30 Days Wild | Day 4 - Rowley Hills wander

Today I went on a guided walk jointly arranged by the Friends of Rowley Hills (who I am closely involved with) and Sandnats (who I would probably be involved with if I had more time/wasn't about to move to Malvern!). The day was cloudy, still and humid, but to begin with we didn't see many butterflies. However as the afternoon wore on, the temperature rose and the butterflies started to become more active. Small Heath was the species we saw the most of, and we also saw a few Common Blue, a Large Skipper, a Large White and a few Green-veined Whites. There were also a few day-flying moths about - loads of Burnet Companions and a few Latticed Heaths, and lots of Burnet (Five/Six-spot) caterpillars and chrysalises. Along with the large range of wildflowers and grasses on display, it all made for a most enjoyable walk!

Soft Brome (Bromus hordeaceus).

Goatsbeard (Tragopogon pratensis).

Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus).

Common Cat's-ear (Hypochaeris radicata).

Mouse-ear Hawkweed (Hieracium pilosella).

Silver Hairgrass (Aira caryophyllea).

Yellow-rattle (Rhinanthus minor).

Tall Mouse-ear Hawkweed (Hieracium praealtum).

Lesser Trefoil (Trifolium dubium).

Burnet Companion (Euclidia glyphica).

Hard Rush (Juncus inflexus).

Red Fescue (Festuca rubra).

Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus).

Caterpillar of a Five- or Six-spot Burnet Moth.

Spheroidal weathering of dolerite (HDR).

Spheroidal weathering of dolerite (HDR).

Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus).

Great Lettuce (Lactuca virosa).

The Rowley Hills (HDR).

30 Days Wild | Day 4 - cataloguing my rock collection!

For day 4 of 30 Days Wild, I decided it was time to catch up on some geology admin! I'd had a few rocks lying around for a while, from various trips, that I hadn't yet got round to labelling and putting into my box'o'rocks (literally a shoebox with BOX'O'ROCKS written on the top). I like to label them all so I know where they came from, as if like me you are interested in geology, a rock can be a nice souvenir of somewhere you've visited. I've got some pretty exciting rocks in my box including lavas from Iceland, granite and gneiss from the French Alps and fossils from Dudley! The ones I labelled today were a piece of quartzite from the Stiperstones in Shropshire, some serpentinite and some gabbro from the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, and a chunk of limestone from Winnats Pass in the Peak District, which was actually given to me by Alex from Sandwell Valley. I used the excellent BGS iGeology app to double-check the identifications of all the rocks!

Here they are all labelled up.

Rocks might seem a bit inert and removed from nature, but as the main component of the majority of soils is eroded rock, they influence ecosystems in a very profound way - just think of the unique flora of a limestone grassland. The serpentinite I collected in Cornwall is a great example - it is an ultramafic rock, meaning it is rich in magnesium and iron. This severely limits access to nutrients for plants growing in soils derived from serpentinite, leading to a very specialised plant community which is adapted to these conditions.

Because I think rocks are more interesting the closer you look, here are some macro shots taken with my field lens and smartphone camera!

Gabbro - a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock, formed when magma slowly solidifies deep within the Earth's crust. Consists mainly of pyroxene, plagioclase feldspar and olivine.

Serpentinite - a very variable metamorphic rock, formed from peridotite which originates from the Earth's mantle; it has been uplifted to the surface and in the process been extensively altered.

More serpentinite - showing how variable it is!

Quartzite - a sedimentary rock (sandstone) consisting of well-cemented quartz grains. This rock looks dull and boring from a distance, but close to the quartz grains sparkle!

Limestone - a sedimentary rock formed in an ancient coral reef, mainly from fragments of calcite shells and skeletons of reef-dwelling animals - here you can see some crinoid stem plates.

This quartz has precipitated into a fissure in the limestone. Lovely stuff!

Cornish holiday - Kynance Cove & Lizard Point

Here's another post about my recent Cornish holiday in and around the Lizard peninsula, a beautiful and fascinating part of the world that I wish I was still in!

