A Walk in Whinlatter Forest

Tags

bolete, butterfly, cat's-ear, Climbing Corydalis, common ragwort, Forestry Commission, Fox-and-cubs, fungus, heather, lady's-mantle, lichen, moss, pixie-cup lichen, ringlet, walking, Whinlatter Forest, wild flowers

Alice came to visit us on the last day of our holiday in the Lake District.  We met her off the train in Penrith at about 10.00 am and took her back to our rented cottage for a cup of tea.  After catching up with all her news we took her to Whinlatter Forest which we had visited briefly earlier in the week, as Elinor wanted to show it to her sister.

This is another Forestry Commission forest and is mainly planted with non-native trees.

Not only are there a number of tracks through the woods for walking and mountain biking but they also have segways for hire too.  There are trails designed to appeal to small children and zip wires and swinging on ropes for very active people.

We walked.

Whinlatter Forest

Alice is a fast walker so she and Richard went ahead.  I am forever on the lookout for interesting plants and insects and take lots of photos and Elinor can’t walk fast or far so we both kept together.

Alice and Richard waiting for Elinor and me.

Elinor liked this forest glade.

A Bolete fungus.  I cannot identify this one.

Looking at the underside of the toadstool.   The photo shows that Boletes do not have gills but spongy tissue with pores in. This fungus has been eaten by something.

Climbing Corydalis (Ceratocapnos claviculata)  Not a very good picture.

Heather (Calluna vulgaris) in bud with a faded Cat’s-ear (Hypochaeris radicata)

Lichen

Fox-and-cubs (Pilosella aurantiaca) with yellow Cat’s-ear

I believe this lichen is Cladonia pyxidata – Pixie-cup Lichen

You can see how small these little cups are by comparing them with the pine needles next to them.

This butterfly flew next to us for some way along a sunny track. I tried to photograph it countless times and this time thought I had managed it….

The reason I really wanted to get a photograph of it was that I thought it looked like a Ringlet butterfly but they usually have eye-spots on their wings.   I have since done some research and I believe it is likely to be a Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) as sometimes they are seen without eye-spots.  What is confusing is that all references to Ringlets state that they aren’t found in the north-west of England!  I am sending my inadequate photo to ukbutterflies.co.uk to see what they make of it.

Yet more moss!

Lady’s-mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris agg) behind more Fox-and-cubs

Common Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea)

View of the surrounding fells (hills)

This fell is Skiddaw

We returned to the carpark and went into the café and had a drink and a sandwich.  We took Alice back to our cottage for a while until it was time for her to catch her train to Sheffield.  We spent the rest of the day cleaning the cottage and packing for our journey  home the following day.

Thanks for visiting!