Meeting Reports

Fungi Walk. Beauchief Abbey Thursday 17th October.

Thirteen members of U3A joined with the Sorby Natural History Society for a fungi walk at Beauchief Abbey led by Chris Kelly,Carol Hobart and Jim. It was a beautiful Autumn morning with sunshine on the dewy grass. We first looked at the grassy lawn by the Abbey for fungi that live on decaying thatch. Carol told us about the vital importance of fungi in the decomposition and digestion of dead materials and the importance of them in the cycle of life. Many plants need fungi to be able to utilize nutrients and grow. Microryzal fungus get food directly from a tree and in return the fungus helps to extend the roots of the tree. She mentioned that some groups of fungi have been affected by the imbalance to nature caused by climate change Genus/species English name Date Grid ref. Site Sub area Substrate/habitat ID Lit if known Recorder Determiner Notes Mycena sp. A Bonnet 17.10.19 SK333819 Beauchief Abbey Lawns Unimproved grassland C. Kelly C Kelly A number of unidentified grassland species. Cuphophyllus virgineus Snowy Waxcap 17.10.19 SK333819 Beauchief Abbey Lawns Unimproved grassland C. Kelly J Horsfall, Cuphophyllus pratensis Meadow Waxcap 17.10.19 SK333819 Beauchief Abbey Lawns Unimproved grassland C. Kelly J Horsfall, C Hobart Gliophorus irrigatus Slimy Waxcap 17.10.19 SK333819 Beauchief Abbey Lawns Unimproved grassland C. Kelly J Horsfall, C Hobart Gliophorus psittacinus Parrot Waxcap 17.10.19 SK333819 Beauchief Abbey Lawns Unimproved grassland C. Kelly J Horsfall, C Hobart Lactarius blennius Slimy Milkcap 17.10.19 SK333819 Beauchief Abbey Lawns Under beech C. Kelly C Hobart Hygrocybe glutinipes Glutinous Waxcap 17.10.19 SK333819 Beauchief Abbey Lawns Unimproved grassland C. Kelly J Horsfall, Porpolomopsis calyptriformisPink Waxcap 17.10.19 SK333819 Beauchief Abbey Lawns Unimproved grassland C. Kelly C Hobart Galerina sp. A Bell 17.10.19 SK333819 Beauchief Abbey Lawns Unimproved grassland C. Kelly C Hobart Cystoderma amianthinum Earthy Powdercap 17.10.19 SK333819 Beauchief Abbey Lawns Unimproved grassland C. Kelly C Hobart Hygrocybe auratiosplendens Orange Waxcap 17.10.19 SK333819 Beauchief Abbey Lawns Unimproved grassland C. Kelly J Horsfall Clavulinopsis luteoalba Apricot Club 17.10.19 SK333819 Beauchief Abbey Lawns Unimproved grassland C. Kelly J Horsfall Clavulinopsis corniculata Meadow Coral 17.10.19 SK333819 Beauchief Abbey Lawns Unimproved grassland C. Kelly J Horsfall, C Hobart Xerocomellus chrysenteron Red Cracking Bolete 17.10.19 SK333819 Beauchief Abbey Lawns Unimproved grassland C. Kelly C Hobart Laccaria laccata The Deceiver 17.10.19 SK333819 Beauchief Abbey Lawns Unimproved grassland C. Kelly C Kelly Hebeloma sp A Poison Pie 17.10.19 SK333819 Beauchief Abbey Lawns Base of beech hedge C. Kelly C Hobart Rhytisma acerinum Sycamore Tar Spot 17.10.19 SK333819 Beauchief Abbey Lawns Sycamore leaves C. Kelly C Hobart Geoglossum sp An Earthtongue 16.10.19 SK333819 Beauchief Abbey Lawns Unimproved grassland C. Kelly C Hobart Found on reccy on previous day Mycena rosea Rosy Bonnet 17.10.19 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodBeech leaf litter C. Kelly C Kelly Xylaria hypoxylon Candlesnuff Fungus 17.10.19 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodDead branch C. Kelly C Kelly Lycoperdon perlatum Common Puffball 17.10.20 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodLeaf Litter C. Kelly C Kelly Clitocybe gibba Common Funnel 17.10.21 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodLeaf Litter C. Kelly C Kelly Hypoxylon fragiforme Beech Woodwart 17.10.22 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodDead beech C. Kelly C Kelly Ascocoryne sp A Purple Jellydisc 17.10.23 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodDead beech C. Kelly C Kelly Helvella crispa White Saddle 17.10.24 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodSoil C. Kelly C Kelly Exidia thuretiana White Brain 17.10.25 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodDead tree C. Kelly C Kelly Pluteus cervinus Deer Shield 17.10.26 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodBase of beech tree C. Kelly C Kelly Stereum hirsutum Hairy Curtain Crust 17.10.27 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodDead log C. Kelly C Kelly Trametes versicolor Turkey Tail 17.10.28 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodDead log C. Kelly C Kelly Fomes fomentarius Horse's Hoof fungus 17.10.29 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodDead log C. Kelly C Kelly Ganoderma sp A Bracket 17.10.30 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodDead log C. Kelly C Kelly Hypholoma fasciculare Sulphur Tuft 17.10.31 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodDead log C. Kelly C Kelly Bjerkandera adusta Smoky Bracket 17.10.32 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodDead log C. Kelly C Kelly Clitocybe nebularis Cloudy Funnel 17.10.33 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodLeaf litter C. Kelly C Kelly Rhodocollybia butyracea Butter cap 17.10.34 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodLeaf litter C. Kelly C Kelly Russula sp A Brittlegill 17.10.35 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodUnder beech C. Kelly C Kelly Probably ochraleuca Lepista nuda Wood Blewitt 17.10.36 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodLeaf litter C. Kelly C Kelly Gymnopus dryophilus Russet Toughshank 17.10.37 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodLeaf litter C. Kelly C Kelly Laccaria amethystina Amethyst Deceiver 17.10.38 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodLeaf litter C. Kelly C Kelly Tricholoma sulphureum Sulphur Knight 17.10.39 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodUnder beech C. Kelly C Kelly Pholiota squarrosa Shaggy Scalycap 17.10.40 SK333819 Beauchief Meadow Base of Beech tree C. Kelly C Kelly Lycogala sp A Wolf's Milk Slime Mould17.10.41 SK336818 Beauchief Parkbank WoodDead log C. Kelly C Kelly We then entered Parkbank Wood and Chris showed us many different fungi that live on decaying wood. It was a very informative morning and we are very grateful to Chris,Carol and Jim for showing us so much

