Under Sharp Edge

 

Back in March of last year, I took you on a walk half way along the disused railway line from Keswick to Threlkeld. Sunday was a beautiful day, and so we decided to do the other half, fortifying ourselves with a cup of coffee at a lovely coffee shop in the village beforehand, and beginning below the awe inspiring Sharp Edge of Blencartha, neatly delineated by a line of snow. As we walked down towards the line, evidence of the recent three storms was clearly visible.

The river Greta winds its way around the old line which was closed fifty years ago this month. It is now a tarmacadam path (suitable for wheelchairs). Down below, a pair of Goosander are fishing for breakfast – note how the female is holding her head, horizontally under the water. These are fish eating sea ducks who come down from Scandinavia in the winter. If you look closely at the male, you can see the hook on the end of his beak which he uses to stab the fish.

The line passes through tunnels and deep, moss covered cuttings, where the water drips down, reflecting golden red globes of sunlight. Absolutely mesmerising. A Wolf Spider stands motionless, awaiting prey, upon a bare patch of rock. They have excellent eyesight, the top two of their eight eyes being very large. They don't spin webs but are opportunistic hunters, pouncing on their prey as it passes, and injecting them with venom. This can produce an itchy welt in us humans but isn't dangerous.

In order to make this a circular walk, we'll take this footpath up over the hill where a flock of Herdwick sheep are contentedly grazing in the warm winter sun. #LadyBeetles are the subject of the insect section of this month's European Nature Almanack and here is our first one, a 7-spot, our most common species. Birch Polypore fungi adorn the Silver Birch trees, and down on the floor, among the reddening leaves of the Geraniums and Cranesbills, Trumpet Lichens rise above the Sphagnum Moss.

Looping round, we meet up with the River Greta once more, and the banks are very inviting for our first picnic of the year. Help yourself to a sandwich. I see we are being joined by a Reed Bunting. These are resident birds, but are often mistaken for sparrows, particularly the females. They are monogamous birds and should start breeding at the beginning of next month. About a fortnight later, the female will lay four or five olive grey eggs in a nest in a low bush or grass tussock. Both mother and father will feed and care for the offspring. All say ahhh!

Jack The Navigator Hound is with us, but sad to say he has deteriorated quickly over the past fortnight. He's spent the walk cradled in the crook of Ishbel's elbow, enjoying the fresh smells of the Cumbrian countryside. I wonder if he's remembering the thousands of miles that he's walked over his sixteen plus years? 

It was a heartbreaking decision, but it would have been selfish to prolong his demise, and we took him to the vet's last night where he was quietly put to sleep and departed his long and adventurous life in Ishbel's arms. Rest In Peace, Jack, my little friend.

A sad note to end on, but a change of location next week as we're off to Bulgaria. I'll try to send some pictures on Instagram and give you a full report when I get back. Meanwhile, some more books that may be of interest: 

A small book about this fascinating family of spiders £5.16 paperback or £2.24 on Kindle

An erudite book, going into detail from someone who knows her subject well. £25.25 hardcover, £14.95 paperback £2.97 on Kindle

With the Creepy-Crawlies beginning to emerge as Spring is upon us. Now is the perfect time to get acquainted with them. £14.99 paperback only

All of the books featured on my posts are now available to view, by category, on one page: Build Your Own Nature Library

All the best,

Steve

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Series 14 Springtime in Cumbria

 

Welcome to a new series of The Crete and Cumbria Nature Blog. Still in Cumbria, thanks to the necessary travel restrictions still in place, but I'm not complaining. Cumbria is a wonderful place to spend the Springtime. So, let's celebrate by looking out for the first signs of Spring, such as newborn lambs, primroses bursting through last years fallen leaves, trees and woody shrubs budding and flowering, and insects pollinating the plants as their blooms burst forth.

Continuing our railway theme from last week's imaginary trip on The Cockermouth Circle Line, our journey today starts at Keswick station and follows the old railway line towards Threlkeld. The line, which used to link Penrith to Cockermouth, was axed in the Beeching cuts of the 1960s, and is now a tarmacadamed walk/cycle track suitable for wheelchair users. Just listen to Spring beginning around the station with this symphony of birdsong.

