Autumn colours

Maples and cherries providing today's autumn update.

Leeds City Centre, autumnal views

Its impossible not to notice the current seasonal change even on the outskirts of Leeds City Centre. In the urban planting schemes and roadside verges the signs of autumn are all around.

On Sunday we spent half an hour wandering around sections of the riverside that we'd never really paid too much attention to before. Looking back towards Bridgewater Place, I'd never noticed this apple tree before which was heavily laden with fruit. Across the road there's a line of Small Leaved Limes, the leaves are turning rich yellows.  

In the culvert that runs alongside Water Lane that carries the Hol Beck into the River Aire we spotted tiny fishes feeding on vegetation which I didn't expect to see. Trying to find out more about this watercourse I came across Phil D's Flickr pages where has a collection of pics from a stroll along this section of the Hol Beck that are well worth a look. 

 

On the culvert bankside, leaves, stems and berries of a thicket of well established shrubs provide a tapestry of colour and no doubt plenty of cover for urban birds.

Fungi on the grassland near Whitehall Road overlooking the River Aire.

Near St Paul's Street next the site of the demolished Leeds International Pool this Stag's horn sumach (Rhus typhina) looking towards the Call Credit building.

Clusters of teeny-tiny cap and stem fungi growing on a grassy verge amongst fallen Sycamore leaves, near Whitehall flats.

River Aire sightings

On the River Aire, between Whitehall Bridge and the Dark Arches of Leeds City Centre I noticed this beautiful Black Swan, more than likely an escapee but nonetheless a striking character . They're native to SW/E Australia and were brought to Britain as an ornamental bird.  I remembered that Paul (Little Brown Job) spotted one at RSPB Fairburn last year. These two shots upstream and downstream indicate how close to the City Centre it was.  

Continuing our wander around Granary Wharf we stumbled upon the Leeds City Cruise boat and hopped on for a £3.00 return trip to Clarence Dock, what a great way to travel through the city. It was a much gentler journey than my last boat excursion which was to the Farne Islands where I suffered a humiliating bout of sea sickness, all for the love of nature! Another bird (this time more ornament than ornamental) was this Grey Heron sculpture near Brewery Wharf.

Other wildlife sightings included two female Goosander on the river to the rear of the Yorkshire Post building. They're frequently visitors as they overwinter on the river, previously they've appeared further upstream, in December last year by Kirkstall Abbey and also near Redcote Lane. The unexpected surprise of the day was the appearance of a Kingfisher as it zipped upstream and out of view.

Shaggy Ink Cap

Growing in the grassland near Headingley Train Station these Shaggy Inkcap (Coprinus comatus). I enjoyed Phil Gates (Cabinet of Curiosities) post from last year about the Carnivorous Inkcap which is well worth a read. 

Here are two more from a cluster of five that I found growing amongst brambles on the edge of a copse on Beckett Park. They're great illustrations of how the cap shrinks as it gradually dissolves itself releasing a black inky substance which contains the spores.

Sweet Chestnut fruit

From my desk, if I crane my neck to look out of the window I can see the tops of four Sweet Chestnut trees (Castanea Sativa), between 3-6m tall. Underneath the autumn canopy is an abundance of fruits, encased in a sea urchin like spiny husk. The case opens into four sections on maturity to reveal up to three nuts, the tufted end being the remains of the flower stigma.

The leaves are leathery, elliptical, pointed with a serrated margin and turn a crisp golden brown at leaf fall. The Sweet Chestnut is more closely related to the Oak and Beech than the Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) which produces the more familiar inedible conker. The fruit are popular with jays and squirrels.