Our March Indoor meeting with speaker coming to us from Edinburgh

Annual Dinner

Halifax Scientific Society Annual Dinner

At the Maypole Inn, Warley

Wednesday 17^th April 2019 at 7.00 for 7.30

Informal Dress

Please reply by 12th April to help with food preparation,thanks.

A selection of Meat, Fish and Vegetarian Dishes.

Gluten free or other dietary needs will be provided if possible on advanced request. **

 Specific Evening Menu (HSS)

2 courses £16.00 per head

3 courses £19.00 per head

Single course as per general menu

Starters

Chef’s Tomato & red pepper soup (V,VG)

Served with a crusty bread roll

Creamy garlic mushrooms

Served on char-grilled bruschetta, topped with dressed rocket & parmesan shavings

Beer battered brie wedge

Served on a bed of mixed leaves with caramelised red onion chutney

Salmon. Haddock & dill fishcake

Served with a salad garnish & homemade tartar sauce

Chicken liver & brandy parfait

Served with wholemeal toast mixed leaves & caramelised red onion chutney

Homemade onion bhaji’s (V,VG)

Served with a mixed leaf salad & mango chutney

Main Courses

Landlord’s steak & ale pie

Served with hand cut chunky chips & mushy peas

Beer battered haddock

Served with hand cut chunky chips, mushy peas & tartar sauce 

                                                                                                          

Chef’s chicken Kiev

Served with chunky chips and dressed salad

  Fabulous fish pie

 Mixed fish in a creamy dill sauce topped with creamy mash potato & cheddar cheese served with seasonal vegetables 

Moroccan chicken & mixed pepper skewers

Served with hand cut chunky chips, dressed salad & homemade tzatziki sauce

Bangers & mash

Served in a giant Yorkshire pudding with caramelised red onions & gravy

Large oven roasted pork chop

Served on a bed of wholegrain mustard mash, finished with a creamy leek & blue cheese sauce

 Beetroot & caramelised red onion tart tatin (VG)

Served with dressed salad finished with a balsamic glaze

Desserts

Sticky toffee pudding

Served with hot butterscotch sauce & vanilla ice cream

Hot chocolate fudge cake

Served with vanilla ice cream

Chef’s crumble (VG)

Served with custard

Cheese cake

Served with pouring cream

Mixed berry Eton mess

** For other vegan and vegetarian options please see the Maypole Menu on line at https://maypole.jimdo.com/menu/

Main Dish side orders £2.95 (General menu), Cheese and Biscuits £7.95, Tea and Coffee £1.95

Payment Preferred: Cash on the night to include discretionary tip. 

Your Order:  Name: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Please forward to Laurence Sutton

                                                            Laurence text, mobile 07880 721330

                                                            Email: lasusu@laurencesutton.co.uk

Or print page and send to: 2 Heath Avenue, Manor Heath, HX3 0EA

Special dietary requirements……………..

                                                            

Starter:   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _                             

Main:     _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _          Plus desserts in variety - on the night.                          

_______________________________________________________________________________    

Your Order:  for Wed 17^th April at 7.00 for 7.30      (Please keep this portion for your reference.)

Starter:   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _                                  

Main:     _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _             Pay on the night - cash is most convenient.     

  !! IF YOU CAN: OFFER CAR LIFTS TO THOSE WITHOUT TRANSPORT.                        

Found on "Stop hunting Fox-cubs" Facebook page

Unbelievably we still have gamekeepers in Calderdale in 2019.

First butterfly

Wild bees and Small Tortoiseshell butterfly today in our garden at Tod.

Timothy Grass, an unusual history

Timothy Grass, Phleum pratense, is one of the few native grasses named after an individual and its origin has an interesting history.

It is a native plant that is often seen in the Calder Valley but mostly on waste ground and canal banks. Other parts of the country cultivate it as a crop.

But who was “Timothy” ?

A variety of this grass was unintentionally taken to America from Scandinavia in the late 1600’s and first records there are from New England. John Herd was a New Hampshire farmer who grew it for horse and cattle fodder and in 1711 gained the name “Herd’s Grass”. It had a reputation for superior feed for horses that were driven long and hard and has the energy equivalent of 93 octane petrol. Has now gained a reputation as race horse delicacy in America.