Al and John Roberts"

Visit to Woodhouse Washlands 19th September 2019

A group of 16 people led by Tim Marsh, ably supported by Robin Peel, Ken Balkow, Al and John Roberts & the members, met at Furnace Rd., Woodhouse Washlands, Sheffield (map ref. 432857), for their U3A Natural History September monthly outing. There was a clear blue sky, it was sunny, warm, calm and dry underfoot. The Washlands, on the boundary between Sheffield and Rotherham, is well managed by the Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust. It straddles the River Rother and comprises 53 hectares of grassland, scrub and alluvial floodplain grazing marsh. The river was straightened in the 1960s leaving ponds, temporary pools and ditches, and a flood barrier was erected at the downstream end at the same time to control the river flow. The area is crossed by a railway viaduct and a road viaduct (A57), and links the Rother Valley Country Park, the Treeton lakes/Orgreave site and Shirebrook Valley Nature reserve, all part of the continuous green corridors amongst the houses and factories, for wildlife across the city. As there is no connection within the Washlands across the river, we walked on the Sheffield (West) side, which probably has more varied habitats. The East side is generally flatter, with some areas fenced, for protection to ground nesting birds, although there is an oxbow lake and it is bordered by the Trans Pennine Trail. The cattle had recently been removed from the Sheffield side, so we wandered from Furnace Lane, where the introduced wildflower mix had recently been cut down, past the large Italian Black Poplar tree and dipping pool and along the river bank, before investigating the ponds, marshes, hedges and ditches and then returning along the river bank. Bird sightings included :–

