Hoof fungus, also known as Tinder Bracket, Fomes fomentarius, on a beech trunk – all that’s left standing of the tree – at Thornhill Rectory Park.
Hoof Fungus
Common Orange Lichen
Alongside a track through fields of seedling oilseed rape there’s a stretch of hedge where many of the branches are encrusted with this yellow foliose (leaflike) lichen, Xanthoria parietina, sometimes called common orange lichen. It will grow on twigs, branches and stonework, even on painted surfaces, especially where extra nutrients are available – for instance from bird droppings. In this case the extra nutrients might come from overspray from the field and to a smaller extent perhaps from the exhaust from the occasional passing vehicle on this quiet country lane.
Book Shelf
After 15 years I thought that it was about time that I made my local walks booklets, local history and sketchbooks available on my Wild Yorkshire blog. It’s simple enough but while experimenting with templates I did briefly convert my blog into a rather upmarket vase boutique. Thank you to Matt at flairdigital.co.uk for getting me out of that one!
The Book Shelf link should be on the menu at the top of this page. Fingers crossed!
Pigeons at Dawn
Latest trail cam shots from our back garden: pheasants, blackbird, a pair of robins and – what are you doing there?! – Butch (yes, he really is called Butch), next door’s Labrador but my favourite shot is the wood pigeon at dawn, looking hopefully up at the feeders.
Fascinating Ferns
Now hitting the news stands, my latest article for the March Dalesman, featuring botanical illustrations by John Edward Sowerby for Thomas Gissing’s Ferns of Wakefield (1862).
Addingford Mills
These three barrel-like drums must have played some part in processing the textiles that Addingford Mills once produced.
Dudfleet
Recycled material in farm sheds, Dudfleet Lane, Horbury.
Pheasants at the Pond
I spent an hour clearing algae, moss, grass and duckweed from our pond yesterday. The pheasants seem to appreciate my efforts.
The aim was to clear the pond before frogs started arriving but on my first sweep with the net I caught a large frog amongst the pondweed. It played dead but with a little gentle encouragement it hopped back into the water.
That was the only frog and I didn’t come across any newts, which I invariably catch in the net when I’m clearing duckweed in the summer.
The pheasants and a blackbird rummaged and pecked about in the debris that I’d left in piles around the pond to give any creatures that had got caught up in it a chance to escape.
End of Winter Check List
With the end of meteorological winter is less than a couple of weeks away this is my last chance to complete some of the seasonal tasks in the garden. There’s no shortage of tidying up jobs such as weeding veg beds and clearing paths but they can wait. More urgently, I need to trim this corner of the hawthorn/holly hedge to more manageable proportions before the birds start nesting.
It won’t be long before the frogs gather to spawn in the pond again, so I’d like to clear out some of the duckweed, overgrown plants and fallen leaves before they return.
To give our autumn-fruiting raspberries the best chance I want to dig them up before growth gets started again, raise the level of the raised bed with riddled compost, replant them and finally cut them down to ground level.
There’s more cutting back needed behind the shed too before birds, such as our resident dunnocks, start nesting.
Upper Midgley
At the top end of Coxley Valley this belt of trees runs close to the 130 metre, 425 feet, contour. I’m told that if you’re here early in the morning you’ll see roe deer.