Saturday 18 April

Good Morning

 Dandelion - Taraxacum

 Horse Chestnut - Aesculus hippocastanum

 Lesser Celandine  - Ficaria verna

Nuthatch

Take Care

Easter Monday 6 April

Good walking morning

 The fertile stems of Great Horsetail - Equisetum telmateia now pushing through, we will soon see the more familiar sterile stems.

Large areas now covered with Lesser Celandine  - Ficaria verna

The flowers will soon be open on the Wild Garlic/Ramsons - Allium ursinum - the smell of garlic has already started to fill the valley.

Take Care

Sunday 1 March

I was fooled this morning, the temperature was up and I thought lighter clothing would be fine, the wind factor made it well below, it cut right through us. After two hours I was glad to get home to a cup of tea & my porridge but before I could have that, boots had to be hosed down along with Meg having her legs washed all in cold water. 

Billy Swan was looking every inch the powerful top male he has become, the youngster is still on the lodge but not for long.

Crocus planted near a memorial bench

Plenty of Lesser Celandine - Ficaria verna in flower

Memorial Bench near the site of the old cottages, the lady lived here as a girl.

Take Care

Friday 27 February

Good Morning, it was cool and dry.

 The Heron was also waiting for the frogs behind the Top Lodge again

More open flowers on the Lesser Celandine - Ficaria verna

Still expecting the frogs as the weather is good this a favourite spot - The Channel from the Weir

Take Care

Saturday 14 February

We walked up to the Lower Burgh this morning - I have not been up for ages it's too depressing, it has been mowed flat as a bowling green apart from a small patch of reed bed, there are no hiding places for wild life, it's desolate and totally uninteresting, I hope that the mower stays away for the next year to allow some recovery, I doubt it though as it reminds me of the strimming of undergrowth once the machine is running they can't stop and you have a bald patch which takes ages to grow back.

Planted by a memorial bench Dutch Crocus - Crocus x stellaris

 Late this year but finally found one in flower, Lesser Celandine  - Ficaria verna

This is the large Goat Willow - Salix caprea that glistens in the sunshine when in flower, it will stand out this year as there is nothing else to look at.

 There are plenty of Gorse - Ulex europaeus shrubs on the Lower Burgh

Plenty of  Snowdrops - Galanthus nivalis open now, most have been planted but we still see the odd group in odd places, found two small groups in a hedgerow this morning.

Take Care

Thursday 20 March

Good morning for mooching about the old cottage area in Drybones.

 Dog's Mercury - Mercurialis perennis

 Stile Dry Bones

 Flowering Currant - Ripes sanguineum

 Forsythia suspensa x viridissima = F. xintermedia

 Gooseberry - Ribes uva-crispa

 Great Wood-rush - Luzula sylvatica

 Lesser Celandine  - Ficaria verna

 Londonpride - Saxifraga umbrosa x spathularis = S. x urbium

 Lords & Ladies - Arum maculatum

Wood Anemone - Anemone nemorosa

Take Care

Friday 28 February

A few more from Friday

 Cherry Laurel - Prunus laurocerasus

 Ivy - Hedera helix

 Rhododendron - Rhododendron ponticum

 Elder - Sambucus nigra

 Lesser Celandine  - Ficaria verna

Lords & Ladies - Arum maculatum

Take Care

Sunday 23 February

Last of the Sunday photos - Homeward bound

Burgh Wood

Crossing Sunny Brow Bridge

River Yarrow

Views from the bridge

 Lesser Celandine  - Ficaria verna

Arnold & Meg

One lone sheep 

There are bits of this metal cable all over the valley, just to remind us of the industry that filled the valley.

Take Care

Sunday 16 February

Dry this morning we ambled down to the Weir

 Arnold stood in the middle of the old cottage site near the weir - we believe the last family to live there were called Selby.

 Warming his hands over the old fireplace, it was big compared to the rest of the cottage, must have been cosy & warm when it was lit. There were no services so all the water was carried from the well on Primrose Hill, no gas, everything had to be brought in.

 Lesser Celandine  - Ficaria verna finally in flower

 This is the old Stile at the back of the cottage site, leads up to Primrose Hill and Burgh Lane South.

Red Campion - Silene dioica a little worse for the cold night

Take Care

Saturday 4 January

A little bit of sunshine

Burgh Wood

Take Care