The Wedholme Year

Yesterday we went down ot Wedholme Flow - nothing particularly different, so no photographs. Instead a chance to look back at the Wedholme highlights from last year and to see how the moss changed throughout the year....

The scenery...

Plants ...and an Adder.

Something more abstract...

Fungi and lichens.

Birds - notaby the Red-footed Falcon (top left in the tree) and Little Stint (upper middle) .

Dragonflies, Damselflies, Tiger-beetle and hoverfly.

..and butterflies...a reminder of summer- although last year butterflies were few and far between.

Solway Sabellaria

Low tide and a potentially nice morning, so off down to the Sabellaria reef in the Solway. Sabellaria or the Honey-comb Worm forms a unique landscape that is home to a wide range of marine life. 

Looking across to Criffel in Scotland. 

A dropping tide....

Sabellaria reef with Bread-crumb sponges.

Clear and warm water....

More Saballaria and Bread-crumb Sponges.

Close up of the honey-comb structures of the reef. 

Dahlia Anemone; decorating itself with shell fragments - for camouflage. 

Not a great picture, but the Dahlia Anemone had its tentacles out - the wind was blowing at this stage and the sun wasn't out. 

Spider-crab sp. 

Sea Scorpion; Corkwing Wrasse and a lovely Great Pipe-fish. 

Time to depart. 

Maryport Cuttlefish

Back in July we found some Cuttlefish eggs washed up on the tideline click here and took them to Maryport Aquarium where they kindly looked after them - and they hatched click here . They continue to do well and are now in the main exhibit area in the aquarium - well worth a visit! 

Moon Jellies.

Seahorse sp.

Octopus.

Shrimping ....

Brown shrimps are delicious and a well known delicacy from Silloth. The coolest place to be, in this current unseasonal heatwave, was on the beach - so shrimping and photographing the by-catch was the order of the day. 

Low tide - using a push shrimp net.

Selecting the largest shrimps before returning the rest. 

Baby flat fish - probably Plaice.

Pipe Fish sp...and below.

Prawn.

Shore Crab.

Another probable Plaice.

Baby Cockles. 

Young Flounder - note the diamond shape compared to the Plaice.

A very small Pipe Fish. 

Fifteen Spined or Sea Stickleback ...and below. 

Cuttlefish hatching!

In mid July we found a cluster of cuttlefish eggs stranded on the shore at Mawbray. Click here for that blog. We rushed them off to Maryport Aquarium, where they kindly put them in a tank to hopefully rear them ...today we went back to see the tiny little hatched cuttles - they are now about the size of a small little-finger nail....and very cute! 

The washed up eggs...

Today's visit ....

Baby Cuttlefish - and below! 

Foulshaw Moss...

The highlights of the visit ....a gorgeous Adder on the boardwalk ...and White-faced Darters.

Looking across to Whitbarrow.

Whitbarrow.

My 'camera view' of the Osprey and the Trust's webcam.

Yellow Flag Iris and marsh Cinquefoil.

Adder and Common Lizard.

Adder...

After much time and patience..Large Heath ! 

White-faced Darter ...and below ....