The journey south was broken by an overnight stay in Carlisle but we didn't hang around in the morning, making progress on a fairly quiet M6 towards Meathop Moss, home of our last target - the Large Heath. Luckily it wasn't long before we found a specimen, just off the boardwalk and it flew into the bog. We chased it but neither of us was sure what was underfoot, visions of disappearing up to the neck in stinking soggy peat were In the back of the mind. However, we followed it and managed some records of a fairly tatty specimen - but it was number 56 in the bag and we remained safe.
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| My first Large Heath - a bit tatty but who cares! |
As the morning progressed the sun started to have an effect through the thin cloud and more butterflies were on the wing but of course with the added heat they were more active. When they settled they preferred to be in the clumps of grass rather than out on a perch and it was nigh impossible to isolate the subject from the background.
Meathop Moss is a wonderful place and I could have spent hours photographing a host of material, as it was I recorded Sundew, Bog Asphodel and Cotton Grass.
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| Bog Asphodel |
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| Hare's Tail Cottongrass, Eriophorum vaginatum - food plant of the Large Heath |
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| Thriving here. |
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| This one has Greenfly - a case of the biter bit! |
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| The boardwalk. |
I am sure I could spend a whole day at Meathop but by now it was dawning on us that we were not far from the Lake District and the possibility of gaining our fourth life tick butterfly - the Mountain Ringlet. So without further ado we headed back north towards Keswick and Derwent Water.
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