Return of the Indoor Meetings

Posted on September 2, 2021 by John Gardner

Thanks to all who replied to my email regarding getting back together, there was a unanimous vote to return to indoor meetings. As I explained, the Quakers have given us a massive headache by letting our meeting room booking go to another group. This means that, in the short term, we will have to meet on a different day and that day, as voted by the members, is a Monday evening. This will be in place until December and then from January 2022 we will be back to our normal second Tuesday of the month.

The following dates should go in your diariesin bold letters; We have booked the second Monday in the month with the exception of the September meeting which will be on the first Monday. This is because I had a commitment to another group on Monday 13^th September and it can’t be altered as I am doing a lighting demonstration and the club has organised a buffet to celebrate the first post covid meeting. Please note, we will not be providing a celebratory buffet at WNS but will, in all probability, have tea and biscuits 😊

Monday 6^th September – welcome back and President’s night

Monday 11^th October – Ray Brown “Cortez to California”

Monday 8^th November – Mike Watson “Birding the Rockies ”

Monday 13^th December – Ian Newton “2018 BC”

I can now get on with arranging speakers and will publish an update very shortly. The first meeting back will be a welcome meeting with a quick bit of business to bring us up to date and then there will be a slideshow by me featuring a wide variety of NH subjects photographed during the lockdown period. There will be no special measures at the meeting with regards to COVID-19, but if you feel that you would like to wear a mask, then please do so but it is not compulsory and I don’t expect everyone to sport one. You will be responsible for your own safety and the Wakefield Naturalists’ Society will not be held accountable in any way.

I’m looking forward to seeing you all again

John Gardner

President

Another Outing, 24 May 1873

Posted on August 9, 2021 by Richard Bell

Wakefield Express- 31 May 1873

WAKEFIELD NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY

On Saturday last the members of this Society had a field-day at Nostell, Ryhill, and Wintersett. It was a beautiful day, and nature decked in her spring garb of ever-varying green, displayed that wonderful freshness with which no other part of the year can vie. After several hours’ enjoyment in the woods and lanes, the party met at the Angler’s Arms, Wintersett, where, after tea, the president (Mr Alderman Wainwright, F.L.S.) took the chair and subsequently named the plants about fifty species which had been collected during the afternoon. – Mr Taylor named the conchological specimens, of which fourteen species were exhibited, and Mr Sims named the geological specimens and made some interesting remarks on the geological formations of the neighbourhood. – Messrs. Parkin and Lumb, whose attention had been chiefly directed during the day’s excursion to the observation of the spring migrants, reported they had seen fifteen species of them, and that they had also noticed a Heron and a pair of Common Gull besporting themselves upon the reservoir. Messrs. Fogg and Heald exhibited the larvae of several species of geometae. Returning by way of Hawe Park, the party arrived back at Wakefield as the evening closed in, after spending a most enjoyable and delightful day.

Spotted by Lesley Taylor

A Ramble with the Nats, 17 June 1871

Posted on June 17, 2021 by Richard Bell

150 years ago today the West Riding Consolidated Naturalists Society had a ramble through Coxley valley. Here’s how it was reported in the local press a week later:

EXCURSION AND MEETING OF THE WEST RIDING CONSOLIDATED NATURALISTS SOCIETY.

Notwithstanding the unfavourable appearance of Saturday last, the day appointed by the above society to visit the district of Coxley valley, a fair representation of most of the societies comprising the union arrived by different trains at Horbury Bridge and, uniting together, started about three o’ clock on the ramble, by way of Water Lane, up the beautiful and retired valley of Coxley. The whole company expressed themselves delighted with the locality, and although occasional showers fell during the afternoon, which rather marred the pleasure of the party, keeping them to a great extent on the beaten track, yet the bursts of sunshine which at intervals lighted up the wooded slopes of the valley, and other peculiar aspects of the day, proved a rich treat to the observant and enthusiastic naturalist.

The air was fragrant with the odour of the wild rose, the wayfaring tree and other odoriferous plants which are here found in abundance – the woods resounded with the sweet notes of the warblers, and the denizens of the lake-like pools sported on and beneath the surface of the waters, giving an appearance of life and motion to the otherwise quiet and sequestered scene.

There was plenty of work for the botanists, both in the way of land and water plants; but in consequence of the extra quantity of water in the dams, specimens of several of the rarer plants could not be observed. The meadows a little above presented a very interesting appearance, more particularly with respect to the flora. The Plentago Media, or Hairy Plantain, is here found in abundance, and was in full bloom.

At this point a second party of naturalists from Clayton West district joined the principal company, and the united body now taking to the right of the valley and up the steep embankments, passed through several fields to Middlestown, then by way of Smithy Brook and Thornhill Edge to the place of meeting – at the house of Mr Garthwaite, the Savile Arms Inn, Thornhill.

Thanks to Nev Ashby of the Horbury and Sitlington History Group Facebook page for spotting this.