The River Greta (which means stony stream in Old Norse) will be our constant companion on this walk, as it zigzags back and forth across our trail. There's a Woodpigeon down there, collecting sticks for what he laughingly thinks of as a nest. Whereas some birds construct intricate structures of grass, moss, wool and other materials, pigeons just seem to launch twigs at a tree and see what sticks. How their eggs and chicks remain aloft is one of nature's great mysteries.

There are ponds along the side of the trail, with Marsh Marigolds bursting forth. These are predominantly insect pollinated and have an unusual method of seed dispersal. When the seeds have matured they are surrounded by a 'splash cup'. When a raindrop hits the splash cup the seeds are bouced out. They are also surrounded by a spongy lifejacket so they simply float away from the parent plant. Like their relatives, the Lesser Celandine, which we have been seeing a lot of in recent weeks, their leaves are edible when cooked but poisonous when raw. (see Longlands Lake). And clumped together on the bottom of the pond we have frogspawn. You can tell that it's frogspawn and not toadspawn because of the way it clumps together; toads lay their spawn in long strings.

You'll have noticed that all the bridges, the tunnel and much of the infrastructure on this trail are brand new. In 2015, Storm Desmond produced such a torrent of water that all the old railway bridges were destroyed. Seeing the river so calm and peaceful today, it's hard to imagine the scale of the flood that could have wreaked such havoc. It took five years to repair the damage and the trail was only reopened at the end of last year. I've included a few pictures of fungi and lichens, not because they are signs of Spring, for they are with us all the year round. I just didn't want them to feel left out.

We also have caterpillars crawling about and this one features in my new series on Steve's Nature Plus called Minibeast Monday in which I tell you a little bit more about the insects and other creepy-crawlies that appear in my blog posts. Much of the information is taken from The Quick Guide To Creepy-Crawlies which tells you who is related to whom, how to identify them in their various stages of life, and plenty of other interesting facts (like whether they are likely to bite or sting you). Everyone tells me that it's a very interesting and informative book but modesty precludes me from agreeing with them wholeheartedly. I still refer to it when I come across something I've never seen before.

I'll leave you with this beautiful picture of the River Greta flowing through the Lakeland pastures with a little Grey Wagtail bobbing around on the boulders. See you through the week on Steve's Nature Plus.

Happy Springtime,

Steve

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Frozen!

 

During the week, for those of you who are following News From The Old Cornmill, we were looking at the emergence of the first crocuses, heralding the arrival of Spring, a mere four weeks away. Up in The Lakes, however, it is still decidedly Winter. Not only is the human population in lockdown but it seems as though nature is too. Even the water, draining off the fells, has been stopped in mid flow. With the dashboard temperature registering 1^oC outside, and a light rain starting to fall, were off to try and find some shelter in White Moss Woods.

There is a track leading up a hill which, needless to say, our Intrepid Local Guide and Jack The Navigator Hound have already started to make an assault upon, but we're going to explore this rocky outcrop and see if there are any invertebrates sheltering in the crevices. The lush greenery upon which we are walking is provided by two species of moss. The pale green one is a member of the true mosses (Class Bryopsida), whereas the dark green one is a member of one of the other seven classes of moss, the Polytrichopsida. Despite the name of the woods there is no white moss (Leucobryum, another of the true mosses) to be seen.

There are also plenty of lichens about, such as this Evernia. Lichens are curious things as they consist of two entirely unrelated organisms that have merged to form something entirely new, in much the same way as the two highly inflammable gasses, hydrogen and oxygen, when merged together, form water, a liquid capable of putting out fires. It is know as a symbiotic relationship and, as with any relationship, the whole is significantly greater than the sum of the constituent parts.

At last, having turned over a number of rocks and logs, we've found an invertebrate. All the others seem to have buried themselves deep, where the soil is warmer. It's a Shiny Woodlouse, Oniscus asellus, and those pale patches that you can just about see is where the calcium is stored for constructing the new exoskeleton when it moults. Woodlice moult in two halves, back end first followed by the front end, and then, as the shed exoskeleton is full of calcium, they very often eat it.

