Take note of the Old Beech

Our valley was planted in the early 19th century with Beech trees, a species which would have been a novel species for our area at that time. They have been a remarkably resilient tree, surviving through a century and a half of terrific pollution.

But; All the original Beech are now approaching 180-200 year old and entering their final years. In 20 years time most of the big trees will have gone. They do not grow downwards in old age as Oak does; for when they decide time is up, they don't linger.

We should not help these old Beech on their way by removing them for woodland management purposes, where the emphasis now is to encourage other species such as Oak.

I think we should enjoy them while we can and leave the best specimens well alone in any management scheme. We will never see again as many massive Beech as we have at present.

Better by far to concentrate on the prolific number of Beech saplings which are insidiously springing up as under storey in many woodlands. This is a problem that is easily solved at present but if neglected will kill the ground flora and most of the other tree species in the wooded area.

Get out and enjoy, photograph and record these huge Beech; they won't be around for much longer.

The photo shows a multi-stemmed huge Beech on the HSS walk to Sun Wood in June this year. But also note the bleeding canker which is affecting Beech throughout the valley. This is quickly hastening the end for many of them as the fungus like organism cuts off the flow of sapwood.

Also note the arborglyphs written in the central trunk. Was this a boundary tree, coppiced or was it bundle planted?

Frogs

Our garden is literally hopping with this year's tiny frogs, but can anyone tell me how to judge the age of older frogs (we have just one in the garden) like the one in this picture?  Is it 1 year old - or 10?  I'd love to know!  Charlotte

Siver Y moths arrived

Five of us were on Wadsworth Moor yesterday and we saw at least three Silver Y moths feeding on the heather nectar.

Snake evidence in Luddenden

A member of the public contacted me after finding this skin of a small snake which had been sloughed inside a lidded barbecue. They have to find somewhere rough to rub their mouth, to start the skin peeling back, then they crawl out of it, leaving it behind, often intact, and turned inside out.

The young father was concerned it might be an Adder near his garden. I could reassure him after checking with a hand lens that it wasn't an Adder. Also, unfortunately for us naturalists, it wasn't a Grass Snake either. Both these native snakes have a central keel on each small dorsal scale, which shows easily on the slough, but this snake didn't have this feature. The keel is a raised line like the keel underneath a wooden boat.

So it's most likely an escaped exotic pet. The only chance it could be a native snake is if someone has picked up a Smooth Snake on one of the few southern county heathlands they live on, and brought it home. (This would be a wildlife crime, as you need a license to handle Smooth Snakes - which don't have a keel on their dorsal scales.)       Reference: ARC Reptile ID Guide (online.) 

LADYBIRD

Saw this tiny larvae about 5mm long, today in our garden at Todmorden. I think it is an Orange Ladybird larvae Halyzia 16-guttata and it used to be quite rare but has spread North over the last 20 years.

Both the adult and larvae feed on mildew. They used to be confined to Oak trees but now more common on Sycamore and Ash and were formerly an indicator of ancient woodland. It is my first sighting of the larvae

My first in 2016

Painted Lady Butterfly at Skircoat this afternoon. It didn't re-open its wings after I missed the brief chance I had to get its upper side. It seemed to be settling down for a rest low down on a wall. It was flying around fast when it first attracted my attention. 

Botany Ramble this Saturday

Peachysteve is leading a ramble along the canal bank from Mytholmroyd
this Saturday 13th August 2016.

Meet 10.30 for 10.40 at Mytholmroyd in the large free car park next to Russell Dean Furniture Showroom.

All welcome! We will be stopping for a picnic around lunchtime.

Common Ragwort with 
Cinnabar Moth caterpillar. 
 (last year.) SB 












For all the walks planned this year, click on " Welcome" at the top of the page.

Poster for our next talk - 9th August

If anyone could help us publicise this talk on such an important subject, and also our other talks/walks, please do so or contact me (through comments at the bottom if necessary.)

Rhinoceros Beetle; what do you require from us?