Subsequently there was a New England farmer named Timothy Hanson who lived in Maryland and began farming there about 1720. He used “Herd’s” grass seed and was the first person to grow it commercially.

Both George Washington and Benjamin Franklin bought the seed and it was Benjamin Franklin who first began calling it “Timothy’s seed”. Its name became Timothy grass by 1736 and just plain Timothy by 1747.

When the grass had proved its utility in America, seeds were sent back to England in 1760 whereupon it was first recommended for agriculture over here. Genetics have shown the American cultivated grass is hexaploid, whereas our British wild form is diploid, ie fewer chromosomes.

America then, in returning the grass to England, was not giving back what it had received, but was sending a new (possibly hybrid) race which had originated there and had enhanced value for fodder.

In this country it is the food plant for the Marbled White and Essex Skipper butterfly. Its pollen has recently been used in a new vaccine developed for hay fever.

Our next public indoor meeting Tuesday 12th February

Pollarding

Roe Deer numbers are at their highest level in the Country for at least 1,000 years. Until about 20 years ago they hadn't been seen in the upper valley for centuries and at one time were nearly extinct in England.
Their present numbers make the practice of coppicing a difficult activity when all regrowth is constantly nibbled back. Piling brash on cut stumps does help to a certain extent but not for long.

Fencing an area of land is expensive and time consuming; it is also ineffective as the Deer always find a way in. Of course when they are in it is almost impossible to get them out! In effect you are creating a perfect inclosure where deer can happily browse.

So how to manage woodlands when thinning out the trees and expecting them to coppice is a frustrating failure?
Pollarding could be done as it is a practice that goes back into the mists of time and probably predates coppicing.

It has the advantage of being better for wildlife and all regrowth is above the browsing height of deer. The trunk increases in girth each year, providing many vertical habitats for wildlife not available on coppice. The cycle of cutting regrowth from the bolling opens up the woodland floor to sunlight, benefitting flowers and butterflies.

One has to query why it is totally out of fashion. There is a lot of misunderstanding of the practice but it could be part of any woodland management plan.

By cutting a pollard Oak the sapwood is rejuvenated and dormant adventitious buds are stimulated into growth.

Second photo showing Hawthorn hedge just layed and since then all the thorny brash has been piled alongside to keep the Deer from browsing new growth.


                     Recently cut pollards first done about 30 years ago and now in their 3rd cycle

Newly laid Hawthorn Hedge, ideal for birds.

Annual Meadow Grass

If you want a grass species that is easy to identify, choose Poa annua (annual meadow grass). It is nearly a certainty that you will have no difficulty because in deepest winter this grass will be the only one in flower. Look at any pavement or roadside edge in urban areas and you will see it everywhere.

Frosty weather makes no difference to its flowering. It is normally self-pollinating and seeds are viable within only a couple of days.

It is a highly variable species and can be annual or a short term perennial. Annual Meadow Grass is actually a hybrid of Poa infirma and P. supina, a fact only verified in 1957 by Prof. TG Tutin. It was a puzzle to think how these 2 species had hybridised, as supina is found in the mountains of central and northern Europe and infirma is found in arid Mediterranean regions.

It is suggested the 2 species got together in the Quatenary ice-age when climate change caused glaciers to move. So Poa annua is a relatively recent hybrid formed 2½ million years ago!

Unlike other grasses, P. annua has an innate ability to resist herbicides. It also seems to be able to develop specialised adaptations and growth forms which enable it to grow on dry golf courses or paddy fields.

It is the only non-native plant to have successfully established in the Antarctic and because of its close association with human activity, has spread throughout the world.

Sorry--no photo. Non needed, just take a look on the pavements.

Hebden Bridge Park today (Calder Holmes Park)

This must be the broadest trunked Spruce in Calderdale. I believe it's Norway Spruce, Picea abies, the one that used to be the most popular for Christmas trees till we found Nordmann (Caucasian) Fir, Abies nordmanniana had advantages. The tallest Norway Spruces we have are perhaps those along the Hebden Water in Hardcastle Crags, downstream of Gibson Mill.

The blue around the red of Robins' breasts seems more noticeable in winter. It even continues over the front of the crown. Hunger drives the Robin nearer us on frosty days, and the cold causes them to fluff up their feathers for insulation.

