Thursday 17 May 2012

Marshes Hill

Looking West from Marshes Hill
(Canon EOS 60D, Tamron 10-24mm @ 10mm, 1/1250s @ f/7.1)
Marshes Hill is an isolated 6ha piece of heathland near Knypersley Pool. The main plants covering the heath are Gorse, Bilberry and Heather. Heathland was once extensive in this part of Staffordshire but now only a few isolated remnants remain. The tiny dots visible in the sky over the gorse are now dust spots, they are St Mark's Flies Bibio marci. This shiny black fly hangs lazily in the air, its legs dangling, in the weeks around St Mark's Day (25th April), hence its name.

3 comments:

  1. I love the smell of gorse on a hot day..and remember many scratched legs from playing around it! I've never heard of St Mark's flies...thanks for the info, and lovely image.

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  2. Thanks both for the kind comments.

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