Walking South Yorkshire: 2nd Sheffield walk

Yesterday I tried out another walk from Rob's book. It started at Glen Howe Park and took me via familiar territory through Brightholmlee and down to More Hall Reservoir. The return leg took me to an area I hadn't walked before, over Spout House Hill. This involved some stiff climbing and way finding, but the views from the top were really spectacular.
It was a little disappointing on the fungi front, after the profusion of Tuesday's outing. There was collybia maculata, boletus chrysenteron, ganoderma applanatum, and my first wax cap of the year - a solitary hygrocybe nigrescens.
Near the highest point, I disturbed a hare, and on the bird front, I saw quite a few swallows near a number of the farmhouses on the route. A kestrel was hunting on the summit, and on the reservoir there was a great crested grebe. I also flushed out a green woodpecker from the scrub on the ascent. The star butterfly was a small copper.

In Praise of Blackberries

Delicious, versatile, easy to identify, plentiful and free. And this year so plentiful that you can pick just those immediately in front of you at arm height. No need to stretch and risk scratching and bites from unseen insects, although it is still wise to keep an eye open for sneaky nettles and rival wasps. When they are so prolific, no special equipment or effort is needed. Just a bucket. The secret is to ignore those large juicy ones just out of reach and select from the space immediately in front of you. This makes the whole process relatively stress-free. Of course there are always those very ripe berries which squish between your fingers, and the stubborn one which refuse to come quietly, but on the whole, this becomes one of those therapeutic, getting in touch with nature-type activities. I can well imagine that in this country you are never more than a few yards away from a blackberry bush.
Then you get them home and the next stage of the ritual begins: wash them, pick over them, weigh them, and decide what you are going to do with them. They are so versatile, it's difficult to decide: pies, crumbles, cobblers; on their own or combined with apples; seedy jams, clear, sparking jellies, sweet and spicy cordials with just a hint of brandy to preserve and enhance their medicinal qualities, vinegars, wines, liqueurs... the possibilities are endless.  

First of September 2010

Today is officially my first day of retirement. I'd intended to continue working for a few years more, but the way things have worked out, I think - in fact I know - I'm going to enjoy setting about that "to do" list! For a start, I am resolved to refresh my fungi knowledge, as I have really just kept things ticking over for the last few years. To that end, I'm going to rejoin Sorby Natural History Society and aim to start recording again and meeting up with the fungi community. I'm also going to try harder to learn about birds. I shall spend more time at Old Moor, and worry people in hides. What a perfect time of year to be doing this. The fungi have stared to appear with a vengeance, even if 90% of them are brown roll rims, and the birds are starting to migrate.
Speaking of Old Moor, we went there on Monday - a glorious day. I said hello to Nicola, the official Old Moor Twitterer, took a lot of rubbish photos and was baffled by assorted waders.
Yesterday, I combined one of Rob's walks with a fungus foray. Number 2 in the book, for anyone who has a copy (see earlier post). It was a shortish walk taking in a couple of the woodlets around the Greno Woods area. There was masses of stuff around. This year, grisettes seem to be very profuse. One small but perfectly formed cep, along with a couple of nice bay boletes, was introduced later to some fresh pasta, white wine and various flavourings.




Time to get out the dehydrator, I think.

First Foray

After Saturday and Tuesday's walks it was clear that there are already plenty of fungi around so I set off on Wednesday with fungi at the top of my agenda. Shouldn't complain but at this time of year, it's difficult to focus on just one or two aspects of the countryside. There are birds, butterflies and dragonflies in the air, and fungi, flowers and assorted creatures at ground level. Juggling my walking pole, camera and mushroom basket, I set off up to the old pack horse path which has the Derwent arm of Ladybower reservoir hidden by trees on one side and the Snake Pass visible below on the other side.


On the way up from the Derwent Valley road, there were lots of brown roll rims and false chanterelles with this wonderful orange peel fungus by the path side.



