Settle Wildflowers 152: Ivy - Eco-explorers - Settle Parish churchyard

 

A white sheet was placed under the ivy (see foreground top left), we bashed the ivy with a stick and looked for insects which landed on the sheet.

October 2nd  - Eco-Explorers at 4pm.

Two  weeks ago we had spread out a white sheet under the holly tree , knocked the branches with a stick and looked at the creatures- insects that fell off it.

That was such a success that we tried it again this week.  We tried horse chestnut tree and holly tree which yield a spider and a fly. We tried a different species - Ivy in flower - and that had lots more under it.

Even a two year old can discover more using a hand lens. - I think this is a record in our group though.

The ivy bush - technically growing in the Settle Carlisle Line Railway land.

I have never noticed the curly ridges on the ivy before.

Fox and Cubs still out in the grassland

You might have noticed our young hero has a white badge with a big S on his arm.

They had been doing the letter S in phonics today at school. 

 At the Sticky bud tree (Horse Chestnut) beside the Church we all had fun discovering Spiders, and Snails and putting String into conkers.

Reflections:-

I had a quick look round but failed to find any FUNGI as we had done two years ago.

People say there are far fewer insects this year. I agree. The fact that we were interested in the wasp - well in earlier years we would have been pestered by wasps all late summer. Not this year with its excessive rain.

I am so grateful for the two families that came. and are keen.

It meant the meeting took place. It meant that I discovered creatures and there in the centre of Settle, below the Settle Carlisle Railway

We have over ten families on our list (maybe 15 or 20 including those who came to summer camp)  but there are so many other activities arranged for children nowadays (one of our regulars has now started gymnastics , others go swimming or to brownies/guides), or parents / grandparents have to work, that very few come. 

Some people say "Arrange another event in the half term holiday" -  but then we discover that nearly every family goes off somewhere else at half term.

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Settle Wildflowers 151: Juncus tenuis - Slender Rush Helwith Bridge

 

Fri 20 Sept: Juncus tenuis. Slender Rush. The Car Park at Helwith Bridge. Gravelly soil, puddles. This is a new record for Settle's hectad SD86 , The nearest other records being near Grassington, Thornton in Craven and beyond Low Bentham. https://database.bsbi.org/maps/?taxonid=2cd4p9h.8qq

It has blades like grass blades in that they are dorsiventrally flattened.

It is likely to have been imported with forage or timber from North America. I have found it on footpaths in Holland and on Headley Heath (Box Hill) on footpaths. for many years but the maps show it does really well in the west of Britain and SE of England. It is spreading.

https://plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9h.8qq

I thought it might be Juncus compressus (The round fruited rush -when I first found it because I have found that in the area before, and because this had exceedingly round fruit.

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But Juncus compressus has tepals that are obtuse to rounded at the apex, ad the tepals of this plant here are acute, and longer than the capsules.

Jucncus compressus (and gerardii for that matter) are rhizomatous and Juncus tenuis is tufted. This was definitely tufted.

And quite a lot of vigorous separate tufts n the car park.

Settle Eco-Explorers Summer Day Camp 28-29 August 2024

 We had three families on the Wednesday and 16 families on the Thursday 29 September

(The Wednesday evening 4pm meetings on the first and third Wednesday of the month have now resumed - next meeting starting at St Johns Church Settle at 4 pm: Wed  18 September)

Dragonflies and wildflowers at Swarth Moor 6 Sept 2024 with CCG and Yorkshire Peat Partnership

A sunny day greeted us when our postponed Craven Conservation Group visit to Swarth Moor was finally held on 6 September.

Swarth Moor - at Helwith Bridge in the Yorkshire Dales - is a Lowland Raised Bog with a good lagg area. (In most bogs in England the agricultural land-crops or pasture - goes right up to the raised bog. The area of natural vegetation which had wildflowers that long ago would lie between the dryland and acid raised bog has been removed (Drained, reseeded etc) 

Six members of Craven Conservation Group were guided round by Jessica McMaster and Alex Smith of the Yorkshire Peat Partnership.

Alex has written a good blog post about Swarth Moor here.

https://www.yppartnership.org.uk/blog/alex-smith/restoration-dragons-dales

Here are some pictures

We met in the car park over the road from the Helwith Bridge Hotel, and I will show you a few plants from there at the end.

We leave Helwith Bridge hamlet and the road and walk over Black Syke ditch, onto the bog- though the vegetation here here is not bog because this ditch has drained and lowered the water table tremendously here. The ditch is deep, but in spite of the wet weather over spring and summer there is no or little water in it - showing how it has lowered the water table. Hence the land next to us has become grassland with Tufted Hair-grass, False Oat-grass, Cocksfoot etc. 

Soon there are signs of wild  wetland plants - Here is Sneezewort.

Sneezewort in the foreground

Sneezewort and hoverfly.

Watermint.  This species is late in flowering. Last week it was still in bud up at Malham Tarn.

Black Darter

The Black Darter, once released was quite happy to sit on Jack's hat

Walking beyond the Reedmace towards the path round the quarry

Reedmace

Marsh Willowherb

We were intrigued by a  bush of Bay Leaved Willow (Salix pentandra) I think. 

All the leaves were big and relatively healthy compared to the  "on the way out" other trees of what I loosely think of as a hybrid mix of Salix cinerea, phylicifolia and nigricans though I had not checked them) - It is September.

Then I noticed that all the branches were new sprouts from a log lying in the ground.

Had the log been put there, and then these side shoots grown?. Or had there been a bigger tree which had been felled?

Anyway what really caught our attention was the insect life on them

Lunch. Penyghent in the background

On the path round the edge of the quarry was lots of New Zealand Willowherb

Coir had been places at the edge of the path

Heather in bloom

Cross Leaved Heath

Wild Strawberry

Grass hopper on the viewing platform

This area was sheltered from the strong winds elsewhere. We found several dragonflies on the trees here.

Releasing the dragonfly