Little Egret, Grey Heron, Sandmartin Cormorant Snipe which were flushed out and flew, Goldfinch Swans Black Headed Gull Chaffinch Carrion Crow Magpie Starling Wood Pigeon Blue Tit Coot Moorhen

Other sightings included :-

Dragonflies – Common Darter (some mating and ovipositing) and Southern Hawker Butterflies - Small White

Some of the plants noted :-

Purple Loosestrife Indian balsam Bulrush Celery-leaved buttercup Smooth Hawkesbeard White clover Red clover Common ragwort Creeping Thistle Yarrow Ribbed melilot Great Willowherb Broad-leaved willowherb Canadian fleabane Mugwort Scentless Mayweed Bramble (the blackberries were fantastic) Corn Marigold (probably from a cultivated seed mix) Rosa Rugosa

A very enjoyable morning ramble, in perfect weather.

Visit to Millersdale. Thursday 15th August 2019

Location: Millersdale Station Carpark Weather: Cloudy and windy at first but becoming sunny.

The route taken was west along the Monsall Trail then into the abandoned quarry, further along the trail to the river then back along the riverbank to the carpark. Recent heavy rain had affected the flowering plants. On the side of the trail was an abundance of Knapweed but also some Common Valerian and Angelica. At the side of the path up to the quarry we saw wild strawberries, Field Scabious and Dewberry and Lady’s Mantle. The quarry floor had some carefully marked stems and seed heads of Bee Orchid. Also lots of Eyebright and several Carline Thistle. There was a notice warning of the presence of nesting owls. The consensus was that they may be LIttle Owl but despite intensive searching no owl was seen. Along the riverbank we were able to get a good view of a Dipper and a Grey Wagtail. We also had specimens of Nipplewort and Wall Lettuce growing close together. At the station platform we saw Bloody and Meadow Cranesbills,Toadflax, Dark Mullein and Orpine. As the wind had now dropped and the sun was shining, butterflies were beginning to fly and we had a good view of a Painted Lady.

Robin Peel

Gang Mine 25th July 2019

Nine members turned up for this meeting on the hottest day of the year and struggled with the heat. We parked at the Stone Centre where we immediately found the following plants of interest in the car park:- Thyme-leaved Sandwort, Smooth Hawksbeard, Hawkweed Oxtongue, Nipplewort, Basil, Albino Broad-leaved Willowherb, American Willowherb, Broad-leaved Helleborine, Dogwood with white berries and Prickly Sow-thistle.

A short walk took us to the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve, Gang Mine, where many of the plants we saw were on the spoil heaps with a high lead content. They were Burnet Saxifrage, Hairbell, Red Campion, Knapweed, Yarrow, Mouse Ear Hawkweed, Common Toadflax, Broad-leaved Dock, White Clover, Lesser Burnet Saxifrage, Lady’s Bedstraw, Eyebright, Thyme, Small Scabious, Spring Sandwort (Leadwort), Birdsfoot Trefoil, Limestone Bedstraw?, Mountain Pansies, Curled Dock, Hoary Willowherb, Meadow Vetchling, Red Clover, Common Figwort and Crosswort.

We saw the following butterflies:- Small White, Brown Argus, Small Tortoiseshell, 6 Spot Burnet Moth, Small Copper, Small Skipper, Painted Lady, Small Heath, Ringlet, Large White, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper and Peacock. There were lots of Grasshoppers and some Red Soldier Beetles. A Sparrowhawk flew over.

