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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