Friends of Adel Woods

Six of us joined Steve Joul this morning for our annual nest box survey, clean and refurbishment.

The weather was very mild and dry, but we got off to a slow start as a miscommunication meant that your correspondent had to go and fetch a wheelbarrow and some hard hats before we could begin!

We started off by going up into the Alwoodley plantation via the diagonal path which runs from Crag Lane up into Alwoodley Plantation.

Passing the bat boxes (which we do not survey because we are not licensed), we started with number 17 and then worked our way round to number 11. On our way we refurbished number 6, a robin box, by adding a plastic covering to the roof – which keeps the nest boxes nice and dry.

From there we cleaned and surveyed nest boxes along Crag Lane to the picnic area.

Two of our number had to leave about 1 pm. The rest of us completed surveying the nest boxes in the picnic area, and then retired to your correspondent’s house for a sandwich, drink and piece of Christmas cake.

We resumed work at about 3 pm, starting with the final two nest boxes on Crag Lane near Old Leo’s clubhouse – number 14 and letter T on the map. Box T is a woodcrete nest box donated by Tina nine years ago. Inside, there is wooden base for the nesting area which the occupants have partly pecked away over the years. We replaced this with a new piece of wood.

From here we joined the Meanwood Valley Trail and cleaned and surveyed the nest boxes down to Adel Pond. En route we placed box number 15, which we took down to repair last year, in a holly bush on the MVT.

We finished work at about 4.15 pm when it was getting dark.

Most of the nest boxes were used again. Of the two robin boxes surveyed, neither had been used by robins, but one had been used by a family of tits.

Last Summer was particularly warm and dry. This may have affected some of the things we noticed when surveying the nest boxes. There were probably fewer unhatched eggs in the boxes we surveyed today. Thankfully, there were no skeletons of chicks in any of the nest boxes we surveyed today. On some years we have found skeletons in a few of the boxes.

We also noticed that the majority of the lids of the wooden boxes – far more than in previous years – were stuck down where clothes moth larvae had eaten into the wood of the lid and the box. Many of the boxes contained living larvae – small white caterpillar type creatures. The boxes also seemed to contain a lot more spiders than we have found on previous occasions.

A highlight of this afternoon’s survey was that we met someone who takes his Harris Hawk for a walk in the woods and Steve had the thrill of holding the hawk on his hand!

We all agreed that it had been a very satisfying and enjoyable day.

The last FOAW event of the year.  There was heavy rain at 8 am, but by 10 am the rain had diminished to a gentle drizzle.  Nevertheless, the morning started like an Agatha Christie story in reverse: first there was one; then two; then three; then four;  then two more after an exchange of text messages about the weather; and finally another two bringing the number of Friends to eight – not bad for a wet morning, the weekend before Christmas.

Our first task (when there were still only four of us) was to pose by the overflowing litter bin in the Stairfoot Lane car park.  Fortunately, someone from Leeds City Council arrived to empty the bin later in the morning!

Then, while our fellow Friend from the Litter Free Adel Group set off to clear Stairfoot Lane of litter, the other three of us set off down Crag Lane to unblock the culvert near the picnic area.

You can just see the previously invisible culvert at the bottom of the picture.

The culvert was completely invisible under the fallen leaves, and was partially blocked with mud.  Fortunately,  as we were working, Rob – who helped unblock the culvert last December – came along and was able to show us where we had stowed a long tree trunk for this purpose.

Having cleared the culvert, we then made our way to the Stairfoot Lane steps and cleared them of leaves and an accumulation of mud.

It was while we were engaged in this task, that four more Friends arrived to help!

Finally, we ascended the steps and took the path to the right, a few steps down from the top.  Going down that path, we cleared several areas of encroaching holly, but the main prize was to remove a large tree trunk which had fallen across the path.  Your correspondent will admit, that upon seeing the trunk in question, he thought that it was a hopeless task.  However, Geoff set to work with determination and true grit and almost single handedly cut through the trunk with a bow saw.

All in all, a very satisfactory morning’s work.

Merry  Christmas everybody!

and, if you have been, thank you for reading!

An unappealing morning – wet and overcast – but a great turn out of 13 this morning.  Fortunately, it was not actually raining when we met in Buckstone Road at 10 am but there was a heavy shower from about 11.30 onwards.

We had a number of small jobs to do today.

