Delta Ged, Volunteer Ranger @ National Trust Lyme Park : Week 24 21/05/14

Photo Blog Week 24 - Wed 21 May 2014

The Park is 'fluffy' green now with the tree canopies very full. More blossoms are appearing with Hawthorn, Rowan and Horse Chestnut particularly bright. Many small wild floweer are present in the now lush green grass and Park Moor has changed from the washed out pale browns of winter to rolling green hillsides.
Some early flowers are fading now and you need to be quick to catch the Bluebells and Rellums (Wild Garlic). Both of these are plentiful along Westpark Drive but this weekend will be the last before they fade quickly.

The woods and moors are full of bird song with Skylarks twittering away in the sky over the Moor.

Delta-Ged now taking a break for 2 weeks. Next blog post will be on or after Wed 11th June.

route: From Main Car Park; follow path behind Turtle Brew and along wall toward Four Winds wall; leave wall after walling work; follow green tracks to Green Farm entrance; climb hill and drop down to The Knott Car Park

These days, I call Lyme Park my "Wednesday Office". This is view of previous Wednesday Offices through almost 40 years of my career in Stockport, Rochdale, Manchester and Salford.

If you look carefully centre, the back layer of faint hills are in Wales. Very clear day.

Tormentil

(Potentilla erecta)

Germander Speedwell

(Veronica chamaedrys)

I must point out that my identification of wild flower is all web based so if you know better on one please comment.

route: From The Knot; take drive toward Hall; branch off and cross step stile into Drinkwater Meadow; follow wall to Gate exit to Main Car Park; follow bank of Mill Pond to Timberyard Cafe.

General view of green over the Meadow to the Woods and Park Moor

Lunky hole in drystone wall

BBC are filming here again with the Hall looking fine in the sun.

Cast enjoying the sun

route: from Timberyard Cafe; to Mill Pond outflow (foot bridge); Main Car Park; gate to Fallow Deer enclosure; follow Garden wall; turn up Lime Avenue to; Knightslow Wood; Bowstone Farm track through and beyond Wood; Half way up to the Farm, stop by track for lunch.

Tadpoles!

Vast numbers all grouped around logs under near the overflow to the Mill Pond

Lime Avenue walking away from the Hall

My lunch was watched over by this magnificent beast flying over head. Any Birders like to identify for me?

PS: Readers have kindly identified my mystery bird as a Buzzard. Thanks folks.

Cheshire Plain toward Helsby Point and North Wales

Nice sky

route: Continue up track to Bowstonegate Farm; turn left along Boundary Wall to View Point; Descend to corner of Lantern Wood; left along path then loop into Moor along track returning to corner of Hampers Wood; path along Hampers Wood wall to Knightslow Wood

Sky Larks?

I spent a while trying to capture the Sky Larks, not sure how successfully and some of the ground shots may be Meadow Pipit. Birders comment again?

that's the last of the bird shots, we can move on now

The ridge from Sponds Hill above the now green Park Moor

The unmistakable shape of Shutlingsloe

View Point at the highest location in the Park

Panorama out toward Cheshire plain

(wish I could stop drifting down to the right as I take these panorama shots)

Kinder Plateau with Kinder Downfall clearly visible centre

Hall nestling in the lush green of tree canopies

Conservation team members rightly proud of their work

The culvert running under the path had been blocked causing extensive flooding across the path and under the wall. The pipe has been rodded and cleared, new walls built shoring up the main channel and the ground reinstated. Scrap from dry stone wall work elsewhere was used to back fill before turfing over. Now that's a permanent job. Nice one guys!