Badger Cull

e-petition

Stop the badger cull

Responsible department: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Over 70% of the badger population in large areas of the country will be killed, many of them healthy. 

More Information.

Sign the petition.

Toads on the move

Female Common Toad Bufo bufo with male on her back, moving to the breeding pond "in amplexus."

Photo SB

The toads started moving at Washer Lane, Sowerby Bridge on Saturday night in the rain, when the temperature went up. They're about a fortnight later than usual, but there should be plenty of time for them to lay their spawn and for the tadpoles to catch up.

There are no where near the numbers we used to get at Washer Lane, which was over 2000 one spring. Biggest counts so far here are 12 on Sunday and also 12 on Monday night. The toad patrol volunteers are moving larger numbers at other sites.

Swallows

First sighting of 2 Swallows feeding over Todmorden Hall at noon today, before flying towards Walsden.

Signs of Spring

Chiff-Chaffs singing in our wood in Tod, for the first time this year. Also quite a few small Tortoiseshells about, plus Peacock and Comma. Lots of Celandine in flower and about 500 native wild daffodils, Narcissus pseudo-narcissus as per photo. We planted these about 20 odd years ago as very small bulbs (100 of these) and they have spread and multiplied into large clumps. Guelder rose in the foreground.

Roe Deer - Cleveley Gardens 26-03-13

The Arctic conditions tempted this Roe Deer to come and browse on my neighbours vegetation which, due to luck, I managed to photograph.

Ban pesticides linked to bee deaths, say MPs

Bee numbers have declined significantly in many countries with no clear explanation as to why.

Members of the Commons Environmental Audit Committee are calling for a moratorium on the use of sprays containing neonicotinoids.

More on this story ....
And even more


Britain has refused to back an EU ban on these chemicals saying their impact on bees is unclear. Please sign the petition 

Bird film "A Bird for all Seasons" by Gordon Yates

The next meeting of The Halifax Scientific Society is this Tuesday the 9th of April 2013 at the Central Library, Halifax at 7:15pm.



Gordon Yates will show a film “A Bird for all Seasons”

Gordon's films are always well attended so get there early.

Walk This Saturday

Just a reminder that there is a walk this Saturday April 6th. Quaker Lane, Ripponden to see the Little Owl and Native Daffodils with Steve Blacksmith. Meet Ripponden Bowling Green car park SE040196 at 10:30 am. This is an easy to moderate circular of about 5 - 6 miles of gentle walking. There will be a lunch break halfway so bring some refreshments.

Day flying bat

On Saturday there was a bat foraging at mid-day and catching insects over the trees on Hall Street, Todmorden. Probably a pipistrelle. I have a little video of it but the blogger doesn't seem to support ones taken from a camera and held on the computer; only youtube, webcam (whatever they are) or camera phone. Unless someone knows different.

Obituary - Frank Murgatroyd

Frank Murgatroyd has died at the age of 97. He was a much respected and liked ex-president of Halifax Scientific Society to whom you could take any flowering plant, grass, sedge, fern or fungus and he would usually give you its identity there and then without looking it up. "The Flora of the Parish of Halifax" was his work; ( this covers the whole of Calderdale basically.)

He was initially a bird watcher; found a Desert Wheatear at Upper Gorple in his younger days. People came from all over to see it.

He was also a very quiet, phlegmatic, unstressable man. When anyone created fuss about what they saw as damaging developments in natural areas, he would say that he had a "What goes around comes around" atitiude to changes.

Funeral arrangements to follow.

Welcome New Recorder

ROE DEER AT WARLEY by SB (Panasonic Lumix)

Our Mammal Recorder, Ian Lomas, has had to resign for personal reasons, and Linda Kingsnorth has bravely stepped forward to fill the post. Linda has been an active naturalist since she moved to the area, with a particular interest in badger protection, and has done otter monitoring with Ian.

Some might remember Linda as the Halifax Scientific Society Treasurer for a while, and on the Friends of Calderdale Countryside Group.

Each order can have any number of recorders, but the nominated Mammal Recorder is the person who collates the records. ( Please send via this blog, or if more sensitive, to the email address at the top.)

