Kirkstall wander, Kirkstall Hill

A couple of days ago, I wandered over to Kirkstall Hill, where I immediately recognised the call of a Chiffchaff and caught a quick glimpse before it disappeared but continued to remain in the area. The blackthorn were flowering & birches were full of catkins.

Kirkstall Hill is a small (200m x 150m x 150m ) unimpressive triangular section of west facing greenspace located at the busy crossroads of Kirkstall Lane and Kirkstall Hill. Half of the area is grassland with shrubs, brambles and deciduous trees  bordering the remaining area, Hawthorn, Birch, Laurel, Holly, Ivy, Oak, Blackthorn. Kirkstall Hill was the site of an old quarry, owned by Reffitts, a firm of dyers based on Kirkstall Road, (thanks to Andrea for her help). The most notable feature is the view from the hill up along the Aire Valley which is pretty impressive on a clear day.

As well as the Chiffchaff, Goldfinch, Long Tail Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Robin, Blackbird, & Wren were all active in the surrounding trees and shrubs.

The only butterfly in view was this Small Tortoiseshell.

Birch catkins were showing well, you can clearly see the difference between the longer hanging male catkins and the smaller upright female catkins, as the fresh shiny finely toothed leaves  are starting to unfurl.

Nan Whin Woods, Tong

Nesting Thrush

On our visit to Nan Whin Woods in Tong we first dropped by Goodalls Ice Cream Parlour on Tong Lane for pre-walk refreshments. Two scoops of Chocolate and Hokey Pokey (honeycomb & caramel) in a sugar cone later we set off on our woodland wander. We caught sight of this Mistle Thrush constructing its mossy nest high up in the fork of a tree. Thanks to Phil (Another Bird Blog) for his ID.  Chiffchaffs sang from the Hawthorn tops. 

Chiffchaff

An elusive pair of Jays were appeared on our return where we spotted them near the banks of the stream.

Jay

Sunlight filtering through banks of Anenomes flanking the beck.

Having read Midmarsh John's post on Midmarsh Jottings  earlier in the week I recognised this straight away asa Bee Fly (bombylius major), thanks John!

Bee Fly

A Comma, one of 4 seen during the visit, along with Peacock (6) Small Tortoiseshell (8).

Comma

Nan Whin Woods, Tong

We visited Nan Whin Woods at the weekend, near Tong. Once we headed out of the woodland and into the valley I was amazed at the number of butterflies on the wing. Approximately 8 x Orange Tips, 12 x Peacocks, 5 x Small Tortoiseshell, 7 x Comma, 5 Whites and my first Brimstone of the year, I'm guessing a male because of its bright yellow colouring.

The only ones that stood still for a moment were this Comma.

A dainty White on a dandelion

This striking Comma in profile, the white comma visible on the underwing. Yes it is sat on a piece of poo.   

We heard a few familiar 'chiff chaffs' throughout our wander and eventually spotted two birds in a hawthorn, its not a great pic but enough to show that its a ChiffChaff, we watched it fly up into the air and floated down on spread wings which I read is common behaviour for courting males.

Having underestimated how warm it was, at this point we were a little parched, and made our way out of the valley and headed towards Goodalls ice cream parlour on Tong Road. Due to our in built foody sat nav we ended up joining the main road a mere 10 metres from the entrance to the farm! Kerching! Andrea had Chocolate and Pannacotta and I had Chocolate and Hokey Pokey then we turned around.

Adel Dam Nature Reserve

On Saturday morning we took Maureen along to Adel Dam Nature Reserve. After hearing that she'd never seen a Woodpecker we thought it the most likely place to strike lucky. Good call....we could hear one as we approached the reserve and within a minute a Great Spotted Woodpecker was overhead, we observed it for a moment before it flew off and another appeared in a treetop less than a minute afterwards, mission accomplished.


So with the pressure off and time on our side, we spent a wee while in the first hide where we spotted three Peacock butterflies alternately basking in a Willow tree and landing on the ground in front of us, although nearer they were too obscured by foliage to get a decent pic. I remember seeing one or two Peacocks last year in the same spot. Also on the feeders, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Robin and an unexpected Reed Bunting which I haven't seen here before.



We walked round to the lakeside hide where a handful of Teal, Mallards & Coot occupied the lake, and a Long Tailed Tit was busy collecting nesting material in front of the hide. Continuing on through the reserve we spotted this woodland songbird that we think might be a Chiffchaff. I understand the warblers are difficult to identify by sight, so having listened a recording I'm pretty confident it sounded most like the bird we heard.

Thornley Woodlands, Rowlands Gill

Whilst in the North East we popped across to Thornley, Rowlands Gill a couple of miles away from where I grew up. During a short stay in the busy hide we spotted Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Yellowhammer & greedy Grey Squirrel. Everything dived for cover a millisecond before a Sparrowhawk flew overhead. Walking through the woodland we spotted a couple of Nuthatch & what we think was a Chiffchaff. Wood Anemone (Anemone nemorosa) and Wood Sorrell (Oxalis acetosella) in bloom, an abundance of Birch Polypore and an Oak Polypore near the Woodland Centre.

Information about Thornley Woodlands Centre

Wood Anemone
Wood SorrellOak polypore (Piptoporus quercinus)

Nuthatch
We think it may be a Chiff Chaff
On the feeders, Chaffinch and Bullfinch