Latterbarrow - more flowers!

The flowers were spectacular - especially the speedwell that thrived on the ant hills. ...and the fly orchid!

Latterbarrow Nature Reserve

Having visited Gait Barrows we then drove to Latterbarrow near Witherslack, in South Cumbria. Everything is out at once this year with it having been such a hard winter. The cowslips were just going over, some primroses remain and yet the fly orchids were gorgeous.

Greater butterfly; green-winged; early purple and fly orchids.

Dandelions, buttercups and cowslips.

Rockrose.

The reserve ...and a fly orchid.

Duke of Burgundy and other butterflies at Gait Barrows NNR.

We were so lucky to spot this little beauty and for it to settle reasonably close to us...

Duke of Burgundy

Green hairstreak .....

Speckled wood and peacock .....

Dingy skipper. 

Gait Barrows NNR - Lady's slipper orchid and more ...

With the weather having been super and we can't go down next weekend, we decided to risk a trip to Gait Barrows and were well rewarded. Obviously we hoped to see the Lady's slipper orchid and although it will be better next weekend there was one in full bloom. The other woodland plants were good - the lily of the valley was pungent and the herb Paris full out. The light was beautiful ...especially through the hart's tongue fern. Butterflies were on the wing, so that will be the next blog!

Pennard Castle, Three Cliff's Bay, Swansea.

The final of Tom's photographs from his walk at the weekend. Pennard Castle had to be abandoned in the fourteenth century due to sand encroachment!

 

Spring Wildlife on the Gower.

Following the landscape photographs of the Gower  Click for the landscapes   I'm following on with Tom's photographs of the wildlife - so much further on than we are in Cumbria!

Top: small copper, dingy skipper, red gold pyralid.
 Bottom: brimstone, pyralid sp. and holly blue.

Top left: bush cricket nymph
 Top middle: red fire bug species....
Top right: large ichneumon
 Bottom: a sand spider sp and a jumping spider sp.

A pipit and stone chats - female and male.

Linocut prints of Islay

Yesterday was an evening spent packing and labelling prints of Portnahaven and Port Charlotte, as well as printing off and cutting and pasting the corresponding cards. It isn't long until we will be up there, so here's hoping for some calm weather so I can leave my wee stall out in front of the cottage!

The cottage 

The prints....

Seals on the rocks - view from the door!