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WFV, Ledsham Bank & St Aidans, 21st April 2015

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Fri, 24th Apr 2015, 11:55am
Pasque FlowerPasque Flower

The group of 13 began the day by going to the Ledsham site we had visited on Aug 12th last year. The main purpose was to see the very rare Pasque Flower in bloom. This is a plant now so rare it is only known from 19 sites in the whole of the UK and Ledsham is its most northerly outpost.  In order to protect the plants from being eaten by mammals, such as rabbits, they are protected by cages which of course makes finding them that much easier.

We were successful much to the delight of our botanists (Joan, Alice & Eric) although there was only a single flower and that was very low to the ground. The concensus was the recent dry weather had delayed emergence and it wasn't yet at its maximum height. Dyer's Greenweed, not yet in flower, was growing nearby.

It was a glorious warm and sunny day with nary a cloud in sight. The type of weather we have come to expect! Both Maddie and Vera (late replacements for Janet and Veronica who were not able to make it) were certainly pleased to be out and about with the group on such a day. Unfortunately for June, she got stuck in traffic and had to abandon her attempt to join us. Orange Tips, Small Tortoiseshells and Peacock butterflies were on the wing. Birds seen included Red Kite, Song Thrush and Chiff Chaff. 

We then made our way to the visitor centre at Fairburn Ings which is about 2 miles south of Ledsham. This is where we had our toilet stop and picnic on the outside tables. Robert, one of our regular drivers treated himself to a magnum, so of course I had to follow suit!  A couple of Brimstones were seen plus the regular birds around the feeders such as Tree Sparrows. St AidansSt AidansAfter an hour we departed for our last destination; Swillington Ings/St Aidans.

This is a very large site (previously used for opencast coalmining) situated between Leeds, Castleford and Garforth. It is very exposed to the elements, with no tree cover, except around the perimeter and no hides where refuge could be taken. Basically, don't go there if the forecast is a poor one. We entered the site from the western end which is the one opposite the huge mining machine perched high on the eastern slope.  On the bank by the side of the parking area we were delighted to see Snakeshead Fritillaries.Black Necked GrebeBlack Necked Grebe Presumably garden escapes?

We soon split into two groups; botanists and those who didn't want to walk too far stayed along the top bank. A total of 26 flowering species were recorded by Joan in this area and 42 for the day in total. The birders and walkers did a circular walk making use of the causeway; as a whole perimeter walk would have taken up too much time. Birds seen included: 3 Black-necked Grebes, a solitary Pink-foot Goose (spotted by Robert), Reed Buntings, Wigeon, Pipits, Willow Warblers. and Common Tern. Booming Bitterns were heard. A total of 60 birds for the day. No moths or dragonflies though.

We left the site a little after 15:30 and unlike our last trip got back to base in good time.

A splendid day out with thanks to leader Stuart and driver Sue.

John Gavaghan

WFV, North Cave Wetlands, 31st March 2015

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Wed, 1st Apr 2015, 12:04pm
View Of The Turret Hide And Village LakeView Of The Turret Hide And Village LakeAn epic day out. Marilyn and I set out around 8.30 am and returned around 9.45 pm. Others did similarly. We departed from North Cave Wetlands after a successful day out at 2.45 pm to join the tailback of traffic from the Ouse bridge. There had been a traffic accident relative to the high winds that prevailed during the day. It took approximately three hours to cover a short distance of 6 miles. Considerable patience and good humour was displayed by all. It was needed! Our driver Robert was excellent.

New Viewing ScreenNew Viewing Screen Our day out in "birding city" the North Cave Wetlands proved to be most enjoyable, this in spite of the extreme windy conditions. We managed to dodge showers by hopping from one hide to another and were sustained by the produce of the Wild Bird Cafe. We enjoyed lunch in the Turret hide with shelter and good views of the Reserve. We ended our day in the hide built from straw bales. A great variety of birds was seen around the lakes and the ridge and furrow meadow called Dryham Ings. They included good numbers of Black-headed Gulls, Shelduck, Shoveler, Greylag Geese and Mallard. Other ducks included Tufted Duck,Teal, Wigeon, Gadwall and Little Grebe. Great Crested Grebes were seen in courtship mode. The waders included Redshank, Oystercatchers and Ringed Plover. A Kingfisher flew in front of the South Hide overlooking the Main Lake. Brambling, Tree Sparrow, Blue and Great Tits were seen at the feeders. 40 species of bird were recorded.

Mr and Mrs GrebeMr and Mrs Grebe 10 species of flowers were recorded including Red Dead Nettle, Celandine and Coltsfoot.

