Dragonflies and wildflowers at Swarth Moor 6 Sept 2024 with CCG and Yorkshire Peat Partnership

A sunny day greeted us when our postponed Craven Conservation Group visit to Swarth Moor was finally held on 6 September.

Swarth Moor - at Helwith Bridge in the Yorkshire Dales - is a Lowland Raised Bog with a good lagg area. (In most bogs in England the agricultural land-crops or pasture - goes right up to the raised bog. The area of natural vegetation which had wildflowers that long ago would lie between the dryland and acid raised bog has been removed (Drained, reseeded etc) 

Six members of Craven Conservation Group were guided round by Jessica McMaster and Alex Smith of the Yorkshire Peat Partnership.

Alex has written a good blog post about Swarth Moor here.

https://www.yppartnership.org.uk/blog/alex-smith/restoration-dragons-dales

Here are some pictures

We met in the car park over the road from the Helwith Bridge Hotel, and I will show you a few plants from there at the end.

We leave Helwith Bridge hamlet and the road and walk over Black Syke ditch, onto the bog- though the vegetation here here is not bog because this ditch has drained and lowered the water table tremendously here. The ditch is deep, but in spite of the wet weather over spring and summer there is no or little water in it - showing how it has lowered the water table. Hence the land next to us has become grassland with Tufted Hair-grass, False Oat-grass, Cocksfoot etc. 

Soon there are signs of wild  wetland plants - Here is Sneezewort.

Sneezewort in the foreground

Sneezewort and hoverfly.

Watermint.  This species is late in flowering. Last week it was still in bud up at Malham Tarn.

Black Darter

The Black Darter, once released was quite happy to sit on Jack's hat

Walking beyond the Reedmace towards the path round the quarry

Reedmace

Marsh Willowherb

We were intrigued by a  bush of Bay Leaved Willow (Salix pentandra) I think. 

All the leaves were big and relatively healthy compared to the  "on the way out" other trees of what I loosely think of as a hybrid mix of Salix cinerea, phylicifolia and nigricans though I had not checked them) - It is September.

Then I noticed that all the branches were new sprouts from a log lying in the ground.

Had the log been put there, and then these side shoots grown?. Or had there been a bigger tree which had been felled?

Anyway what really caught our attention was the insect life on them

Lunch. Penyghent in the background

On the path round the edge of the quarry was lots of New Zealand Willowherb

Coir had been places at the edge of the path

Heather in bloom

Cross Leaved Heath

Wild Strawberry

Grass hopper on the viewing platform

This area was sheltered from the strong winds elsewhere. We found several dragonflies on the trees here.

Releasing the dragonfly