There has been a recent sighting and photo of Rhinoceros Beetle on this Blog. The link below should therefore be of interest as it mentions this beetle and the preferred habitats of other beetles. It also links at the bottom of the article to really good info about "Invertebrates and Ancient Trees".

It may seem a little odd to our modern perception of what makes a woodland but dare it be admitted we have got it all wrong. Could closed canopy woodland (everywhere) be perhaps a sign of serious degredation of both trees and habitat?

Is planting more of these woodlands the answer? If not, why are we doing so?

Read here: http://www.ancienttreeforum.co.uk/saproxylic-beetles-in-capability-brown-landscapes-and-the-importance-of-continuity/

Ramble this Saturday 30th July

It's the Big Butterfly Count again.

Every year at the end of July we have a walk round Cromwell Bottom Nature Reserve and record which butterflies are flying, and how many. There's plenty of other things to look at if it's not butterfly weather !

This is also a Wildside Walk in the Countryside Departments Wildside Activity Booklet, so families are welcome, as always.

It is an easy walk with plenty of stops, and now we have the luxury of the Cabin organised by Cromwell Bottom Wildlife Group, and they will be open for us for snacks and toilets. You can eat your own picnics at their tables (space is limited.)

Meet 10.30 for 10.40 at the Crowther Bridge Car Park (turn in at the brick office block on the Elland to Brighouse Road - there is a clock on the front.) Take extra care on the 50 mph road!

Lichens have another lodger

For those interested in Lichens or biology, this article is very interesting. It seems Lichens have a third component in the symbiosis that has been hiding in plain view without anyone realising for 150 years.  Who says three is a crowd?

 (Just let the initial subscription advert run itself out).

http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/07/how-a-guy-from-a-montana-trailer-park-upturned-150-years-of-biology/491702/

Rhinoceros Beetle

This interesting beetle was found (I believe in the Ovenden area) by Julian Birkhead earlier this month. It can be up to 20 mm long and this looks to be a female as the male has a larger, upturned horn (projection) on its head. It feeds on sap on warm summer nights.

Julian says "The rhinoceros beetle is widespread but not common. You can see distribution maps on iRecord where I've logged my sighting of it: http://www.brc.ac.uk/irecord/record-details?occurrence_id=3618546. I once saw two, including a male, in Shibden valley ten years ago."

Southern Hawker Dragonfly ?

Found at Wainstalls today

This nest of an unfortunate Linnet had been completely exposed to the sun by a cow eating all the fronds of a fern off.  The nest had been built on top of the raised tussock of fern in a bog. We could see the cow's footprints. It was impossible to tell whether it was a full clutch and the other eggs had been predated, or the Linnet had only laid one egg when it happened.                                        

Found by Annie Honjo near Wainstalls.

Another Linnet's nest in gorse nearby had five eggs on 3rd July which had all hatched by today when I monitored the tiny blind downy nestlings.

I also watched a pair of Linnets today with a juvenile recently fledged, still being fed by its mother.

July talk at Halifax Scientific Society

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July 2nd walk to Middlefold (Hill Farm Garden and Hay Meadow) Colden

Halifax Scientific Society walk, Saturday 2^nd July: Middlefold

A walk and visit to a garden, wild flower meadow and wildlife haven created at 1000ft in Colden

Please meet outside the New Delight Inn, Jack Bridge, Blackshaw Head, Hebden Bridge, HX7 7HT.   There is roadside parking, but please make sure that your cars are not causing an obstruction on this twisty road, and are not in the New Delight’s car park!

We will be walking up to Middlefold, home of Jim and Elaine, which will take approx. 40 minutes.  For those who are fascinated by historical architecture, we will pass spots of great interest.   We will be shown round the extensive garden they have created, including the vegetable garden,  woodland area and the hay meadow, which will take approx. an hour.

The return journey is via a different, longer route and can, if desired, take in the 6 acre upland garden of Land Farm, Edge Lane, Colden (www.landfarmgardens.co.uk), one of the National Gardens Scheme’s Yorkshire gardens, which is dog friendly, offers teas and charges an admission charge.  Alternatively, folk can return by the same path we took at the beginning.

