Spring Woodlands in Full Bloom at Dalkeith Country Park

We've got a long bank holday weekend so yesterday we went to Dalkeith Country Park hoping to see the bluebells. We weren't disappointed, in fact the bluebells, ramsons (wild garlic) and stitchwort were all at their best throughout the park.

 bluebells

wild garlic (ramsons)

stitchwort 

Large areas of the park are covered in these three species 

 and often they're found together 

 

 This lovely area in the photo below was full of butterflies 

There were a couple of orange tips

and at least five speckled woods, two of which were spiralling round each other into the tree canopy, though that was too difficult to catch on camera

Dalkeith Country Park is most famed for its ancient oak woodland, full of wonderfully gnarled old oak trees

and it's well worth taking a close look at the bark of these trees

The river that runs through the park is lovely too

There are also lots of lichens

ferns, like this maidenhair spleenwort

and more flowers like these cowslips

Dalkeith Country Park is always a great place to visit, especially at this time of year. It recently had the old stableyard renovated and there are two cafes, a shop and other amenities including an adventure playground and there's a calendar of events happening throughout the year. But the park is big enough to absorb all this activity without disturbing the lovely natural tranquillity of the wider area of the park.