With best wishes and thanks to Ian for his generosity with his knowledge and great concern (along with Tina of course) for our local wildlife. 

ID HELP

                                   Found at SunnyVale Sunday largest fruit body 50 cm across.

‘Botanical Threads’ at Bankfield Museum

Saturday 9 March - Sunday 5 May, ‘Botanical Threads’ by Vivienne Brown at Bankfield Museum. Beautiful textiles depicting Botanical Illustrations, embroidered panels, made with paper quilted, fabric, stitch, machine embroidery, pencil crayon, graphite pencil some framed some just mounted. Nearly all for sale at prices across the board.  Free admission.

Owl Pellets

            Common Shrew above and Pygmy shrew jaw bone below ,found in Long eared owl pellets from an upland site.

 Pygmy shrew  skull also found in long eared owl pellets

Large tibia and femur bones found in tawny owl pellets from an urban site in queensbury possible Rabbit,,
  if any body knows any places where Owl pellets could be found i would be very grateful for the information,,

Calderdale Priority Species meeting - 7th March

The next Biodiversity Action Plan Priority Species workshop will be held on Thursday 7^th March at the Mytholmroyd Countryside Office, above the library – please arrive at 7.15pm for drinks ready for a 7.30pm start.

The meeting is open to all with an interest in taking action to conserve Calderdale’s species of conservation concern and will include a round up of progress over the last year and discussion groups to agree plans for 2013.

Please pass on as appropriate.  If you intend to attend , it would be helpful if you would let me know your main interests to help plan the discussion groups.  

I hope to see you there,

Regards,

Hugh

Crocus Sweep Today

The Crocus in question is the Autumn Crocus Crocus nudiflorus. Spring is a good time to search for the patches, as the leaves that come up then are often more prominent than the blooms. Calderdale is particularly well endowed with it, though it is still elusive. This is a patch of leaves that hasn't produced a bloom in autumn in the three years since I found it. It's on the edge of the Ryburn stream, on the left bank, 69 paces down from the footbridge at Kebroyd. The leaves are grass-like, but have a pale central stripe. 

I've produced a booklet for the Halifax Scientific Society  - "The Mystery of the Autumn Crocus".

Old farmsteads around Calderdale often bear long-lapsed invitations to "Teas", often on the stone slab roof, but I've not noticed this one before on a rock by the footbridge at Kebroyd. Looks like there was an arrow underneath the sign.

This Red Fox was hunting in a field, where it might have found worms or small mammals, but it didn't seem to eat anything. It was midday ! Must get a proper camera with manual focus.

The next two are of Rough Hey Wood, near the old railway track to Ripponden/ Rishworth.

They show how holly Ilex aquifolium is colonising rapidly under the oaks Quercus petraea and sycamores Acer pseudoplatanus, as can also be seen in Park Wood, Elland and other places. I think this is just re- balancing of the normal situation, where holly makes a secondary layer. Being evergreen, it can get the sun's energy before the deciduous trees leaf out.

It was probably removed centuries ago to feed stock in winter (they eat it when it's crushed) and to create "greenwoods" where grass was the ground cover, which was grazed. Ref. the title of the poem "Under Milk Wood". Greenwood as a surname was originally confined to Calderdale.

 For fungi seen on the walk see the Calderdale Fungi blog.

Help please

Can anyone recomend a book / map or is there a web site for the Calderdale way..and if any one has done it how long does it take...

Species Updates

Chris Sutcliffe, Calderdale Council's area countryside officer is currently updating species lists of all flora and fauna recorded at the sites listed below.

Ogden Water

Any info on any species in any of the following areas would be very helpful in shaping future management.

Beacon Hill

Beechwood Park

Brackenbed

Cunnery Wood

Long & Scarr Woods

Mixenden/Wheatley Valley

Ogden

Shelf Hall Wood

Snake Hill

Sun Wood, Shelf

Chris would be grateful for any information received.  A simple species only list will be good, but if you can supply dates as well, then that would be a real bonus.

