Meathop Moods

My expedition today saw me visit four of the South Cumbria reserves managed by the Cumbria Wildlife Trust, three old favourites plus one new location. Away from the fells, peaks and lakes further north, Foulshaw and Meathop Moss, Brown Robin and Latterbarrow are relatively undiscovered gems, peaceful havens and unique habitats for some special wildlife. In particular this is coldblood country with four of our six native reptile species found here, but the day wasn't promising for lizards or snakes with extensive cloud cover, a strong breeze and intermittent flurries of rain seeing the mood of the landscape change rapidly. I started early at Foulshaw, always the most popular site in no small part owing to the breeding ospreys. The car park bird feeders were busy as family flocks took advantage of the seeds and nuts, with groups of blue and great tit - the yellow-tinged fledglings distinctive compared with the somewhat tatty post-breeding adults - chaffinch and goldfinch rubbing shoulders relatively amicably with a great spotted woodpecker. A grasshopper warbler was reeling from the marshy area behind the feeders - I've heard and even seen plenty of these elusive little birds on my local patch this spring but most of them have fallen silent at this time of year but not this Foulshaw specimen. Also heard were water rail and whitethroat. 

Following the boardwalk trail round the Moss the blustery and damp conditions kept insect activity to a minimum with only common heath moths, flying surprisingly-strongly in the breeze, active out on the open moss. Large red and common blue damselflies, small skipper butterflies and sinister-looking scorpion flies made the list as I passed the ponds and birch woodland areas whilst a wasp was feeding on marsh cinquefoil. 

  

 

Birch Skeletons                                Wasp on Marsh Cinquefoil

I had achieved the fairly remarkable record of doing a circuit of Foulshaw without seeing a single lizard, so to avoid a whitewash I went round the trail a second time and this time spotted six common lizards along the way. I spent some time trying to get photographs and whilst one lizard might be just the same as any other lizard to some people a closer inspection shows how much variety there is. The lizards at Foulshaw, and those seen later     at Meathop, are all common lizard but they ranged from sandy / creamy / browny through         rusty red to an almost-sand-lizard green. Some were festooned in ticks and others were in       the process of regrowing their tails following an encounter with a predator of some kind.           Some were streamlined whilst some of the Foulshaw ones were positively corpulent - or           perhaps expectant, for the common lizard gives birth to live young. 

    

 Common Lizard Selection - The Expectant Mother - The Watchful - The Tick-Infested

I travelled on to Meathop Moss a short distance west of Foulshaw with a Scotch mist now threatening to set in. The immediate difference was the colour of the Moss and with Foulshaw a mix of browns, greens and greys Meathop was a far brighter palate despite the drizzle. Yellow spires of bog asphodel were abundant and mixed in with them were the pink bell-shaped flowers of cross-leaved heath. Cotton grass added to the blend with the white rabbit's-tail heads looking a little bit bedraggled in the rain. Look closer and the bare areas of peat were covered with round-leaved sundew, its delicate appearance belying its carnivorous nature. 

       

 

Round-leaved Sundew                Bog Asphodel

As I was stooping to get a photograph of the bog asphodel I spotted what I at first thought was a grasshopper sheltering from the rain amongst the grasses but a closer glance revealed the John Cleese legs of a bog bush cricket - careful how you type that one - a real speciality of Meathop Moss and a great find. As conditions began to warm up and the lizards emerged so too did more insects including swarms of the common heath moths, a few large heath butterflies and a purple bordered gold moth - looking more pink than either purple or gold. Birds in song included wren, robin, willow warbler, sedge warbler, redpoll, chiffchaff and blackcap. 

     

Common Heath Moth                            Bog Bush Cricket

A further short drive took me for the first time to Brown Robin, hidden away on the wooded limestone slopes between Lindale and Grange. A relatively steep climb through the ash trees brought me out to rough grassland with a fine view along the valley and out to the Kent estuary. Mewling calls from the woods further up told of a buzzard family in the trees whilst at ground level hawkbit was the predominant flower alongside clumps of self-heal and periwinkle. I found a nursery web spider guarding her nest on a bramble patch with orange, white and green grasshoppers in abundance. 

        

 

Nursery Web Spider                                The Kent Estuary from Brown Robin

My final port of call for the day was a definite favourite, the fantastic Latterbarrow reserve 

on the edge of Witherslack village. Noted for its range of flora and insects, the spring and early summer flowers were largely gone over save for a few columbine still in bloom. However the mid-summer colours of common spotted orchid, ox-eye daisy, lady's bedstraw, bird's-foot trefoil and betony. Meadow browns and ringlets were squatting in the vegetation but burst out as I walked past whilst small skipper, two northern brown argus and one small pearl-bordered fritillary completed the butterfly tally and a yellow and black longhorn beetle was also seen. Wild strawberry and valerian were spotted as I skirted through the woodland edge before following the footpath back out onto the limestone grassland, studded with the mounds of the green meadow ants. An osprey, surely one of the Foulshaw birds, flew over the reserve albeit curiously heading north rather than out onto the favoured hunting grounds of Morecambe Bay. 

   

Common Spotted Orchid    Betony                Small Skipper            Wild Strawberry