Mountain Pansies

It may be a bit early for the Mountain Pansies, but there were plenty to see....

 

Spring Gentians

Following on from my revious post some photos of the Spring Gentians... 

Bird's-eye Primrose

And a few portraits of the Bird's-eye Primrose - there were lots still in bud.  

Upper Teesdale round walk

It was a glorious day and such a treat to be in Teesdale, in wall to wall sunshine and only a gentle breeze! We did our usual walk: Hangingshaw carpark; down to the Tees; along to cross the river at Knott Hill; across to Widdybank and along under Falcon Clints; up to Cauldron Snout and back along the road by Cow Green reservoir; down to Langdon Beck and returned to Hangingshaw.  A long day but well worth it! The flowers were perfect as they hadn't been rained on and battered by wind, the landscape as stunning as ever - it looks dry though and the turf by Cow Green was very dry. In this blog I'll focus on the walk ...following blogs will focus on the flora. 

Looking down the dale from the road - Caltha meadows giving the land a yellow tint.  

Wheysike House, still derelict. There were lots of Common Sandpipers on this stretch. 

Spring Gentians and Bird's-eye Primroses. 

Mallard with young.

It was nice to watch this Dipper collecting flies...

Looking towards Widdybank Farm.

Wood Anemones still out.

Alpine Bartsia. 

That Gentian blue! 

Bird's-eye Primrose.

Looking back down the river with Falcon Clints on the left and Cronkly Fell on the right.

Falcon Clints - crags made from the Whin Sill - an igneous sill - that more famously outcrops at High Force waterfall. 

Heading towards Cauldron Snout - one of my favourite views. 

Mr and Mrs Ring Ouzel ..the Mountain Blackbird. 

Looking back ...

Cauldron Snout. 

An ominous sky as we reached the dam. 

Cow Green is rather low at the moment. 

While we had seen many Mountain Pansies, this was a spectacular group - not suprisingly where sheep couldn't graze - a fenced off mine working. 

Foggy Grouse

On Sunday the forecast was that early mist would give way to sunshine - it didn't! As we drove into Teesdale the temperature dropped to minus 4 and it was 'as thick as a bag'. So no Short-eared Owls or Black Grouse ...we then decided to continue up to Cow Green Reservoir for a walk down to Cauldron Snout. As the revs rocketed and wheels began to spin ...hmm...we parked up in the carpark at the reservoir and found that we could hardly stand up, even on rough surfaces. So a walk along the edge of the road ....

It was atmospheric with lots of Red Grouse calling. It did clear out a little bit, so we had a glimpse of the reservoir before we returned and slid our way down to Langdon Beck for lunch - an excellent roast beef sandwich with roast potatoes - to be recommended! In the slightly better visibility we were able to see 18 Black Grouse in their usual field before returning home. Back in Cumbria it wasn't half as nice: cold and dank - I'll take the cold and frost any day! 

Sheet black ice.

The view....

Red Grouse.

Spot the grouse.

Looking upstream from Cauldron Snout.

Cladonia cups in the frost...

Frosty...

Finally a break in the cloud/fog.

Spectacular lichens at Langdon Beck...

...and Black Grouse in the fog!