Just where did February go???
It's hard to believe that yet another month has gone by. How can time pass so quickly during a lockdown? By keeping busy of course!!
First off the blocks with environmental related news this month was bag lady, Anita - here's evidence of her good deed and her comment:
Another fun day of foraging! Todays prize,
apart from the usual bottles, cans and dog poo bags,
is a hanging basket and baseball cap. 
Anita also found this eyesore by the wayside near her home - the bin near the local pub.
A candidate for the Guinness Book of Records
for the fullest bin 2021?
Obviously walkers buying take away drinks didn't want to take their litter home when there was a receptacle close to hand, even if it wasn't being emptied. Eco warrior Anita was so incensed by the sight that she contacted the pub and within 24 hours the bin had been removed and the mess cleared up. Result! Well done Anita.
Ros K. found a much more welcome sight on her walk (20/02) - a host of golden daffodils near her home in Knaresborough.
Spring is really starting to spring!!
Will has been busy watching birds in his garden. He was pleased to see a Tawny Owl round the house a number of times, four Blackcaps in the garden and a Redpoll and a Siskin on the bird feeders. This was a particularly impressive count considering he lives within just a stone's throw of one of the busiest roundabouts in Harrogate. Obviously feeding the birds is paying off.
Once the snow cleared, Tony was able to get down into his woodland and found that some essential work was needed on the gullies that the NCVs put in a few years ago. Out came the spade.....
...and out came the mud and stones that had
been washed in by the flooding stream.
As well as that Tony started work on the annual tree tube weeding job in his new plantation that the NCVs helped to plant. He reports:
I started work on the tree guards today giving priority to the thorn trees down the edge of the field. Every one has survived, which is excellent, despite the stony ground and the big sycamore nearby. Only another 550 more to check!
Now, we all love wildlife and moles are endearing little creatures - but not when they run riot under your property. This is just what they have done in Tony's top field. A trap was set and found to have been sprung overnight, without catching a mole. It had a mole hill built all around it. Tony thinks that Moley must have gone below the trap and tidied up the area around it, pushing the earth to the top. Clever animal!
Moley 1 : Tony 0
Up the Moles!!
Liz took advantage of a snowfall to take her home schooling classroom outdoors. Young Harry was taken on a walk in Hackfall woods (PE) to do some nature study. He was taught how to recognise deer tracks and they tracked them through the woodland and found them down by Fountains pond!
Eyes peeled now - here are
their unmistakable hoof prints.
Let's see if we can find them.....
LIZ: ...and there they are!
HARRY: Where?
LIZ: Over there. Can't you see them?
HARRY: They are very well camouflaged. I think that
you could do with that special wildlife camera that
was awarded to Tony in the photo competition......
Ros K. was also practising her animal print ID skills and came across this puzzling phenomenon down in the Nidd Gorge. There were deer prints in various places but they only ever appeared as single prints!! Now why would that be?
A deer on a pogo stick? Hop-a-long deer?
A walker with a pole shaped like a deer print?
Whilst Liz and Harry were in Hackfall they came across another species, this one hard at work...
...namely - the great crested NCV Paul, using his daily exercise
allocation to sort out a badly blocked drain.
Paul has sent in the photograph of an ice age mammoth that he saw in in Hackfall in mid February, during that very cold spell. It was grazing on the undergrowth just below the Weeping Rock.
Clearly there are no blockages in the culvert leading to this particular water feature!!
Talking of Hackfall, you may like to have a listen to a Woodland Trust podcast that includes a short piece about the woods. The two people being interviewed are none other than our very own David Mason and a previous AONB volunteer co-ordinator, Paul Mosley (who now works for the Woodland Trust).
Ros E. has been busy recording veteran trees in the Summerbridge area on the Woodland Trust Ancient Tree Inventory. It's surprising that there are any left to record, given all the ones she has entered so far, but they still keep catching her eye. These two, in particular, were surprising, given where they were growing.
Not much soil to root in here.
Amazing!!
She has also started logging all the seasonal signs she spots for the Woodland Trust's 'Nature's Calendar'. This citizen science project will help keep track of climate change. You have to be careful you don't miss something important. Things are changing very fast at the moment.
These hazel catkins weren't ready to record on this walk.....
...but just a few days later they were. Any longer and
it would have been too late!
Liz has made a start on an environmental project in her garden. A new greenhouse is being established ready for the upcoming veg planting season. Hope she knows how all the bits fit together. Make sure you read the instructions Liz. Don't just go by instinct!
Feb 19th -
Right - job's nearly done. Time for a cuppa?
As well as working at home on the greenhouse, Liz has also been busy in the NCV barn - as you can see below....
Saw storage galore. Liz has done the job all by herself!
Well done that woman. We are all impressed by your carpentry skills.
Amazing what you can do with a broomstick!
And talking about environmentally related carpentry projects.....
Dave has been building a very sturdy, new compost bin
to replace the rotting one that has now been consigned
to room 101. No wonder he looks so pleased with himself!
NCV Osian, a council worker in his day job, reported just how extreme things have become during this pandemic. With the snow and disruption at the start of the month, not only was he redeployed to snow shifting duties to help keep the roads clear, but apparently there was simply no more funding left to provide workers with appropriate PPE. The council had obviously been inspired in their planning by the picture of the snow angel in the recent NCV photo competition.
Monday
Osian - we feel your pain!
Tuesday
OMG Osian - this is a blatant case of cruelty to the workers.
You must get the unions involved.
Wednesday?
Don't worry - he sent no further pics!! Peter Brambleby (the owner of Fishpond Wood in Bewerley) has now got his website up and running. You may want to take a look at various sections of the site - as well as some lovely photographs you will see mention of the NCVs in the 'Woodland Management Plan' area.
Fishpond Wood (Whitewoods) site
According to the site, the goldfish that Graham spotted in the lake (see the January blog entry) has been there for 10 years and is a foot long golden carp called Horace! I wonder why we haven't noticed him before, given all the time we have spent clearing rhododendrons by the side of the lake?
If you have finished doing all your jigsaw puzzles and tidied all your cupboards then here's a link that some of you may like to follow for some indoor entertainment. It was sent in by Liz and gives access to a number of interesting, free video 'courses'.
And a couple of final gems.....
NCV Tony, the winner of the special 'Blue Cup' award in the recent NCV photography competition, has been out and about deploying the camera he won for that kingfisher pic, photographing the local birdies. As you can see from the example below, his pictures are much improved by this new piece of kit (although he has said that he may have to consider buying a donkey to help carry it around).
This little long tailed tit looks as if it has brushed
out its plumage specially for its portrait.
Tony was just too overwhelmed to give a thank you speech from the stage on the night of the BLOOM ceremony. However - he has now composed one to share via this blog entry. Typically, being Tony, he has decided to use his poetic talents.
So - Tony - can you come to the podium to end this blog entry please? I did dust it off in readiness....
I must apologise for the delay in offering my thanks to all those who voted for me in the BLOOM NCV Photography Competition. Following the award I was so delighted that the celebrations left my brain and hands a little shaky for a few days. But this morning, after strong coffee and several prairie oysters, I was full of shame. A little belatedly, I offer my thank you speech from the podium.
I stand here at the podium
Expecting your opprobrium
For I deserve much odium
In winning that blue mug
I point the camera – it clicks
Each second it takes many pics
It’s such a clever box of tricks -
A mystery to me!
For every hundred pics it takes
Some 99 are bad mistakes
I’m spending hours on many dates
Deleting nearly all.
To win the prize is quite absurd
I really should have come in third
But thanks for voting for my bird
I owe you all a pint!
With much gratitude.
Tony
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