The summer solstice is here, and this week we decided to venture out to the Cumbrian lakes for the first time in what feels like an age. Like most people, our travel has been hampered to almost non-existence over the last year or so, and this was a most welcome jaunt to an area of the country always bustling with wildlife and possessing champagne-like mountain air. This would be the perfect way to welcome in midsummer, just as long as mother nature was happy to concur of course.
And that she was.
Starting off with a wander near Kendal, we were gifted with a sea of golden buttercups, the red inflorescence of Common Sorrel topping the mixed grasses of Yorkshire Fog, Crested Dog’s Tail and Meadow Foxtail, complete with towering Ox Eye Daisies to produce the near perfect depiction of an English country meadow.
There are two things that usually strike me with a wildflower meadow. One, is the pandemonium from the constant hubbub of insects. In this case it was Chimney Sweeper Moths, Hoverflies, Small Skippers and Bumblebees galore. This just spells LIFE to me, and I mean that in every sense of the word. And secondly, when I move past large quantities of Meadow Buttercups, which at times stretch to two metres in height, I always get a sense of them being suspended mid-air, floating in a state of near phantasmagorical fashion, with their stems lost in the meadow understory jungle. I for one, love it.
A further enhancement being that this year seems to have been a complete boom year for buttercups, and although a rather common sighting, they are as mesmerising as ever.
Perfect for pollinators. Ox Eye Daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare).
Crested Dog’s Tail grass (Cynosurus cristatus) mixing it up with the Buttercups.
Meadow and grassland habitats are invaluable to wildlife and will generally be packed to the rafters with pollinators. ‘Pollinator’ is a term that has been heavily influenced in recent times by our own typically human perceptions. Many of us will only recollect bees and butterflies as pollinators - the cute and fuzzy little creatures that everyone adores. However, it is a term that should definitely be more broadly adorned by the likes of wasps, hoverflies, moths, beetles and flies, all of complete equal importance to the ecosystem and the distribution of pollen. Credit where credit is due and all that!
Willow Warbler perching atop an Alder (Alnus glutinosa).
An observant male Blackbird (Turdus merula).
Keeping with the pollinator theme, and now backed by a new soundtrack of Willow Warblers, Blackbirds and Wrens, I noticed something quite familiar for this time of year. Thanks to the habits of its caterpillars, this micro-moth is an easier one to identify. If you have ever come across a tree veiled in a multitude of webs, then this will more than likely be the work of the Bird Cherry Ermine moth. Their eggs are laid on the leaves of a Bird Cherry tree, and communal webs are spun in their droves for protection, feeding and pupation. In just the right light, they can bring forth an ethereal beauty, and at times will cover a whole tree.
The caterpillars of the Bird Cherry Ermine Moth (Yponomeuta evonymella) taking full advantage of this Bird Cherry tree (Prunus padus).
The landscape was changing at a steady pace as we moved through various habitats of woodland edge, grassland and wetland, bringing in some wonderful sprigs of colour and textures in Bistort, Carder Bee-covered Foxgloves and the fresh fruiting cones of the European Larch. June also signals the beginning of the flowering season for Fox and Cubs, alternatively known as Devil’s Paintbrush. This is a plant that really demands your undivided attention with its incandescent orange glare.
The familiar Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea).
Common Bistort (Persicaria bistorta).
Cone-bearing European Larch (Larix decidua).
Fox and Cubs (Pilosella aurantiaca) in flower.
The fiery Devil’s Paintbrush.
As we strolled by a large pond, a few things began to catch my eye. The first being an entirely unexpected flittering and wavering of a phenomenal butterfly, and although they were nectaring around the flowering thistles, they were really keeping up with the fire-coloured trend of the surrounding area. To my amazement, these were Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillaries, a new species altogether for me, and one which I recorded instantly as it is known to only dwell in discreet colonies in the west of England.
Absolutely stunning, and offered a vibrant contrast to the purples of the Marsh Thistles.
Casting an eye over the nearest body of water, the fritillary encounter was promptly followed by a flyover of several Large Red Damselflies and a Common Blue basking on a nearby rock. There were some serious colour spectrums on display in every direction, and suddenly we had become enveloped in an artists palette of chromaticity.
Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary Butterflies (Boloria selene).
A fleeting glimpse of the marbled underwing.
The striking male Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum).
But perhaps the true eye-opener of this trip came late afternoon, on the final day as we walked downstream of a small, fast flowing tributary. I have had the pleasure of seeing many of its close relative - the Banded Demoiselle, whilst at work in the past, but until today never this.
I could easily have mistaken this huge damselfly for a dragonfly, but one of the key differentiators is that unlike dragonflies, the eyes of a damselfly don’t adjoin across the head.
Gleaming in all its majesty in the midsummer evening light, a perfectly named ‘Beautiful’ Demoiselle hovered over the waters surface. It was a male, with its typically darkened wings and astonishing green-blue body. As this metallic figure glistened at the waters edge, I managed to capture a nice shot of this truly eye-catching Odonata.
Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo).
This was an exquisite grand finale to the day, and I know I have said it time and time again, but with nature there really is wonder around every corner. It comes in many forms, some brash, and many more rather inconspicuous.
We just have to remember to look in the right places.
As far as the Demoiselle is concerned though, this beauty was impossible to miss.
