Breary Marsh and Adel Dam

Another guest post from Andrea from her journeys through Breary Marsh and onto the nearby Adel Dam Nature Reserve where she spotted lots of woodland birds and took some very nice shots of Wren, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Long Tail Tit and more Wren against some interesting backdrops.

Treecreeper

I found the next three shots interesting, as all birds were feeding on the trunk of an Oak. English Oak trees in particular provide habitats for a wider range of organisms than any other tree in the UK. The older the tree, the deeper the fissures in the bark, the greater number of potential microhabitats for sheltering invertebrates, the greater the food source for birds. The surface patterns of the bark also provide a distracting backdrop that has the effect of camouflaging the visiting birds.

Nuthatch

Long Tail Tit

Jenny Wren 

Treecreeper

Thank you Andrea

More of the Bar Headed Goose at Breary Marsh

While I was at work Andrea had the day off (boo!) and found herself on a return journey to Breary Marsh, where she enjoyed better views of the sociable Bar Headed Goose (Anser indicus), hanging out with its Canada Geese pals (hooray!).

I noticed a sighting of a BHG a few flaps of a goosies wing away at Goldenacre Park on Bird Guides 23/10/11. Apparently its one of the world's highest flying birds, high flying and handsome...

A big thanks to Andrea for the pics.

Bar Headed Goose and Bluebells at Breary Marsh

A certainty to be an escapee, but nevertheless this Bar Headed Goose was a pleasant sight on Paul's Pond at Breary Marsh, alongside two Canada Geese, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Grebe and Moor Hen. I have to admit that we didn't know what it was until I got home and referred to my Collins Bird Guide which revealed this oneto be an adult, as the juveniles lack the cross bars on the head . Two Pied Wagtail dashed sprightly along the wall at the water's edge. No sign of any Great Spotted Woodpecker today in the woodland, but we did see a Bullfinch and a Kestrel over Cookridge golf course.

Bluebells are starting to emerge in the woodland and there should be a good display in another week or so.

Breary Marsh Woodpecker

Went to Breary Marsh LNR for a quick trip to try and find a woodpecker.  This one gave itself away by chirping for ages until I was close enough to spot it.  It did its best to prevent me from getting a decent picture, ducking behind branches, deliberately facing the wrong way etc.  but I managed a couple of shots.  Breary Marsh is at the Western edge of Golden Acre Park in Leeds and is a lot quieter than the main park.  It is a pretty reliable spot for a woodpecker so worth a look.

The woodpecker shows me its best side again.  Looks like a female to me.  She was around for a while, jumping from tree to tree and then flew too far away for me to snap any more.   Other birds in the area included bullfinch, chaffinch, great tits and robins.

Andrea

Breary Marsh

Up at Breary Marsh earlier today, Bluebells, Ferns and Greater Stitchwort were all in fine display, enjoying patches of intermittent sunlight prior to the thickening of the canopy.  We heard Warblers, Bullfinch, Chaffinch Robin and Blackbird in the trees, and saw Tufted Duck, Canada Geese, Moorhen and Grebe on Paul's Pond.

Greater Stitchwort appeared in patches around edges of the woodland.  Less abundant than those posted by Phil Gates (Cabinet of Curiosities) but equally eye catching.




Speckled Woods and Large Whites were the butterflies of the day. Although present in comparatively smaller numbers the former proved far more obliging than the latter.

Adel Dam and Breary Marsh

Visits earlier in the week to Adel Dam and Breary Marsh brought views of Great Spotted Woodecker. On the Breary Marsh side we spotted a couple of males and from the 1st hide at Adel Dam this female, lacking the red on the back of the head.

This was one of two males spotted high in the treetops.

At a distance, a fox in nearby fields, spotted us and continued to the stone wall and leaped over and out of sight.

There were plenty of woodland birds, this Chaffinch, Robin, Wren, Coal Tit, Blackbird, Long Tail Tit, Blue Tit, Wood Pigeon.

From the 1st hide at Adel Dam this Nuthatch enjoys a rather fatty looking snack.

Wildflowers in bloom included Lesser Celandine, Wood Sorrell and Bluebells. These ones grew against a moss topped fallen trunk, the horizontal fissures resembling the lines of a musical stave and the flowers the musical notes.

Breary Marsh Nature Reserve

A couple of nights ago we ventured to Goldenacre & took a detour through Breary Marsh Nature Reserve to find Paul’s pond. Previous attempts to find the pond were thwarted due to muddy conditions underfoot, inclement weather & failing light. Of course its easy to find once you know where to look.... The woodland is predominantly alder, willow, oak and birch.

On reaching the pond, waterside residents were scarce apart from couple of pairs of Mallards, Coots and a Mute Swan, maybe we'll have better luck next time.

We spotted a few instances of this cap & stem fungi growing amongst leaf litter, approx 10cm x 10cm, buff coloured cap upturned at the margins and deep gilled on the underside.There's plenty of bracket fungi in the woodland such as tough Hoof fungi (Fomes fomentarius), & Birch polypores (Piptoporus betulinus) in plain view. Woodland feathered residents included chaffinch, blue tit, blackbird, goldfinch & robin.

The woodland joins onto Leeds Country Way & we enjoyed a meander through meadowland watching swallows soar acrobatically overhead & rabbits bobbing through the fields. A few tiny moths flittered about the pathways but I only managed to photograph this one, is it maybe another Silver-ground Carpet Moth (Xanthorhoe montanata m.) which is the only moth I manage to spot?

On the walk back we heard a commotion in a neighbouring hedgerow & spotted a healthy looking fox scouting for supper. On this occasion at least the bird made a loud enough racket to chase away the fox.