September comes

We appear to have been thrown into autumn very, very suddenly. The wet meadows of Meadowsweet have lost their creamy frothy flowers and the flower-heads are now blackened. The salt marshes which barely a fortnight ago were resplendent with Sea Aster are now blasted and the lilac flower-heads have been thrown into disarray and confusion. On a more personal level, the Sycamore leaves are now piling up in the front garden and this week I've seen children playing helicopters with Sycamore wings.

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Sea Aster at its best 

 

Talking of salt marshes, I went to the Ouse in Finstown in preparation for a wildflower walk this weekend and looking at the Sea Aster mentioned above, it was clear that autumn had stepped across the threshold. It hadn't taken long for the combination of high tides and autumn winds to turn the salt marsh into a bit of a mess with seaweeds and detritus draped across the sea-washed turf and its plants - Sea Plantain and Sea Arrow-grass were festooned with marine bunting.

Perennial Sowthistle

There were some plusses though. At this time of year the Perennial Sowthistle lights up the backshore with golden yellow orbs. And it's worthwhile peering into the marsh or among the shingle for two of the salt marshes understated jewels - Glasswort and Sea Blite. Along the shores of the Ouse I managed to find a few plants resplendent in their autumn colours.

Glasswort

 

 

 

Glasswort and 'blasted' Sea Aster

lilac flower-heads have been thrown into disarray and confusion

 

Sea Blite

 

two gems of the links

                                Autumn Gentian and Fragrant Orchid - two gems from recent classes

Just a few notes regarding Anne's last three plates. The localities  are as follows:

Wetland plate
Monkeyflowers - Tormiston Mill, Stenness
Marsh Cinquefoil - Mill Dam of Rango, Sandwick
Early Marsh Orchid - Como, Rendall
Amphibious Bistort - Loch of Ouse, Deerness
Mare's-tail - Loch of Ouse, Deerness

Sea cliffs - i
Spring Squill - Brough of Deerness, Deerness
Eyebright - Roseness, Holm
Sea Ivory - Head of Geo, Wyre
Mountain Everlasting - Lobust, Rousay
Alpine Meadow-rue - Orphir Bay, Orphir

Sea cliffs - ii
Scottish Primrose - Inga Ness, Sandwick
Cat's-ear - Stephen's Gate, Eday
Wild Thyme - Holm of Burghlee, Shapinsay
Autumnal Hawkbit - Hyndgreenie, Papa Westray
Roseroot - Brough of the Berry, Hoy

A wetland and two cliffs plates

Here's the last 3 months' plates.....

The first painting in the set is the last of the wetland flowers plates.
Plate 1:From top left clockwise we have, monkey flower, marsh cinquefoil, heath spotted orchid, northern marsh orchid, amphibious bistort and mares tail.

Following this are the first two of the clifftop flowers plate.
Plate 2: From top left, clockwise, the flowers are spring squill, the lichen -  sea ivory, eyebright,
alpine meadow rue and mountain everlasting.
Plate 3: From top left, clockwise, the flowers are scottish primrose, wild thyme, cat's ear, roseroot and autumn hawkbit.

Shore, dunes, links and dry grassland

Shore, dunes, links and dry grassland

                                                        Sea Bindweed

We were able to see how dunes and links were formed by following the plants and wildflowers that stabilised the shifting sands. At No4 this succession takes place over a distance of at least 150 metres whereby the shore sand is stabilised firstly into yellow dunes, usually with Lyme Grass, and subsequently into grey dunes which are often characterised by Marram Grass. At Eastside the process takes place over a much shorter distance and the three stages can be found over a width of less than 30 metres.

Our visit coincided with the first trumpet blooms of Sea Bindweed – this is its only location in Orkney and grows no nearer to the county than Montrose in the east and the Hebrides in the west. By contrast the Lesser Meadow-rue was at its best and over the years I have never seen it looks so well. It is an understated plant and one which occurs only on South Ronaldsay, Sanday and Deerness.

                                                      

                                              Lesser Meadow-rue

                                                        

No4

Shore: Orache, Sea Sandwort, Sea Mayweed
Yellow dune: Lyme Grass
Grey dune: Marram Grass
Dump: Colt’s-foot, Groundsel
Cliff: Hedge Bindweed, Red Campion

Eastside

Track: Lady’s Bedstraw, Yellow Rattle, Field Forget-me-not
Links: Lady’s Bedstraw, Eyebright, Red Clover, White Clover
Shore: Oraches, Sea Sandwort, Oysterplant, Sea Rocket
Yellow dune: Sand Sedge, Lyme Grass, Sea Couch
Grey dune: Ragwort, Angelica, Hogweed, Sea Bindweed, Lesser Meadow-rue, Red Bartsia,
                   Yarrow, Spear Thistle, Smooth Sowthistle, Creeping Thistle, Eyebright, Bird’s-foot Trefoil,      
                   Lady’s Bedstraw, Field Forget-me-not

Birds and invertebrates:
Meadow Brown, Common Blue, Large White, Sand Martin

Acknowledgements: thanks to Martin Moncrieff for the Lesser Meadow-rue images

Yesnaby

Primula scotica

Tuesday 26^th June 2012                                                                        
11.00 – 14.00

Weather: little breeze, warm and plenty of sun.

