Leeds Light Night

Leeds Light Night took place on Friday evening as the city was transformed by performance, installations and exhibitions to shed new light on buildings and locations in Leeds. For me the great thing about Light Night is the opportunity to look upon the city from a fresh perspective as you would if visting a city for the first time. On our tour of St George's Field, Leeds University, an unexpected bonus was the sight of bats circling the Chapel seemingly unperturbed by the visitors.   Whilst walking through the university grounds I caught sight of these two illuminated climbers, Virgina Creeper and Clematis Montana that could have been worthy exhibits for Light Night.

Elsewhere, on the Headrow, a passing flock of migrant winged creatures appeared in front of Oxford Place Methodist Centre, perhaps on their way to winter feeding grounds.

This piece of work is entitled Flocks by Pyramid of Arts who run arts groups for people with learning disabilities and non-disabled people throughout Leeds.

What a stinker!

This week I discovered the aptly named Stinkhorn fungi (Phallus impudicus) found on campus near the Victorian Monument on the edges of Queens Wood, amongst leaf litter and clipped rhododendrons in dappled shade. The unpleasant odour, one smelt never forgotten, alerts you to its presence before setting eyes on it.

The above pic shows how it looked 24 hours after emerging from the initial egg-like structure (below). I'd read how quickly they grow, so returned the next day to check on its progress. Surprisingly it had grown to full size and the insects of the manor had busily removed all of the spores, quick work!

The fruitbody begins as an egg-like structure from which the stalk grows rapidly, the stalk tip is covered in a stinky slimy spore mass known as the gleba. This thoroughly malodorous slime is what attracts the flies, who ingest and cover themselves in the substance to deposit the spores elsewhere. The fungi examples I found the slime has already been removed revealing the pale off-white honeycombed top.

 

Here's the spot where I found it, in a cleared verge in dappled shade amongst rhododendrons. Unfortunately I managed to crack my head on the diagonal branch which wasn't quite what I had in mind for a lunchtime fungi foray but luckily I have a resonably dense head so no damage was incurred.

Here are two more spotted in the vicinity earlier in the week, with a minimum of spores still visible.

 

Mist on Beckett Park

A heavy mist hung in the air this morning which made for some atmospheric views as the sun shone through the copse on Beckett Park.

Meanwood Ridge, Leeds

This weekend we walked up to Headingley and onto Meanwood Ridge which forms part of the Meanwood Valley Trail. Having not been for a while it was apparent that the Meanwood Ridge Action Group working in association with Leeds City Council are doing a thorough job of managing the woodland.

Broadleaf species such as Oak, Beech, Sycamore and Ash predominate with some ornamental species such as Rowan, Laburnum, Sweet Chestnut, Viburnum which are a throwback to its previous incarnation as a public park in late Victorian times. Images of the park feature on the interpretive boards installed along the Ridge.

On the edge of the woodland the fruits of the Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus) shine like jewels and the serrated leaves turn a wonderful rich red colour. The berries are popular with Mistle Thrush and Bullfinch which we saw for ourselves on a visit to Kirkstall Valley Nature Reserve last September. 

On our wander we saw Jay, Wren, Robin, Blue Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Great Tit, Magpies, Wood Pigeon, a Moor Hen on Meanwood Beck, heard a Nuthatch, and spent some time dodging acorns from Grey Squirrels overhead.

A view of backlit bracken stems attached to the branches of a Hawthorn

As befits this time of year, we encountered a number of interesting fungi which I'll follow up in my next post. I thought I'd try to give the fungi a rest for at least one post!

Fungi Friday - Post Hill, Pudsey

A few more fungi from last Sunday's visit to Post Hill Wood, Pudsey, a Leeds City Council designated Leeds Nature Area. Its a steep sloping area of birch and oak woodland rising up between Pudsey and Farsley with marshland at the base adjoining Pudsey Beck. It has an interesting history, in 1926 it was opened as an area for motorcycle sport, where it was named after the Yorkshire Evening Post, and it continues to be used by West Leeds Motor Club. Apparently during WW2 it was the site of an anti aircraft post and a POW camp.

As well as the scarlet red Fly Agaric we found a few more fungi, such as this  damaged Earthball (Scleroderma) which was worth a snap, it was surprisingly weighty & covered in a tough scaly skin.   

A cluster of cap and stem fungi growing underneath Hawthorn and birch.

A purple tinged cap and stem fungi growing amongst leaf litter under a Hawthorn

Growing in clusters through dense leaf litter, Common Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum), their surface is covered with tiny spines that wear away as they mature. The darker area is where the pores develop and the spores released. 

Finishing with a splash of colour, Stag Horn fungus (Colocera viscosa), bright orange-yellow tiny fungus, 2-3cm tall, growing through moss on a conifer stump.

Post Hill is worth a visit, if you do go I recommend clambering to the top of the hill where the views are worth the effort. Leeds Countryside Volunteers Newsletter pdf (1.8Mb) includes an article on Post Hill.