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Fungi Walks ends with a WOW!

On Tuesday the 18th of October it was our annual Fungi Walk at Raw Nook NR with our friends at YWT Sarah, Peter with Kat Woolley (YWT fungi expert) leading the walk. However, we had another guest expert joining us, Ian Forward from the Mid Yorkshire fungus Group..so basically a Dream Team!

The weather prior to the walk had been good for fungi so hearts were beating…

I explained to the group that our site list stood at 84 species of fungi so if the experts could find a further 16 new species that would be fantastic for our urban site.

Verdigris Agaric

Almost straight away in the meadow Verdigris Agaric – Stropharia aeruginosa was found which was a site first.

Further along excitement grow further when a Saffron Milkcap – Lactarius deliciosus (Below) was discovered.

In actual fact the meadow produced an array of fungi attributed to the excellent meadow maintenance work done by Peter from YWT according to Ian ( Fungi expert)

Saffron Milkcap

Moving on from the meadow we entered the wooded area of the reserve.

As well as learning as much as I could from the experts I was ‘Trying’ to keep a list of all the finds and it wasn’t long before there were squeals of excitement as new species like Clustered Domecap – Lyophyllum decastes, Elfin Saddle – Helvella lacunosa and the tiny but lovely Orange Bonnet Mycena acicula were found.

Bird’s nest fungus (Photo by Peter Gurney)

However, as the species list grow, there was a special moment that will last a long time not only in my mind but the excited experts as well.

Hawkeye ‘Jess’ suddenly let out a loud gasp which had us all scurrying to her location.

She had found the find of the day a Bird’s nest fungus Crucibulum leave by the fence near the railway line.

The walk started at 10.00 and should have finished around 13.00. Smiling faces were leaving at 15.00! But for me it was home to input the finds. And I got a surprise with 53 species identified of which 22 were new species which brings the total for our reserve to 106 species.

The full species list can be found here: http://www.lowmoorwildlife.co.uk/fungi/

Despite these excellent figures to have expert mycologists like Kat and Ian say comments like’ What an excellent site this is ‘ Well for our group…that’s the icing on the cake!

Many thanks to Kat Wooley, Ian Forward and ‘Hawkeye’ Jess for a brilliant day and helping to add 22 new species to our fungi list

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Little Egret…

A Little Egret flew S/W over the watch point this morning.

Whilst this is my second record of the species, the first one was seen over the Cleckheaton area in 2003 which is out of our recording area.

However, today’s bird was in our recording area and can be counted which brings my species list to 134.

Goldfinch numbers are increasing as birds move south. Yesterday 95 were counted mainly moving to the S/W

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Recent sightings

Redwings have started to come in early this year. I picked up the first birds on the 26/9, 43 coming in from the N/E and moving S. Then a further 168 came in mainly from the N on the 1/10. The Redwings arrived in the country on a favourable wind from Scandinavia. On the 29/9 a party of 6 Grey Heron moved S which is expected at this time of the year as some to the coast for the winter.

I received some excellent news about a pair of Stoats at Caldene fields by the small stream. They were seen coming out of a small wall together. My last sighting of the species was way back in February 2012 at Raw Nook NR. This elusive species could well be breeding in the area as they can be very difficult to find.

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End of an Era…

It was a sad day on Tuesday the 20/9/22 for Raw Nook, Bradford council’s first local nature reserve and our conservation group as it was the last day the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust would be involved in our urban nature reserve due to them moving on to new projects.

We as a local community have a lot to thank the YWT for not only for their excellent conservation work but also for the overall input into our environment and biodiversity. We (Low Moor & Oakenshaw Conservation group) have also gained valuable conservation management knowledge from both Sarah Goldsmith and Peter Gurney.

I remember talking to Sarah back in 2019 when we first met on site about my sighting of a Nightingale in Raw Nook in1989 and how I termed the area ‘ Nightingale Way’. Sarah with bright eyes and her enthusiasm, leave it to me!! Then a couple of years later Sarah put up some ‘ Rubbing Posts’ with a Nightingale on one of them..at the exact same spot! Brilliant.

There were also many enjoyable events that were run by the YWT in our area enjoyed by many people. I remember one event at Toad Holes Beck when I talked to Peter about not be able to find a Bee Orchid at TH Beck”

About an hour later I returned from my lunch and was met with a smiling Peter who had just found (You guess it) a Bee Orchid!!! Brilliant news!