After everyone else had left Liz and I had a short walk round the Stone Centre and saw Musk Thistle and Musk Mallows.

Sue Jackson

Alport July 4th 2019

On July 4th, ten members of the Natural History Group met at Alport and walked up Lathkill Dale to the riverside down from Raper Lodge. It was a beautiful summer morning and there were flowers in the hedgerows and fields and plenty of butterflies to watch. The following were identified.

Meadow Cranesbill hogweed red campion red clover white clover meadow buttercup forget-me-not white dead nettle creeping thistle bird's foot trefoil bush vetch smooth hawksbeard yellow vetchling greater burdock hedge parsley broad leaved dock honeysuckle ox-eye daisy spear thistle elderflower cleavers greater plantain knot grass great willowherb germander speedwell welted thistle hedge mustard knapweed common mousear lesser stitchwort water crowfoot blue water-speedwell rough hawkbit meadowsweet hemp agrimony common sorrel monkey flower catsear crosswort garlic mustard creeping buttercup yarrow shepherd's purse hedge woundwort herb bennet

Butterflies small heath meadow brown small tortoiseshell small skipper ringlet large skipper speckled wood red admiral green-veined white

Birds buzzard heron coot blackbird chaffinch moorhen mallard swift blackcap little grebe

Bridget Tattersall

Hollingwood Hub 20 06 2019

Eleven of us met on June 20th at Hollingwood Hub for a walk along the Chesterfield Canal & on a parallel track. This covered a variety of soils & plants.

Beside the sunny towpath we found tall plants of vipers bugloss, & there were broad-leaved everlasting pea, tall melilot, smooth hawksbeard, & many plants of bladder campion but the flowers were nearly over.. Dog roses, both pink & white, were growing in profusion, one with a striking robin's pin cushion gall growing on it.

Water plants at the edge of the canal included water figwort, false fox sedge, reed sweetgrass, & greater tussock sedge. Gipsywort was not yet in flower. Along the rough track were patches of ragged robin, a few plants of Southern marsh orchid,, alsike clover. Tansy & hypericum plants were not in flower. Other flowers included hop trefoil, cut leaved cranesbill, toadflax, the seedheads of goatsbeard, false oatgrass, 3 vetches, bush, common & tufted, & both smooth & hairy tare. On a bare patch of ground we saw tiny fern grass & small blue fleabane.

In an area used by motorcyclists where the ground is quite sandy we found hare's foot clover, thyme- leaved sandwort, wild mignonette, & perennial wall rocket which is rare in Derbyshire. House martens & swallows were flying around the canal, but on a mainly overcast morning the only butterfly we saw was a common blue.

Liz Cannell

THE TRANS-PENNINE TRAIL, 17 MAY 2019

Ten members met at Meadowhall for a walk along the trail to Rotherham, returning by the tram-train to the starting point or city centre. The first part of the walk followed the towpath of the Sheffield & Tinsley canal, and the flora here was very varied. Some of the species seen included hoary mustard, fodder vetch, Oxford ragwort, narrow-leaved ragwort, Russian vine, Japanese quince, hedge bedstraw, hedgerow cranesbill, shining cranesbill and small-flowered cranesbill. Common storksbill flowered in a grassy area near to Halfpenny Bridge, and the yellow-flowered Crepis vesicaria (beaked hawksbeard) was conspicuous everywhere. Further on the flora is less varied except in bare areas where small annuals such common cornsalad, wall speedwell and rue-leaved saxifrage can be seen. In bushy areas there was a good deal of guelder rose and dogwood, as well as the climber traveller's-joy. Near Jordans lock was a stand of narrow-leaved water-plantain, nationally uncommon though often seen on canals in South Yorkshire. The floating plant frogbit occurred further on near Ickles lock, though not yet in flower, and this is another local rarity. Some mulleins grew on railway land behind a high fence, but one plant had seeded itself outside the railings and I tentatively identified it as hoary mullein, though I will need to see it in flower to be certain. Further on was a fumitory which I could not identify on the spot, but a specimen taken home revealed it to be ramping fumitory (Fumaria capreolata), another rarity with no modern records in South Yorkshire. Just before reaching Rotherham station we saw some hops by the River Don as well as 2 large fig trees. The leader's eyes were focussed mainly on plants but a selection of birds and butterflies was also seen and in Rotherham I spotted two male banded demoiselles that others missed.

