On the heath

[puddleshark]

A walk across the heath on an overcast morning, with a cold unsummerly west wind blowing. Sun or no sun, the paths are very beautiful in July, lined with purple Bell Heather and golden grasses.





The European Gorse has finished flowering and is taking its summer break, spikes ornamented now by tiny chestnut Dartford Warblers, or guarded by very cross Stonechats. But the first few flowers are starting to appear on the Dwarf Gorse, which takes over gorse-flower duties for the next few months.






That "lawn" of vivid green in the centre of the picture is actually marsh. The clue is in the vegetation: Rushes, Bog Cotton, yellow flowers of water-loving Spearwort, spikes of Marsh Thistle.


***

I took my little wet weather camera this morning, since the forecast was for rain. But the rain held off, and the rain is still holding off, though the sky keeps getting darker. I've put the washing out to blow. If that doesn't summon the rain, nothing will.

Comments

[sartorias]

Very moody landscape there.

[puddleshark]

And this is in summer! You should see it in November... 😊

[heleninwales]

It was raining this morning and pleasantly cool, so I've been doing indoor things.

I knew that different gorses flowered at different times, but I didn't know their names. Now I know two of them.

[puddleshark]

We had the cloud, but in the end the rain must all have fallen to the west of us.

I think you have Western Gorse in your area as well, but I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between that and European Gorse. Dwarf Gorse at least is easy to identify - it's the one scratching your ankles. 😊

[heleninwales]

I do know that we have enough different types of gorse to ensure that it's in flower just about the whole year round.