And finally, another sign that Spring is not too far way, the Hazel catkins are out. These are the male reproductive parts of the tree. They are wind pollinated, that is, the wind blows the pollen in all directions and some of it lands on female flowers which are small and red, and from which, the hazelnut is eventually formed. The rain has started to fall more heavily now, Jack and the ILG have returned from their jaunt up the hillside, so it seems like a good time to cosy up in the car with a mug of hot soup.

Follow me throughout the week on News From The Old Cornmill, or failing that, I'll see you next week, all being well.

Steve's Books

The Quick Guide to Creepy-Crawlies All you need to know to identify any type of insect, spider, worm or snail very simply and find out more about it. Yvonne: This was a gift for a family so that the children can understand what they see on days out. The second was for me. Logical and easy to use. If you know anyone who likes nature you can be confident that gifting this book will give years of pleasure.
The Eggs of Saramova A science fiction novella for those who don't like science fiction. A fast-paced thriller that is, literally, out of this world (and it starts right here in Crete). Too new for reviews yet!	£7.50 Paperback edition
Not Just For Twisted Women by Steve Daniels  A light-hearted look at life through the eyes of the fairer sex. Janet: If you are short on time but enjoy reading and are maybe not into long extended novels then Not Just For... Twisted Women provides readers with concise stories that stand alone and most certainly entertain with their ultimate twists. Loved it. Helen: A very good read! Well written and entertaining! Margaret: Each quick tale gives a glimpse into a character's life and has an often humorous twist at the end. I would love to read more. Yvonne: These days many people find it hard to find the time to read a novel, so this book of short stories is ideal to dip into. It is also makes a good gift.	£4.99 Paperback edition

See sample pages of all my books and latest blogs, and keep abreast of latest publications here: http://author.to/SteveDaniels

Crete Nature Catch-up
Series 1 - Welcome to Lasithi	Series 2 - The Rhythm Of Life	Series 3 - A Journey Begins
Series 4 - The Milonas Valley	Series 5 - This Is Ferma	Series 6 - Upland Villages
Series 7 - The Forty saints	Series 8 - Sunday Strolls	Series 9 -Stormy Weather

Share your nature thoughts, photos and comments on Naturalists (the facebook page that accompanies this blog)

Fell Walking For Wimps 2 - Watch Hill

In Fell Walking For Wimps 1 we tackled Slate Fell. We’re just a bit to the north of that today at Watch Hill. A slightly stiffer climb to begin with, but nothing too strenuous, and it’s downhill all the way after we’ve reached the top. If you are wondering what people were watching for on Watch Hill, it was probably the Scots. Cumbria and Scotland have an interesting history between them and, as you’ll see when we get to the top, the Scottish region of Dumfries & Galloway is clearly visible across the Solway Firth.
Last week we were delving into cow pats on our way up, but today, by contrast, I thought I’d introduce you to a few common meadow flowers. The first of these is the Creeping Thistle, so called because it produces new shoots from the underground roots. These roots, and the stems (when despined) are edible, but have a tendency to cause flatulence. The second is Mouse-ear Chickweed. There are several common chickweeds which are difficult to tell apart, the closest of which is Sticky Mouse-ear who’s leaves are, would you believe, sticky. Then we have Yarrow, one of many similar plants called umbilifers, with large flat heads made up of many florets. The scientific name for the genus is Achillea, after Achilles, who used it to soothe his wounds in battle. Modern pharmacological studies show that it does have anti-inflammatory properties, so the old Greek knew a thing or two.

Here we are at the top and you can see Dumfries & Galloway away to the right. When I was in Crete, I learnt very quickly, that you couldn’t have a conversation without mentioning goats. I’ve found the same here in Cumbria, but with sheep. These, I’m reliably informed, are Texels, named after a Dutch island where they were first bred. Dear little things aren’t they? Very dear, in fact. One lamb fetched £367,500 at auction recently, a world record price (so expect a supermarket price hike – any excuse).

