Snakes, Heather Burning and Ancient Woodland

Just lately I have made a few visits to an Adder (Vipera berus) hibernation site I have known about for many years.  They are a breeding population and I have kept a few occasional, but not particularly scientific records in this time.  Mainly about when they first emerge from hibernation, population numbers and whether I spot any of the young. In many ways it has become a part of my spring routine. 

The first trip was at the beginning of March, but conditions for seeing them was borderline in that it was cloudy and cold, so it was hardly a surprise when I did not spot any.   On a second trip it was sunny but still cool and I only spotted one, which was highly aggressive and began hissing and striking before I got anywhere near.  It is possible to identify individuals by their head markings, but even so I knew from his reaction this was Mr Grumpy (AKA number 2).  I grabbed a couple of shots using distraction to avoid getting bitten and left him in peace.

Number 2 (Mr Grumpy) basking with body flattened to absorb the maximum heat from the spring sunshine

A couple of weeks later with the weather now much warmer I headed back.  No Mr Grumpy this time, but instead Number 4 who is a rather more passive character, who along a smaller snake I could not identify were happily basking in the sunshine.  I was a bit too impatient in getting a pic and they soon disappeared.  I knew if I waited they would soon reappear and within a few minutes number 4, tongue flicking to taste the air, slowly emerged from his hiding place. 

Number 4, is it safe to come out?

Personalities aside, close up it is possible to tell individual apart by their head markings

He knew I was there, but by keeping myself still he seemed happy to emerge fully and then flatten his body to get the maximum heat from the sun.  I watched him for perhaps 15 minutes or so and then suddenly, without any apparent reason, he became tense and with tongue flicking coiled up in the familiar posture they adopt when they feel threatened.  Looking around I could see nothing, but a few seconds later the strong smell of burning heather reached us.   

Threat Posture

Now clearly it could have a bird, or perhaps some vibration from the numerous helicopters that were flying around at the time, but it did get me thinking about what the effect would be if this patch of heather was burned when they were basking.  Would they simply head below ground and avoid the heat, and if so would they suffocate from the smoke instead?  What if they were too far from their hibernation hole to get out of the way?

I know heather burning is highly controversial and I have listened to, and read up on the various sides of the argument relating to pollution, vegetation damage, habitat loss and the effect on wildlife.   That said I had not paid a great deal of attention to the impact of such activities on reptiles such as snakes and it was with thoughts like this rattling around in my head that I headed across to the far hillside to see the burning up close.

I never know how people will react to me taking pics, especially if they feel I may be there to present them in a bad light, which I am not, I simply want to record what I see.  So far I have not had any issues and have had several friendly conversations with various estate gamekeepers.  So much so that despite the fact I don't support any activities that kill animals as a form of entertainment, I do try to take a balanced view and avoid tarring all shooting estates with the same brush. 

Either way it's not an easy thing to do when I see the level of persecution of birds of prey, along with other predators such as stoats and of course none predators such as the mountain hare, I can tell you.

Arriving at the fire, the closest gamekeeper who was setting light to the heather gave me a friendly nod and hello so I grabbed a few shots.

This guy did not seem bothered by my presence either.

After a few minutes a bloke with a soot covered face turned up on another tractor and asked me what I was doing taking pictures as the lads might not want me too.  At this point it's probably not worth going into much detail, other than to say he did not want me taking pics and wanted to know where I was from and what I would be doing with the pics.

Despite the fact I showed him the shots I had taken and that they did not show any faces he was still very unhappy about it.  In the end I couldn't be bothered to argue, and having got a few shots anyway headed off in the direction I had come from. 

On the way back I discovered some remnants of what these moors should really be like in the form of some large old tree stumps that had eroded out of the peat.  How long ago these trees last watched over this landscape I don't know.  It could I suppose be as recent as a few hundred years ago, but then again preserved in the peat we could be talking thousands of years. Either way you can bet humans had a hand in it.

We often talk about re-wilding the landscape and to do so here would mean the return of the trees.  

There are lots of trees like this on the moor.  The altitude here is around 1,200 ft

Despite my experience today this is not meant to be an anti grouse shooting article and as I said I try to take a balanced view, because lets face it, wind turbines in upland areas also destroy vegetation and peat habitat with their concrete bases, miles of roads and other infrastructure such as pylons and substations.  You can also add a large number of bird fatalities caused by cables and blade strikes to this as well.  Not to mention the visual intrusion and the pollution created by making them. 

