle right: coalified vegetation - likely calamites and bottom right: a possible fish vertebrae? 

Lino cut workshops

A great morning....really proud of the results! This was the first time I've led a lino workshop and I am pleased to say I remembered everything I should have taken ...everyone finished their lino cuts and printed them...

Yellow Whitlowgrass on Pennard Castle

Tom was luckily enough to see Yellow Whitlowgrass on Pennard Castle on the 30th March on his latest coastal walk. Yellow Whitlowgrass (Draba aizoides) is a small cress that only blooms nestled high on the rocky limestone cliffs of south Gower. This restricted habitat is due to it being a relic of the last ice-age where it escaped UK extinction by a hair's breadth, as proved by genetics. It is also Glamorgan's county flower, making is especially exciting to see. 

Caswell Bay to Three Cliffs Bay

Meanwhile (30th March) Tom has been walking the Wales Coast Path on the Gower Peninsula from Caswell Bay to Three Cliffs Bay and Parkmill...obviously a cracking day!

Left: crinoids at Caswell Bay, right: Brandy Cove lead mine. 

Black Oil Beetles. The middle beetle was digging out from it's host's burrow. 

Western Bee-fly, Dark-Bordered Bee-fly and a Green Tiger Beetle at Hunts Bay. 

Solitary bees: Nomad bees, Cliff Mining bees, Tawny Mining bees, Red Mason bees, Blood bees, ad Andrena Mining bee male.

Coastal flora: spring squill, violets and thrift coming into flower. 

Coastal birds- Peregrines, stonechats, jackdaws and breeding choughs. 

Left to right: the first Early Purple Orchids coming into bud, Gorse and Blackthorn on limestone cliffs, Yellow Whitlow Grass on Pennard Castle- an Ice-age relic and Blackthorn blossom. 

Views along the coast path including left: from west Caswell Bay, top right: Hunts Bay and middle right: looking towards Three Cliffs Bay and Nicholaston Burrows.

Parc Cwm Long Cairn, a Neolithic Chambered Tomb and Cathole Cave, a Mesolithic shelter. 

Mawbray oyster trestles...

An interesting walk out this afternoon...the oyster trestles have clearly been abandoned.

Criffel fro Mawbray.

Great textures....

Little Egret .......

Orange underwing moth - North Cumbria

While walking along the river between Caldbeck and Hesket Newmarket yesterday Tom commented how suitable the habitat looked for the orange underwing - mature birch trees - and one flew by and obligingly landed in the grass beside us! A new record for the 10k square. For more information on the orange underwing  click here.

Caldbeck to Hesket Newmarket...along the river...

The first walk of the year along this gorgeous path. The celandines were superb; wood anemones in abundance; toothwort is out; meadow saxifrage in bud; bluebells out in sheltered south facing pockets, but not in the woods in general; wild garlic in bud and the herb Paris leaves are just opening up. We saw plenty of peacock butterflies; a small white; a male orange tip; a speckled wood and an orange underwing moth - a good record!

Herb Paris.

Bluebells and butterburr.

Toothwort and wood anemones.

Orange tip; speckled wood and orange underwing.

Peacocks.