Introduction


When we started walking the coast of England we had no intention that this would become a major lifetime project. Having to make a last-minute arrangement for our summer holiday in 1987, we said "Let's go to the nearest piece of coast and see how far we can walk along it." It turned out well and we started adding further stretches of coast, initially once every two years, but soon annually, or even twice a year.

We had always enjoyed the coast - there is something refreshingly "edgy" about having the sea always at our side, and one of us was into marine molluscs. We also enjoyed long-distance walking and had long been involved in general natural history recording. This project enabled us to combine all three interests.

You soon discover when embarking on a project like this that you need a few rules, which evolve from the first experiences. Our main rule was that we should walk as close to the coast as possible, which meant beach-walking whenever we could (unlike the official coast paths that largely remain above shore, recognising that at high tides the beach may be inaccessible). The route should also be capable of being a continuous walk, so that when we came to an unfordable river we walked inland along its banks to the first place at which we could cross, whether a bridge or a ferry.

We only carried light packs, so that at the end of each day's walk we had the problem of getting back to our car where we started. Initially we walked back, but soon realised we would be walking the coast twice this way! We used public transport whenever this was available - buses or trains, sometimes adjusting our start and finish points to make this easier. Failing this - and it was often not possible - we would phone for a taxi (an increasingly costly option over the years). Having our car with us gave us more freedom as to where we could stay at night - and after a day walking and only light food we were usually ready for being spoiled by a good meal and a comfortable bed! Even so, we stayed on the coast itself whenever there was a decent option.

Each walk was made for enjoyment, it was not a route-march to see how quickly we could get it finished. We therefore took it gently at times when passing through pleasant scenery or where there were many plants or creatures to record.

In terms of biological recording, we systematically noted every bird, butterfly, creature or sea-shell that we came across, sometimes spending time searching for the shells. We could not record every plant in the same way - there are too many common ones - so we were more selective, noting all coastal plants and any others that were not run-of-the-mill.

In our daily posts, edited from our original diaries, we include a star-rating from no star to **** according to our subjective estimate as to how special that day was from the point of view of natural history. This score (and our daily records) will, however, have been affected by the weather - it is difficult to appreciate the environment fully, for instance, in torrential rain, and there are many more butterflies and other insects to be seen in warm sunshine!

A summary of all our natural history records on the walk can be found using this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1LLGD55lKRHYXd1SGU1QndrcUU/edit?usp=sharing





Tuesday, 28 January 2014

Northumberland: Lindisfarne 27/6/2006****


 

Balkan clary
 
Bogbean
We set out immediately after breakfast to complete the circuit of the island.  Via the Priory ruins and the Heugh we walked east around the harbour and its little beach where ringed plovers defended their nesting territory noisily.  A single plant of Balkan clary stood at the head of the beach.  We rounded the castle where fulmars nested in most of the holes in the walls, the well-grown chicks calling incessantly high above us.  The Whin Sill rocks beneath were covered in red valerian, thyme and many other plants.  We briefly went inland to visit the castle’s walled Gertrude Jekyll garden being tended by volunteers and then returned to the main path to inspect a small pool where amphibious bistort spikes looked like pyramidal orchids in water (and were recorded as such by several passing birders).  There was also plenty of watercress.  We rounded the SE corner and marched north up the coast through rough grassland with a rocky shore below and little of interest until we reached a much larger pool with a bird-hide.  Here we got a close-up view of adult and young swallows that had only just left their nest in the hide itself.  On the water were coots, moorhens, little grebe, tufted duck, mallard and gulls – not likely to have excited the birders a great deal.  In the water we could see mare’s-tail, bogbean and water-plantain.  It was then just a short walk to the start of the dunes along the north shore and a pleasant beach.
      After exploring the latter we returned to the dunes to explore them more thoroughly, moving gradually westwards.  While revisiting many of yesterday’s orchids and other flowers, we also found grass of Parnassus in bud, flat sedge, curved sedge, pyramidal orchid, carline thistle and others.  We could hardly tire of the sight of a profusion of northern and early marsh orchids, in robust spikes and strong colours, and the short turf dotted with the strong pinks of seaside centaury amid thyme and lady’s bedstraw.  Around the narrow neck of the island we descended to a very long sandy beach with saltwort, sea rocket, marram, a single clump of purple marram, and good sea-shells, including cowries and Thyasira flexuosa.  We could also see eiders, cormorants, oystercatchers, sandwich and common terns on the sea-rocks, and, flying past, several small flocks of gannets.  The only disappointment was not to have seen the seals often found here.  Above the beach we crossed the dunes towards the village, trying to avoid too many pirri-pirri burs on our trousers and laces, eventually finding a major path to the road, passing beside a gigantic clump of rhubarb wild in the middle of a rough field.
Gertrude Jekyll Garden
Lindisfarne sands
 
Marram
 
Pirri-pirri bur
 
Thyasira flexuosa
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)