A beautifully clear path through the copse

Three of our party,  went off litter picking.  Three went off with a broom, spade and loppers to clear the footpath on King Lane of leaves and encroaching Lonicera, and to clear the path through the copse opposite Tescos.

While these paths were being spruced up, another party were out clearing encroaching holly and other plants from paths – in particular, the path down to the Slabbering Baby from Buckstone Road, the Meanwood Valley trail,  and the path from the pond towards Stairfoot Bridge.  Oh, and they also cleared the Slabbering Baby of leaves.

At the same time, three of us cleared fallen leaves from the banks of the pond.  We cleared silt from the pond last month, but most of the leaves have come down from the trees since then and formed a thick carpet on the banks.  We moved very many leaves.

A very successful morning with a very special group of volunteers!  Here are some of them!

When we were working on the pond last month, we discovered that the wooden bridge over the outflow sluice was rotten.

When reconnoitring the woods today to see what work we will do tomorrow, we discovered that Steve Joul and his Friday volunteers had repaired the bridge and taken the opportunity to repair one of the steps down from Stairfoot Lane car park to the stream.

Thanks, Steve and your team!

A chilly but glorious morning for our very first Small Mammal Safari with Steve Joul, Countryside Ranger with Leeds City Council Parks and Countryside section.

We had an impressive turn out of about fourteen adults and seven children, including a a babe in arms.

Steve explained that he had set some traps yesterday evening and demonstrated that when a small animal enters one of the traps and puts weight on a pressure pad, it causes a door  to close behind it.  To ensure that the animal is not harmed by its night in the trap,  Steve had put food – pieces of apple, seeds and cat food – and cotton wool bedding in each trap.

Steve also gave an overview of the kind of small mammals which  were likely to get caught in the traps – mice, voles and weasels – and their importance in the ecology of the wood.

We then set off down to inspect the first five traps – located in a thicket to the south of the orchid meadow.  Unfortunately, none of the traps had caught anything other than a slug!

We then went to see if we had fared better with five traps set in a thicket to the north of the orchid meadow.  Unfortunately, these traps too were also empty.

By now, the cold weather was proving too challenging for some members of our safari and they opted to go home.

However, those who stayed joined Steve in a walk through the woods, looking for interesting wildlife or flora.

We made our way first of all down the path from the orchid meadow to Adel Pond and from there to Adel Moor, and finally back up to Old Leo’s car park via the cricket club.

It being Autumn, and a lovely day, it turned out to be an excellent opportunity to find and learn about fungi – an opportunity which our explorers really enjoyed.  One young naturalist was heard exclaiming to another:  “I didn’t know how busy this trip would be, but it’s awesome!”

Adel Pond, 7 October 2018

The fungi we found in the woods included:

• Oak Milk Cap
• Birch Polypore
• Oyster Mushroom
• Sulphur Tuft
• Brown Roll Rim
• Ochre Brittle Cap
• Bay Boletus
• Brown Birch Boletus
• Fly Agaric
• Honey Fungus
• Jelly Ear

It was an excellent morning’s exploration of the Adel Woods and the habitats within this area.

A big thank you to Steve Joul who, as usual, was able to show us things that we would not otherwise have noticed and to inspire us to learn more about the amazing fauna and flora we have in Adel Woods.

Adel Moor, 7 October 2018

Steve Joul and a volunteer from his Friday group, Mick, spent the day mowing the orchid meadow.  Steve will be working with a corporate group next week to clear away the clippings.

The orchid meadow is home to a wonderful population of common spotted orchids but we were in danger of losing it due to the invasion of trees,  brambles and Himalayan Balsam.  Over the last three years, Steve, corporate groups, and FOAW have done a lot to clear the invading plant life and preserve this precious little gem.

The orchid meadow 17 July 2016

Removing trees 17 July 2016

This picture shows what a great difference has been made over the last two years.

This morning we met in Buckstone Road at the Slabbering Baby entrance to the woods. A fine day, though our Mediterranean summer seems to have come to an end.

Three of us went off litter picking.

Seven of us made our way to Adel Moor and continued our program of clearing bracken. We have already made a big difference and the heather looked magnificent this morning.

Your correspondent’s conclusion, based on several mornings of bracken clearing is that the best approach to pull the bracken up rather than bashing it.

Some of us cleared odd bracken plants which are persisting in the middle of the heather. Others of us focused on clearing new areas of bracken. It was very pleasing to find heather and bilberry plants in the midst of the bracken and to find tiny heather seedlings as the heather begins to regenerate in the cleared areas.