June saw me on the Farne Islands. A fabulous day although we had to get off pretty sharpish as the wind picked up and we were in for a choppy return to the mainland.
The view from the hotel in Bamburgh wasn't bad either!
Nor the sunset on the causeway at Holy Island
And apparently there is a roseate turn in the middle of the arctic terns at the Long Nanny site up there.
further south I popped into Weardale for a botanical foray into the vampires of that dale
Later in June I popped up to Ingleborough to run about on slippy clints and deep grykes in limestone pavement country.
While in mid June we both managed to snatch a long weekend in Boscastle in Cornwall
The famous Valency river which although tranquil this visit, flooded Boscastle in 2004
The beaches of St Ives were stunning in 50mph winds but blue blue skies
The waves were therefore quite impressive around St Ives and seem to have washed up this mermaid cum seal on the rocks..........
July saw me back in Yorkshire, this time on Malham Tarn taking part in a research project to find Britain's rarest caddisfly, which is only found here.
Being given permission to be out in the Tarn at night with a light trap was just magical, as thousands and thousands of grouse wing caddisfly emerged from the lake all around us.
And I even managed to get to Newcastle to record the kittiwakes on the Tyne Bridge, or as our lovely Geordie contributor said.... kitti waaaaarks
Well just a flavour of where I've been, and why sadly the blog took second place to being out there and doing it as they say.
And so, if you want to hear more; the following Living Worlds are coming up on Radio 4;
Puffin - Broadcast last Sunday
Limestone Pavements - 07.08.11
Vampire Plants - 14.08.11
Caddisfly - 21.08.11
Go on......have a peek................ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qyz3
Welcome back Andrew.
ReplyDeleteWhat superb places you've visited - I think blogging would have been the last thing on my mind surrounded by such beautiful countryside and interesting activities. Still incredibly jealous of your job!
Love the mermaid cum seal picture :D.
Thanks for the programme information - will listen to the programmes and hopefully get "Puffins" on iplayer.
Great stuff, Andrew. Thanks for the links - I'll tune in for sure. Agree with Robin re the mermaid. ;-)
ReplyDeletecheers,
Wilma
Oooh welcome back and it was worth the wait for all those beautiful photos. Thanks for the whistlestop tour around the UK (well OK it took *you* longer).
ReplyDeleteI listened to the programme "The Living World" on the Limestone Pavements and enjoyed your broadcast very much. It just so happened that we'd had been in the same area only a few weeks before so it made it especially interesting.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments all. Glad you liked the programme David.
ReplyDeleteGreat selection of photos from some of my favourite places. How did you know? I worked at Malham Tarn for a year, oooh...some years back now. Taking a boat out on the tarn was a treat and a delight. Saw my first grass of Parnassus up at Malham Tarn. Happy days! Must go back to botanise on those limestone pavements sometime soon. Just about to catch up with those programmes on iplayer. Mel
ReplyDeleteThanks Mel, great to know you know Malham well, we spent a lot of time over the cara (stonewort) beds, made me realise what a wonderful place the Tarn is, looking at the cara through a viewing tube, it was like flying over a pine forest.
ReplyDelete