A WALK FROM THE BEACH

These yellow bladders belong to Spiral Wrack (Fucus spiralis) OR (!) suggests another Ispotter - Bladder Wrack (Fucus  Vesiculosus)

I suspect I have too many photographs for this post. But the purpose behind it is to take you from a beach, up a narrow path, to the top of a little cliff beside Portland Harbour in Dorset. To walk it, it would take about three minutes - unless you stopped to look at some of the plants and creatures on the way, which is the theme of this post. What I introduce you to is very selective for the number of plants and birds and shell fish and seaweeds and insects . . . pretty much infinite!

Egg Wrack - (Aschophyllum  nodosum)

Many of the rocks on this little beach are covered in seaweed but others, further back from the water, are bare.

We don't have enough words for stones. This is larger than a pebble but smaller than a bolder. I'm trying to think - the rough, exposed bit in the foreground . . . about two and a half feet high? If this weren't supposed to be a blog about plants I could do post after post about the variety of rocks on this one little story-book-style beach.

This is a massive cliff about thirty-five miles to the west of 'our' beach. You can see the passing of millennia in its stripes. Our little beach is not dramatic like this. Its cliff is a toddler in comparison. But wander a little way along (there are lots of little ins and outs) and you can find yourself sinking in a sticky grey mud of a kind which makes the cliff above dangerous. It's at Charmouth - more or less where the study of fossils began. Many of the rocks on our beach have imprints of the fossils that have fallen out of them - like this one on my other blog.

Back to where we were. We'll walk up the path from 'Our Beach' . . .

I've mentioned before how many of last years blackberry leaves have stayed on their bushes through winter. I took this photo on 27th April 2012. Since then, the rains and winds we missed in the autumn and winter seem to have come all at once so I anticipate this leaf will have blown away by the time I go back to the path.

Here is a close up.

Hoverflies are beginning to make their appearance.

Close up -

This one being Myathropa florea - which may make this a good moment to mention the identifications on this post.

I have sought help from two sources. One is from the members of Ispot - where identifications can be made at the same time as a visual resource is being built up by the Open University. As always - if you haven't already taken a look . . . do so!

This time, I've had the additional help of Chris Webster who has a wonderful collection of hoverfly photos on the site 'British Hoverflies'. (There's a link in the tab for IDs at the top of the blog.)

This may also be the moment to wander off the path even further to mention National Insect Week, 25th June - 1st July. (There's currently a banner link at the top of the sidebar.) There will be more information about this nearer the time.

I'm beginning to sound like a notice board!

Dandelions - wonderful from start to finish. Beautifully shaped leaves, wonderfully cheerfully, bright yellow flowers which turn into clocks. Everyone likes to take pictures of the clocks. They are a bit overdone. I realise that. But the reason they are over-photoed is because . . . well, just look!

How can they be resisted?

Close to the top of the path - is the clump of elderberry trees I'm following. Now rains have come, the lichen which has been bright yellow throughout the dry weather, is rapidly turning green - it's what it does!

Common Orange Lichen - Xanthoria parietina - turning green because the air is damp.
When we have dry weather again, it will go back to being bright yellow.

The leaf we have been following since it was a shoot is difficult now to get to because of the undergrowth which has grown in the way. It's also smaller than the other leaves opening around it . . . but it's still visible in the crook of the V shaped branch straight ahead.

And at the very top of the path we have come up

alexanders (with the yellow flowers) dandelions (with their clocks blown away) and fennel (the feathery leaves). If this year follows the pattern of other years, chicory and vipers bugloss will grow here too in the summer.

* * *

TREE FOLLOWING

This is such a long post already, I'll do a double catch up of tree followings next week.

Tweet

IVY AND ELDER - MID APRIL

It's surprising how many old leaves and dessicated berries there still are in the bushes.

Some of the ivy flowers and berries which were like firework balls in the autumn have turned into woody, spiky, fascinating things in which texture and structure are more prominent than colour.

They are mixed in with glossy, established leaves.

(Flies like ivy.)

And, because it's spring - there are new leaf buds.

And new leaves!

* * *

THE ELDER SECTION

Clusters of buds for elderberry flowers are beginning to form. More on some trees than on others.

And, beneath them, the scented flowers of alexanders.

Here's our elderberry shoot - it's the smallest one in the middle. Before long we will not be able to see it for other leaves. I chose it because it's in the crook of a branch and, therefore, easily identifiable but it's rather annoying that it's the slowest on the tree to grow!

THE SOUND ROUND A TREE

Pictures are important. In them, we can see all sorts of things which we'd probably not notice if we weren't taking time to examine a static image. However, a tree is more than a picture. Below are a couple of short video clips of 'our' elderberry clump. Nothing happens. That's the point. It's a little pause to listen. I've not yet managed to upload anything of a satisfying length so they stop almost as soon as they start. Apologies for that. My intention was to offer a moment in which to stand (or sit!) and stare and to be aware. Hopefully, I'll work out how to load longer clips without destroying the quality as time goes by. Meanwhile . . . oh, and if you click the YouTube option you can see them larger.

Looking up the bank to the Elderberry Clump and listening to the birds at dawn.

April 15th 2012.

The Elderberry Shoot framed by the stems of Alexanders.

Around 3:30 pm in the afternoon of April 20th 2012.

* * *

NEWS FROM TREE FOLLOWERS

The Latest Posts

from

Tree Followers

From Lichfield Lore - Tree Following . . . bring May Flowers
From On the Edge Gardening - Lime by Name
From Down by the Sea - Tree Following 4

From Gardening Ways - Plane Tree on the Move

From Walsall Wildlife - A Rotten Place to Live

From Tree Care Tips - Horse Chestnut and Red Maple

From Patio Patch - Wych Elm Cousins

For a list of the Tree Followers
And - don't forget Treeblogging which aggregates posts about trees from a wide range of blogs.

Tweet