Saturday 14th. July 2012 Arnside , Cumbria ( Part 1 )

Back in the depths of last winter , I booked two trips away , one to Arne in Dorset , which we visited in May , and the second to Arnside , on the Cumbrian coast , above Morecambe Bay and below the Lake District . The Arne visit was successful , with Smooth Snake and Sand Lizard found , but dipped on Natterjack Toad , so set off last Monday for Arnside , again with three target species on the list , High Brown Fritillary , Northern Brown Argus and Dark Red Helleborine . The expected 6ish hour trip was going great until we approached Preston on the M6 , when flashing lights stated that the M6 was closed northbound . With little option , we continued , and were relieved when just a 15 delay was flashed up , we could live with that . Soon after the red lights started to show up in front , but I would only be 15 minutes . After standing still on the motorway for 30 minutes , we started to move , very slowly , but on reaching the next off slip , found the motorway coned off ,and all four lanes of traffic pushed into the middle of Preston along a single lane road , causing gridlock in the town . Two and a half very frustrating hours later , we managed to get back on the M6 above Preston and arrived in Arnside nine and a half hours after leaving home . The cause of the hold up , some idiot threatening to jump off one of the bridges over the motorway , hearing later on the local news that he didn't . What annoyed me most was the Police were charging around in their cars around the motorway , but not one of them were sorting out the gridlock at the road junctions in the town . Anyway , my planned look around in the late afternoon never happened sadly , especially as the weather was ideal . Our b&b was right on Arnside Knott , a well known butterfly hotspot , and after breakfast the following morning , in windy but dry conditions , we drove to the NT car park on the Knott , and leaving Carol with her book , I finally got started on looking for the three target species . The Knott is quite steep , with large areas of scree on it's upper slopes , and it wasn't too long before I

found my first butterfly , a Grayling , perfectly camouflaged , basking on some of the scree , a species that always rests with wings closed , so the topwing , which is much more colourful , is rarely seen . It was still quite cool , but a bit of searching produced my first Fritillaries , but it was two Dark

Greens , nectaring on Bramble . And that was the start of the headache of distinguishing between the many of this species found on the Knott , and the much rarer target High Brown Fritillary . I met several other butterfly enthusiasts during our stay , many confident that it was possible to differentiate between the two species from the topwing , but after my experience , I would say it is almost impossible . To make things more awkward , both species rested with open wings , and after following a certain specimen , thinking it was a High Brown , my hopes were dashed by a glimpse of the green wash of the underwing . But , it wasn't all bad news , as during that time on the Knott , I did

get my only sighting of Northern Brown Argus , but didn't realise it until I got home and looked through the shots taken , thinking at the time that it was a standard Brown Argus . A few Common Blue , lots of Meadow Brown , a few Ringlet , the odd Speckled Wood and a rather past it's sell by

date Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary were also seen , but not a single High Brown . After a couple of hours , the weather closed in and the butterflies headed for cover . Other interest found on the Knott

were Dropwort / Filipendula vulgaris , a member of the Rose family ,looking like miniature , leafless , specimens of Meadowsweet , to which it is related , and a couple of very contented looking Highland

Cattle calves , hat didn't bother to move , even though I passed within a few feet of them . There was also a very large bull on the Knott , but I kept well away from him . Leaving the Knott , the weather really closed in and it started drizzling , so we decided to have a run up to Bowness on Windermere , and do the tourist thing . Sure enough , it was full of tourists , all trying to keep dry . We didn't stay long , making our way back to the b&b , and relaxing in the spacious conservatory . Fortunately the rain stopped before we headed down to the only pub / eating place . Wednesday dawned sunny , and after breakfast we headed for RSPB Leighton Moss , not to visit one of the largest reedbeds in Europe , but for me to visit another HBF site close by , Myers Allotment , which although not sounding it , was another limestone outcrop , but more wooded than the Knott . I was the only one on the site , and spent the time like a mountain goat searching for my target . After quite some time , a flash of orange passed me and disappeared into the distance . Was it ? Impossible to tell , so on with the search . The usual common butterfly species were seen , and several 6-spot Burnet Moths ,

including this mating pair . Up on the top of the outcrop I found plants growing out of the grykes , the

fissures worn into the limestone by water and weather , like this fern . This also the habitat where I could possibly find my non-butterfly target Dark-red Helleborine / Epipactis atrorubens , but search as I did , I never found any sign , but I did find my first positive HBF , but it did not let me get near

it before it was off again , but with binoculars , I saw the markings on the underwing . Result . Not wanting to leave Carol too long , I made my way back to the car park , and we drove to the far end of the reserve , where a Spoonbill had been sighted , and also where the Avocets had nested .

Fortunately it was fairly level on the way to the hide , and on the way , Carol spotted a dead Mole , just off the footpath . The scrape outside the hide was very windswept , and not long after we got there , everything that was on the ground lifted off in unison , not I would add because of our being there , but the arrival overhead of one of the Marsh Harriers who had young to feed back at the nest .

Eventually the Harrier moved off and things started returning like these Redshank with an odd

Godwit amongst them , and this mix of Little Egrets and Shellduck , the latter must have hidden their young whilst the Harrier was in the area , as , once the danger had passed , they brought their family

into view on one of the small islands . It appeared that most of the Avocets had moved on , leaving

just a few late breeders , still guarding their youngsters , this adult was in constant conflict with a pair of nearby Oystercatchers . Carol had mentioned on the way up that she would like to see Morecambe Bay whilst we were in the area , so we headed off to get an ice-cream on the front there . My first time there too , and we were both amazed at the size of the bay , and Carol was pleased to see the

statue of their town's son , Eric , dancing on the prom  to 'Bring me Sunshine' , which he did for us , with the hills of the Lake District in the background . With the sun still shining , we headed back towards the b&b and on the way I asked 'Do you mind if I have another quick look at Myer's Allotment ?' , and long suffering Carol said 'Oh all right' , and I'll pick up there on the next post .