Wakefield Naturalists, established 1851, were prime movers in getting the West Riding Consolidated Naturalists Society together, it later became the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union, which in turn gave rise to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. I don’t recall wayfaring tree in Coxley, or hoary plantain for that matter. The note about where the rarer water plants were is useful because in an account of a similar meeting that I’ve seen they mention sundew gets a mention and I’ve always wondered where that would have been growing. Mill dams would be continually changing level, so it’s not surprising that marsh plants were able to become established.

Frog Frenzy

Posted on March 19, 2021 by Roger Gaynor

This week spring has certainly sprung with frogs croaking, swirling and spawning in a fevered frenzy in the margins of a local pond. Also, nearby goat willow (pussy willow) are in flower. Botanically these trees are known as dioecious plants so the male and female flowers are found on separate trees. Initially, female catkins are easily overlooked, but are attractive in their own right when seen close up. However, very soon they grow long and green. The seeds are woolly and fluffy and are windblown during May and June. The male catkins are more noticeable turning yellow when full of pollen and often attract large numbers of adult butterflies feeding for the first time since the autumn after hibernating during the winter. Perfect timing as on 16 March 2021 my local walk included sightings of small tortoiseshell, comma and peacock butterflies.

Frog and frog spawn at Wrenthorpe

oung female flower on goat willow

Small tortoiseshell at Wrenthorpe

The first Covid-19 lockdown is now one year old and the virus has sadly had a massive impact on so many people’s lives. Happily, the success of the national vaccination programme, together with the incredible work of the NHS and the help of so many other people and organisations give signals of hope and recovery. These thoughts were perhaps captured in an image taken last summer during a lockdown walk through Brandy Carr when I came across an NHS rainbow. A child may have simply placed it on the field fence and unknowingly at the time there is a young oak tree with the prospects of hundreds of years of growth ahead of it in the background. Also, during the lockdown periods nature has been our doorstep natural health service and the well-being gift that has kept on giving. This is despite its own struggles trying to survive and maintain a place in our modern world. Hopefully its important role will be increasingly recognised and lead to further actions to help it to become more firmly and securely established as part of our everyday lives.

NHS rainbow and oak tree at Brandy Carr

Teetering on the brim of spring

Posted on February 26, 2021 by Roger Gaynor

The recent snow and ice has melted revealing a drab field layer of razed and decaying undergrowth. Despite the same seasonal hardships some neighbouring plants are now teetering on the brim of spring pushing their new infant green shoots upwards towards the growing hours of daylight. Indeed, this year looking higher up the vertical vegetation structure into the understorey and shrub layer of our hedgerows and woodlands there is a particular abundance of hazel flowers. These catkins which formed unnoticed during the autumn and winter are the male flowers and are commonly known as lamb’s tails (see photo attached). Hazel is wind pollinated and does not rely on insects to do this. Their pollen will drift in the air until resting on a female flower. These flowers are minute and easily overlooked and apart from a tiny red vase shaped tuft look just like another small bud along the bare narrow stem (see photo attached). Large amounts of pollen are produced ensuring the hazel nuts of autumn are formed providing a feast for squirrels and small mammals such as wood mice. Also, numerous larva of various moths and other insects feed on the foliage making the hazel a most valuable wildlife plant.

Male flowers on hazel at Wrenthorpe Park

Female flowers on hazel at Wrenthorpe Park

Snowdrops and winter aconites have also defied the winter and are now in full flower (see attached photos). They are a treasured double act, well naturalised and established in our urban greenspaces helping to cheer us up before the top of the bill flowers of spring arrive.

Winter aconites at Alverthorpe

Snowdrops at Wrenthorpe Alverthorpe meadows

Big Garden Birdwatch 2021

Posted on January 27, 2021 by Roger Gaynor

The days of grey skies, ice packed ponds and blankets of snow, together with storm Christoph during this January have been enough to make us all shiver and seek refuge. However, this coming weekend 29^th to 31^st January there is an opportunity to brighten our spirits particularly during these difficult times by taking part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. It is the world’s largest garden wildlife survey and it has been helping us to understand the changes occurring to the wildlife on our own doorstep especially for our more common garden birds since it started in 1979.

It only takes one hour, anyone can take part and best of all it can all be done in the comfort of our own homes or local green spaces while respecting current Covid-19 advice. Last year the UK top ten were as follows 1. house sparrow 2. starling 3. blue tit 4. woodpigeon 5. Blackbird 6. goldfinch 7. great tit 8. robin 9. long-tailed tit 10 magpie. However, at this time of year when natural food is scarce our bird tables can attract surprise visitors. Indeed, every bird counts to the survey and adds to our appreciation and enjoyment of wildlife. I am hopeful the robin photographed at home on 14 January2021 will visit again to keep its place in the top ten. More details about the Big Garden Birdwatch 2021 are available at the following link www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/

Robin searching for food. 14 January 2021

Sparrow Box Soap Opera

Posted on January 13, 2021 by Richard Bell

blue tit

Some day we will get it right for the birds!

First we put up a blue tit box and sparrows nested in it, so we replaced it with a sparrow terrace with three nest holes and the blue tits nested in it.