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Please note:

Depending on which route you wish to take, this walk will take anything from 3 hours to much longer.

·         No dogs in Middlefold gardens and meadow please

·         Children welcome

·         Bring a packed lunch/drink etc.

·         The New Delight will be open if you’d like to have a drink at the end of the walk!

Walk Leader Charlotte Weightman: 07801 968404

July 6th Walk to view Hay Meadow Restoration at Widdop Road

Halifax Scientific Society walk, Wednesday 6th July: Hay Meadow Restoration

A walk and visit to the National Trust Hay Meadows

Please meet at the National Trust Clough Foot Car Park, Widdop Road. There is a charge for non-National Trust members.

We will be walking for about 20 minutes along the road to the National Trust hay meadows where we will meet Drew Marsh, National Trust Ranger who will explain the methods used by the National Trust and the RSPB for restoring the hay meadows.  We will then have the opportunity to walk through the meadows to try and ID plant species.

Afterwards, you can spend more time in Hardcastle Crags or alternatively, folk can return by the same path we took at the beginning.

___________________________________

Please note:

The walk will be approximately a couple of hours, but longer if you wish to stay in the Hardcastle Crags area.

·         Dogs are welcome, as are children

·         Bring a packed lunch/drink etc.

·         There is a carparking charge for non-National Trust members at Clough Foot

Walk Leader Charlotte Weightman: 07801 968404

A trio of rare Grasses and a lost Rock Outcrop

Walking in Hardcastle Crags on Saturday we were admiring the hazy effect of hundreds of Wood Melick flower heads, on the track side just above Gibson Mill. This is a fairly widespread grass in Calderdale.

I mentioned the much rarer Mountain Melick that we had been unable to find at Hardcastle Crags since the days of our late President, Frank Murgatroyd. He wrote in his Flora of the Halifax Parish that "It is very rare and known only in the Hebden valley on a calcareous outcrop, where it has persisted for many years". However he was not able to find it for us on many visits since my time in the Society. Since we sadly lost him, several people have kept visiting the spot, but no sign of it was seen.
However, on Saturday 18th June, Annie Honjo found it! I persuaded Peachysteve and Philip Marshall to come and confirm it on Sunday, and they were satisfied it is Mountain Melick, Melica nutans. Charles Flynn also added his opinion that we had relocated it after seeing the photo.

So we are really pleased that it is still in existence there. The National Trust have kept the tree cover off the rocks for the sake of the special assemblage of plants that grows there.

Mountain Melick, Melica nutans

 Also on the Sunday I tried to lead the group to the other calcareous rock outcrop in the Colden Valley, but among the gloomy wet foliage (it had started to rain) I was unable to find the great boulder I had been to several times. Since then I've checked in Murgatroyd and he does list records for the Mountain Melick also being there on the Colden outcrop during the 19thC. 

Last week Philip found a grass with no previous records in Calderdale. Growing in a crack at the bottom of a wall at Mytholmroyd, he identified Water Bent from his seat on the bus! That shows a thorough knowledge of grasses, much greater than mine.

Tonight I visited the new bridge in the Copley Valley. I thought I had seen some Sand Martins among the Swifts over the Calder. There was a handful of them. On the ground I noticed a few fine rosettes of the stiff, bristly Fern Grass, or Hard Poa, Catapodium rigidum, which we had seen there before the development started. They are on the bare area on the left before the bridge going in the Sowerby Bridge direction.

Oak Biceps

Here is an Oak tree in the New Forest exhibiting its amazing strength.

The tonnage of wood on this horizontal branch is supported by the special cells which produce the interlocked grain at the junction with the main trunk. Also the branch will have tension wood growing above its centre to act like a bicep in an arm.

This junction is one of the strongest places on a tree and branches rarely fail at this point. The spiral grain on this particular branch also gives it greater bending strength.

Grass Flower

Who says grasses aren't colourful. This Meadow Foxtail is showing the lovely purple anthers and their attachment by a delicate filament, allowing them to vibrate in the wind and shed pollen.

