Friday , March 29 2024
Home / Flora And Fauna (page 8)

Flora And Fauna

Last Wolf

Last Wolf

For many years Kyloe the wolf lived a solitary life high amongst the remote tors of Dartmoor. His life was simple and safe, food was plenty and at the first sign of humans he would simply hide amongst the granite outcrops, basically nobody knew of his existence. Sometimes on clear …

Read More »

Kestrels

Kestrels

On Dartmoor the kestrel is affectionately known as either the ‘Windhover’ or the ‘Wind-Fanner’ which compared with its Latin name of Falco tinnunculus is a great improvement. These days any sightings of the bird will be confined mainly to the moorland edges or near woodlands and plantations. Sadly, the plight …

Read More »

Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle

“Sister, sister, what dost thou twine ? I am weaving a wreath of the wild Woodbine ; I have streaked it without like the sunset hue, And silvered it white with the morning dew : And there is not a perfume which on the breeze blows From the lips of …

Read More »

Holly

Holly

Today of you think of holly the chances are that Christmas will come to mind, but it hasn’t always been like that as at one time holly meant more than decorations. If you take Dartmoor as a whole, the holly bush is generally found on the lower fringes of the …

Read More »

Herons

Herons

The woodcock now upon the wing Is flitting past to upland spring; The fern owl wheels above the brake, The heron screams from yonder lake; The Dart is moaning down the dell, Like music from a muffled bell. Edward William Lewis Davies – 1863 Quite often you can be strolling …

Read More »

Heather

Heather

“I love your hills, and I love your dales, And I love your flocks a-bleating; But O, on the heather to lie together, With both our hearts a-beating!” Where be ye going, ye Devon maid – John Keats If gorse is known as ‘Dartmoor Custard’ then the heathers must be …

Read More »

Hazels

hazel1

From various pollen analysis studies it is estimated that ‘Slip Shell’ or Hazel has been growing on Dartmoor since around 7500BC and would have been found over most parts of the moor. Climate change and deforestation has long since altered that state of affairs and today it is commonly found …

Read More »

Hawthorns

Hawthorns

The hawthorn is probably one of the most common trees of Dartmoor and can be seen resplendent in the hedges of the lowlands as well as standing in solitude high on the tors. Nothing can compare with walking down a Dartmoor lane in April with the heady scent of the …

Read More »

Hares

Hares

Today, one would be extremely lucky to see a hare on Dartmoor, in 15 years I have seen two and these have been on the lower fringes of the moor. Devon as a whole is regarded as having a wide but local population of hares but Dartmoor numbers are considered …

Read More »

Grouse

Grouse

Occasionally you will be walking among the heather on some lonely hillside when suddenly the ground explodes and once your heart has stopped pounding you will see a grouse scudding across the moorside. Alternatively the silence of the heather moor will be broken by a guttural call that seems to …

Read More »