With regard to heather burning, I don't have any answers, but considering that adders are active at this early stage in the year and given I do actually have records and images of them captured as early as the 24th  February, the potential burning season of between ***1st October to 15th April (see edit below), does seem far too long as far as adders go.

All in all, today was a day that really made me think about our impact on the landscape and its wildlife, but most of all it did make me wonder just where will it end?

Text copyright David Forster www.bluestoneimages.com

*** Edit 1st October to 15th April in England (See comments section)

Further Reading

http://www.arc-trust.org/Resources/Arc%20Trust/Documents/Impact-of-burning-on-reptiles-report.pdf

http://www.dardni.gov.uk/heather_moorland.pdf

Keeping those windows clean

I am not keen on cleaning windows, but the one that overlooks my bird feeders always gets a good clean. 

A couple of grab shots this afternoon

Great Spotted Woodpecker

The red nape patch shows this is a male

Text images copyright David Forster www.bluestoneimages.com

Castlerigg Stone Circle Sunrise

On Monday Moira and I headed to the Castlerigg Stone Circle to watch the sunrise.  

I find sunrises wonderful sights to behold, but when the location and light come together perfectly, some really have a hauntingly beautiful quality.  Today was one of those.

It was around a half-hour walk from the campsite with just enough time to grab a pic of Blencathra as the sky began to gain some colour in the east

We arrived with just enough time to grab a few shots of the moon 

As the sun rises you cannot help but feel a connection with the ancient people who came here.    

As the sun strikes the stones it really does feel as if there is a physical and emotional thread weaving down through the centuries linking us to our ancestors.

The light was in constant flux as the mist crept across the hillside

This shot was used by the Telegraph this morning

The view south

Being a bank holiday Monday there were several other photographers about and we all tried to keep out of each others shots as best we could.  In the end I thought why not include one.  

Text Images Copyright David Forster www.bluestoneimages.com

Northern Lights Over Teesdale

Last night Aurora Watch said we were experiencing the strongest geomagnetic storm of this solar cycle.  Unfortunately I had had a couple of glasses of wine so heading to the hills was out of the question. Fortunately Teesdale is not too bad for light pollution and a quick look outside around 10.30pm confirmed a slight green haze on the horizon.  Over the next hour or so the display came and went, but eventually it intensified just before midnight into a series of green and red bands coupled with light flashes and rays streaking across the sky.

Text images copyright David Forster www.bluestoneimages.com

Wanders with the Weather Gods in Teesdale

I have not really had time to write individual blog posts for each day so its just a bit of a roundup of some of the better days out.

Obviously not a hill walk, but it was still nice to head out locally for a bit of a wander.  Living here you tend to take places such as the grounds of the Bowes Museum for granted.  

The Bowes Museum and the Armillary Sphere Memorial to HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Barnard Castle 

Severe weather warnings for snow, rain and strong winds seem to have been in place for most of the winter up here and lots of trees have been blown over, or damaged in Teesdale.

 It's sad to see this old Lime has lost one of its two main trunks.

Despite the storms the gaps between one weather front and the next allowed for some grand days on the hill.

Falcon Clints and the River Tees from Man Gate on Cronkley Fell in Upper Teesdale.

We even had some blue sky days.  Alan wouldn't ski any nearer the cornice so no avalanche shots I am afraid.

Some days the severity of the weather meant a certain amount of discretion was called for and the higher hills were left for another day.

Don't let the sunlight fool you, it was seriously cold on some days and getting photographs often resulted in the squirming pain of the hot-aches.  

As you can see it has been seriously windy at times.  Photography wise it has made getting the long exposures required to photograph in darkness a bit of a challenge - it's been an enjoyable challenge though.  Mind you wandering the banks of the Tees on your own in the dark is sometimes a tad spooky. Especially so when the river sounds like it is whispering and an over active imagination brings the local spirit Peg Powler to mind.  She is said to entice folk to the rivers edge and then drag them into the river.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peg_Powler

It may be a bit spooky up here in the dark, but the sight of a meteorite streaming across the sky actually made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.  

Yesterdays band of warmer air produced a mixture of snow, thunder and lightening, as well as the usual gale force winds.  I knew the river would be high from snow melt, but unfortunately the main flood pulse must have come through in the early hours and I missed it at its highest.  Fortunately High Force still looked spectacular in the dark and there was even some weak moonlight at times.

Again strong winds made getting long exposures sharp difficult, but patience eventually paid off

Today we are back to snow showers.