Before this event the whole of the grass 'flower' envelope is tightly shut. At the base of this envelope of protective outer and inner scales are another 2 tiny scales (lodicules) which are attached to the ovary.

These Lodicules become turgid and expand, generating the considerable force needed to prise apart the outer scales, which allows the anthers and stigmas to emerge. Many grass species have their own time of day allotted for this to happen.

Anyone trying to 'name' the grasses will realise how different they look before the inflorescence is open.

The expanding of the individual florets is determined by the amount of light and when this is adequate the floret can open and exert anthers in just a few minutes. Mechanical disturbance can also initiate this and perhaps the grass is programmed to 'know' it might be windy enough to spread pollen.

Meadow Foxtail was probably the first forage species to be sown in Britain and prizes offered for quality as early as 1766.

      Illustration below is highly enlarged and a representation of one flower structure. Meadow Foxtail (above) has innumerable of these.

Incongruous Grafted Tree

This tree is a striking example of a Manna Ash--Fraxinus ornus, which has lovely creamy-white flowers in spring. It is grafted onto our more vigorous common ash, resulting in the strange mismatch at the graft union. Introduced to Britain in 1700.

The Manna ash is cultivated in Italy and Sicily for its gum, procured by making shallow cuts in the branches and allowing the yellow gum to harden in the air. It is then made into a syrup and used as a mild laxative.

Photos taken in Stanley Park, Preston.

June's Monthly Meeting and Presentation in a different venue (see poster)

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We have had to book the Fire Station Community Room as our usual rooms with our library in the basement of Halifax Central Library are needed for secure storage of the Referendum postal votes.

Dr. Dave has given us some absolutely fascinating insights into his work in archaeology round the world and locally, and this one looks to be equally interesting.

It's a nice room, and we can have hot drinks/cakes. No need to bring anything. The HSS Council has got it organised.

Curious Elder bush

On the HSS walk to Sun Wood today, an Elder with linear cut leaves was noticed on the woodland edge .

It seems to be a combination of Sambucus nigra var. 'Laciniata' (Parsley -Leaved Elder) and 'Linearis'; not quite fitting the description of either. Laciniata has been known since the 16th century and does occur occasionally in the wild.

I suspect it is quite a rare tree, even in local gardens. Note the bifid and trifid, as well as entire linear leaves.

One or Three Sycamores?

How's this for a curious arrangement of Sycamore trunks at Downham? Presumably all from the same rootstock. Nothing like open-grown trees for character.

Don't look for Ancient trees in Ancient woodland---you won't find them there.

 

 

Beech Trees

In a field at Downham is this wonderful veteran Beech. It has fallen over many years ago and is now resting on its massive boughs on the ground. Never give up on a fallen tree if the roots are still in the ground. This lapsed pollard is growing and adapting itself to a retirement of leisure sprawled out in the sun.

Trees can often walk across the landscape in this fashion. The major threat being people who live in a different time-frame, think the tree is a gonner and reach for the saw!

Lime tree -- but not as we know it

In Clitheroe today I was intrigued to see a Lime tree that didn't look quite right. The flower bracts and the immature flower buds were obviously those of a Lime (Tilia) but the leaves looked odd.

On looking closer, I saw leaves which I had not seen before on this Genus. As you can see from the photos they are a puzzle. On looking in my tree book, the only one which seems to match up is Tilia miqueliana, named after Frederich Miquel (1811-1871) professor of botany in Utrecht.

One book says---"This species is unknown in the wild state and only occurs in Japan as a planted tree, most often seen in the courts of Buddhist temples, where it is regarded as sacred. It is reported to have been introduced from China (to Japan) about 1190AD but has not yet been found anywhere in that country. Its extreme variability points to a hybrid origin."

Introduced to the West between 1900 and 1904.

I've not seen one before. If anyone knows for certain whether my identification is correct, or whether I am barking up the wrong Lime tree, I would love to know.

                                   Upper side of leaf

 

 

                                      Underside of leaf