This Birch beside the Calder in the park hosts more and bigger Witches Brooms, caused by the fungus Taphrina betulina, than any other I've seen.

There were c.110 Mallards on the Hebden Water in the town centre, only one showing signs of hybridisation, and on the Calder beside the park there were five Goosanders, along with a very elegant Heron in full breeding dress, its plumes wafting in the breeze.

First Indoor Meeting and talk of 2019 this Tuesday 8th Jan.

See poster a few posts down.

All welcome, including members of the public.

New Years's Day Bird Count, first walk of the year.

Seven members and friends joined in. We had a record 32 species of bird on the day. Previous record 31 on 1.1.2017.  We walked from Clay House through North Dean Woods, round Norland Moor and back through the woods by a different route.

With many thanks to MH for the Little Owls.

1          Jackdaw
2          Blue Tit
3          House Sparrow
4          Dunnock
5          Robin
6          Collared Dove
7          Blackbird
8          Magpie
9          Great Tit
10        Long-tailed Tit
11        Coal Tit
12        Feral Pigeon
13        Crow
14        Redwing
15        Dipper
16        Chaffinch
17        Black-headed Gull
18        Wren
19        Woodpigeon
20        Bullfinch
21        Raven
22        Buzzard
23        Nuthatch
24        Jay
25        Pheasant
26        Stonechat
27        Mistle Thrush
28        Starling
29        Little Owl (2)
30        Rook
31        Mallard
32        Song Thrush

Beech wood and black lines--what are they?

A recently sawn Beech trunk that was dead and had just collapsed, shows curious black lines on its cross section. In my photo they are on the outer section and resemble a map of some unknown continent.

What we are seeing here is the demarcation between mycelia of different species of fungi. These mycelia don't like competition so where they meet a battle begins; each one trying to outdo the other.

A  stalemate develops and these ink lines are the defensive/offensive chemical barriers that form where they meet. High concentrations of chemicals, such as Phenols, are formed and actually increase decay resistance in the wood at this zone.

Look how the lines stop abruptly at the inner edge towards the centre of the trunk. The mycelia (in this case I think Turkey Tail) are only able to grow in the drier and dead outer zone.

Also notice at the base of the in situ broken stump there has grown a separate young Beech. It is quite independent of the dead tree and looks to have grown as a result of the trunk sending out aerial roots into its own rich decay compost. You can see the splaying roots connecting with the parent tree near the base.
It could have survived to form a new tree but all has now been cut and logged. But it does illustrate survival strategy and sometimes we don't see it or allow for it. Trees contain innumerable fungal spores right from being a sapling and remain dormant. They cannot develop in the anaerobic and high moisture content, particularly the sapwood.

Dormancy can last for decades or centuries. It is only when conditions change, such as a branch breaking off, that fungi are able to develop as the surrounding wood dries and oxygen is allowed in.

It can be said most fungi don't invade a tree, they actually spring to life and grow out.
A chemical barrier is then formed around the growing mycelia, walling it off from progressing further into the tree.

Black 'ink' lines on outer part of trunk

New independent Beech growing from base of parent stump

Our 2019 programme is hot off the press - see our first indoor meeting below - all members and friends feel free to attend

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A couple of bird sightings:

Seen out in the open at Withens Clough Res on Thursday 19th Dec. a Green Woodpecker, and a nice memory from a HSS walk back in the summer - a Little Egret at Copley Valley Industrial Estate, that's Wainhouse Tower on the hill behind, with the egret in the foreground.

Trees at Erringden Grange

Erringden Grange, on Kilnshaw Lane above Hebden Bridge, is an early 19th century listed farmhouse and barn. (Erringden thought to be of Norse origin "The valley of the high ridge"). It also has numerous adjacent fields with rectangular field patterns, as well as an old Hawthorn hedge now in need of some care and new saplings for continuity.

But what makes the fields unique in the Calder Valley are the small diamond shaped enclosures at all the wall intersections. Look at a map to get a better impression.

There are (or were) about 50 of these enclosures shown on the OS map of 1849 and each contains planted trees of mainly Beech and Sycamore. These trees are possibly over 180 years old.

