Saltburn Flowerscapes

As well as the usual macro work, I also like to practice a form of close-up photography that shows a plant in its natural habitat or landscape. This gives you a nice ecological portrait of a plant, rather than just a twitcher's view of a rare plant.

There is, of course, an inherent danger in this type of photography, that should not be overlooked: it is very easy to give away the location of a rare species by including its surrounding landscape in a photograph. The purpose of these photos is not to give away locations, but to encourage the walker to look a little closer at the hidden gems that can be seen around the Victorian seaside resort of Saltburn-by-the-Sea. Fortunately, none of the species in these pictures are spectacularly rare, so you should still consider them to be rare and threatened.

Remember, stick to the path to avoid trampling sensitive habitats, and always leave wildflowers for other people to enjoy.

Click the photographs for full-page versions. For more traditional pictures, see Saltburn Flora.

Early-purple Orchid (Orchis mascula), looking at The Zetland and Marine Parade.

Carline Thistle (Carlina vulgaris), looking at Marine Parade.

Dyer's Greenweed (Genista tinctoria), looking at Marine Parade, with Cat Nab a bit more prominent in the middle.

Hairy Plantain (Plantago media) on Huntcliff, looking over at the cliff face.

Common Spotted-orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) with Saltburn Pier in the background; plus the South Gare and Redcar Steelworks on the horizon.

Creeping Rest-harrow (Ononis repens), from the cliff path to Marske, looking down at Saltburn beach and the pier, with sunlight on Huntcliff.

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