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Another beautiful day and another turn out of seventeen Friends to help Steve Joul work on Adel bog.

Tina went litter picking with Pippa. David H went path clearing round the back of the Buckstones.  Michelle went litter picking, and the rest of us worked on the bog.

The bog is looking pretty good at the moment.  It is very wet and muddy.  This is undoubtedly due in part to the very wet weather we have had for the past couple of months.  However, there is no doubt that the bog is a bog, though in need of tender loving care to restore it to its full boggy glory.

We felled a couple of silver birch on the north east corner of the bog, cut back vegetation round the northern margin, and dug up many small trees and stumps on the northern side of the bog.

Steve Joul showed us the heath spotted orchids which are in flower at the moment, and described the difference between them and marsh orchids.  We then counted the orchids in flower and found thirty – though we did not differentiate between the different types.

There are several different types of flowers in bloom at the moment, including the marsh asphodel which like the heath spotted orchids, in Leeds,  is only found in Adel bog.  Other flowers we found were the devils bit scabious, the marsh violet (not in flower), and tormentil.  In writing this note, your correspondent has found the following website which seems pretty good at helping to identify flora and fauna in the UK – http://www.judywoods.dial.pipex.com/

This report would not be complete without a mention in despatches for Win who fell on the way down to the bog and has unfortunately fractured a bone in her shoulder.   Win is an enthusiastic and much appreciated supporter of FOAW and we wish her a speedy recovery.  We are also grateful to Nurse Settle who took Win down to A&E and looked after her so well.

The path to the Buck Stone

Steve Joul and fourteen Friends put in two hours of hard labour to improve the paths leading from the Buck Stones into Adel Woods.

The same view on 4 May 2012

The first was the entrance from Buck Stone Avenue leading down to the Buck Stone.  A local resident had asked if the Parish Council could improve this path which was getting very muddy, and the upshot was that FOAW agreed to do it, Leeds CC providing us with crushed limestone.

The next path was the one lower down Buck Stone Avenue.

Finally, we cleared the path from Buck Stone Road leading towards the Slabbering Baby.

Before…

This has slowly been getting narrower over the last couple of years – two years ago, it was easy to drive a vehicle down the path, but now  the path had become so overgrown

…and after – the same view!

that it was only wide enough for pedestrians walking single file!

Two hours of intense activity and the results were astonishing!

At the end we all had a great sense of achievement – and were exhausted!

Friends relaxing after a job well done!

“And what do you do?”

Friends of Adel Woods were graced with a visit from Her Majesty who managed to find a window in her busy schedule to make an appearance at the Alwoodley Fun Day in her honour.  Here she can be seen exchanging pleasantries about woodland ecology with committee members Judith and Phil.

Yesterday, as we endured a full day of heavy rain, the outlook for today did not look very optimistic.  Yet a sundance performed by Barbara after extensive research on google, seems to have come up trumps because overall we enjoyed a beautiful summer day.

The day started at about 10.30 am with setting up our stall.  The siting of our marquee, within inches of two inflatable fun activities, and with a generator positioned about fifteen feet behind us, did not look too promising.  Yet once the sides of the marquee had been fixed in place (with typical FOAW resourcefulness and ingenuity because they had very little in the way of fasteners), Judith and Stephanie wowed the public with the imagination and sheer daring of their creations.  Judith with her aquaria containing leafmold and fungi on the theme of “decay” – surely more illuminating and thought provoking than Damien Hirst’s shark in formaldehyde – and Stephanie with her “Tree with cut out Woodland Birds” – as joyful and optimistic a riposte to Tracy Emin’s bed as one can find in the contemporary art scene.  And all this accompanied by down to earth yet well-judged and interesting displays providing information about Adel Woods, their fauna and flora.

“Roll up! Roll up!”

Not to be outdone, your correspondent provided a game of Litterpicking Heroes which proved extremely popular with the local populace and raised a princely sum for the FOAW.

A number of Friends took the time to help on the FOAW stand and to litterpick around the recreation ground and their wonderful assistance was very much enjoyed and appreciated.

Looking beyond the FOAW stand, there were a wide range of interesting stalls and activities – of particular note, Alwoodley in Bloom, Walkabout (the walking group), the Alwoodley Community Association and the Parish Council.

