Sunday 28 July 2013

A Walk Over The Drumlins

I know a lot of you like to come with me on my walks and today I am joined by a non birding friend who visited me while I was at my caravan.  We had only recently become reacquainted, having been in the Bangor Operatic Society many years ago.  This walk takes us up and over the Drumlins and down to the sea again.  It will show you on the video what kind of scenery surrounds me at the ‘old caravan’. 

  
Firstly I am showing you some still of wildflowers, unnamed as I am uncertain however if anyone has them on the tip of their tongue I would appreciate that and I will add the name to the post.
 

                                                            1. Dame's Rocket - Hesperis matronalis

 2. Close up of above

           3.


                                                                                4.

  5. Violet


                                             6. A collection of wildflower along the farmers' path

 
                                                                                 7. Bird'sfoot Trefoil

The following flowers are not wild however I did see them on the walk. 

Pussy Willow 

Periwinkle 

 Periwinkle in black and white

 Dimorphotheca

Dimorphotheca - Close up

 
 Horse Chestnut

Now I feel I should tell you a little bit about Drumlins in and around Strangford Lough.


Drumlin hills create a pleasant, rolling land and seascape dotted with islands and full of curved sheltered inlets – hence Strangford Lough’s ancient name “Loch Cuan”. 

 Strangford Lough sits amongst one of Northern Ireland’s most special landscapes – the rounded hills called drumlins that were deposited when the last glaciers retreated. The Lough’s islands are drowned drumlins in various stages of erosion.  As the ice melted, sea level rises created shores that later rose above the water as the enormous weight of the ice was lifted from the land. This formed the clearly defined raised beaches that notch most of the islands and coastal drumlins.

Raised beach deposits extend some distance inland on the Ards peninsula where they provide broad, fertile flats of shelly and pebbly soils amidst the heavier clays of the drumlins.

 Strangford Lough is the UK's largest sea inlet with over 120 islands or drumlins dotted throughout it's area. If you happen to be of a more romantic persuasion, legend says that there are 365 islands, one for each day of the year.  I believe there is one island for every day of the year!!

The human history of the area can be traced back 9000 years to when the first Mesolithic settlers arrived. People would have been attracted by the mild and fertile shores and by the food provided by the Lough. Since then successive waves of people have left a wonderful legacy on the landscape including cairns, exceptional monastic sites, tower houses, great estates and windmills – most of which are open to the public.
Seals, porpoise, thousands of overwintering birds, nesting terns are just some of the inhabitants.

Now I hope you are all ready for the walk with Joanne and myself. 
 It can be accessed at
  



I hope you enjoyed our walk, I think I should be working for the
Northern Ireland Tourist Board!!!!
Perhaps next year we will have an invasion of bloggers!!
Thank you for visiting and hope you will look in again.
THANK YOU ALL for your comments you left on any of my posts yesterday.
I am linking to the BIRd D'Pot
Thanks to Boom & Gary  for naming No. 2 & 7 of my wildflowers for me.
Thanks to Mary for naming No. 5 of my wild flowers for me.

25 comments:

  1. Yellow flower=Birdsfoot Trefoil; mauve =Dame's Rocket, maybe although ours are finished, and have been for a while. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  2. A beautiful bunch of flowers, the best is Dimorphotheca - Close up, superb.

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  3. Thank you for taking us on tour with you! A beautiful and interesting one:)

    Thanks for catching that pussy willow -one of my favorites. When living in Holland every Spring I would be sure to buy a bouquet o pussy willow branches:)

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  4. glad you got to spend some time with your friend. love the cattle and calves. had to look away from your video a few times - get dizzy when you pan. :)

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  5. Beautiful series of flowers! And enjoyed the walk over the Drumlins! So much rolling green and delightful water views. Loved the filming of the diving bird and the little sparrow enjoying a dust bath.

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  6. I'm wondering if the Dames Rocket is an edible variety? The flowers remind me almost of a single stock

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  7. Lovely flowers and a nice video! I enjoyed the scenery!

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  8. Looks like a lovely place.

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  9. 365 islands, one in a day. And that to be repeated every year. I am now a noad.

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  10. These are gorgeous! I would have called the one you call Dame's Rocket...Phlox, but that may be a difference of being in the USA. I saw a violet...#5 if the number is underneath. All beautiful! What a lovely area with so many flowers still. We seem to be in the "yellow" season....sunflowers and black-eyed susan's and such.

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  11. Beautiful flowers Margaret, and a very pleasant video. I enjoyed my walk with you and your friend, and I wouldn't be surprised about the invasion of bloggers. It's gorgeous over there!

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  12. Very pretty flowers. I love their color.

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  13. Very pretty flowers. I love that velvet texture.

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  14. Your pictures are beautiful, and I feel like I have really walked with you. The macro of the center of that flower is absolutely beautiful!!!! So stunning... all the tiny intricate things you captured, and the gorgeous colors in it, as well. The very center of it looks like a pile of sapphires! It is the star of this show for me.

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  15. Love the flowers Margaret, especially those close-ups.

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  16. this is a delightful walk along the Drumlins with a little taste of almost everything-beautiful flowers-lovely closeups!

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  17. gorgeous picturesl The one of the Dimorphotheca is stunning. Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment on my Cedar Waxwing post

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  18. Thank you for sharing your walk, it was wonderful!

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  19. A beautiful area to walk in there Margaret. I like the flower images, especially the close ups. And a great video, thanks for taking us along...[;o)

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  20. Nice pictures - I like the way drumlins are also called "Basket of Egg Relief " because of the shape.

    No Photoshop in my sign image - just a little crop. I don't tend to do very much alteration to my images, beyond a little work on the skies to bring the exposure in line with what I saw.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  21. What a beautiful walk you had, with so many beautiful things to see!

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  22. Lovely photos and a great video. Really enjoyed walking through the Drumlins with you. It has been such a good year for buttercups :)

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  23. I did enjoy this walk. The scenery is beautiful and the company delightful.

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  24. Good morning Margaret! Just wanting to let you know that I have totally enjoyed your lovely video. such a wonderful tour this is! My first ever "visit" to your lovely country

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