This evening, I went for a walk organised by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust at a Plantlife reserve called Deep Dale. I have walked here before, a few years ago, but hadn't been at the right time of year to see many flowers before and hadn't explored it fully.
"Deepdale Nature Reserve is noted for its wealth of limestone plants.
Join Reserves Officer, Julia Gow and our High Peak Local Group for a guided evening walk around this spectacular dale and admire the abundance of wild flowers.
The dale even has a cave and we will have a look inside! Paths are steep and rocky in places so suitable footwear is needed.
I think part of Deep Dale is a Plantlife reserve and part is managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. We met at 7ish at the quarry by the reserve. I'd arrived early so had chance to notice how many snails had come out to play in the rain (a lot!). I also spotted a poplar hawk moth near my car but there was something wrong with one of the wings...
I don't know what that black things is... a parasite, a disease... who knows... looks like the wing is ruined though sadly.
I walked along a different path into Deep Dale - one I haven't walked before.
It was great to be out on a damp, warm evening. You'll have to imagine the fabulous smells - green and earthy!
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| globeflower |
We went into the cave too...
I spotted a cave spider egg sac dangling from the wall
and just above there were a couple of cave spiders. I didn't get a clear photo unfortunately. I still need to tinker with the new camera settings and get used to it's focusing ways!
It has been a very gloomy and grey day in these parts with lots of mist and drizzle, but it has also been quite warm so it was little bit jungle like this evening surrounded by all the greenery and the humidity!
I didn't really learn anything but it was nice to be out and noticing lots of different flowers. As we were quite a large group and we moved at a fair pace for much of the evening, I didn't have a lot of opportunity to photograph the flowers/plants but here's a list of some of the plants seen (not all in flower yet)...
Meadowsweet
Nettles
Broad leaved helleborine
Twayblade
Water avens
Field horsetail
Bush vetch
Kidney vetch
White valerian
Red valerian
Crosswort
Marjoram
Yellow rattle
Birdsfoot trefoil
Lady's bedstraw
Dames violet
Marsh orchid (southern)
Common spotted orchid
Globeflower
Loved all the flower photos but I bet it was frustrating not being able to take the time to photograph them all! At Brockholes last week, as I was taking photos of the butterflies, Chickpea turned to her boyfriend and said 'this is what a walk with Mum is like' ie lots of stopping! x
ReplyDeleteGreat evening by the looks of it Louise. Cool photos too.
ReplyDeleteLooks a lovely evening out Louise and a good turn out for the event, too:)
ReplyDelete