A Hot Summer's Day Walk In The Rusland Valley

 A gentle walk from Oxen Park,via Rusland Mosses and Haybridge Nature Reserve.

A quiet country lane edged with foxgloves leads away from Oxen Park where we started our walk

 Coniston Old Man just visible in the distance; haytiming in full swing close by.

Several Buzzards flew off, disturbed by our approach along Heald Brow

Looking back at our route, Heald Brow to the right

Don't you just hate it when the footpath you are following has been blocked off?
 

They can't stop us looking over the fence into the plantation at Whitestock Hall though...

  .... where we spotted a herd of deer grazing. 

They heard us approaching though & disappeared amongst the trees.

You might just be able to make one out in the middle of the photo, if you squint hard enough.

We were permitted to wander through the woods on Glass Knott however....

... where the fresh green of new bracken under the shade of the trees, gave us a welcome respite from the hot summer sun.

From Glass Knott, heading towards Rusland Hall I spotted this lovely house.

Some garden escapee Turk's Cap lilies flourishing beside the road, putting on a lovely display of colour.

The bees, however, preferred the foamy, nectar rich clusters of flowers on our native Meadowsweet.

On we walked through wildflower meadows, brimming with feathery grasses, wild orchids and an abundance the purple flowers of Great Burnet. 
The bees and butterflies were working overtime amongst this lot.

 Crossing Rusland Pool via a small footbridge, although the water was so low a bridge wasn't really necessary today!

An collection of skulls makes an unusual window ledge display and an alternatively coloured postbox caught my eye. 

Just prior to entering into Rusland Mosses nature reserve is the beautiful Rusland Hall

 

Crossing over Rusland Pool Bridge we disturbed a heron...

...who perched on a nearby branch, glaring at us for the intrusion!

 

 

Passing through Rusland Moss and Hulleter Moss on wooden walkways, we found ourselves in Hay Bridge Nature Reserve, home to the John Strutt Conservation Foundation.

http://www.haybridgereserve.org.uk/Index.html

 

We spent quite some time watching dragonflies and damselflies flitting about. Particularly fascinating was the aptly named "Beautiful Demoiselle" damselfly.

Stunning isn't it?

A little way from the nature reserve, heading towards Bouth, we came unexpectedly upon Black Beck Tarn which was brimming with water lilies.

Finally, we set off back towards Oxen Park, where we had left the car; taking in a view of the Lakeland Fells along the way.

As we rounded the final bend in the road we were pretty amazed to find an Adder making its way across the road in front of us. I just managed a quick, slightly blurry photo before it slithered back into the grass verge.

Thanks for visiting my photoblog, I hope you enjoyed the walk!