Spectacular sunset!

We are very lucky to have this view from the front door - across the Solway Firth to Scotland. I'm not sure how I would cope with living somewhere without a view. 

Rockroses .....Humphrey Head portraits

... Just a splendid day! 

Hoary rockrose. 

Common rockrose.

Common rockrose - looking over the cliff and down to the 'sand'. 

Kidney vetch.

Green-winged orchid....and below.

Hawthorn...and below. 

Humphrey Head CWT Reserve

With a good forecast today was  the day of our springtime annual pilgrimage to South Cumbria. First stop - Humphrey Head. The rockrose was unbelievable  - both species abundant and luxurious. There were a few green-winged orchids out and the hawthorn was spectacular! Well worth the long drive! ...Closer photos - plant portraits, deserve a post of their own 

Rockroses

 Yesterday morning I tried combining two different gelliprinting techniques - using natural materials and then hand made stencils. The following photographs should vaquely explain the process. I look forward to developing these trials into a finished piece. 

One of the final prints.

Cutting stencils and foam printing blocks.

Masking off the bottom half of the plate and using vegetation for the top half.

The first steps for the bottom half - pale yellow, having masked off the top. 

The combined first stage.

Adding the darker yellow ...some stencils were palced on the palte ....others directly on the print - attached with blutac...see below. 

..and onto green....

The final print with a foam blok of leaves to add t he darker paint. It lacked something so wax crayon was added ...see below. 

Monkey X Lady Orchid hybrids at Hartslock NR

The main reason for Tom's visit to Hartslock NR/SSSI was to visit the famed monkey orchid which is restricted to three (now four as a new locality in Sussex has been found in the last few weeks) sites. One of Britain's rarest orchids, its had an interesting flirtation with the lady orchid, another rare orchid which was first seen at the site in 2002. This has produced a 'hybrid swarm' of spectacular orchids- the history and context of which can be found on the Hartslock website - click here -. 

Monkey orchid (Orchis simia) 

Monkey orchid (Orchis simia) 

Left: monkey orchid (Orchis simia), middle: the hybrid (Orchis x angusticruris), right: a potential lady orchid (Orchis purpurea)(while the right hand individual shares many similarities with the lady orchid, a back-crossed hybrid cannot be rules out).

Monkey x lady orchid hybrid (Orchis x angusticruris).

Monkey x lady orchid hybrid (Orchis x angusticruris) swarm.

Monkey x lady orchid hybrid (Orchis x angusticruris) variation.

Monkey x lady orchid hybrid (Orchis x angusticruris) swarm.

Monkey x lady orchid hybrid (Orchis x angusticruris) among the last cowslips. 

The site is well known and has only increased in footfall since the arrival of the hybrids, and while it is great to experience the fantastic orchids and reserve it has lead to casualties due to trampling on the site. This year apparently has been particularly bad with a couple of monkey orchids completely trampled- so take care and enjoy considerately!

Lamonby Verges SSSI

A quick trip out yesterday evening to this favourite site. It's interesting how far behind we are this year and how far ahead Tom is down in Surrey. While he is looking at a wide range of orchids our early purples are at their best and we still have cowslips and wood anemones out! Anyway the verges are beginning to come to life and it was lovely to see the globeflower coming into flower as well as the bird's-eye primroses. 

The verges and looking across to Blencathra.

It has been a tad damp recently! 

Bord's-eye primrose, water avens, early purple orchids and wood anemones.

Marsh marigolds.

What will be a spectacular twayblade patch.

Butterwort, cowslips and early purple. 

Globe flower.

..and yet more early purples. 

Clubtails at Goring Railway Bridge

On his way and way back from visiting Hartslock NR, Tom stopped off at Goring railway bridge on the edge of the Thames Path as from some research it was supposed to be one of the best places to see club-tailed dragonfly (Gomphus vulgatissimus), a rarely seen, medium sized dragonfly with a restricted distribution- only found in slow-flowing five rivers within Britain. 

Goring railway bridge and the Thames.

The first signs of club-tailed dragonfly- an exuviae. 

After only finding a single exuviae on the way to the reserve, I stopped off on the way back as the cloud had cleared. There were plenty of banded demoiselles as well as a pair of hobby, patrolling the river hunting for... well, banded demoiselles most likely. 

Male and female banded demoiselles.

Success!