On the second day of our holiday, although the wind had not dropped, the sun had come out and was to remain so for the remainder of the week - result. Today we drove over to Kynance Cove, from where we planned to walk to Lizard Point and back again. I had a quick(ish) look for a Western Subalpine Warbler which had been reported in the area on Twitter within the last couple of days, and spoke to another couple of birders doing the same thing, but it seemed that the high winds of the previous day had seen the bird off. It meant we got to enjoy a bit of heathland though before heading off along the coast, and I also saw my first Whitethroats of the year, as well as plenty of Stonechats.

I love heathland.

Kynance Cove gradually revealed itself as we walked down the path towards it, with the spectacular serpentine stacks and outcrops coming into view. One of the main reasons I'd wanted to come to the Lizard was to see the serpentine so I was pretty excited about the geological delights in store! I was not disappointed - the serpentine was like no other rock I'd ever seen before, with an incredible range of colours (reds, browns, greens, greys, blues and creams) and bizarre textures and veins. The beach and surrounding area consists of two different types of serpentine, tremolite and bastite, but to be honest I couldn't easily tell them apart due to the highly variable nature of the rocks and the effects of weathering. It didn't detract from my enjoyment of the marvellous geology though!

Kynance Cove coming into view.

Kynance Cove.

Serpentine.

Serpentine.

Serpentine.

Kynance Cove.

Serpentine.

Kynance Cove.

Chris eventually managed to drag me away and we set off south along the good old South West Coast Path. As we were feeling quite hungry already, we decided to walk to Lizard village first to find some lunch before going on to Lizard Point. Along the way I spotted my first Swallows of the year, the ubiquitous Linnets, several Rock Pipits and a few Shags and Gannets offshore. I stuffed my face with humongous mussels at a pub in Lizard village and bought a small souvenir chunk of polished serpentine from one of the many rock shops.

View along the South West Coast Path.

Lizard village.

After that it was a short walk down to Lizard Point, the UK's most southerly point. The clifftop paths were thick with maritime flowers and we saw what was to be the first of the week's many Wall butterflies flittering around. There was a constant trickle of migrating Swallows flying in, and we also saw a few Grey Seals in the sea although were a few days too late for the Basking Shark that had been recorded on the sightings board! Down on the beach at Polpeor Cove there was more exciting geology in store, as the rocks had changed again since Kynance Cove into lovely wavy schists.

Thrift (Armeria maritima) on the cliffs.

Lizard Point.

Heading down to Polpeor Cove.

Polpeor Cove at Lizard Point.

Schist, showing nice wavy lines of aligned platy minerals caused by metamorphism.

Schist.

We walked back along the coast path to Kynance Cove, spotting a few Skylarks on the way. Stopping for a short sit on the grass at one point, a long-billed head suddenly popped up on the cliffs nearby. It was a Whimbrel on passage - it must have only recently arrived on the cliffs. It took off and flew away, calling as it went; a great sighting that I hadn't been expecting at all!

On the drive back to the cottage, we made a brief stop at Goonhilly Downs, a large area of heathland very close to where we were staying. As well as being an excellent site for plants and wildlife (I added Willow Warbler and Blackcap to my bird list, and Cornish Heath to my plant list) its human history also goes back thousands of years. There are Bronze Age barrows and a menhir, and many derelict buildings dating back to World War II, when there was an RAF radar station on the Downs. One of the old buildings has been turned into a viewpoint - you can climb the stairs to stand on the roof for excellent views across the heathland.

Dry Tree menhir.

Goonhilly Downs from the roof of one of the old WWII buildings.

Cornish Heath (Erica vagans).

As a historian, Chris enjoyed the parallels between the similar roles Goonhilly Downs had played as a hub of communication for people over time - in the Bronze Age, during WWII, and now in the present day as it was the nearest place to our cottage that we could actually get any mobile phone reception! Having checked the weather forecast and tide times for the next couple of days, we drove back to the cottage after another top notch day on the Lizard peninsula :o)

Map showing (more or less) the route of our walk.

