Coniston Rarities

Coniston Rarities In Coniston we are lucky to live in an area that is so rich in wildlife. We may take for granted what we think is common, but when considered in an UK, European or global scale they are often regarded as very rare. Take for example. bluebells. Who can miss the stunning display of flowers in the Yewdale valley and woodlands around Coniston? Yet Britain has 30% of the world’s bluebell woods. They are internationally important! Who would believe that the Song Thrush, still very common in the woodland margins, hedgerows and gardens of Coniston is now a Red Data Book species? (A fancy way to highlight that the species has shown a 50% decline in the last 25 years) Arctic Char, a fish that likes cool deep waters is found in Coniston left stranded after the last ice age. Also in Coniston Water otters have made a spectacular comeback with numerous sightings over the past few years. The Lake District’s rarest Moth is found here, the Netted Carpet, whose caterpillars feed on a Plant called Touch-me-not-Balsam. Both the moth and plant have their stronghold in the woodlands on the east shore of Coniston Water. If you sit on the crags of Yewdale Fell or Holme Fell there is a good chance you will see Peregrine Falcons. 25 to 30 years ago this spectacular bird was facing extinction and the Lake District was the main centre of its recovery programme. The mountaintops are also home to the elusive Ring Ouzel, which nests, in the steep crags. Coniston is also the northernmost limit of a numerous range of plants. Small leaved lime, trees whose rootstocks are reputed to be nearly 4000 years old are common in the woods around Coniston but not any further north. There is the just plain obscure. Lobaria amplissima, lichen commonly known as lungwort, an indicator of damp oak woodlands on the fringe of the Atlantic, is found in Tom Gill. Tom Gill is also the home of Wilson’s filmy fern. A filmy fern is a type of fern where the fronds are only 1 cell thick and thrives in shaded becks and waterfalls. Then there are the plants and animals where the people who can identify them are probably rarer than the species themselves! A caddisfly, Gossosoma intermedium, only occurs in 3 locations in Cumbria, one of them reputed to be Hoathwaite Beck. And what about the rare Black headed cardinal beetle, the medicinal leech and the wood snipe fly? In this brief summary, many examples have been left out. To find more about Coniston’s rarities Tullie house museum in Carlisle has set up a database on a parish by parish that can be viewed on www.lakelandwildlife.co.uk David Preston ~ National Trust Forester Warden