Thursday, September 04, 2014

RSPB Mersehead- 31st August 2014

The last day of August and a beautiful sunny day so we headed down to Mersehead for a walk along the beach and to see how the dunes were recovering from the winter storms.1-Peacock-Butterfly

Peacock butterfly

2-Mersehead-sign

Mersehead sign

3-Mersehead-beach

The dunes are showing signs of recovery

4-Mersehead-beach

 

5-wing

 

6-Mike-Mersehead-Beach

Deserted!

7-Mersehead-beach

 

8-sea-rocket

Sea Rocket is growing well again now

9-small-copper-on-sea-rocket

Small Copper on Sea Rocket

10-Mersehead-beach

 

11-Mersehead-beach

The Marram Grass is growing back which will help the dunes to form

12-Robin-Rigg

Offshore windfarm Robin Rigg in the background

13-Mersehead-beach

 

14-Mersehead-beach

 

15-Mersehead-beach

 

16-Mersehead-beach

Windswept

17-Mersehead-beach

White sand formed by crushed cockle shells

18-feather

Gull feather

A short video about the dunes

Shambellie Walled Gardens and Woods-30th August 2014

A beautiful sunny day so we decided on a trip to Shambellie. We had not visited Shambellie Walled Garden before, so it was quite a treat. At just £2.50, it is well worth a visit as it is a hidden gem!

There are plants for sale and also bric-a-brac.

1-Statue

Statue

2-flower-spikes

 

3-flower-spikes

 

4-Greenhouse

Restored greenhouse

5-Shambellie

Neat path

6-Shambellie

 

7-secret-door

Hidden doorway

8-Shambellie

Box hedges keep the flower beds looking neat

9 Mike

Very tall flower spike!

9-unusual-flower

 

10-unusual-flower

 

11-Shambellie

Lovely places to sit, a great place to paint!

12-Shambellie

 

13-Shambellie

 

14-Shambellie

 

15-Shambellie

 

16-Shambellie

 

17-Peacock-Butterfly

Peacock butterfly

18-Achillea-Filipendulina

Achillea close-up

19-Shambellie

 

20-Shambellie

 

21-Shambellie

 

22-Shambellie

 

23-Verbena

 

24-Topiary

Topiary

25-red-admiral

Red Admiral

26-Inula

Inula

27-rusty-bird

Rusty bird

28-ligularia

 

Pete

29-Shambellie

Neat lawns

30-Shambellie

 

31-Shambellie

After our wander in the gardens we had a walk in Shambellie Woods which surrounds the garden.

32-Shambellie-Woods

Tall trees, blue sky!

33-crossbill

Crossbill!

34-crossbill

Sadly very high up so didnt manage a good photo!

35-Shambellie-Woods

 

36-toadstool

Lots of fungi about too, Autumns coming!

37-fungi

 

38-fungi