HOUND TOR AGAIN AND SPAWN RESCUE

On Saturday, we all went to Hound Tor. Snippet had never been as it's usually busy with tourists or, in the last case, I was on my own in the fog on my way back from Brixham. You may remember the spooky pictures. It is spectacular. I was looking up the origin of the name and found this little passage about it:

The tor is an example of one of Dartmoor's 'avenue tors' as it consists of two separate rock masses which lie on a north-westerly alignment. The highest point of the tor is on the south-westerly pile which stands at 1,358ft (414m). The name was first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Hundatora' and is thought to have taken its name from the animal name 'hound'. Some Dartmoor writers refer to Great Hound tor which distinguishes it from the other Hound tor on the north moor.

I don't know why it's doing that stupid highlighting thing. Very annoying and I can't get rid of it - sorry!

Rather than run the gauntlet with the crowds, we approached through a nearby piece of ancient woodland, of which there are a few pockets on Dartmoor. I found this very interesting article about the Restoring Ancient Woodland project on the BBC website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2006/01/25/dartmoor_ancient_woodland_feature.shtml

We saw nobody in this little haven; it was a joy.

Black Witches' Butter fungus. I found this fascinating little piece about it on Flickr:

According to Celtic legend, witches were notorious milk and butter thieves. The sudden appearance of this jelly fungi marked where she had dropped or stashed some of her creamy loot. Finding this mushroom near one’s home meant the house was hexed. The only way to remove the curse was to pinprick the mushroom and drain its gel. This caused the thieving witch such pain, she was forced to appear and remove the spell. In Scandinavia, witches butter was believed to be vomit from a witch’s cat sent to a house to gorge itself on milk and food.

Nice.

Out the other side and a view of Greator Rocks with Haytor Rocks beyond

And again

Here you can see climbers on the top of Hound Tor....rather them than me!

We had some tea at the 'Hound of the Basket Meals' van and then, as we were leaving, I spotted this crow who was unusually bold. I find all the crow family very shy and difficult to approach. Very sensible of them really. As I photographed it, I was mobbed by some sheep who seemed to think I had something for them!

On Sunday, we struck out in pursuit of the spawn to be rescued. I managed to find the very remote blob which had expended to two blobs, and Origami Boy and his friend scooped it up and relocated it in the marsh which never dries out and has good areas of water and food. I'll be checking on it periodically from now on. Some of the collection may have been a bit over-zealous, but in the face of certain death, any chance of survival was preferable and I don't wish to quash their youthful enthusiasm for nature!

Last Thursday, I had my shoulder operation at last. A rather painful injection of saline into the joint which is supposed to free up the stickiness of the frozen shoulder. It has certainly helped a bit; I can get my arm above shoulder level now, which I couldn't before. It was never going to be a cure but it has certainly been beneficial and didn't involve the general anesthetic that the one I cancelled last year necessitated.  All done in twenty minutes! I'll leave you with Snippet at Hound Tor....I've taken the scissors to his head so he can see. However, he does look a bit poodle-like as a result. It will have grown back in a few weeks. Until next time....

REMOTE SPAWNING

As you can see I have been tinkering, perhaps unwisely. I started with the header photo, which I've meant to do for months. The one of the ponies has been bugging me as the one on the far left was very straggly and not what a Dartmoor should look like. I like the new one. I then moved on to the one of me, which I HATED. It was a rush job, taken in the mirror out of desperation when starting the blog. So, I thought I'd replace it. Me on the sledge isn't really working but I now can't find the original one. I will sort it out but not now!

Yesterday, I found some frog spawn in a small puddle which will dry out in a few days if we have no rain. Today, I decided to go looking for more spawn that needs rescuing and.over the weekend, I will draft in Origami Boy and his friend to help me move it to safer water. I was amazed at how remote some of their spawning sites were:

This huge puddle takes about a week to dry out in the sun and was the site of last year's tadpole rescue. This year I'm hoping to save them before they hatch!

This clump should be fine

Idiotic spawning and definitely in need of rescue

Huge amounts in the middle of the giant marsh

Close to the river so they should be fine

More middle of nowhere spawning

And again....

Sorry - those were pretty boring! Whilst picking my way through dodgy marsh, I saw these two lovely mosses:

Serious problems identifying them but probably Hair Moss and...

Bog Moss....I think. Mosses are notoriously difficult to identify...

I managed to capture the burglar Nuthatch in action today. A bit blurry but you can see the criminal at work....

Inside the feeder taking the nut....

Leaving the scene of the crime....

Stashing the swag under a rock in the neighbour's garden....

Trying to look innocent

Here are a few more pictures I took today.

Clapper bridge over Wallabrook

Snippet in the marsh

A lone sheep

A very naughty sheep trying to escape its field

Half term is upon us and I have no idea yet what my posting abilities will be. Forgive me if there is a temporary break in transmission but you never know, the mid week sleepover might afford an opportunity......until next time, have a great weekend and I'll leave you with a very happy Snippet.

SIGNS OF LIFE

But not as many as there were yesterday before this insufferable laptop decided to delete all my lovely frog and lichen pictures. I'm getting really upset with its life of its own. Time to dig a mouse out of a drawer and deactivate the touch pad. Whether that will solve the problem of hovering over something and it pressing virtual buttons that you don't want to press, I don't know. Anyway, enough grumping. I followed yesterdays footsteps today, but the frogs I had photographed had finished spawning and disappeared today. Not surprising but they are all at it and the spawn is gathering in every available puddle. Some may have to be rescued and moved as some of the puddles will dry out if there's a dry period. This is a fraction of what I saw today:

I haven't seen Betty or any of the other mares and foals for weeks. The occasional little group of vaguely familiar ponies appears for a few days and then goes. Some are in foal but not many. I'm really hoping Betty and the rest of them come back nearer foaling time. They will have to be named by letter rather than number this year so I don't get confused. Here are a couple I saw today a couple of miles away from home:

Eating the lush greens in the stream

My lichen passion had reached the point of searching for a comprehensive tome for identification. Not easy to come by I can tell you. The one I want is ridiculously expensive so I may have to just stick with the on-line sites which are pretty good, but not exactly portable. I'm finding http://www.britishlichens.co.uk/ the best but I haven't done very well with these I saw today (and yesterday!).

I can't identify this one.....time for i-spot

Cladonia Bellidiflora

Cladonia Polydactyla I think

Cladonia PleurotaI I think

Another one for i-spot

Cladonia Pocillum I think

I've been trying to photograph a Dunnock that has been visiting the garden for a few weeks. It kept flying off every time I managed to focus and never comes to the bird 'table'. This picture isn't great but at least I've got it at last. I haven't seen one up here at all until now so I'm really pleased.

These sparrows look like one of those wooden toys with the swinging ball underneath that makes them peck:

And a rather lovely Chaffinch with a mouthful of seedy porridge:

My viola are still flowering: 

And the Columbines are beginning to spring into life:

Snippet enjoyed today - lots of rodents making noises under tussocks of grass: 

I'll leave you with Kestor at sunrise the other frosty morning. awe-inspiring and a reason to get up and out early. Until next time..........