Ken Balkow

Cromford Canal 18th April 2019

Ten members met at Cromford Canal Wharf on the Thursday before Easter. It was rather overcast but it soon cleared to become a beautiful sunny day. We walked along the canal towards Ambergate stopping to look at numerous spring flowers. We saw several little grebe including one that was sitting on a nest two feet from the towpath in some reeds near to High Peak Junction. Hopefully it will not be disturbed by dogs. Also at this point we were very excited to have very good views of a water vole swimming along the edge and then passing under the bridge. There was much birdsong including many blackcap and chiffchaff.

Leawood Pumping Station was open and having maintenance work done. They kindly let us look around.

Some of the flowers. Lesser celandine Great yellow cress Wood anemone Garlic mustard golden saxifrage Thale cress Rue-leaved saxifrage Lady's smock Biting stonecrop Common whitlow grass Meadowsweet Common chickweed Wild strawberry Greater stitchwort Parsley peirt Primrose Sweet violet Bittersweet Dogs mercury Ivy-leaved toadflax Shining-leaved cranesbill Water figwort Herb Robert White dead-nettle Ground ivy Coltsfoot Wall lettuce Cowparsley Ragwort Bluebell Butterbur Cherry laurel Soft shield fern Hard shield fern Maidenhair spleenwort Black spleenwort Common polypody intermediate spleenwort Harts tongue fern

Natural History Walk March 21 March 2019

March’s walk took us along part of the Dronfield Rotary Club Walk, an 11 mile long round walk in total. Starting from the large car park behind Coal Aston Village Hall, we took a path past allotments and across a couple of farm fields, planted with wheat, to Cook Spring Wood. This was a pretty wood with an abundance of wood anemones just coming into flower and a stream running along its length. The leaves of many bluebells could be seen but we were a bit too early for flowers so a return visit in a few weeks time would be well worth it. A woodpecker could be heard not too far away but we didn’t manage to spot it. We did see a number of nuthatches and perhaps the most usual sighting was two female mandarin ducks sitting quite high up in the trees. This seems odd at first but these ducks nest in tree hollows near to water so these females were looking for their spring nesting sight. Just after crossing a footbridge over the stream the wood becomes Owler Car Wood. As we left the wood we climbed up quite a steep open field to a wooden bench at the top, which offered a rest and a splendid view over the valley we had just left. Skylarks were flying above the field as we sat and took in the view. Soon after this we took a farm track back to Eckington road, seeing buzzards flying as we walked, and returned to the car park along this road. Even on this residential road there was interest. The grass verge was lined at the roadside by the salt tolerant Danish Scurvy Grass encouraged by winter salting of roads. A few of us completed the walk with a pleasant visit to the Ferndale Garden Centre café. Maggie Macdougall

