500 and going strong

Thursday May 24th I had a walk round the northern part of Cuerden. To my delight there were several  Banded Demoiselles flitting over the River Lostock and a common whitethroat announced to any females that he was available.

 Friday 25th was the time to visit the Kem Mill area of Cuerden. A small copper butterfly, white dog rose, ground elder, wood avens, yellow rattle, common blue damselfly and water mint were added to the challenge list. That evening, on our way from watching badgers at the Lancashire Badger Hide a little owl watched us from his perch on a telegraph pole

I enjoyed two events on Saturday the 26th. Cuerden Wildlife Explorers Watch group had a river dipping morning.Lots of mayfly nymphs, banded demoiselle nymphs, a stone loach, ( quickly returned to the river) and a water scorpion which was number 500 for my challenge. I also spotted some yellow pimpernel out in the pineatum.

In the afternoon I had decided to visit Gait Barrows nature reserve to try to see Britain's rarest flower. It continued to be a glorious day. Not only did I see this wonderful orchid, but also Herb Paris, a Duke of Burgundy butterfly as well as Pale Bordered fritillary, Dingy Skipper and several Brimstones.

.Sun 27th and Monday 28th not much except for white clover, whirligig beetle, yellow flag,  tufted vetch, four spotted chaser and a common blue butterfly

Tuesday 29th  I went to Leck Fell in the far North East of Lancashire with the "Endangered plant group" The area is marked near 21a on this small map. These were serious botanists, and very helpful to me. We spent about 8 hours on the fell and I added about 50 new plants to my list. Amongst these were:- Wall lettuce, Mossy Saxifrage, Lemon Scented Fern and Eared Willow.

                                       

Thursday 31st May I had the privilege of being invited to a reception hosted by HRH The Prince of Wales at Highgrove. This was to celebrate 100 years of the Wildlife Trusts. Two volunteers from each County Trust had been invited to attend and I had the honour of being one of the two from Lancashire. His Royal Highness has some wonderful wildflower areas and I was sorry I could not take my hand lens and my "Francis Rose". You can see the picture of Noell Leather and I having a short chat to the Prince here.

Picture by Paul Burns Photography