The Reserve is continuing to develop. A viewing platform and feeders have been constructed near the entrance overlooking the Village Lake. Two composting toilets are now in place. The area of ridge and furrow is proving to be attracting waders as well as geese and ducks. Phase 2 of the development is now complete. Phase 3 will take in the area currently subject to sand and gravel extraction. The birds are certainly pleased to have found a treasure and we feel likewise. A party of 12 enjoyed this day out 3 of which were making their first visit. They were Dorothy, Sally and Vera.

Margaret

WFV, Morecambe and Hest Bank, 17th March 2015

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Tue, 24th Mar 2015, 8:39pm
Group With FriendGroup With FriendEncouraged by good bird sightings on a trip that Gillian & Stuart made to Morecambe last year, our first field visit in March (the Dunham Massey trip having falling victim to the weather) headed for the Lancashire coast for a stroll along the prom. A full minibus arrived to find overcast weather and a low tide but the fresh estuary air encouraged the group onwards. The more hungry soon broke ranks to find additional sustenance whilst the main group lunched traditionally in a seafront shelter on the way to Happy Mount Park. RedshankRedshank

Although the tide was well out, we saw numerous oystercatchers, curlew and redshank as well as different gulls circling overhead. Leaving the group to refresh themselves in the park, Julia returned to our starting place near the fine Eric Morecambe statue to retrieve the minibus in order to convey the group to Hest Bank where we hoped to see more in the way of birdlife. Scopes were necessary to see good flocks of eider out in the estuary as well as the odd godwit and knot. Joan and Alice determinedly sought out what plants were about and eventually recorded 16 species and 3 ferns.War Memorial And Midland HotelWar Memorial And Midland Hotel

The cafe at Hest Bank was a welcome sight for most to take on the necessary fuel to sustain them on the way back to Bradford. More attention to the tide tables would have made the trip more productive, but it was good to get out as a group again for only the second time this year. In Sue's absence in warmer climes it was left to Julia and Robert to share the long drive for which we are most grateful.

Stuart

Indoor meeting 17th February 2015

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Wed, 18th Feb 2015, 12:54pm
Our indoor meeting was well attended with 16 regulars and one guest, Barbara, Margaret's friend. We enjoyed presentations by Julia and John. Julia introduced us to the scenery and wildlife of the Annecy region of South Eastern France. The family have enjoyed camping, cycling and walking in the area over a period of three years. The area is a mixture of towering limestone buttresses, alpine meadows and forests with the enormous Lac d' Annecy at its base.There are no ski lifts in the area so the intrepid family took to climbing the steep paths with even steeper drops, quite amazing! The views of Mt Blanc in the distance were stunning.

The wildlife, including flora, butterflies and insects caught Julia's eye. The flora was typical of alpine meadows and forests including Yellow Gentian, Martagon Lily, Scabious (Julia's visits were in July and August). The butterflies were numerous and included Swallowtail, Scarce Swallowtail, Arran Argus,Small Blue and Grayling.

John took us to the South of England on an orchid hunt to the Swanage area and to Kent.We saw some wonderful images of Early and Late Spider Orchids, Lizard Orchid as well as an unidentified Broomrape.

The afternoon passed quickly and was a most enjoyable occasion. Our gratitude and thanks to those who contributed.

Margaret

WFV Keighley area Bird Safari 3rd February 2015

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Thu, 5th Feb 2015, 4:59pm
Stockbridge ReserveStockbridge ReserveA bright blue sky and low temperatures were experienced for our winter Bird Safari. The first port of call was the Stocksbridge reserve of BOG - Bradford Ornithological Group - where we were greeted by one of their members, John Preshaw. We spent some time looking out onto the partially frozen lake from the hide and later completed a circular walk around the reserve.

Birds seen from the hide included dunnock, tits including long-tailed tits, robin, chaffinch, brambling ( identified by John and Sally) also heron and snipe. A sparrowhawk was later spotted by Joan. On our tour we observed two bullfinches in their colourful plumage also a wren.

On The Leeds Liverpool CanalOn The Leeds Liverpool CanalWe later found our way onto the towpath of the Leeds & Liverpool canal. An armada of mallard greeted us as well as a single female goosander. The canal walk which afforded excellent views of the snow-covered tops was not as productive as anticipated as much of the canal was frozen, however long-tailed tits and redwing were seen in the surrounding vegetation and fields. A kestrel was seen flying above the River Aire while awaiting the arrival of the minibus to take us to Cliffe Castle museum.