So what's next?  Well hopefully over the next couple of months or so, I hope to be getting a few nights out in the Lakes. I have some ideas for some shots in the north eastern lakes around Patterdale.  In particular the High Street and Helvellyn ranges, along with some more work on the high Pennines, particularly Cross Fell and Mickle Fell. 


 Text and images copyright David Forster www.bluestoneimages.com

Lake District - Angle Tarn Circular

Sitting in a warm campervan with the rain running down the windows made it quite hard to get going this morning.  We did not have much of a plan other than to get out and do something and as there did not seem much point heading onto the tops if it was going to rain all day, we compromised and decided to walk up to Hayeswater via Brothers Water and Hartsop, and then head up to where the path splits below the Knott.  At the path junction we would then turn left to head across to Angle Tarn and Boredale Hause, returning back along the valley. 

From Sikeside it was a bit of a wet trudge along the shore of Brothers Water to Hartsop village.  Snow was forecast on the tops but here with just a T-shirt under the waterproofs it was still too warm. Snow it has to be said seemed highly unlikely.  

From the little car park at Hartsop we took the left hand track up towards Hayeswater tarn where we were surprised to see the dam and bridge have been removed.  A new bridge has now been erected a few hundred meters downstream and fortunately for us having come this way many times before we decided to try the new variation.  It a good job we did otherwise it would have been either a splodge across the stream, or a return back down the track to the new bridge (sorry no pics cos it was lashing down).

By the time we reached the wall where the path to the Knott and High Street splits off we noticed it had suddenly become colder and within a few minutes the rain had changed to sleet.  Despite having to put a few layers back on this was a positive sign that the front had passed and colder air was now drawing down from the north.  Perhaps we would get some better conditions after all.

Moving on towards Satura Crags a few breaks began to appear over towards Dove Crag.

 Not quite the light we needed but things were looking up photography wise.

Ten minutes later the skies began to rapidly clear and we hardly knew which way to point the camera there were so many possibilities.   

 

Helvellyn with a dusting of snow viewed from the tarns near Satura Crag

 

Hayeswater with the Knott (L) High Street (center) and Gray Crag (R) 

Cloud spilling over Helvelln and the Dodds.  

Moving on we headed across to Angle Tarn

 

Angle Tarn and Angle Tarn Pikes

 Then on to Boredale Hause.

Boredale Hause and the view towards Birkhouse Moor and Helvellyn. 

To return we headed back along the valley to Brothers Water.

Distance just over 13K  

Text images copyright David Forster www.bluestoneimages.com

Two Days Exploring North Pennine History - Aircraft crashes and peat slides.

Continuing my quest to locate and photograph as many of the military air crash sites in Teesdale as I can before they disappear completely, I have located two more sites.  The first one I thought may possibly have been lost from the records, but after a bit of research coupled with some local info, I eventually found it.  The second is a well-known but pretty remote site on the top of Dufton Fell.

Incidentally over the years there is said to have been around 54 aircraft that have crashed in Teesdale, leading to the deaths of 86 airmen.  I am not entirely sure of the accuracy of this statement which was reported in the Northern Echo on 02 July 2014 but it does perhaps highlight just how many losses there were in the wider area.  The article states the hills rise to 5,000 feet which is clearly wrong, plus the research I have done would suggest that the 54 incidents would include both the Teesdale and Weardale areas right up to the Cumbrian border, rather than just Teesdale itself.  I am of course happy to be corrected on this.

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk

Walk 1 - Blenheim IV Serial: R3914 YH-W Near Middleton in Teesdale.

I knew a little about the story of this incident, which took place 26th November 1940 as the crew returned from a bombing raid over Germany.  The aircraft was one of seven that took off from RAF Watton in Norfolk to bomb a power station at Cologne.  The attack was a success and as well as hitting their objective some of the aircraft were also able to attack marshalling yards and docks in the area.  The attack was also successful in that it showed the Germans we could hit back at them even at this early stage in the war.

This aircraft unfortunately ended up over Teesdale and came down on moorland in the Middleton-in-Teesdale area.  Clearly this is a long way of course for returning to Norfolk and my assumption is the crew became disorientated and not knowing they were over high ground either ran out of fuel, or indeed while low on fuel descended and flew into the hillside.   The crew Sgt Harry Kenneth Collinge (Pilot), Sgt Douglas George Osborne (Obs) and Sgt Albert Moore (wireless) were all killed. 