Many thanks

Please reply to   chris.sutcliffe@calderdale.gov.uk

Chris Sutcliffe

Area Countryside Officer

Calderdale Countryside Service

Communities Directorate

Ancient woodland may have lost out

In this blog from the Woodland Trust, it seems in the Government's response to the Forestry Report, Ancient Woodland is not to be allowed to stand in the way of development. http://wtcampaigns.wordpress.com/2013/02/18/thunk-on-the-glass-ceiling/

"The areas of investment will be research in mitigation and compensation…."

It's like Wilfrid Pickles in "Have a Go",  'Give him the money Mabel'  (Only people of a certain age will understand this reference.)

First Butterfly

Things must be stirring;  Tortoiseshell butterfly flew onto our picnic table today at Sunnybank, Todmorden and basked in the sun.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Not the best photo in the world, but this male Great Spotted Woodpecker visits my garden several times a day to feed on my home-made suet block. 

Pithya vulgaris

Michael Sykes took this picture of the rare fungus Pithya vulgaris, common name "Fir Disco", which was shown at last nights meeting of the Halifax Scientific Society. 

Many thanks Michael

More pictures on our fungi blog  scroll down to 30th January 2013 or direct to the post here.

Hibernating Moth

This moth was found in Shelf on a piece of PLY on Saturday. Any ideas as to species?

Now identified as a Herald.
Thanks Nick.

Read the Government's Forestry Policy Statement

The government has just released its full statement on its response to the independent Forestry Panel report. Just click on the link in this Woodland Trust newsletter.  It makes a good read. http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/campaigning/our-campaigns/panel/Pages/forestrypanel.aspx?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wt_newsletter_feb2013

38degrees.org.uk - online campaign good news

Dear Steve, Yesterday, after months of deliberations – we have the final, official word from the government that they will do what more than half a million of us asked them to – and protect our nation’s forests for good. Congratulations! We’ve really, truly, won. It was a political defeat, and victory for people power they never saw coming. Click here to see how we made it happen, and then share this image on Facebook: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/forests-timeline-share In late 2010, the government announced a plan to introduce a new law to allow all publicly owned woodlands to be sold off in the future. The government might have expected a few predictable protests, but there was nothing predictable about what happened next. 538,107 people signed the 38 Degrees petition More than 100,000 of us contacted our MPs We funded an independent poll, which found 84% of the public wanted our forests in public hands Thousands raised nearly £60,000 to pay for ads in national newspapers More than 30 local campaigning groups sprung into action around the country Over 220,000 of us helped spread the word on social media When the government finally did admit they got it wrong, they promised to set up an independent forestry panel to advise them on what should be done next. Again, 38 Degrees members sprang into action: 34,000 of us wrote to the panel to tell them what we wanted for our woodlands’ future - more that 80% of all the responses they received We gathered in places all over the England, to take pictures and discuss our ideas A big group of 38 Degrees members brought all our ideas, as well as our top three priorities, to a public meeting with the panel in September 2011 And the Independent Panel on Forestry was critical. They found the government had "greatly undervalued" the benefits woodlands provide for people, nature and the economy. They then called for forest policy to be held in public trust for the entire nation, shielded from political interference – with one member saying, “the tree cycle is wholly different to the electoral cycle.”[1] So here we are today, more than two years after our campaign began – and the government has at last, quietly issued an official announcement confirming that they won't try selling off England's forests again. That means we’ve done it. Our forests are safe, for good. It’s thanks to all the people who fought so hard – including over half a million 38 Degrees members – that our beautiful forests and woodlands are now safe for generations to come. Click here to share the good news, and tell others how people power saved our forests: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/forests-timeline-share Together we should all feel incredibly proud about the part we played in saving England’s wonderful forests and woodlands. Please forgive the long email – but moments like these don’t happen every day. Again, thank you. David, Hannah, Belinda and the 38 Degrees team P.S: 38 Degrees takes no money from government, political parties or corporations – and with very little budget we hold politicians accountable 365 days each year. If you’d like to make a financial contribution to that, please chip in here: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/start-your-direct-debit NOTES: [1] The Guardian, “No sell-off of forests, promises Caroline Spelman”: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jul/04/no-sell-off-forests-spelman