The icing on the cake for FOAW was the arrival of Her Majesty in the afternoon to take part on this her Diamond Jubilee in entertaining and educating the local public on the wonders that are Adel Woods.  Unfortunately, Prince Philip could not make it this afternoon but no doubt Her Majesty will tell him of a truly magical trip to Alwoodley.  Long may she reign!

Two members of the committee hard at work!

A big pat on the back for all seventeen of us who braved a rather cold and damp morning to litterpick, clear saplings from the moor, and do some incidental work on paths.

Together we can!

Steve Joul led a S.W.A.T team of five dedicated ecologists in carrying out a survey of flora and fauna in Adel Woods.  Pictured here with three of the team, Steve is going to collate the results and share them with FOAW.

Despite recent torrential downpours, the heavens were kind and did not open upon our intrepid team – in fact it was a lovely day and everyone was chuffed with the outcome of their endeavours.

These are Steve Joul’s notes of our observations.

Newts

4 x Palmate Newts, 2 male, 2 female plus one newt tadpole caught in Mill Fall Pond, Adel Woods, using 12 funnel traps, set 2m apart.

Birds

Blackbird:              Several males singing

Blackcap:               Male singing in woodland edge

Bullfinch:                Male flew from feeder in garden

Carrion Crow:        Pair, one of which landed to take feed

Chaffinch:               Male singing in woodland

Chiffchaff:               Several males and a pair together

Coat Tit:                   Male singing

Domestic Pigeon:   Flock flew over

Dunnock:                 Male singing

Goldcrest;                Male singing in Scots Pine

Great Spotted Woodpecker:  Female flew from feeder in garden

Great Tit:                  Several males singing

Green Woodpecker:   Calling (could be male or female)

Jackdaw:                  Pair flew over

Jay:                           Single in woodland

Kestrel:                     Single flew over

Longtailed Tit:         Single flew over

Magpie:                    Several

Nuthatch:                 Two males heard calling

Robin                        Several males singing

Song Thrush:           Male singing, another bird in woodland

Starling:                    Several flew over

Stock Dove:

Tree Sparrow:           Pair nesting in tv nestbox in garden

Treecreeper:              Single

Whitethroat:              Single, not singing

Willow Warbler:        Two males singing at Adel Moor

Wood Pigeon:           Numerous

Wren:                        Numerous (many males singing)

Steve Joul led twenty seven of us on our third annual bird song walk round Adel Woods.

Before we began, the birdspotters made voluntary contributions totalling £44.80 to FOAW funds.

One of the highlights was to see that Louise’s birdbox by the slabbering baby was occupied by great tits which were clearly feeding young. [NB after the walk Barbara noticed that the next birdbox – by the bridge on the way to the pond – was occupied by a pair of nuthatches.]   See the next entry for Steve’s notes on the species we observed.

A bleary eyed but excited crowd of conservationists gathered at Adel Pond this morning, for the unveiling of the results of last night’s newt survey. There was disappointment as the first two traps, opened by Steve Joul, senior ranger with Leeds City Council, were found to be empty.  However, the mood soon turned to jubilation when the third trap, set by Josh, aged 14 from Leeds, was found to contain an adult palmate newt. The remaining traps contained three more adult palmate newts – two male and two female – and a youngster from last year – still sporting gills.

Your correspondent who is “embedded” with the Friends of Adel Woods had placed one of the traps at the edge of the pond, but to general amusement it proved on inspection to be empty save for a lone leech.

On completion of the survey, Mr Joul addressed the expectant throng on the life cycle of newts before leading them on a “whistle stop” bird song tour of Adel Woods.

Later we will be speaking to our economics editor, Stephanie Flanders, on the implications of the results of today’s survey on the Euro-crisis.

This evening Steve Joul showed a happy band how to make newt traps from old coke bottles and a cane and we then trooped down to the pond where we set the traps round the pond in clock face fashion (one at each point of the clock face).  We then hunted for newts with torches and found some.  We are optimistic for the results of our endeavours in the morning.

“‘Aven’t you got a gnome to go to?”

Your correspondent’s first inspection of the bog for nearly six months and it was an amazing sight.  Admittedly we have just had the wettest April since records began, but a large part of the bog was very boggy – under standing water.