Fire in the sky

After a long spell of poor weather and grey skies, at last we got some nice clear days.
I'd ckecked the position of the sunrise and thought I might be able to capture the sun rising through the trees on top of King Arthur's Well at Walltown, something I hadn't done before.
As I climbed up Walltown Crags the sky was colouring up nicely and I was feeling pretty optomistic, then I heard the bellowing of cows, now I love cows but come sunrise they get skittish and dash back and forwards in front of the camera, leaving ghostly streaks.
So I needed a backup plan.
For ages I've been thinking that I should take a sunrise photograph from Mucklebank Crag, I had planned it for a misty morning and there was no mist but it would be something I hadn't done before so off I went.
There's a good stone path up Mucklebank Crag, it is steep but very stable thanks to the lads of Northumberland National Parks Authority.
Lot's of sheep around but fortunately they were still sheep so here are some of the pictures I took.

King Arthur's Well and Mucklebank Crag, cows are galloping behind me.

Looking east over Cawfields and Winshields Crag, William's Black Faced sheep pose for me.

On the Hadrian's Wall Path over Mucklebank Crag

Sunrise over Allolee Farm

Sheep graze on the Roman Turret as the light catches Walltown Crags

As I headed back to the car I bumped into the farmer from Walltown Farm, he was out feeding his bull, a beautiful blonde Charolais called Emo. As William and I stood chatting Emo was nudging him wanting his nose scratched.

We're back to bad weather again today and yet more high winds are forecast.

As always the pictures are copyright of Joan Thirlaway and cannot be used without written permission.

Walltown wildlife

I'm not a Naturalist, I have a great interest in natural history and I enjoy nature watching but I'm not privy to the finite differences between some of the species of plant or animal, and I'm getting worse at remembering the names.

So today I'm simply bringing you some pictures from a two hour ramble around Walltown Quarry.

(see bottom of the Blog for a link to a PDF of Walltown Quarry area)

As the name suggests this area was once quarried for stone but now it forms part of the Hadrian's Wall Trail, a pit stop for walkers or a picnic spot for day visitors and locals alike.

The Northumberland National Parks Authority look after it and great areas of wild flower meadow sway with grasses and wildflowers, buzzing with insects.

There are bog areas, dry areas, ponds, woodland areas and mown grass, ducks nest by the ponds and swallows swoop for insects, they're already onto their second brood of the season and can be seen swooping into their nests by the toilets. Plently of car parking space and even refreshments available.

My photographs show just some of the flowers and insects and my apologies for the names, it's not my strong point and I hope that it will whet the appetite of true naturalists to come and check the place out for yourselves.

Pictures today are smaller than usual because there are more of them.

One of the gems of Walltown, a Bee Orchid. This is the first year I have seen them there but I found at least 4 plants in different spots and it's awash with other orchids so maybe I've just not noticed them before.

Common Blue Butterfly a beautiful splash of colour amongst the grasses

Common Blue with wings open.

One of the smaller Darter's, they whirl around your head as you pass by, later the big Dragonfly's will emerge with a real clattering or wings when they fly.

Amazing insects to watch they change posistion in the blink of an eye.

Hawksbeard,  insects seeme to be drawn to these open bright yellow flowers.

Common Centuary

Latticed Heath Moth, so striking you might mistake it for a butterfly

Prunella vulgaris

Ragged Robin

Ringlet Butterfly, I counted 75 of these on this ne visit to the site

Small Heath Butterfly

Small Skipper butterfly

Small Skipper butterfly, although they are as fast as all the other butterflies they don't seem to mind you getting quite close to them for photographs and generally chose a nice spot to pose.

Speedwell

St John's Wort

Flower of the Twayblade Orchid, something you could easily pass by and not notice, but they're worth a second look

Twayblade Orchid

Twayblade orchid blends so well with the surrounding grasses.

Birds Foot Trefoil, always humming with insects

Simple Buttercup, a full field of them look amazing

It's been a great year for Orchids at Walltown with the various types flowering from late May onwards

I imagine we have all of the Northern Orchids represented

Orchid, not only a variety of colours and form but sized from mere inches to 3ft tall

A white version of the Orchid

Deeper pink Orchid with distinctive markings on the lower lip

What meadow land would be complete without clover, and both pink and white can be found in the park.

Bees love the nectar rich flower.

So, I hope you managed to get this far, lots more things to see and record I've merely skimmed the surface  to give you a little taster, please come and see for yourself, it's a wheelchair friendly area.

A leaflet, with map, from Northumberland National Parks Authority as a PDF for you to print off linked below here

All photographs used in this blog are copyright of Joan Thirlaway and cannot be used without written permission

The other Golden Hour

As I said yesterday we get two bites at the 'golden hour' cherry.
Today's Blog has pictures taken up on Kings Hill at sunrise.
Kings Hill is between Housesteads Crag and Sewingshields Crag, kit's a fair old hike but, I hope, worthwhile.
When I set out there was no mist about, I thought conditions were right but when I arrived at Kings Hill there were just a few wisps rising from Broomlee Lough over the top of Sewingshields.

 Mist starts to rise from Broomlee Lough and drift across the peak of Sewingshields Crag

I was suprised at the position of the rising sun, in my mind I see Hadrian's Wall running east to west in a straight line but, common sense tells me that's not the case.

I do have a great programme the Photographer's Ephemeris which will show you exactly where the sun, sunrise, sunset or moonrise is at any point of time. Very useful I find.

