Friday 27 October 2017

Peaceful

A cooler night followed by a calm, cloudless morning. What better time to relax in the sun?


Good to see deer again especially when so much at ease. Others are nearby including some young ones.


And a proprietorial stag. His antlers are interesting; they are rarely symmetrical but these are quite different.


Another view shows a good three point crown on the left side leaving the right side unorthodox.
He seems more than happy with his lot. No challenges, no bellowing. All is peace.


Thursday 26 October 2017

Oakland

The fascinating BBC4 90 minute programme about the oak tree is still available via the iPlayer.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06fq03t/oak-tree-natures-greatest-survivor

For study their chosen oak is set in a field from which all competing trees have been removed probably by grazing animals. That allows the tree to spread more than it could in woodland. The multitude of acorns deposited every four or five years might otherwise have created an oak woodland. It might have been interesting to see oak in the context of mixed, predominantly oak woodland. Much of the material in the programme would still have been relevant but there would be differences.

Here on Blacka we had a developing oak woodland still in its early stages. Two young oaks on the edge of birch and alder woodland are changing colour, their position being to the north of neighbouring trees.


More sheltered from north and west this tree still retains more green.


As does this well protected older specimen.


More oaks would be present had the manager not decided that there must be an open area suitable for cow grazing; hence the killing off of several promising specimens.


In the nearby woodland there are oaks competing with the pine and alder.


Despite the shelter their leaf drop is more advanced.






Tuesday 24 October 2017

Being Nice

What important jobs are not being done in the time taken to decide to do this, to plan it and design something that most people ignore or find simply irritating?



This is the worst yet and as for being nice, the nicest thing I can think of saying about it is that those responsible have completely lost the plot as far as understanding their role in the community. I'm assuming that this is the work of officers of Sheffield City Council's Parks Department or its Public Rights of Way Unit. Is this really the level we've reached? Key Stage 2? Is there nobody in a position of authority who sees employees doing this sort of thing and is there no system within the council for alerting senior staff that there are employees who should be transferred to departments that are chronically understaffed because of central government cuts?

I just wonder if this has come through the MTBers, even  via the Local Access Forum? Recent years have seen a coordinated strategy of bikers yelling "Good Morning" as they raced up to us. No understanding that you may be observing a bird or other form of wildlife, or simply enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. It was of course meant to show that those who do not respond in the way they are meant to are miserable gits. And who is it who decides just how others should respond?

Friday 20 October 2017

How Long?

Does it really take so long for these things to be made illegal?



As with releasing balloons, obviously with an intention to litter the environment. As bad as throwing your sandwich wrappers out of the car.

High Tune

The robin had chosen a high perch to give us a welcome song on a gloomy morning.



A nearby woodpecker had decided to use a high pine branch to provide a percussion accompaniment.


Wednesday 18 October 2017

Memo




From a tweet by Paul Dalton

Old and Gold

Decaying willow herbs.


And when the sun catches there's a hint of gold.




Heard and Just Seen

Geese flying over are usually given away by their calls. You need to be in the open to see them properly. These can just be seen throught the bare branches in the woods.


Colours

The higher you go the harder it is to find remaining colours. The winds are harsher and the nights colder. This young oak is well sheltered and has avoided the fate of some similar oaks whose size is tempting for the chainsaws.


The brambles are an excellent source of reds and oranges.


This tiny hawkweed has been trodden on but still manages to light up a small area of the car park where the winds are usually enough to deter any flowers.


Blow Job?

The blower didn't penetrate as far as this minor path fortunately.


It's one of the more attractive paths for walkers only and wide enough for one person only.

Ten days ago just after the managerial blow job we can see how the beech leaves have been corralled to either side.


Just a couple of days later the leaves were back on this section after nature intervened in the usual way.


Friday 6 October 2017

Leisurely

Other trees may be shedding leaves and joining the rush to autumn but oak is never in a hurry. This one is just thinking about changing colours.


It's one that was missed from the native trees cull last winter. Let's hope it survives another year at least.

Alders have so far been spared, thus allowing us to enjoy the fabulous character of some great specimens.



These would have to be a component of any 'wild' experience that I could enjoy.


