Tree Clearance at Water Haigh

For the past two weeks the Lower Aire Valley volunteers have been busy at Water Haigh plantation. This is a mixed woodland with undergrowth including bramble and cleavers, with a few more interesting mosses, ferns and fungi in between.  It was planted around fifteen years ago and timber is now starting to be removed. Late last year, the council forestry officer worked through the plantation, marking up trees that should be removed with spray paint. The trees that were marked for removal were mostly small, crowded or leaning, and by removing them the remaining trees will have more room to grow strong and straight. We also took out a few additional trees to facilitate access, or where the tree was dead and it was unsafe to leave it standing.

Most of the trees were small enough to be removed with hand saws, so we learnt how to do this safely, controlling the direction of the fall. Trees were mostly larch and scots pine, with many birch, alder and oak also present. When taking out each tree, the task was broken down as follows:

1. Look up. Make sure there are no loose branches that might fall on you, and check to see that the branches aren't caught up in other trees as this may affect how it falls.

2. Look at the tree. Is it leaning? If so, it's best to use this where possible, and make the tree fall in the direction it's already leaning.

3. Look around. Identify a gap that the tree can fall into, where the ground is free of obstructions. Also make sure there is room for you to work and escape to if things don't go to plan!

4. Remove any of the lower branches. This simply makes it easier to work.

5. Working at a comfortable level, create a 'birds-mouth' cut. The first cut is horizontal, on the side that you want the tree to fall towards, and at right angles to the direction of the fall. This should go to a third to half way through the tree. Next, cut down at a 45 degree angle, so that the two cuts meet and a wedge is taken out of the tree.

6. The next cut is the felling cut. On the opposite side of the trunk, about 1cm above the base of the birds-mouth cut, cut horizontally. Before the two cuts meet, the tree should start to lean towards the birds-mouth cut, and will fall when the wood shears through. This gives you time to stand back out of the way. If done right, it should leave a neat cut on the top of the stump, with a slight difference in height between the two sides.

7. Once the tree is on the ground it can be processed. We cut the trunk into approximately three metre lengths, with side branches removed.

8. Tidy the site. A chainsaw was used to cut the remaining stumps low to the ground. The timber was stacked in piles (less than a metre tall to prevent it from becoming unstable) and the brash in separate piles.

The wood/timber will be taken off site, but the brash will slowly decay and in the meantime provides a wildlife refuge.

The site now looks a lot more open. Whilst the task had a commercial focus and was aimed at increasing the quality of the remaining trees, hopefully the increase in sunlight reaching the woodland floor will also benefit ground flora. Overall, an exhausting task but satisfying that we managed to clear all of the marked trees. One of those tasks that has a visual impact and we could certainly see the progress that had been made in the woodland.

Bird Watching at Adel Dam

The second outing I organised for #LUUBRS - our student nature recording group - was a bird watching session at Adel Dam nature reserve in Leeds. This was planned in the run up to the RSPB's big garden bird count which is taking place at the end of January, to enable people to get some practice and support with identification skills before the big day.  The trip also provided the opportunity for me to try out my new camera lens, providing extra zoom on my DSLR.

An elite group of three of us turned out on a very cold winter's day, the freshly fallen snow making for a very picturesque scene. Our first stop was the meeting point at the underpass near the car park. Several ducks had congregated by the bridge, and a robin and nuthatch teased us through the branches of a fir tree.

Moving through the park, we stopped at the main lake in Golden Acre Park. This held a congregation of ducks and geese. The black-headed gulls had us confused - in their winter plumage they do not have black heads! - but were figured it out and were soon also able to identify first wintering juveniles. There was a thin layer of ice at the far side of the lake, and a pair of mute swans were valiantly trying to battle through.

We were confused by a couple of ducks that didn't seem to be any particular species - further research revealed them to be what is colloquially known as "manky mallards" - hybrids that display a variety of colours and patterns (http://10000birds.com/manky-mallards-domestic-feral-or-just-plain-odd-mallards.htm). One of those seen was almost black (see photo above right), another white with pale brown patches, and a third that looked very much like a male mallard but had a large white bib.

Next, we moved into Adel Dam Nature Reserve. There was little to see in the woodland, and it became clear when we entered Marsh Hide that this was because all of the birds were congregating around the bird feeders and making the most of the snacks provided. We spent some time here looking at the different species. Small and cheeky coal tits are a bird I rarely see, but they were here in abundance competing with the more common blue and great tits. A great spotted woodpecker visited the bird feeder, taking his time to feast on the peanuts; a gaggle of colourful mandarin ducks made their way from the stream into the marsh; and a colourful Jay put in several appearances.

On our way to the next hide we saw movement in the trees and identified a tree creeper, aptly named for its behaviour of creeping acrobatically up tree trunks, its vivid white chest clearly visible.

Lake Hide provided much of the same including nuthatches and tits feeding, but here we also had open view across the lake. A grey heron worked its way slowly across the lake, and a sparrowhawk passed by overhead. We took some time to talk to the friendly volunteers, kindly giving up their time to educate novices like ourselves, and obviously passionate about the nature reserve they help with.

The volunteers from Adel Dam Nature Reserve were friendly and helpful during their 'guide in the hide' session: they have a wonderful area to work in.

We managed to log 24 species during the visit, and I think we all learnt something new. I'm looking forward to a repeat visit this weekend when we will hopefully see a few more new species.

New Year Plant Hunt 2016

This year I again took part in the BSBI's New Year flowering plant hunt. I organised a trip to Adel Dam nature reserve for members of the proposed new University of Leeds union society for biological recording #LUUBRS. Due to the restrictions of the event running over the first four days in January, most students were home for the holidays so just a couple of us turned up on the day. Discounting plants in the parkland, there were few flowering plants found in the woodland. This was perhaps a mistake of mine in choosing the site, as the woodland must have a dense canopy as there was little ground flora. We did find nine species though, the most exciting probably being Wild Angelica (Angelica sylvestris) which was only found twice last year across all of the UK.

Given the poor results, I also carried out a few surveys on my own in my local area. It rained pretty much throughout the first week of January, and I was slightly hampered by a dog that was accompanying me, but I did have some success.

On a countryside walk I found just five species, including holly, ivy, and the bright yellow flowers of gorse.

However, I had most luck just wandering around my suburban housing estate where I found twenty species - many ruderals and 'weeds' growing in the pavement or on grass verges. Perhaps the strangest of these was a dead nettle that had white flowers. However the shape of the leaf looked odd to me -  as it was rounded and scallopped rather than coarse toothed and pointed - so I queried it on iSpot. It was suggested it might be a white form of red dead nettle (Lamium purpureum) but after consulting with vegetative expert John Poland, the BSBI has now confirmed it was just an atypical form of L. album after all. So whilst I didn't find anything terribly exciting, I've learnt a bit more about dead nettles.