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

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