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| Trowbarrow Quarry in June |
"A
Echoing Canyon of Coloured Carpet" 17th June 2011.
Walking up
that incline I am always looking for Birds Nest Orchids,
Never found any yet at this spot!, been told that they will come…
It’s always dark here. You could hear the clapping wings of a Woodpigeon.
After only some 200 yards, it’s light again, opening up into,
This “echoing” northerly canyon, well perhaps I should say old quarry,
The notable squabbling sounds are Jackdaws but much amplified!
Loud repeated “Eh, Eh, Eh, Eh” overhead, shows a pair of Shelduck,
Their call diminishing down the scale of volume while passing over.
A Chiffchaff is calling, so regular like a timepiece on the wall.
I checked out the Fly Orchids, which by now had seen their best,
No photo today could do them any justice, for them another years passed.
The Common Spotted are all over with some lovely spikes,
Pink, or less pink or more pink, each one different never two the same.
Twayblade’s here are poor, they always are! What’s nibbling them?
Not far from this spot are the best specimens in the whole of Lancashire.
The Bee Orchids are so friendly, giving off their furry beaming smile,
My friend Charlie told me about them this year, or I would never have found…
The floor is covered like a magic carpet, with all colours, from,
Trefoils, Thyme, Self Heal, Stonecrops, and peeping through is the,
Scarlet Pimpernel, still with closed petal, but you can just make it out.
It was nice meeting up with “old hand birder” Keith (Harrison).
Swifts above, with silent cause, like stealth bombers taking aim!
Its stayed fine! So they got it wrong, so off I go in cheery song…….