Chesterfield Canal, Hollingwood 15 November 2018

7 members met for a walk westwards along the towpath, returning along the disused railway which parallels the canal. The hoped-for kingfisher did not appear although we saw or heard a number of common bird species, including songthrush, great tit, dunnock, long-tailed tit, magpie, jay, moorhen and mallard. Very few plants were still in flower, though many could still be recognised in the dried-up condition. Species common along this section of canal include ploughman's-spikenard, common toadflax, wild carrot and tansy. There are a number of old goat willows on both sides of the water, and near to Dixon's lock a white poplar was conspicuous from its leaves which had turned bright yellow. Nearby were several grey poplars which were probably just a collection of suckers from one original specimen. The old railway has much wet and marshy ground beside it, and this contains a lot of common fleabane. There are also small pools which are dominated by bulrushes, good places for amphibians and perhaps dragonflies to breed. In a drier area at the east end of the railway land were many specimens of Viper's-bugloss, only one of which still bore flowers, but there were numerous leaf rosettes which will produce flower spikes next year. This plant is not common in Derbyshire since the soils are generally too heavy for it, but it has found a home on old railways and areas of stony wasteland in the east of the county. The towpath is now well used by cyclists, and the cafe at Hollingwood Hubs is also a popular place to stop for drinks and refreshments; the area is easily reached from the south of Sheffield and deserves to be better known.

Ken Balkow Visit to The National Stone Centre at Wirksworth on 18th Oct. 2018 11 members of the Natural History group were guided around the SSSI limestone quarry National Stone Centre site, on a sunny Autumn morning. Brachiopods, crinoids, coral – the evidence is there, that the White Peak was formed as a reef in a shallow lagoon on the equator, and with tectonic plates moving at 25mm/year for 300,000,000 years, it has arrived here. It has been distorted, eroded, and lifted, with mineral veins formed along the way, from volcanic action. This has provided different qualities of limestone, and ores of lead, barites, fluorspar, etc. The Stone Centre is in a particularly interesting area of quarries, mines and industrial archaeology, on the southern edge of the reef which forms the White Peak. On this site, stone from a range of geological eras is represented in a series of steps outside the Centre and there are also samples of dry stone walls from all corners of the UK, showing the variety of styles and stone. Much to see and reflect on, how habitats have evolved from this limestone base, to give us our unique landscape, and a wide range of natural history topics to explore next time! There is much to see in the area, as it is next to the High Peak Trail, and the Visitor Centre has a geology display, a café, shop & excellent facilities. Definitely worth a trip. www.nationalstonecentre.org.uk 01629 824833

Shirebrook Nature Reserve 20th September, 2018

Seven members met at Shirebrook Nature Reserve led by John Scholey. The weather forecast had been very poor but it remained dry and mild with some sun until 1200 when the walk finished. Christine Handley, the chairperson of the reserve met us at the Visitor's Centre which has a lot of information about the history and development of the area. She has been a volunteer for 30 years and was very knowledgeable. She took us on an interesting walk around part of the reserve which has a number of different habitats; woods, hay meadows and some heathland as well as several ponds. The area has had a varied history. It is based around the former site of a sewage works which was closed in the 1990s and what was the manager's office is now the visitor's centre. There have been coal mines and iron forges in the area. As we walked around we looked at the different trees including a large area of old willows. At one point we passed a large area of canary grass which is the perfect habitat for harvest mice. Some of the plants seen were hedge bedstraw, hedge cranesbill, smooth sowthistle, field horsetail, guelder rose, bittersweet, fleabane, hairy brome, meadow cranesbill, red bartsia, tall mellilot, weld and large areas of Himalayan balsam. Kingfishers were seen on two separate occasions. Al Roberts

Hoe Grange Quarry 16th August 2018

Twelve people met on dull, cold, windy morning at Hoe Grange Quarry; a new reserve managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust with input from Butterfly Conservation, only to find that Derby Natural history group were also there. However, we took different routes and there was no problem. The quarry was much dryer than it would normally be at this time of year and a lot of the plants had finished flowering .As we walked around the quarry the sky cleared and it became pleasant and sunny. Some of the plants seen: perforate St John's wort red campion wild carrot rough hawkbit mignonette spear thistle common knapweed great willowherb common valerian ribwort plantain rosebay willowherb stonecrop mouse-ear hawkweed prickly sowthistle lady's mantle Autumn hawkbit shiny leaved cranesbill common ragwort Lady's bedstraw bristly oxtongue cowslip eyebright knot grass field scabious herb Robert comfrey yellow rattle white clover bush vetch hogweed black medic Kidney vetch Carline thistle marjoram meadow vetchling apple mint salad burnet ox-eye daisy wall rue hart's tongue fern rusty-back fern

We were very pleased to find blue fleabane. On the protective bunds around the old quarries some of the native plants such as mignonette had been introduced by volunteers.

