A day on the high Pennines

Day off on 26th June, so headed for the high Pennines. The day began well with nice views of a Short-eared Owl hunting over the moorland in the morning sunshine. Golden Plover and Curlew calls carried across the fellside...

A specimen of the click beetle Ctenicera pectinicornis was crawling across a stone in the path.

Later on I visited the Alpine Cinquefoil site on one of the limestone crags, where the plants were in flower out of the reach of sheep.

Another crag held several plants of the tiny fern - Moonwort growing in the short turf on the ledges.

Another limestone loving fern, the dainty Green Spleenwort, was growing increvices in the crags.

A few plants of the  rare mountain grass Alpine Cat's-tail (Phleum alpinum) were seen on three different outcrops.

The Moss Fool

The Dotterel is a special bird of the high mountain tops of northern Britain. The old Cumbrian name for the bird is Moss Fool because it is so confiding and approachable, making it easy quarry for gunmen in the past when Dotterel feathers were prized for making artificial fishing flies!