The lower 'plants' of Ennerdale

Ennerdale is damp - hence the lovely lichen and moss flora ... I don't 'do' lichen names, so apologies! Here are a few pretty lichen pics! 

Not a lichen - Candle-snuff Fungus.

Wrinkled Club Fungus.

Fir Clubmoss.

Fir Clubmoss. 

Ennerdale round the lake

With a decent forecast we decided to walk round Ennerdale - always a favourite! 

A bit dismal ...

Signs of Spring! 

Great-crested Grebe.

Beautifully clear waters of the Liza.

Great patterns....

Blue sky at the top end! 

Towards Red Pike and High Stile.

Looking back up the lake....

Although a lake it is technically a 'Water'. 

 

Lakeland Atlantic Woodland - lichens

While walking round Ennerdale, we came across a superb section of wall that was home to some beautiful lichens and mosses. I could have spent a long time photographing there ! 

This text is from Plantlife's excellent guide to the Lichens of Atlantic Woodlands in the Lake District - I recommend it Click for the link  : What is temperate rainforest? Temperate rainforest is a type of usually ancient natural or semi-natural, broad-leaved woodland found in western Britain and Ireland where the climate is mild and wet due to the influence of the Gulf Stream. These conditions are ideal for a range of important lichens. Temperate rainforest has been compared to tropical rainforest because of their luxuriant growth of lichens, ferns, mosses and liverworts. Why are the Lake District’s temperate rainforests important for lichens? The temperate rainforests of western Britain are an important habitat for many lichens, mosses and liverworts. Many of these are largely confined to areas with low air pollution and ancient or long-established woodlands, for example those that have never been clear-felled or intensively coppiced. They play a fundamental role in woodland ecosystems, and are indicators of habitats that are of high quality and have been that way for a long period of time.

As always the guide was at home, when really I should have taken it with me! It's also nice to just enjoy the lichens as they are rather  than naming everything - well that's my excuse! Having said that I have been reliably informed the dark brown Peltigera lichen with brown fruiting bodies is Peltigera Membranacea and having looked it up I reckon it is. 

Round Ennerdale and beavers

As the thaw set in and cloud lowered, we decided to walk round Ennerdale. One of the good things about writing a blog is that it challenges you to look for things to photogrpah/write about on what may be an unspectacular walk. Today was a case in point. Round Ennerdale is a walk we have done many times, so on an uninspiring day without flowers, insects or birds and the hills shrouded ...time to go small. There is a spectcular wall, if you like lichens, mosses and textures on the roadside at Char Dub. That in itself deserves another blog! Now Char Dub is below Latterbarrow and as I have never had to navigate - just keep the lake on your right and walk round, I had never realised there was a Latterbarrow in Ennerdale. Also, while it is only a few months since we last visited, there has been a lot of larch removal - good looking timber before Larch phytophthera strikes. As we approached the top end of the lake it was interesting to see that some areas of proposed Beaver fencing have been erected - click here for more information on the beaver reintroduction  . So all in all a good walk out....and a note if you don't know the route over Angler's Crag - stay high ...we met a few people who had found the wrong path and given up!

Some sections of the walk were shetered..others were not - a fresh wind.

Colourful and patterned Silver Birch.

Lovely scree and woodland.

The clear waters of the river Liza - and below.

Herdies.

Looking towards Caw Fell and Haycock.

Colourful Herdie.

Larch extraction.

Beaver fencing. 

Ennerdale Meadow

Following my comment in an earlier blog click here, about taking photographs for inspiration at Ennerdale, here are the resultant quick sketches. It really is a shame all the flowers are going over now - just as I find a technique I like working in that is easy to do in the field! 

Summer meadow - Ennerdale

It's always good to see how a field can recover, when sheep are removed, becoming more diverse and colourful. Plenty of inspiration for painting! - Just need to work out how to do it!

 

Round Ennerdale

A really nice walk around Ennerdale Lake. We've never walked round it at this time of year - good to see the fringing fen flora (try saying that quickly)! Nice to have a good look at a Hummingbird Hawkmoth too. 

Hummingbird Hawkmoth...and below.

Plenty of bracken...

Love the moss on the wall.

Looking back up the lake.