Week 69 27/05/2015 - New Camera, New Growth

Photo Blog Week 69 - Wed 27 May 2015

The Park is really full of growth now with the oaks joining the canopy with there slightly brown new leaves. The brilliant spring green, largely from the early Beech is now fading as it is joined by other textures and colours. On the ground, the woodland floors are full of new thick undergrowth which is filled with lots of wild flower including the remaining bluebells. The Moors are turning green and the meadows are speckled with highlights of yellow, white and blue petals among the grasses.
I had the company of Mrs Delta-Ged as it is half term. This is the third time she has accompanied me on patrol and the first decent day so her perseverance was at last rewarded with leaving the waterproofs in the car. That said, it poured down as we drove out at the end of the day.

Camera

I finally decided it was time for the problem camera to be replaced this week so today involved getting used to a new camera.  If you are curious, the new camera is a Panasonic LUMIX FZ200 Bridge camera and it has replaced a Fuji Finepix S2400 which was only 2.5 years old.

See you in 2 weeks

Delta Ged taking a break next week so, see you in two weeks on or after Wed 10th June.

route: North Face; East Lodge Drive to Deer Sanctuary; Coalpit Wood; The Cage; Elmerhurst Bridge

inside the courtyard at the House

Red Deer stags above Coalpit Wood

a good view of their developing antlers

and here are some of the hinds

dropping down the hill, the small group of hinds in the previous photo proved to the the top of a large grouping of hinds and year old calves together with a few young stags and hinds

rhododendron coming into flower at the end of Coalpit Wood

Common Speedwell is a beautiful little flower appearing in the grasses on the rear of Cage Hill

Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys) 

OR?

Persian Speedwell (Veronica persica)

Precise identification between Germander and Persian is not easy however may be possible once the plant bears fruit. 

According to Wikipedia,"V. persica can be distinguished from similar species by its heart-shaped fruit with two widely-separated lobes"

Pink Hawthorn blossom

each blossom flower has a white star centre

This oak take 'hollow tree' to a whole new level

bridge on the track out to Elmerhurst Cottage

'Stinking Bob' or Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) in a crevice on the bridge parapet

route: Elmerhurst Bridge; Elmerhurst Wood; Crow Wood; Timber Yard

a bed of white Greater Stitchwort  (Stellaria holostea) backed by bluebells

The bluebells are still in good condition but the other undergrowth is now growing up through them weakening the display and diluting the blue haze

footbridge on the woodland path through Elmerhurst Wood

Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria)

Bluebells in Crow Wood

Overlapping leaf elements on horse chestnut create patterns from how much light pass through

lots of new vegetation along the waterways

Horse Chestnut blossom

*not identified

route: Timber Yard; Drinkwater Meadow; Knightslow Wood; Park Moor; Middle Moor Wall; Park Moor Boundary wall; Bowstonegate Farm entrance

Tadpoles in the Millpond by the footbridge over the race

Half term bringing many cars in and the matted overflow area is in use

Beautiful greens along the track in Knightslow Wood

Lime green glow in distance where the sky opens above the meadow

Southern boundary and Spond's Hill

 Tormentil (Potentilla erecta)

looking across the Moor, Paddock Cottage in from left and The Cage a dot about same distance from the right edge

Stag House

Stag House is marked on OS maps high on the moorland boundary of the Park. Knocked down long ago, all that remains is the foundations. The original building had high features which could be seen via a line of sight along Lime Avenue and through Knightslow Wood.

View across Stag House foundations toward the House

zoom to cutting through Knightslow Wood to Lime Avenue

further zoom over the trees of Lime Avenue to Lyme Hall

A group of hinds peering over a brow to see what's going on

Cuckooflower (Cardamine pratensis)

Some Cuckooflower petals have a pink / purple hue

*not identified

route: Bowstonegate Farm entrance; Knightslow Wood; Lime Avenue; Main Car Park (end)

Nice Fringe!