There were also speckled wood butterflies. A single bay bolete ensured I got my basket out. Once at the top, I got a wonderful view of a kestrel patrolling the ridge, but as I was clutching my bay bolete, I was unable to get a photo. Along the ridge there were blushers aplenty. A single saffron milk cap went into the basket. There was a red admiral fluttering around the meadow area here, and dor beetles were also to be seen along the top section. At a further section of mixed woodland, I found what I had been looking for - not in abundance, but enough to add to the basket for a tasty addition to supper: chanterelles and hedgehog fungi, with a bonus of a few charcoal burners and amethyst deceivers. A steady and early start to the foraging season.

Walking South Yorkshire

Yesterday I met up with Rob Haslam, author of this excellent book of local walks, and a couple of fellow walk-checkers, Fran and Fred. We enjoyed a walk led by Rob, around the Beauchief area of Sheffield, taking in some of the local woodlands and parts of the Sheffield Round Walk. Not uncommonly, the weather was four seasons in one day, and we had no sooner got soaked than we dried out again in pleasant sunshine. As a thank you for our checking the walks (as if one were needed; I enjoyed the task very much) we were treated to a pub lunch and presented with a  signed copy of the book.
I can vouch for the excellence of Barnsley walks, and I'm sure the Sheffield and Rotherham ones will be just as enjoyable - I intend to try them all out over the coming weeks and months.
The book is available in all local bookshops - I strongly recommend it!

Dragonflies: the next generation

Before finishing my holiday report, I want to keep things current with my walk from today. It was a walk from the Stone to Steel website which I had set off to do before our holiday, but had been distracted by a) missing the turnoff for the start of the walk and b) getting distracted by some fantastic emergent dragonflies and a grass snake. Today went better from the routefinding point of view - although I think I missed one short section of the walk, but still ended up where I was supposed to be. It was a fantastic walk with lots of variation - riverside, woodland, hamlets, wheat fields, disused railway line and probably most spectacular - heathland. What could be more wonderful that the heather coming into bloom.

I was also astonished by the number of fungi. As I had a walk to complete, I didn't have time to root around too much for edibles, but did find a lovely little orange birch bolete and a small but perfectly formed bay bolete for the pot, so I thing a return visit in the near future is in order. At the pond where I photographed the emergent dragonflies, there was still action in the form of egg-laying females,

 and I managed to get a few nice photos. No snakes today, sadly, and I'm afraid birds didn't get a look in!

Wye Adventures - Part 3 - A sorry selection of 4 footers.

Although we saw quite a few mammals, I didn't get many photos. There were lots of deer in particular and quite a bit of roadkill, and signs of badgers but apart from Cassie, the very friendly farm dog, the two pictures here were the sorry toll. The stoat was a bit to fast - but at least I got a shot before he disappeared into the hedgerow, and the other little creature ( the one with the look of surprise) sadly wasn't fast enough.

Wye adventures - Part 2 - Six legged friends

In our walks book, there was often the promise of butterflies, but sadly they were not as profuse as I had hoped. From time to time, however, we spotted the usual suspects: lots of peacocks and common blues in particular, gatekeepers, which seem to be in abundance this year, commas, red admirals, small coppers, speckled woods, and the occasional fritillary (although these are nigh on impossible to photograph as they refuse to stay still). Dragonflies were also disappointingly few and far between, although the ones I saw were, I think, a couple of new ones for me - the golden ringed dragonfly and the beautiful demoiselle. There were a lot of dung beetles in the woodlands - the ones that are a beautiful iridescent blue, and a hornet joined us for lunch one day at Tintern Old Station Cafe - no doubt after a slice of their legendary bread pudding!

Wye adventures - Part 1 - Birds

Two weeks in the Wye Valley have given me quite a lot to write about, so it's difficult to know where to start. Perhaps with birds. We stayed in a converted barn on a smallholding near Tintern, above the Wye Valley. We kept the bird table well-stocked, and were rewarded with a steady procession of visitors - the most regular being great tits, blue tits, robins and nuthatches, with the occasional greenfinch and even a jay.