The Sycamore Story

I strongly recommend this piece on The Hazel Tree site about the sycamore. It does justice to a tree that has always had a mixed reputation in this country.

https://the-hazel-tree.com/2017/10/06/sycamore-colonist-or-custodian/amp/

I've referred to Blacka's sycamores several times in particular in relation to SWT's controversial plans:

https://theblackamoorsite.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=Sycamore


Thursday 5 October 2017

Enough


Even the most patient of regular walkers up here must have had enough of this by now. The one tree is some sort of gesture.


So many of the paths have been so churned up by the cows that you have to walk with your eyes down careful not to slip or stumble.  Not to mention this.


It's many years ago now that Blacka was valued as a place that had been left untouched by farming for many years and all the better for it. We warned that SWT's plans would make it worse. And so it has. I remember the appallingly naive arguments used: "There are cows and sheep all over the countryside, why shouldn't they be here?" And we had to spell it out. And they took no notice of course.

Surprise

Surprise and disbelief has been experienced on Blacka before. Significantly in respect of those managing the site choosing to call it a nature reserve while bringing in farm animals which dedicate their lives to destroying nature; then adding to our incredulity by themselves cutting down native trees.

But this one was new.


One of the charms of autumn is the chance it gives us to walk on carpets of leaves decorated in innumerable patterns and shades according to which tree species are found nearby. In fact I've been known to take photographs of the ground and hang enlarged images around the house.


Yesterday morning I came across a first, for me. I could hear a mechanical noise ahead but assumed it might have something to do with the repair going on of another section of wall recently knocked down by a car. But no, turning a corner I saw this.


A leaf blower on a nature reserve!

I sometimes wonder if I've been a bit too critical of the managers responsible for Sheffield's green spaces. Obviously not.

Never having understood why people buy leaf blowers I decided to google them. For three pages all I got were sites encouraging me to buy one. Then from the fourth page on and gradually accelerating came those people similar to me who were astonished that such things even existed. Some indeed claimed they were driven crazy by not just the noise they made but by their own inability to come to terms with a world in which a large number of people thought they had to have one.

But on a nature reserve!


How many leaf blowers would be needed in the New Forest here?
And I'm not sure the  BBC has got the seasons right!

 



Wednesday 4 October 2017

Red Welcome


Bramble is both loved and hated. Hated because of its thorns, its tendency to set traps for the unobservant walker and the way it invades and takes over open land. None of this is so bad it can outweigh its gift of the best tasting free soft fruit, still to be found in the woods.



Another characteristic of bramble that some of us love is the way it occasionally produces vibrant coloured leaves in the middle of dull vegetation in autumn and winter.




In fact there's a lot of variability in bramble leaves now. The healthy glossy green is easily found. Leaf edges can produce some startling effects in purples oranges and reds.


Now that berries are disappearing these reds are welcome.


Perhaps the best sight though is the fly agaric, still quite small as it pushes its way through the tangled grasses.


There are many specimens of fungi in the woods coloured with wondefully subtle shades of browns and greys but red is, well, red.

One day later, pushing higher and larger but slugs and/or small mammals have been tasting it. Can they still walk in a straight line?


A day later still and there's no sign of it. Has it been picked or kicked over? Cows are nearby.

Forsaken

Again the car park at Stony Ridge has been singled out by fly-tippers. The culprits seem to have set fire to their rubbish after depositing it. This time the stuff was removed a bit quicker once the working week began; the likely time the felony was committed was Friday night. I guess its removal was deemed a priority because of the convenience of the farmer whose vehicles were obstructed.


I would think there might be a chance of some identification as some of the papers were not burned. Doubtless once the flames got going they would have feared attention being drawn to them and scooted off not making sure all was burned; among the half-burned debris were Christmas cards!


The increasing number of these incidents here raises a question. This land is obviously the city council's responsibility but they refuse to acknowledge it. The result is that it looks uncared for, a temptation for the likely lads who might be looking for a cheap way of disposing of their junk. And the wildlife trust can't be bothered to put pressure on SCC. If you don't look after what's your responsibility can you expect anyone else to?

Disowned and forsaken.