Highland cattle chilling halfway up Bowstonegate track

Woodland character change; left of track is deciduous Beech woodland and Pine and Fir to right

Fallow Deer - also sporting this year's new antlers

A peek through to the House

Today's track and profile

Total: 8.6 miles (13.8 km)  6 hr 00 min
 

This Time Last Year

I was away on my Jollies this week last year so this still links to one week ago last year

 Have a look at This Time Last Year 

Week 24 21/05/14 - Fluffy Green and Bird Song

Week 68 20/05/2015 - Dull Weather but Still Amazing

Photo Blog Week 68 - Wed 20 May 2015

A mixed weather day which was generally rather dull and delivered a few periods of rain. First week for sometime that I have purely been 'on patrol' for most of the day rather than including survey work or introducing new volunteers so properly back to litter picking, problem spotting and photographing (subject to rain). The Park is amazing on bright days like last week but it always has an innate beauty in whatever light and weather conditions.

route:  North Face; The Cage; drop across Main Drive; Timber Yard; Mill Pond (Turtle Brew side); Main Car Park (zig-zag litter pick); Timber Yard

Looking toward cloud shrouded Kinder; the valley alone lit up by the sun

Rain heading my way from Manchester

Group of Stags passing time in the drizzle in the lee of a copse out of the wind

Varied stages of development of this year's new antlers

Rhododendron flowers

Cheeky Jackdaw waiting for crumbs at Timber Yard cafe

route:  Timber Yard; The Knott; Westpark drive; Westparkgate Lodge; Deer Clough; Rock Outcrop (over Cluse Hay)

Grass is growing well through the new all weather matting on the overflow parking areas

Woodland canopy displaying varied colours and textures

Still cloudy and drizzle across the sky behind the Cage

The indentations at the top of The Knott offer a good All Terrain Bike experience for kids

(Please remember that over most of the Lyme Park Estate off road cycling is not allowed)

Bluebells Along West Park Drive

The bluebells along West Park Drive were at their peak with large rafts of blue on the surrounding slopes and, if the wind direction right, filling the air with their heady perfume

Forget Me Nots

Greater Stitchwort  (Stellaria holostea)

Large area of Wild Garlic or "Ransoms" (Allium ursinum) near Westparkgate Lodge.

The air is full of a pungent aroma which can be unpleasant to some but usually due to not knowing where the smell is coming from. Once you appreciate that it is the wild garlic it is more interesting than unpleasant.

 The individual flower heads of the Ransoms remind me of firework bursts or sparklers

Nature's Artwork: Tree arc over the Wild Garlic beds

Poynton Brook tumbling through a narrow

Poynton Brook descending from Deer Clough

Looking along the top of Deer Clough to Cluse Hay and the Western Moor

New Bracken stems climbing out of last years crumbling remains

Tormentil (Potentilla erecta) bright yellow flowers shine out from among the grass

Ranger Craig's favourite tree in the Park is by my favourite snack stop at this rock outcrop looking out over Cluse Hay and the Western Moor.

route:  Rock Outcrop (over Cluse Hay); Paddock Cottage; Drinkwater Meadow loop including Darcy's Pond; Pursefield Ridge; Dipping Pond

Gorse on the steep banks looking into the depths of Cluse Hay

See very few of these pink/lilac bluebells

Jetty at the 'Dipping Pond'

(This location is mistakenly labelled "Darcy's Pond" in some maps and leaflets. The actual location of the Colin Firth Wet Shirt filming is the pool at the far corner of Drinkwater Meadow from the Main Car Park)

route:  Dipping Pond; Main Car Park; East Lodge drive; Turfhouse Meadow; Lantern Wood; Cater's Slack

A large group of Hinds on Turfhouse Meadow includes some young stags.

Young stag still displaying last year's antler set

Ooh! They'll do as antlers. The ladies will love me.

The young stag on the right has last years antlers in tact and was really working them shaking this branch about. Made me wonder weather it was trying to dislodge them; maybe they feel wrong with this year's waiting to grow?

route:  Cater's Slack; East Lodge drive; out toward East Lodge as far as new stile; return to car via The Stables, North Face and Estate Office (end)

Rather muddy engineering in progress installing a new strong stile.

Both sides must support attachment of stock proof fencing to retain cattle but the height must allow the  red deer to easily leap over as they move freely around the Park.

These 'Mystery' cages have appeared in several locations.

Within this measured area, the vegetation with grow unhindered before being harvested, dried and weighed. From this, the grazing value and quality can be derived to asses the terrain's ability to support Deer, Cattle, Sheep and wildlife in numbers and density. This is an established technique used in farm, park and moorland stock management. They are not a permanent fixture and will be removed after the end of the growing season when data collection is complete.

Today's track and profile

Survey (morning)

Survey final items around Main Entrance and Main Car Park

Patrol (afternoon)

Total: 8 miles (13.3km)  5 hr 45 min

Survey (am) 0.44mi (0.7km) ; Patrol (pm) 7.57mi (12.6km) 

This Time Last Year

Have a look at This Time Last Year  

Week 24 21/05/14 - Fluffy Green and Bird Song