I had already had a look in this area previously and identified a possible location, however I couldn't find any physical evidence to confirm this.  That said over the years some historians/collectors have also removed artifacts for their private collections which meant there was little to identify where it came down anyway.  

A few months after my first visit however, I was given some information by a local who knows the moors well and on my second attempt found some small pieces of wreckage among grass a couple of hundred meters away from the first location I had identified.  While these were fairly corroded they still had traces of paint on the underside and coupled with the fact the site is on the eastern side of the hill leads me to believe this is actually the correct location.

Crash Site of R3914 YH-W

Only a few small pieces with traces of paint on them exist above ground

No memorial at the crash site exists, but I understand their names are recorded on a memorial at Deerbolt in Startforth, which is dedicated to all aircrew who lost their lives in the Teesdale area.   There is however some doubt as to the future of this memorial as houses are going to be built on the site. 

Walk 2 - Vickers Wellington Mk1c (No T2715) Dufton Fell

We visited this location on a late summer walk onto Meldon Hill from Cow Green reservoir. 

Just after leaving the dam we came across a spring trap with a recently trapped stoat in it. 

Beautiful animals, I hate seeing them being killed like this

Once you leave the track at the dam head the walk onto Meldon is mainly trackless heather bashing interspaced with peat hags and the odd boggy bit. That said the views do open out quite quickly to the east across Cow Green and towards Mickle Fell

The view from the eastern side of the summit

  

Summit trig and the view east beyond Cow Green reservoir

On reaching Meldon summit (767m) where incidentally the trig point looks as if a bomb has hit it, (it was struck by lightning some years ago) we had some far reaching views right across the Eden Valley to the Lake District. 

Warm days are a rarity up here and it was tempting to laze about in the sun, but as the actual crash site of the Wellington bomber is on Dufton Fell, some one and a half kilometres further to the west, we reluctantly dragged ourselves away.

On the way we had a look at some sheep enclosures and buildings that sit to the west of the summit at a height of around 700m.  The buildings are ruined now, but even when in use this must have been a truly bleak place to work.     

The view north east across the upper Tees valley

There is also a small howff like shelter here as well.

Not long after dropping down from the summit we were forced into a rather meandering course as we made our way through bog and peat hags towards the crash site.  Fortunately I did at least have a grid reference for the site and we soon spotted the wreckage among the peat hags.  

On reaching the wreckage the first thing I noticed was that all of the valuable copper and brass components of the aircraft had been collected and heaped together.

No doubt heading for a scrap yard at some stage

Despite such sites being protected by law I suspect these components will be heading off to a scrap yard somewhere.  The Gloster Meteor site I visited last year on Knock Fell has also been looted and considering how remote these sites are, and a vehicle is needed to move some of the heavier components, I will leave it to you to draw your own conclusions about who may be responsible.

The background to this incident was the crew of the Wellington were undertaking a night navigation training flight on the night of 20th August 1942 and after getting lost in cloud crashed into the very top of Dufton Fell.  Fortunately the fell top is here fairly flat and made up of bog and soft peat and it was this coupled with the fact the aircraft came in at a shallow angle that meant all five of the crew survived.  The aircraft did actually break in two and take fire so they were lucky nobody was seriously injured or trapped.  Their luck continued and given just how remote this location is, they were very fortunate it was summer and were able to find their way off the hill to safety.

This battery, along with exploded oxygen bottles were among the more easily identifiable components.

There is a great deal of history, be it human or natural, tucked away in these remote hills and on the way back we made a detour to look at a peat slide on Lodgegill Sike, the scar of which is visible from the track on the opposite side of Cow Green reservoir.  The exact date is known for this slide which took place on 6th July 1963 and was caused by a very localised thunderstorm.  The rainfall caused this tiny stream to rise to fifteen feet above normal and deposit many tons of peat into the river Tees.  In fact this slide along with another nearby caused so much peat to enter the Tees that water extraction at the Broken Scar water treatment plant 30 miles downstream in Darlington had to be halted for several hours on the 7th July as the peat sediment levels were too high.

 The upper section of the Lodgegill Sike peat slide over 50 years later

This link has some pics taken by scientists working at Moor House at the time. http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/14996/1/MOOR_HOUSE_DT_CRISP_COMPRESSED.pdf

After this it was simply a case of making our way back to the dam head and back along the road to the parking area.  Distance walked 20K

Text/images copyright David Forster www.bluestoneimages.com