Some of the enclosure wall 'diamonds' are now falling down or have been removed but most are surprisingly still extant. Many have the original trees but some are entirely bare, such as the ones near Rake Lane. Wouldn't it be good to see these replanted and keep this interesting landscape for the future.

     Sycamores by the side of Kilnshaw Lane

200 year old Hawthorn hedge. No berries for birds if not cared for

Another small enclosure. Wall now gone and stock able to damage the Ash trees.

Bark eaten away on one in the background.

Nearest looks like it may be a lapsed pollard.

Erringden Grange

Fallen Ash has recovered and sent out upright trunks.

Could last for centuries if treated as coppice (if Ash-Dieback doesn't see it off)

Erringden Grange. On the right in the fields is a tree enclosure

Tree enclosures--another 48 in adjacent fields

Ash; may have been a pollard

December's Scientific Society walk.

The walk in the programme was to start at Ogden Water and thread through the old lanes and secluded footpaths to Mixenden Reservoir, then back through the abandoned farmland and across Ogden Golf Course public footpath to Ogden Water. However the weather was a little moist, though very mild for December, and only two joined me. One of those was Meg the black Lab. So Peachy Steve and I made up our own walk and went to see if we could re-find the clubmosses on Ogden Moor we saw a few years ago on a tip-off from a Yorkshire Fern group member.

We weren't lucky with the clubmossses (we were looking for two species growing closely together), but we did see this Orange Peel Fungus. Aleuria aurantica

Birds: Long-tailed Tits, Three Red grouse, Snipe, and a couple of  LBJs (little brown jobs) in the mist on the moors, probably Meadow Pipits.

The woods at Ogden Water and Mixenden Reservoir are plantations made on abandoned farmland. Their establishment was as a result of suggestions by a group of people in the early 20thC including our President, William B Crump. I have a booklet produced to promote the idea, giving statistics, advantages, suggestions for species, quite a long and detailed document. One of the main worries about making the investment was that trees would not survive the air pollution as by all accounts  palls of smoke hung over Halifax, Bradford and Keighley in those days. The opinion was that Ogden and Mixenden were far enough away that the trees would not be affected, and it seems they proved to be so. It was claimed that the main advantage of having trees growing there was so that Halifax Corporation could profit from the timber when they grew to harvestable size; no mention of visual amenity or biodiversity increase! Seems it was a different world then, unless the promoters knew how to make the eyes of the people on the Corporation light up with £££ signs!

---------------------------- 

Back in Halifax, I have been finding very large and broad Candlesnuff Fungus Xylaria hypoxylon, bigger than I remember it usually being. I've seen it on dead twigs at the base of a privet hedge, and on dead raspberry canes. There is another small, slender species worth looking for  that can be found sometimes on old beechmast on the ground. 

A "giant" form of Candlesnuff  (Xylaria)

Growing at the base of a privet hedge (Ligustrum) at St Augustines Community Centre, Halifax, yesterday.

I collected a little,leaving plenty. Also these Blewits (Wood Blewits?) smelling nicely of aniseed, but a bit too mature and maggoty to cook. These grew in the middle of West Central Halifax.

Wickerwork Archer in Skipton Woods

Visitors to Skipton may not be aware of the short canal spur that leads to a dead end below Skipton Castle. This spur was built specifically for the loading of limestone from a nearby quarry. The stone was delivered by a tramway and dumped via shutes 100 foot over the precipitous wall by the castle, into barges below.   80,000 tons a year--it's a wonder the barges didn't sink with that onslaught! The old quarry is now a housing site.

The first photo shows the footpath which gives entry to Skipton Woodland (managed by the Woodland Trust). The canal spur is on the left in a deep gorge below and the river is to the right of the path.

The woodland has historic features, including old mill dams. The more interesting older trees are on the boundary and the Limes on the upper path show this. The sprutting growth at the base is one of the best habitats for birds and home to all kinds of creatures. Public parks always cut away this epicormic growth (behaviour known as tidiness I believe), forgetting the importance it has for biodiversity.


                                        Canal spur in gorge on the left below Skipton Castle

                                               Boundary Lime with tremendous habitat

Wickerwork lady. A work of art.

                                                                 Wickerwork horse

Some good pictures of a bat flying in daylight over on the Cromwell Bottom Site. (Tab at top.)