As the sun started to rise it get very cold, I could see the breath of the Aberdeen Angus cattle keeping me company with their version of the dawn chorus.

Mist increased and it was a constant battle to keep my ND grad filter clear, it's always the same you wait around for ages not doing much and then it's a mad rush to capture images before the moment passes.

My head swivels about checking to see what's happening around me.

Sewingshields Crag

 

Light changes quickly and I zoom in and out trying to find the best composition.

 

 

Leaning across a low point on Hadrian's Wall I catch the sun and the line of the Wall.



Please do not climb on or over Hadrian's Wall, I know it's tempting but it can loosen the stones damaging the Wall and you might fall, one visitor was killed when he stepped back on the Wall at Birdoswald, and fell hitting his head.
I rush back and forwards trying, not always successfully, to stay upright

The Hadrian's Wall Path isn't even and stray bits of rock peak through the grass catching the unwary toe now and again.

Like Excalibur the camera is held aloft while I take the bruises.

The view west along the line of Hadrian's Wall

Couple of years ago I was on Kings Hill at the same time of year. Then the mists were wreathed through the gaps in the crags all the way to Winshields Crag and with the rising early morning sun catching the mist it made a beautiful sight.

I've been hopoing to retake something like that shot but not on this occasion.

The Golden Hour, looking SE from Kings Hill

As I've said in the past I'm useless with Photoshop and try not to do anything other than levels, contrast and sharpening on my photographs (and sometimes I forget the sharpen bit of the process) So colours are as the camera recorded them. I thought this shot was a good example of why it was called The Golden Hour.

Hadrian's Wall as it heads down from Kings Hill and heads up to Sewingshields Crag

I came down to the Pennine Way stile that crosses the Haddrian's Wall Path at this point, making my way up onto the other side of the Wall just for a change of view.

It's a bit of a mad scramble but I hoped it would be worth it. Mother Nature had other plans and hid the sun behind a generous bank of cloud so my efforts came to nothing on this occasion.

Never mind there's always another day.

Thanks for getting this far

As always the pictures are copyright and cannot be used with my written permission.

Golden Hour

Photographers talk about the golden hour, that hour before sunset and after sunrise, when the light is rich and often golden.
Last night looked promising so off I went.
Called into Cawfields Quarry, it's haymaking/silage making time and fields are being cut literally from dawn to dusk while the weather holds.
I love the patterns made by the cut grass, left in lines to dry.

 Field that carries the Hadrian's Wall Path from Great Chesters Farm east to Cawfields

( well if you're walking w-e that is)

Light on the Cawfields Quarry face was lovely, we don't have many easily accessible bodies of water of the Hadrian's Wall Path but this is one. It was here I saw a Little Owl, managed a grabbed picture otherwise I would just have marked it down as a Tawny Owl. I'm hoping to get a better shot, using my 'big' lens, tried tonight but while the owl was in the same spot it was camera shy tonight. I was getting eaten alive by midges so I made a dignified retreat, Round 1 to the Little Owl.

Cawfields Quarry Lake

Some nice clouds in the sky so I went off to Sycamore Gap, while the sun doesn't actually set behind the tree I hoped the cloud to the east would colour up to make a nice background.

It takes 20 minutes from parking the car to the tree and by the time I got there all the cloud had gone from the bit of sky I needed it in.

Took a photograph looking towards Winshields Crag from Highshields Crag, than another looking towards the east and Hotbank Crag, strange how often the sunset colour is better in the east than in the west.



View west to Winshields Crag from Highshields Crag with the Hadrian's Wall Path snaking through the view.

Looking east over Hotbank Crag and Crag Lough, from Highshields Crag

Then the sun went down and it was nearly all over for another night, on the way back to the car I stopped at one of the other areas of water on this bit of Hadrian's Wall, Crag Lough.

You've probaby seen this view many times but it makes a nice full stop to my outing.

I had a few hours sleep then I was out again for sunrise but I'll save those pictures for another time.

Oh and here's the grab shot of the Little Owl,  massively cropped as it was taken with my 18-200mm lens a fair distance away. Challenge is now to get a 'proper' shot of it.

as always the photo's used in the Blog are copyright of Joan Thirlaway and can't be used without written permission.

Misty morning

June is here and that brings those misty mornings I love.
It's unpredictable, some places it's impenetrable and everything can change in seconds.
I started out at Steel Rigg, I had some friends coming to spend the day with us so I couldn't go too far, I'm lucky that I can get up at 3.30am and be home again by 6am.
I was helped by the fact that there was no cloud so I knew it would quickly become too bright for my lens.
I was using the Nikon D7000 and I'm starting to really like this camera, it has it's quirks but it also has some really useful features.
Not much blurb just a set of photographs, in the order they were taken, starting at Steel Rigg with a quick stop at Cawfields Quarry on my way home.

 Three lambs and the view south over Bardon Mill

For a change the sheep stayed within camera range. Some dawn colour in the sky.

Mists rising from Crag Lough and the marshy land below the crags

Sun rising over Hound Hill to the north of Hadrian's Wall, the cows started bellowing to great the day.

You can see how far over the sun rises at this time of the year

Sun's up and it's time for breakfast

Let there be light

This is what they mean when they talk about 'The Golden Hour' that lovely warm light you get within an hour of sunrise. Light catching the Hadrian's Wall Path as it crosses Steel Rigg.

Cawfields Quarry, taken as I headed home.

As always the photographs are copyright of Joan Thirlaway and cannot be used without written permission.