I am sure I speak for all our local community in sincerely thanking Sarah and Peter for all the improvement they and YWT have made to our nature reserve and wish them all the very best for the future

Here are just a few! of their improvements…

Welcome to Raw Nook
Put up bird nesting boxes and bat boxes
Sign/rubbing posts…My Nightingale!
Peter maintaining the meadow

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Badger seen in Low Moor!

I have received a reliable report from a local resident who saw a Badger at 5.30am in Low moor whilst on his way to work on 16/9/22.

Over the years I have been told of odd sightings of the species in the Low Moor/Oakenshaw areas.

Due to the sensitivity of this sighting no reference will be made on social media.

I would welcome any relevant sightings/information of badgers in our area which will be passed on to the West Yorkshire Ecology services.

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Some exciting news…

As we are all aware the pond at Raw Nook Nr has been leaking since about 2018.

This has caused the pond to retain some water when it rains only for it to drain away within a few days if there was no further rain.

This has had a massive impact on our wildlife with my records indicating a massive drop in breeding dragonfly numbers and the death of hundreds of tadpoles as and when the pond dried up in spring.

I like others (The YWT) have campaigned to get the pond repaired. To me the problem was the clay at the bottom of the middle of the pond had cracked during the baking hot summer of 2018 causing water to seep away.

So, with the help from our friends at YWT Sarah Goldsmith and Peter Gurney who organised funding it looks like the work to repair the pond will start towards the end of September.

This is excellent news for our biodiversity and I’m hoping that next spring the pond will have hundreds of tadpoles which will develop into frogs, newts and dragonflies will return to breed once again.

More updates to follow…

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Make Hay while the rain pours.

Today Peter Gurney and his team from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust came down to Raw Nook NR to finish off cutting and raking the meadow and distributing Yellow Rattle seeds.

Our group joined in with the first job been to rake off any thatch in pocketed areas within the meadow and then spread Yellow Rattle seeds into those areas.

Whilst the Yellow Rattle is now established in the meadow there are certain areas that are devoid of the species, and Yellow Rattle is excellent for keeping rank grasses at bay, which in turn helps wildflowers to grow.

The weather early on was very mild with a hint of light rain which wasn’t a problem.

When Peter had cut swaths of meadow grasses down, we raked it up and put it out of harms way so it could rot down.

The work was going really well and by 12.00 it was time of lunch.

We had just got started after lunch when I felt some rather large rain drops!

Then the heavens opened and for about 20 minutes it bounced down and we had to take shelter…but we still got soaked. However, thankfully we had all but finished so we packed up the tools and walked to the van.

And yes….Your right the sun then came out, so we went back to the meadow and finished off the last bits of raking.

So we were all wet and tired but we felt really good that not only had we all done a great job but also the meadow and our wildlife will benefit from our enjoyable hard work.

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New Plant Species added to the list…

Yesterday at the dried up pond at Raw Nook NR I noticed a lovely pinkish flower growing amongst the sedges.

Now I was aware that our colleagues at the YWT had planted some native species at Toad Holes Beck but I believe that this beauty which is a Purple Loosestrife has found it’s way to our reserve by nature’s own methods.

So the Purple Loosestrife is a new species for my records for the site.

I then walked into nearby TH Beck with the intention of viewing the area on the right hand side opposite the smaller pond where last year some native species were planted.

However, just as I was approaching I saw a lovely Emperor Dragonfly patrolling an area of meadow and catching insects on the wing.

When I got to the area I saw a Small Copper butterfly alighting from a lovely Hemp agrimony plant. A further search revealed a further four plants.

Nearer to the path is the now well established Common fleabane which has really developed.

Now both of these plants have been planted by the YWT which is great news. However, both have never been recorded on the site before.

So with conservation in mind I have added both new species to the TH Beck plant species list as new finds.

Well if it help to protect the site….

I also found a further single Purple Loosestrife Sp on the other side of the path near to the pond which was again a new species!

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News from Low Moor Banks…

On Saturday we had our conservation work day at Raw Nook NR. Bill one of our groups members is a regular walker at nearby Low Moor Banks.

He told me that last week he met a dog walker who stated that he had seen a Roe deer stood in the long grass at the site.

However, as he walked on the path and closer to the deer it didn’t move. Then suddenly the deer started to trot away and by it’s side was a young fawn!!. Suggesting breeding somewhere in Low Moor/Oakenshaw area.

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