Pictures by Dave Brotherton posted on 4th Nov.

Reminded me of a small bat I saw flying over the canal last week that had much of one of its wings missing.

A lot of the web was missing, though the bones seemed intact. I guess a hawk had had a go at it.

Unlike Dave's pictures, mine were very small and blurred.  I only had my phone with me.

Butterflies - including a NEW SPECIES - Recorder's Report to the AGM on 13th November.

Halifax Scientific Society Big Butterfly Count at Cromwell Bottom, 14.07.18

Walk led by Steve Blacksmith. These records submitted by Brian Cain. Typed from Brian's notes by Annie Honjo. Andrew Cockroft is  now our Lepidoptera Recorder, but was unable to attend (Andrew joined us after the programme was set.) Brian is also a recorder, and our former lead recorder for many years.

10.55

Tag Loop 

From riverside footpath and through entry gate:

• Small White, (f)
• Gatekeeper (m)
• Large Skipper (f)
• Green-veined White (f) 

11.05

Reserve area:

• Small Copper
• Gatekeeper
• Meadow Brown
• Large White (f)
• Small White (f) Meadow Brown
• Possible Common Blue (f?) not close enough to ID

11.15

• Ringlet
• Small White
• Gatekeeper x 3
• Gatekeeper (f)
• Small Copper (m)
• Meadow Brown x 2
• Small Whites x 3
• Small Skipper, netted and examined in pill box; dark undersides to antennae = Essex Skipper

11.37

• July Belle moth (Geometridae)

11.47

• Small Skipper
• Brown Hawker (Aeschna grandis)

11.55

• Cinnabar larvae

12.02

Leaving the mound:

• Ringlet
• Meadow Brown

12.07

Woodland path:

• Green-veined White

12.12

Back to gate:

• Green-veined White (m)
• Large Nymphalid flying past riverside trees, orangey-coloured 

North Loop 

Café: NB On former Common Blue site (built over!). Also Common Blue meadow towards canal completely mowed off!

12.18

• Holly Blue

Lunch & drinks, approx ½ hour. Several ‘Whites’ passing, also Brown Hawker

12.53

• Purple Hairstreak flying low overhead

Very good area of flowering brambles opposite café area. Numbers of Ringlets, Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns and Small Whites feeding on them. Also Green-veined White (m), Brown Hawker

1.06

• Comma (Hutchinsoni)
• Large White

1.12

• Meadow Brown
• Brown Hawker
• Small Skippers x 3

1.18

• Meadow Brown x 2
• Small White (m)

1.21

• Ringlet
• Meadow Brown

1.29

• Large White
• Small White

1.31

• Whites x 6+ (probably Small Whites)
• Stand of Trefoil – Meadow Brown, Small White

1.35

• 3 Cormorants in river
• 2 x Meadow Browns
• 2x Small Skippers

1.45 

Cormorants have moved downstream, flock of Canada geese now on river

2.00

• 2 x Six-spot Burnet moths (one f)

2.05

• Six-spot Burnet (f)

2.12

• Six-spot Burnet (f), also one caught in spider’s web. Also bird kill, probably by a Sparrowhawk.

2.15

• Small Copper
• Meadow Brown

2.19

• Brown Hawker
• Meadow Brown (m)

2.21

• Small Copper on trefoil
• 6 x Small Whites
• 2 x Meadow Browns

2.30

• Green-veined White

2.31 – back at the café, completed walk.

NB: the highest numbers of butterflies in one area, feeding on the bramble flowers, probably about 30+: Ringlet, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Small White, Green-veined White.

Total number of butterfly species recorded: 13

NB Essex Skipper is my first record for our area.

National Trust meadow seed for sale

This is a message from Natalie of the National Trust:

We were able to brush harvest meadow seed this year!

We a few bags left for sale from this year’s mini hoard – £35 per Kg.

It might be a bit late now to sow this autumn due to the heavy frosts we have been having – but I may be a little pessimistic.

The seed will be great for spring sowing, however the yellow rattle seed would have just expired.

If you know of anyone who would like to turn their garden into a meadow please send them my way!

All the best,

Natalie

Natalie Pownall

Academy Ranger

West Yorkshire Group

Hardcastle Crags & Marsden Moor

National Trust

07768434553