We’re off into the woods now. These trees at the beginning are Birch but as we get a bit further in, we’re into a conifer plantation. Not much grows beneath conifers as their needles make the soil too acidic, and being evergreens, no light reaches the woodland floor. It’s a good place to look for fungi and lichens though. This first one is a Pixie Cup Lichen. The cups are empty at first, then filled to overflowing with the red fruiting body, and then bubble over into a great mass of fluff. All far too frivolous for the golden Yellow Stagshorn fungus that you will only find growing on roots and stumps of conifers. Like most fungi, it is neither poisonous nor edible, this one’s just greasy and tasteless.

But what have we down here behind the lichen? It’s a Darkling Beetle. One of the few beetles I’ve seen in Cumbria, apart from lady beetles like those two over there (Why Lady Beetles, not Ladybirds? See Lucky Insects). Which begs the question: Whatever happened to the Beetles? I did a quick analysis and found that back in Crete, a quarter of the insects I met with were beetles, but here in Cumbria it’s only 12%. OK, I thought, maybe Crete has loads of beetles. But no, World Observations on iNaturalist showed that beetles account for 25% of insect observations as well. So I checked everybody’s insect observations in Cumbria, after all I haven’t been here long, and sure enough Beetles only account for 12%. So what have you done with them? Eaten them? Some secret Cumbrian recipe, unknown to us offcomers? Answers on a postcard please (or in the comments box below).

A nice, pleasant country lane back to our start point and a view of the hill – technically, a marilyn – and there’s a bird of prey quartering the ground that is just a bit too distant to identify. Back at ground level we have some Purple Foxgloves. These are the ones I warned you not to confuse when making Rosebay Willow Herb & Mint, Dessert Sauce as the heart drug, Lanoxin, is derived from it. Making a dessert sauce from this would probably kill you. As you can see, the flower shape is very different to Rosebay Willowherb. All of which doesn’t bother this Common Earwig nestling among the flowers. This looks to be a female, the pincers of the male are more curved, and they are unusual among insects in that they care for their young until they are old enough to fend for themselves. Fruit and rose growers tend not to like earwigs because of the damage they do to their plants, but the odd earwig or two is actually beneficial. They are only a nuisance in large numbers, but they have many predators, including birds, bats, amphibians and tachinid flies, which keep their numbers down. On the plus side, they are very partial to aphids, which do far more damage to fruit and roses. And that just about brings us back to where we started.

Until next week,

Stay safe and be happy,

Steve

Steve's Books

The Quick Guide to Creepy-Crawlies All you need to know to identify any type of insect, spider, worm or snail very simply and find out more about it. Yvonne: This was a gift for a family so that the children can understand what they see on days out. The second was for me. Logical and easy to use. If you know anyone who likes nature you can be confident that gifting this book will give years of pleasure.
The Eggs of Saramova A science fiction novella for those who don't like science fiction. A fast-paced thriller that is, literally, out of this world (and it starts right here in Crete). Too new for reviews yet!
Not Just For Twisted Women by Steve Daniels  A light-hearted look at life through the eyes of the fairer sex. Janet: If you are short on time but enjoy reading and are maybe not into long extended novels then Not Just For... Twisted Women provides readers with concise stories that stand alone and most certainly entertain with their ultimate twists. Loved it. Helen: A very good read! Well written and entertaining! Margaret: Each quick tale gives a glimpse into a character's life and has an often humorous twist at the end. I would love to read more. Yvonne: These days many people find it hard to find the time to read a novel, so this book of short stories is ideal to dip into. It is also makes a good gift.

See sample pages of all my books and keep abreast of latest publications here: http://author.to/SteveDaniels

Crete Nature Catch-up
Series 1 - Welcome to Lasithi	Series 2 - The Rhythm Of Life	Series 3 - A Journey Begins
Series 4 - The Milonas Valley	Series 5 - This Is Ferma	Series 6 - Upland Villages
Series 7 - The Forty saints	Series 8 - Sunday Strolls	Series 9 -Stormy Weather

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LINKS:

Share your nature thoughts, photos and comments on Naturalists (the facebook page that accompanies this blog)

Explore Crete with the #CreteNature interactive Hiking and Nature Map

Cretan Flora Flowers of Crete BIRDS OF CRETE Crete Birding

Greek Butterflies and Moths Aquaworld Aquarium

Visit Greece (National Government Tourist Office)