GoosanderGoosander Following lunch in the conservatory and a piece of Janet's delicious cake, the party split into two groups. One group took a tour of the gardens led by Janet while those who preferred warmth stayed in the museum. A total of 27 species of bird were recorded and 9 species of plants in flower. There were signs that spring was round the corner in the form of flowering hazel, gorse, dogs mercury and snowdrops. There were 9 participants for this outing.

Thanks go to Robert, Margaret and Janet for organising this safari.

Margaret

New Year Social, 20th January 2015

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Wed, 21st Jan 2015, 11:16am
Around 19 of us gathered for our post-festive celebration to enjoy food, memories of the past Bees year and thoughts about future Bees outings.The afternoon was rounded off by a light-hearted quiz devised by John. Thanks to all who took part especially Marg and Dania whose efforts ensured we were well looked after. We look forward to a good Bees year ahead.

Margaret

WFV, New Year Walk, Aire Valley, 6th January 2015

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Tue, 6th Jan 2015, 4:01pm
Wood DuckWood DuckThe 2015 BEES year got off to a very pleasant start with Donald leading us on our annual New Year’s walk, this year in the Aire Valley. A skein of greylag geese greeted the minibus’s arrival at the starting point in Bingley and after a delay due to some difficulty in rounding up all the day’s participants we set off in slight drizzle and made our way along the Leeds & Liverpool canal (where we were surpised to see a male wood duck swimming with two greylag geese) to Dowley Gap thence along the banks of the River Aire to Hirst weir. On this stretch we were lucky to have fine views of two kingfishers and two little grebes but there was no sign of the elusive lesser spotted woodpecker which lives in the woods hereabouts. A gaggle of Canada geese were feeding in a nearby field (John reminding us that a flock of geese in the air assumes a different name on landing), with redwings and mistle thrushes in attendance.

KingfisherKingfisher Leaving the river we made our way to the end of Coach Road and started the gentle uphill climb through the Milner Field Estate, formerly occupied by Titus Salt jnr. Here we had the unusual sight of a flock of seven grey herons seemingly resting in a field. By the time we had reached the far side of the Milner Field Estate at Primrose Lane the weather had brightened and we made our way back down to the river and canal in ever-improving weather, lunching in sunshine at Dowley Gap locks before re-tracing our route back to Bingley.

WeirWeir Being early January, there was little in the way of plant life to be seen, although hazel catkins were filling nicely and we admired the numerous small black berries which Donald advised were of wild privet. Fungi was evident in a few places with a nice clump of turkey tail being the most prominent.

Illness had reduced our numbers and many familiar BEES faces were missing but we were able to welcome two new members, David & Sally, together with Dorothy who had been on just one previous trip. They were all very welcome and everyone seemed to enjoy the short day out.

Many thanks to Donald who undertook the leadership duties with his usual efficiency and to Sue for her excellent driving.

Stuart

WFV, Mystery Outing, 25th November 2014

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Tue, 25th Nov 2014, 9:53pm
Walking Through The WoodWalking Through The WoodAs the minibus headed from Bradford towards Leeds on our annual Mystery Outing the odds-on favourite destination amongst the 14 members appeared to be Roundhay Park, so there was some surprise when we drew into the car park at Temple Newsam.

This is an admirable destination for a November visit, being not too far to travel whilst offering a variety of activities and facilities. There was a decision to be made for some – Snowy WaxcapSnowy Waxcap do we visit the house first and have a walk afterwards or do it the other way round. Three opted for the house first and the rest of the group wandered through the woodland area to see what treats a fine late autumn day might provide. There was immediately another mystery waiting to be solved – where had Robert disappeared to?

Bird life was reasonably plentiful, but limited in variety of species and whilst mistle thrushes were about, we had only ‘possible’ sightings of redwing and fieldfare from Donald. We had better luck with fungi species, of which John recorded about 15 with sulphur tuft being the most common and the most spectacular with one large group being especially attractive. There was still some late autumn colour in the grounds - the most colourful species being Maidenhair-tree (Ginkgo biloba) and Persian Ironwood (Parrotia persica) – Veronica’s favourite tree.

Sulphur TuftSulphur Tuft Visitors to the house reported a very interesting morning – they had enjoyed a tour of the cellars and admired an exhibition of tapestries by popular cross-dressing artist Grayson Perry. After lunching in continuing fine weather more of the party visited the house whilst others continued to explore the grounds but all met up in the café before the scheduled departure time where the second mystery was solved when Robert appeared. He had taken himself off to do a spot of bird watching around the parkland and Home Farm and was able to report seeing sparrowhawk and goosander, neither of which was seen by the rest of the group.