Overhead we had regular displays from buzzards, with up to 5 in the skies above at any one time, and at night there was the loud and regular call of owls. 

We spent a day at the Newport Wetlands centre, which is a fantastic reserve, and was well worth a visit. Sadly the weather was a little unkind that day, but we did see an egret, a kestrel, some curlews although the bearded tits and hobbies were not playing out! Another reserve on the English side of the border was Nagshead reserve in the Forest of Dean. We saw redstarts and a pied flycatcher here. A pleasant walk along the Usk at Abergavenny provided good views of sandmartins and kingfishers. Part 2 to follow....

Dragonfly Central

Yesterday I set off with every intention of doing another "Stone to Steel" walk from Deepcar and along Wharncliffe Crags. I missed the starting point of the walk and found myself on the Stocksbridge bypass, whence more by good luck than good management, I found myself at the TPT car park at Finkle Street at the far end of the intended walk. I set off to do the walk, just from a different starting point, but after less than a mile, I found a pond which had a large number of damselflies flitting about, and on closer inspection, I noticed that there were a lot of dragonfly nymphs ready to emerge.


I spent over an hour watching and photographing as they emerged and also saw numbers of newts in the pond. I did manage to get up onto the crags, where I sat and enjoyed the sunshine as the earliest of the heather was starting to bloom and the heath was alive with the sounds of bees and grasshoppers, and I spotted this splendid chap on the path.


Rather than complete the walk, I retraced my steps, as I was keen to see how the dragonflies were getting on. In the woodland, I saw yet another treecreeper. It's a weird fact that once you get your eye in for things, you seem to see them all the time.
The decision return to the pond was inspired because not only did I see yet more dragonflies and newts, but a grass snake - a first for me - swimming across the pond. I had hoped to see lots of butterflies, but there were relatively few considering the warm sunshine, but there were the occasional commas, gatekeepers, ringlets, and speckled woods. Still, mustn't grumble as overall, it was an excellent day's wildlife watching.

Stinky Sunday

I needed a rest yesterday, so got an early start today for a much needed stretch of the legs. As I've spent so much time in South Yorkshire recently, I decided to go towards Derbyshire today and thought it would be nice to have a wander along Burbage Edge. Big mistake. As I drove up their, the mist got thicker and thicker, so I cut back through Hathersage and Bamford and parked up by the viaduct at Ladybower (still plenty of room at 8am). As I set off it was pouring with rain, but eventually it settled into a pattern of showers.



Not a day for stunning photos, but a gentle circuit of the northern arm of the reservoir was very pleasant with the unexpected bonus of a surprising number of fungi - bolbitius vitellinus, blusher, larch boletes and more stinkhorns than I've ever seen along the western shore. Birds seen include lots of house martins and goldfinches, a heron, a pair of grey wagtails and a very noisy wren.

Stone to Steel

Discovered a website based on the Stocksbridge area with some interesting- looking walks. I was going to do one which took in Wharncliffe Woods and Heath, but then changed my mind and set off for one which began in Glen Howe Park at Wharncliffeside and took me through the Wildlife Trust site at Carr House Meadows, in the hope that it was not too late for the best of the show of meadow flowers.





It was an extremely nice walk, and one which I shall no doubt do again, but was a touch disappointing on the wildlife front. Maybe my expectations are too high. Saw one dragonfly in the woodland at Glen Howe, but only fleetingly. Bird highlights included lesser spotted woodpecker (fleetingly) and treecreeper. Butterflies aplenty, including speckled wood, gatekeeper (also seen in my garden), small tortoiseshell, and red admiral





The flower meadow was looking past its best but still had a real magical summer feel about it. I imagine it will be cut soon, so at least I saw it before that happened. Must make myself a note to go earlier next year.

