Monthly Archives: January 2017

Additions to the Peregrine Prey List

We carried out a check of the tower yesterday, for the final time before the start of the breeding season. We found some of the usual remains, such as little grebe, teal, golden plover and snipe but we also found … Continue reading

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Algae Under the Microscope

Members of the Ackworth Shool Natural History Society had a look at some algae under the microscope this evening and I took some pictures, using my mobile phone, of what they saw. The first image shows a collection of all … Continue reading

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Willow Bracket

Next to Hemsworth Water Park there is some very marshy woodland, in which there is a particularly fine display of marsh marigolds every spring. That’s something to watch out for in the coming weeks. There are some large crack willows … Continue reading

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Common Turkeytail

During a walk around my local patch, I spotted this Turkeytail fungus growing a the dead branch of a willow in a marshy area behind the Water Park at Hemsworth. It’s a very common species but I thought that this … Continue reading

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February meeting: Extra-ordinary AGM

This is an advance notification that at February’s meeting we will be calling an extra-ordinary AGM to re-present the WNS accounts. The reason for this is to comply with the Charities Commission rules which states that we should present the … Continue reading

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Waxwings in Crofton

Earlier today, Chris Swaine tweeted his sightings of a small flock of waxwings near the former Slipper pub in Crofton. Although there seems to be hundreds of waxwings up and down the country at the moment, these are the first … Continue reading

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Raven over Anglers Country Park

Chris Swaine, a regular birder at Wintersett, just Tweeted this great image of a raven over Anglers Counrty Park. This is a very unusual bird for the area and Chris informs me that he also saw it just before Christmas … Continue reading

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Otter at Ackworth

I’ve seen mink on the Went at Ackworth School in the past and I’ve recently spent some time trying to get trailcam video, without success. I was very pleased, therefore, to find out earlier today that some of the groundsmen … Continue reading

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Black Redstart in Ossett

John Hamilton Tweeted his sighting of a rare visitor to the district that he stumbled upon in Ossett – a black redstart! The bird has been seen in North Ossett churchyard and may have been around some time as there … Continue reading

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