Cornish holiday - Coverack & Roskilly's

A couple of weeks ago I enjoyed an excellent weeks' holiday in and around the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall with my partner. Although I'd been to Cornwall several times before, I'd never visited this most southerly point, and it was somewhere I had wanted to go for a long time due to the very enticing wildlife and geology! We visited various areas and mainly did a lot of walking and eating; I'm going to write a few blog posts about some of the highlights.

On our first day, very strong easterly winds were forecast throughout the day with cloud clearing later on. Undeterred we set out from our cottage at Trewillis Farm near Coverack, our closest village and a lovely place that I liked very much. Walking through the fields towards Coverack I spotted Fumitory growing around some field margins:

Fumitory (Fumaria officinalis).

Off Coverack the wind was whipping the sea up into some sizeable waves! Coverack village and the harbour area in particular were very picturesque. On the beach a small flock of Turnstones were scrambling around, but for much of our walk the high winds meant that many birds were keeping a low profile, and we didn't see as much as on subsequent walks. I later discovered after buying a geology booklet that the Moho can be seen on Coverack beach! Had I known this while we were there and the tide was out, I would have investigated....it would have made us late for lunch though so maybe for the best that I didn't. I wasn't too disappointed as I had more geology treats lined up for later anyway!

Rough seas off Coverack.

Coverack harbour.

Coverack beach, a geological wonderland (apparently)!

After Coverack we followed the South West Coast Path north. We'd been slightly concerned we might be walking along exposed clifftops in the high winds, however a good proportion of the path proved to be through scrub and young woodland so was relatively sheltered, and the more exposed parts were fairly low-lying too. We saw a good-sized flock of Linnets and there were loads of lovely maritime plants around.

Part of the South West Coast Path.

View back towards Coverack.

Lousewort (Pedicularis sylvatica).

Thrift (Armeria maritima) was everywhere.

Once we reached the abandoned Dean Quarry, we turned inland but not before we'd investigated the quarry and I'd collected a couple of specimens for my rock collection! The rock quarried here was gabbro, a coarse crystalline intrusive igneous rock that formed deep within the Earth's crust when magma cooled and solidified slowly. 

Dean Quarry.

Our lunchtime destination was Roskilly's open organic farm, where the most delicious ice cream in Cornwall is made! We first had our lunch (massive crab sandwiches for me, yum) before having a look around the farm; it has a very pleasant landscaped area of ponds and woodland to walk around and among other birds we saw Long-tailed Tit, Buzzard, Song Thrush, Chiffchaff, Grey Heron and a female Mallard with 11 ducklings.

One of the ponds at Roskilly's.

This was growing in a squelchy muddy bit of a path, it might be a Water-crowfoot of some kind but I couldn't identify it any further than that.

Back in the restaurant it was ice cream time, from the many exciting flavours on offer I chose one scoop of gooseberry yogurt and one of wild cherry & chocolate - delicious! We left Roskilly's and walked back towards Coverack inland, forming a pleasing circular route. We were a bit early for dinner (we'd booked a table at a restaurant in Coverack) so had a cup of tea in the local shop and wandered back through the village and down the coast path in the opposite direction. High tide was approaching and although the clouds had finally cleared, the wind was as strong as ever and the resultant waves were battering Coverack! The walk along the sea front carried with it the high probability of a soaking :oD

High tide in Coverack.

Waves accosting the sea front!

Kersplosh!

View back towards Coverack from the south.

Debris deposited all over the road by the sea.

We enjoyed a superb dinner at Harbour Lights restaurant (bouillabaisse for me, perhaps you can see a seafood theme emerging) before heading home to our cosy cottage for the evening. Here's a map with our route more or less shown in purple.....what a great walk for our first day on the Lizard peninsula :o)