Resuming!

Now I've got my iPad, and a blogging app, there's no excuse for me to be so lazy about blogging. Recently I've spent a lot of my precious Saturdays in the Dearne valley, which is just great for wildlife, and has more RSPB reserves and wetlands than you can shake a stick at. Today I had a gentle stroll from Bolton Ings to Old Moor along the trans-pennine trail, having done a stretch from Mexborough via Denaby Ings last week. The best bit was actually at the start of the walk, where I found an idyllic pond just off the trail, and sat in the sunshine watching swans, various ducks, damsel an dragonflies and some reed warblers flitting around in the lovely sunshine.

Blogging from IPad

Trying out my new blogging app.

Location:Home

Happy New Year!

I'm experimenting with a new blog, but I'm going to keep this going for now. The snowy weather has kept me fairly local. On Christmas Day, I had a great walk down Rivelin Valley, and although it wasn't technically a white Christmas, the lying snow made everything look fantastically pretty. One of the highlights of the day was a sighting of a dipper.

Yesterday was my first outing beyond the local area: Old Moor on public transport. Cold and icy, but quite a lot to see: finches: bull, green, chaff; tits: great and blue; song thrush, tufted duck, goosander, cormorant, heron, wigeon, lapwing, reed bunting (?) and my top viewing; barn owls - one at the far end of Wath Ings, another whilst sitting eating a sandwich, from the window of Gannets Cafe!

Today, I ventured out after more snow last night, down the slippery slope, to the valley. No treats in the bird world, but another flying wonder: a close-up view of a Yorkshire air ambulance helicopter . It circled several times, and got quite low, but eventually flew off without landing or lowering a winch, so I could only assume the problem was sorted out from the ground.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30269206@N02/4240478721/

Winter.

One of the problems with failing to blog for such a long time, apart from forgetting some details, might well be choosing a single image to represent the whole period  so I've included a few this time. However, my flickr posts act as a good reminder, as I am better about keepng those up to date. I'm going to start with the present and work backwards. After an unpromising forecast, the weather this weekend is proving very pleasant; plenty of blue skies. I decided to stay local and have a stroll along Rivelin Valley. The recent rain meant the river was quite swollen and everything was looking very nice in the winter sunshine. There was a surprising number of fungi, especially jellies and brackets, a number of inkcaps and oyster mushrooms. On the bird front, I managed a couple of reasonable shots of a grey wagtail, and a sweet one of a robin. The Heron of Doom flew overhead.

Last weekend, the weather was so foul, I didn't get out, so it was a bit of a lost weekend, but the one before saw me walking from home up to Stacey Bank on Loxley Valley. The Enviromnment Agency work at Malin Bridge makes it look very bare, but now you can actually see "Watersmeet" and I'm sure that in time, it will benefit from the clearance and new vegetation will soften the edges. There were quite a few Canada geese near Damflask and some nice bracket fungi around.

The previous weekend, I went to Old Moor. It was a cold, dull day, but there were quite a few birds around - including a few new for me, including goosander and green sandpiper. I managed a few reasonable pictures before the heavens opened; I got a good soaking on the way home, so a good excuse for mulled wine!

The week before that I set off to walk along Loxley Valley, but by the time I had got to Malin Bridge, I was already very wet. I was determined not to return, and putting my faith in the weather forecast, I decided to have a bit of a mystery tour, so bought a South Yorkshire Day Tripper on the tram and decided to keep going until the weather improved, catching the first local train available at the station. I ended up at Elsecar and as the sun came out, had a pleasant stroll around the res. As always, there were several Great Crested Grebes - as advertised on the information board. I was also treated to a sighting of a stoat (I say this with conviction, as I saw it's black tail tip), a blewitt, and some rather fine Phellinus igniarius (picture chosen!) on willow.

Can you see the face with its fine hat?

