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WILDLIFE AND FLORANurture natureAll seasons are eagerly awaited and celebrated here at Shacklabank Farm.
Spring is the season we anticipate the most, each little sign savoured to the full, from the Celandines bursting bright yellow in the hedge bottom amongst the sweet violets and pale primroses, to the woods by our waterfalls, a delicate white carpet of wood sorrel under the oaks, and down by the beck wild garlic and bluebells peep.
Overhead large Grey Herons call on their way to the river and buzzar’s circle the high pastures, their call a haunting cry in the distance.
Frogspawn fills the many ponds in the wet pasture, woodpeckers hammer from first light, brown hares box and soon we will hear the cuckoo call.
Each day we await the return of our many swallows and welcome their chatter.
Roe deer cross our fields to nearby woods for shelter from shrill spring breezes. And in the still of night the owls call.
This is Spring, the whole valley and fell top is bursting at its seams with life.
Being on a hilltop we seem so close to many of the birds and animals we share this land with, each season holding so many secrets, so many things to see.
The important thing is to observe and enjoy it all, each day is never the same, from being around the farm and the land here at Shacklabank to roaming free with me around the many hills and valleys. We never know what may be around the next corner, under a hedge, by the river, up in the woods or high on a hill top.
Each season will bring its own glories, too many to even try to list but always magical.
Below I have listed a few of my favourite things…. The purple haze of bluebell woods The first yellow on the broom Fresh green bracken on a hillside after the rain The smell of honeysuckle in the hedge on a summer’s night A skylark singing high on a fell top An icy paddle in a beck The taste of wild strawberries Catching a fleeting glimpse of an Otter Kingfishers on the River Lune Autumn
And a Curlew's call………… |