Abbey Meadows

Abbey Meadows

Friday 28 May 2010

Old Haunts

Northern Marsh Orchid

Narrow Buckler Fern


Harestail Cottongrass


Speckled Wood




Hoary Cress




Wintercress



Not sure what this is

Its now a few years since I moved to Morpeth and I have been neglecting the area I grew up in over the last three years. The Stobswood area inluding Felton lane and Widdrington tip are always worth keeping an eye on all year round as they hold an amazing variety of flora and fauna and it has always been a bit of a backwater that no naturalists really cover. Me and Stewart (BB) have seen 23 Butterfly species between us in this area, that reflects the variety of flora around here. It is probably up to me to try and record as much wildlife in this area as possible and throw a couple of pics in that I need help with to ID. I'm sure fellow bloggers will keep me right.

Above are a few pics from Stobswood and Widdrington tip. The tip is arguably the best place in the county for Northern marsh orchid with over 600 spikes in the tip area alone. Narrow buckler fern and Harestail cottongrass are usually associated with boggy areas in more upland habitats. The caterpillar stumped me. I initially thought it was a Ruby tiger but I'm not sure...Dean and stewart will know! It was only a centimetre long on Creeping Thistle.

5 comments:

Emma Anderson said...

I would love to photograph a speckled wood this year, Nigel. Are you able to be a little more precise with where to go in the Stobswood area? I might not find it too far a journey fom Redesdale.

Stewart said...

Looks like a Garden Tiger Nigel but I stand to be corrected.

Anonymous said...

Everything fits with Garden Tiger, Nigel. The colour/length of the hairs.
Ruby Tigers are one overall colour.

Another set of great pics.

abbey meadows said...

Thanks for the comments. Ta for the ID..with it being small I wasn't quite sure. Emma I suggest if you want a look around this area it would be worth dropping in on your way back from a visit to Druridge bay. It is just a couple of miles inland. The area is NZ2395.

Emma Anderson said...

Many thanks for the location advice - I'll look it up on the OS map and try to pay a visit very soon.