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
Category: Habitats
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.
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.
Dudfleet
Recycled material in farm sheds, Dudfleet Lane, Horbury.
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.
Birch
New Hall Wood, Midgley, 40℉, 5℃: The holly sapling next to this twin trunk of silver birch already has a stem of honeysuckle climbing up it, twisting loosely anti-clockwise as seen from above. As you’d expect, the patch of moss is on the shady north-facing side of the tree.
Great to be back drawing on location. Robin singing from a holly bush, crows cawing. As I attach my sketchbook to my drawing board it drops onto damp moss, leaving a greenish smear across the page, providing a patina for my drawing.
RSPB Great Garden Birdwatch
Robins outnumbered any other bird at the start of our garden birdwatch this morning. A pair of robins were working their way around the border by the hedge, just a couple of yards away from a single robin on the patio. Robins defend winter territories so I’m surprised that they were tolerating each other. One great tit was on the sunflower feeders with two female pheasants foraging below.
Later two great tits were coming to the sunflower seed feeders, one with a kipper tie of a black breast-streak – the male – the other with a modest pencil tie – the female.
The Average Bird Garden
Our total bird count of 28 was close to the national average (27) and our number one bird was the house sparrow with 6 individuals but that was probably an underestimate as they were constantly to and fro from feeders to hawthorn hedge.
Two female sparrows were pecking at the mortar of next door’s conservatory wall. No structural damage evident so far.
By the way, during yesterday’s amber alert for Storm Éowyn, our strongest storm for 10 years, one of our roof tiles was dislodged. We got off lightly compared with Ireland, parts of Wales and Scotland where red ‘danger to life’ warnings were issued.
Overnight Snow
The teasel has collapsed under 2-3 inches of overnight snow.
Three female pheasants join the goldfinches, house sparrows, blue tits, great tits, blackbirds, nuthatch and robin at the bird feeders.
They appear to hear a noise and freeze in alert mode. They remain motionless for five minutes or more, gradually relaxing, as if it’s a pheasant meditation session – an ideal opportunity to draw them.
At 3.30 pm the pheasants head off towards the wood as the light fades.
The Strands in Flood
At the Strands, the canal overflowed the towpath, leaving grassy debris along the lower wires of fences. Both canal-side pubs – the Bingley Arms and the Navigation – had their cellars flooded. Further downstream at Broad Cut Low Lock, one boat sank and two were dumped on the banking by the flood waters.