The week before was half term; we had a rather splendid few days in Sherwood Forest. I have been promising myself a trip to Creswell Crags for a number of years now, so it was incorporated in this trip on the outward trip. Well  worth a visit! It is amazing how this remarkable and atmospheric limestone gorge is only a stone's throw from the unspectacular scenery of this area on the border between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. The new visitors' centre is very good, and the cafe is to be recommended. We finished that first day with a stroll round the forest, and managed to get lost as it was going dark. The following day, we walked around Clumber park, and on Saturday, we did an extended  superb walk through the Sherwood forest and its surrounding area. This photo is of one of the finest areas of the forest near the centre tree. 

Watching Autumn

Last week saw the annual Fungus Foray, Sloe Hunt and Bacon Buttie Bonanza. We had a modest haul of boletus badius, some hygrocybe pratensis, a couple of lactarius deliciosus, a slippery jack and a negligible number of field mushrooms for the pot. I've been surprised how few field mushroons there have been this year. Of the non-edibles, plenty of blushers as always, a fly agaric, and some hygocybe, russula and tricholoma that I wasn't organized enough to pin down. It was blowing a gale on the tops so it was hard enough staying on our feet without faffing around with books, cameras etc. We also gathered a respectable number of sloes, and thanks to the stong wind, I also managed an unusually large number of hazelnuts. So, some of the mushrooms went into an autumn stew with home grown borlotti beans and garlic and some butternut squash, the sloes are percolating nicely in gin, and I'm considering making some hazelnut liqueur.

This week, I fancied a trip out to Old Moor. It was a lovely day so I had a leisurely bus / tram / train / bus ride out there, and a stroll round the hides in the afternoon sun. There was plenty about: cormorant, lapwing, teal, wigeon, tufted duck, heron (of course)  golden plover, mute swans, canada geese, coots, moorhens, a wader (godwit?) siskins, pied wagtail, and lots of other stuff I couldn't identify. Still lots of dragonflies around. I've been watching Autumnwatch and have posted a few photos on the flikr stream.

Misty Morning

Having deferred my foray from yesterday, I set off at dawn this morning . The sunrise was glorious, but as I approached Fox House, the cloud descended. However, the damp in the air gave the day a real autumnal feel and there were some interesting light effects as the sun struggled with the low cloud for ascendancy. Within 15 minutes of parking the car near Sir William Hill, I had found 4 ceps and a good collection of hedgehog fungi, saffron milk caps and meadow wax caps. Other fungi included brown birch bolete, blusher, snowy wax caps, fly agaric and brown roll rim. On the bird front, I saw wren, meadow pipit and siskins. Next week I'll be out with friends, so I'm hoping for good weather and a good show of edible mushrooms.

Not quite autumn.

This morning's walk near Grenoside was a little disapponting on the fungi front. I found a few bay boletes and that was it for edible species. A couple of stinkhorns - "before " and "after" and a few russulae were the only other things spotted. On the bird front, I managed a photo of a wren, and spotted a jay. I also heard a woodpecker, along with a few other tantalising bird calls that I was, of course, unable to identify. The leaves are only just thinking about turning and the grass and other plants are past their summer flush, but not yet ready to die down.

Summer's end

It's a glorious Indian Summer, and today was the perfect day to go out early on a foray. There were plenty of mushrooms about, although the haul of edibles was relatively small there were some quality finds including these chanterelles, some saffron milk caps and hedgehog fungi, charcoal burners, larch boletes and a small orange birch bolete. I also found a large beefsteak fungus but it was past its best, and I'm not really a fan. I had hoped for some ceps or at least some bay boletes, but no joy. One of my usual spots for field mushrooms had been left ungrazed and had become overgrown so even if the mushrooms were there, it was impossible to see them. Other fungi seen include laccaria amethystea, amanita rubescens and fulva. I saw plenty of birds as well. Amongst those I could identify were goldfinch, and green woodpecker.