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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.

A cooler day today to begin with, when we met at 10 am, but by 12 noon it was another warm and sunny day (which brings us to about three weeks of excellent weather).

We were a small group today and so we decided not to do any litter picking but to concentrate on our work on Adel Moor, pulling bracken and removing saplings.

It was clear that our work in the last couple of years has had an effect on the bracken: it was clearly growing more thinly in the areas we have previously pulled or bashed it, than in the areas where we have not.  Best of all, in some (but not all) of the areas we had previously worked, there were very many young heather seedlings coming up.

The Green Shoots of Recovery: Adel Moor 9 June 2018

We pulled bracken for about an hour and three quarters and made a visible difference to the area we were working, though it is clear that there is far more work to do.

The moor is a very pleasing place to work and it was a happy morning’s work.

I have probably quoted the poem “Say not the Struggle Naught Availeth” by Arthur Hugh Clough on previous occasions, but it is always worth repeating, so I am including the text of the poem here.  Churchill quoted the final verse in one of his wartime speeches and the reference to looking westward no doubt had resonances which were not in Mr Clough’s mind.

In the context of Adel woods or Adel Moor, where there is always so much work to do, it is worth reminding ourselves that everything we do is an achievement and worthwhile.