Coastal Grassland:
Initially it appeared the grassland was dominated by Sea Arrow-grass and Sea Plantain but as soon as you got down on your hands and knees that closer look revealed all the plants that you would associate with coastal grassland. Sea Plantain came in all shapes and sizes; much of the path is composed of the tiniest of tiny plants – a sward of glossy green and fleshy leaves.

The Primula on the higher ground was barely in flower, this was in complete contrast to the more sheltered and sun-trap southeastern slope which was peppered with these minute gems. In ten days time the Primula show should be breathtaking.

Although we saw plenty of Spring Squill in flower, we saw far more of it in its seeding phase. It was a week or ten days too early for Grass of Parnassus – we saw a few ivory white flowers complete with their nectar guidelines. Wild Thyme was prolific in the areas of the thinnest soils and Martin found a white example for us to drool over.

Sea Plantain, Ribwort Plantain, Buck’s-horn Plantain, Spring Squill, Primula scotica, Sedges, Bird’s-foot Trefoil, Wild Thyme, Common Milkwort, Heath Milkwort, Crowberry, Grass of Parnassus, Thrift, Common Mouse-ear, Kidney Vetch, Eyebright

Saltmarsh:

A lot of overlap here between the Coastal Grassland and the Saltmarsh. Plants on both habitats have the ability to tolerate saltwater drenchings. Little hollows in the coastal grassland revealed a few typical saltmarsh plants. The big surprise were the two Greater Sea-spurrey plants on salt drenched rocks in the Noust of Bigging.

Greater Sea-spurrey, Sea-milkwort, Sea Arrow-grass

                                                             Greater Sea-spurrey

Shore:

Sea Mayweed, Perennial Sow-thistle, Cleavers, Orache, Sea Campion

Disturbed ground:

Hogweed, Common Sorrel, Chickweed, Spear Thistle, Creeping Thistle

Wetland:

Yellow Flag, Reed Canary Grass, Water Mint, Ragged Robin, Marsh Cinquefoil, Northern Marsh Orchid, Heath Spotted Orchid, Lesser Spearwort, MarshPennywort, Marsh Ragwort

Coastal Heath:

The heath is yet to flower. The Bell Heather was just beginning to get serious but the Ling was a long way off. Most striking was the abundance of Mountain Everlasting plants – it must find the granite soils to its liking. The stems, leaves and unopened buds of Slender St.John’s-wort trailed through the heath and will be in flower in a couple of weeks time.

Ling, Bell Heather, Crowberry, Tormentil, Wild Thyme, Slender St.John’s-wort, Mountain Everlasting, Yellow Rattle

                                                               Mountain Everlasting

We headed off to Waulkmill Bay on 12th June. The last four weeks have been monotonously cold with northerly winds daily. Much of Waulkmill faces south so if anywhere in Orkney is likely to have blooms, it's going to be Waulkmill. It didn't disappoint although a few flowers were a wee bit late notably Bogbean and Goldenrod. Butterwort was brilliant and unashamedly here it is:

and here is the 'we'

the forest of Butterwort is directly behind the 'we'

here is our list - by no means exhaustive

Waulkmill toilets: Invasive plants and recolonising heath-type plants:

Broad-leaved Dock, Ragwort, Dandelion, Hogweed, Procumbent Pearlwort,

Heath Speedwell, Northern Marsh Orchid, Common Cats-ear, Greater Woodrush, Angelica

Waulkmill road: Invasive and heathland

Creeping Thistle, Red Clover, Rosebay Willowherb, Broad-leaved Dock, Cow Parsley, Ground Elder

Tormentil, Hard Fern, Ling, Marsh Thistle, Broad Buckler Fern, Meadowsweet, Ribwort Plantain, Lady’s Smock, Bush Vetch

Waulkmill track: Invasive and heathland

Greater Plantain; Rose-bay Willowherb, Broad-leaved Dock, Curled Dock, Ground Elder, Stinging Nettle

Ling, Meadowsweet, Greater Woodrush, Meadowsweet, Eared Willow, Tufted Hair-grass, Lousewort, Heath Woodrush, Red Campion, Angelica

Fen: wetland

Marsh Marigold, Ragged Robin, Bogbean

Shore:

Orache, Sea Mayweed, Cleavers, Perennial Sowthistle, Curled Dock, Scots Lovage, Silverweed, Procumbent Pearlwort, Yellow Flag

Lichens: Verrucaria (black) and Xanthoria (yellow)

Saltmarsh:

Sea Plantain, Scurvy-grass, Thrift, Sea-milkwort, Sea Arrowgrass

Cliffs:

Golden-rod, Butterwort, Aspen, Wood Sage, Common Milkwort, Foxglove and Moss Carder bees, Northern Marsh Orchid, Primrose, Honeysuckle, Eyebright, Common Dog Violet, Bird’s-foot Trefoil, Bush Vetch, Slender St John’s Wort, Angelica, Crowberry

Also: two Garden Tiger caterpillars, a Common Heath moth, three Whimbrels, Arctic Tern, Red-breasted Mergansers, Eiders