JayJay Unfortunately joint-leader Joan had fallen sick and couldn’t be with us on the day, but co-joint-leader Marilyn managed to look after us all on her own and ensured that the full complement of 14 returned to the minibus at the appointed hour for departure. As we had crawled slowly around the Leeds Ring Road to reach our destination, we decided to try the motorway route for our return which we accomplished in good time to round off a most enjoyable day. Many thanks to Marilyn and Joan for organising this popular event and to Robert for undertaking the driving.

Stuart

WFV, Thorp Perrow, 11th November 2014

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Fri, 14th Nov 2014, 12:46pm
View Towards The MonumentView Towards The MonumentA nearly full minibus arrived at Thorp Perrow in overcast but mercifully dry conditions for this week's outing. It remained dry throughout our time at the arboretum allowing the group to divide up and explore as they wished. Many trees had completely shed their leaves but many were still displaying fabulous autumn colours. Some of our group were looking for the "Geoffrey Appleyard" trees and Stuart was eager to learn from Amanda's extensive tree knowledge. Honey FungusHoney Fungus A fair few fungi were seen including honey fungus, trooping funnel, silver leaf fungus, smoky bracket and bleeding broad leaf crust. There were few birds but highlights included nuthatch, little grebe and a sighting of flocks of redwing and fieldfare. Most of the group viewed the early afternoon birds of prey flying display in the wildlife park, when three birds of prey were on show: ColinColinthe Jackal Buzzard, the Turkmenistan eagle owl and the Saker Falcon. Colin, the Turkmenistan eagle owl had the unfortunate reputation of being the laziest of the captive birds. This was demonstrated by his quite comical ungainly walk when released from his enclosure. He certainly seemed relucant to take to the wing. The buzzard and the falcon gave impressive flying displays which were uncomfortably close to some viewers heads! The tea rooms provided welcome refreshment at the end of the day before we headed back to Bradford via the scenic route. Thanks to Joan for leading today's trip and Robert and Sue for sharing the driving.

Sue

WFV, The Hollies and Meanwood Valley Trail, 28th October 2014

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Wed, 29th Oct 2014, 12:44pm
Looking At Persian IronwoodLooking At Persian IronwoodConditions were ideal for this late autumn visit to the Hollies. It was warm and dry during the course of our visit. The colours of the trees were glorious. The Hollies is a Leeds park and a hidden treasure unknown even to long standing residents of Leeds. It wa given to the council in 1918 by George Brown in memory of his son Harold who died fighting in the First World War. Gordon Cooper, a fine plantsman, developed the estate adding specimen trees. Our group was joined in the morning by friends from the Bradford Botany Group - Bruce, Carmen and Phyll. Also we welcomed a new member Dorothy making us a party of 14.

Tibetan Cherry Tree BarkTibetan Cherry Tree BarkBruce led the morning tour of the two gardens and environs. His knowledge was invaluable to us in the identification of species.The two gardens contain an excellent collection of exotic trees from all parts of the world - Japan, China, the Americas which had been planted at the beginning of the 20th century. Bruce quickly guided us through some of the trees' characteristics - bark, leaves and at this time of year, fruit. The collection is particularly attractive in its flowering period in the spring. In the first garden we looked at Manchurian Walnut and Snakebark Maple. Moving into the park we admired Turkish Hazel , Persian Ironwood and Tibetan Cherry. Onward into the second garden we appreciated the Kausa Dogwood, Blue Bean Tree, Judas Tree, Foxglove Tree, Tree of Heaven and Black Beech. Our walk continued below the gardens where we encountered yet more exotics including the Tulip Tree.

Autumn LeafAutumn LeafLunch was taken on the relatively comfortable benches surrounding the tennis courts. In the afternoon we set off on a circular walk which included a steep descent to join the Meanwood Valley Trail. We had a brief stop on the bridge above a waterfall for a photo then continued on the Trail, a road ascent and a return on the flat path through the woods. The warm temperature and colour of the trees added to our enjoyment of the day. Surprisingly there were several floral species both native and garden still in flower. As the gardener commented, there had been no frost to date this year. Also a specked wood butterfly was spotted. Several fungi species were hunted down by those with a mycological interest. They included Glistening Inkcap, Earthballs, Shaggy Parasol, Shaggy Inkcap, Shaggy Scaly cap, Artist/ Southern Bracket and Turkey Tail. Birds were scarce. A jay was seen, long tailed tits and robin heard. The day was nicely rounded off by the consumption of Sue's delicious mince pies.

Margaret