Now the blue tits are sub-letting to a group of wrens.

As I went to make our morning cuppa, passing the back door something caught my eye, I looked out at the sparrow box and in the half light could see a little head appear from hole number one. I was amazed to see a wren fly out and it was quickly followed by three more, they had obviously been using it as an overnight roost.

We had spotted a wren yesterday coming out of hole number three, while at the same time a blue tit was taking great interest in hole number one. Another blue tit attempted to investigate the middle hole but the one at hole one in no uncertain terms let it know it wasn’t welcome, although it didn’t seem bothered by the wren.

We watched three wrens this evening. One popped in the middle hole then joined the other two in hole one.

It would be lovely to think that we could have blue tit and wren making a nest in the terrace this Spring and a bonus would be a sparrow in the middle. Well, who knows what will happen with these contrary birds!

Barbara Bell

An apple a day helps to keep the hunger away for winter birds

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Roger Gaynor

Some wildlife followers may see winter as a season of relative emptiness and in some ways a time that is almost unused by nature itself. To others the return of falling snow and ice over the past few days may create a mini wild arctic landscape of the mind right on our doorsteps. The bounty of local hawthorn berries along Jerry Clay Lane and Trough Well Lane at Wrenthorpe have been hungrily foraged by redwing, fieldfare, mistle thrush and blackbirds. Now their attention is turning to plantings in urban areas and in particular gardens with apple trees. Indeed, blackbirds and mistle thrush have become obsessive feeders of fallen apples and are now increasingly unfriendly to any other birds attempting to muscle in on their valuable windfalls. Attached photos show a mistle thrush in between courses in a small orchard close to Jerry Clay Lane and a blackbird standing guard over fallen apples at Wrenthorpe Road.

blackbird feeding on apples at Wrenthorpe Road.

Many birds and animals are now fighting for survival to take them through the worst of the weather to spring. Just putting out any unwanted apples on the lawn and keeping bird feeders topped up, together with a supply of fresh water can make a massive difference to them and repay us with memorable close-up views of nature in our own backyard. Attached photos show close encounters with Grey squirrel and nuthatch at Nostell Priory by the bottom lake over the New Year period.

Grey squirrel at Nostell Priory

nuthatch at Nostell Priory

Together with the bird sightings our local lockdown walks have also revealed several wildflowers in bloom even at this time of year. These include red deadnettle, daisy, dandelion, cow parsley and hogweed. Perhaps winter is not so bleak after all.

December Meeting Cancelled

Posted on December 7, 2020 by John Gardner

As with all the previous autumn indoor meetings, we are unfortunately having to postpone the December meeting. I was really looking forward to Tom Aspinall’s talk on bees as it came highly recommended. I will reschedule it for next year hopefully when things should be a lot better. I will review with the committee about how we progress things going forward in the new year and it maybe that we have to consider using Zoom. I’ve used Zoom for several of my lectures and joined other clubs in Zoom meetings – not thee same as meeting in person but at least we can meet up.

I think I will miss the December meeting altogether and not replace it with an outdoor meeting as we are still in Tier 3 and technically shouldn’t meet up. However, I am hoping that we can get together for a field meeting in January,

I wish you all a happy Christmas and look forward to a brighter season in 2021.

Misty morning and glimmers of hope for nature conservation

Posted on November 29, 2020 by Roger Gaynor

Today during my regular lockdown walk the early morning mist added another visual permutation to a now very familiar landscape. A background of electricity pylons and other urban paraphernalia, together with the busy M1 motorway were magically masked away. Suddenly a mature common ash tree (see attached photo) stood proud of all the urban tangle albeit for a short while only, but perhaps just long enough to give a glimpse back in time to its early life when the future of this species was more assured. Sadly, this arboreal, landscape and wildlife treasure is threatened by ash-dieback. This is a highly infectious fungal disease originating in Asia and first recorded in England in 2012, although it may have been in the UK since 2002. The fungal spores can spread in the wind and also by human transportation, especially by unknowingly moving infected young plants ready for planting elsewhere. Current estimates suggest we may lose around 50% to 80% of the UK’s ash trees in the next few years. At the moment scientists are working to discover genes with resistance to ash-dieback and this may offer glimmers of hope for ash trees in the future.

ash tree at Brandy Carr

Much more heartening this week on the same walk has been the sighting of a tree sparrow. This is a very scarce bird although there has been some signs of a recovery in the UK in recent years. It has a brown cap and black cheek spots, unlike the house sparrow. See attached grab photograph taken at Lindale Lane, Wrenthorpe.

tree sparrow at Lindale Lane Wrenthorpe

On 24 November 2020 I watched two red kite methodically surveying the fields between Wrenthorpe and Brandy Carr and Kirkhamgate. This species almost became extinct in the UK, but has now made an incredible comeback thanks to reintroduction programmes and legal protection. See attached photo taken from my image stock.

Red Kite

Wakefield Naturalists' Society | nature club Wakefield

Wakefield's oldest established nature club