As the day improved we began to see more butterflies. Wall brown small copper common blue green-veined white small white small tortoiseshell red admiral

Two different dragonflies were seen; common darter and southern hawker . Also seen were grasshoppers,sheildbug, tiny dark coloured frog and the snail Capea memoralis identified by Carol Al and John Roberts

Hartington Meadows 19th July 2018

Seven people turned up for this meeting including Sue Jackson, the leader. Due to the hot summer weather many of the flowers we would expect to see had either finished flowering or had not appeared, but the butterflies put on a good display to compensate. We saw 15 varieties as follows :- Green veined white, Meadow brown, Small white, Large white, Plume Moth, Gatekeeper, Ringlet, Dark green Fritillary, Small Heath, Common blue, Red admiral, Small copper, Small tortoiseshell, Comma and 45 Peacocks. The flowers we saw were :- Great burnet, Spear thistle, Common knapweed, Ladies bedstraw, Zig zag clover, Field scabious, Small scabious, Thyme, Birdsfoot trefoil, Mouse ear hawkweed, Eyebright, Cross-leaved heath, Goatsbeard, Greater birdsfoot trefoil, Betony, Kidney vetch, Greater knapweed, Hairbell, Creeping cinquefoil, Meadow vetchling, Perforate St John's wort, Tufted vetch, Meadow cranesbill, Silver weed and Upright hedge parsley. Also seen were Grasshoppers, red, white and carder Bumble bees and British ladybirds.

Tideswelldale 5 July 2018

About 9 members met at Tideswelldale carpark in the middle of a British heatwave. There were quite a few interesting plants, starting with Blue Sow-thistle in the car park, though many were looking a little worse for wear in the drought. We were grateful for a little shade as we walked along the valley by the side of the stream. Ken pointed out a cut leaved variant of Hogweed which seemed to be quite common in this area. There were vast swathes of the giant leaves of Butterbur though even these were looking a bit droopy. Amongst the more notable plants were Greater Burnet Saxifrage (not a saxifrage but an umbellifer), Hedge Woundwort, Betony, Agrimony and elegant sprays of the grass Hairy Brome. On a shady rocky bank were several species of fern including Hard Shield Fern and Maidenhair Spleenwort . There were plenty of Ringlet and Meadow Brown butterflies as well as Speckled Wood and a single Comma on a nettle plant. A spectacular fungus was growing on a dead log, species unknown, but looking at my book afterwards I wondered if it was a Birch Polypore? Close to where the stream met the Wye, in a small car park, we climbed steeply to Bellamy’s Bank where a plaque explained that the famous naturalist had first become inspired by wildflowers here. This offered lovely views over the valley but was very hot and exposed and many of the flowers were over and the grasses very dry and brown. Nevertheless we saw Greater Knapweed, St John’s-wort, Small and Field Scabious, Saw-wort, (not yet in flower), Valerian and some stunning clumps of Bloody Cranesbill ( unusually these were on the north side of the bank). There was lots of Lady’s Bedstraw which perfumed the air beautifully and a host of Dark Green Fritillary butterflies as well as Small Heaths. A pair of buzzards were soaring overhead. We returned to the car park along the other side of the stream after a hot but rewarding walk. Carol Sudbery

Lindrick Dale, 21 June 2018

This meeting was well attended and we did not experience too much trouble crossing the A57 to gain access to the minor road down the dale. Over the 40 years I have been walking here most of the houses in the dale have been demolished and rebuilt, somewhat tastelessly in my opinion and probably for investment as much as anything else. Nevertheless the environment here is still very fine, and here we saw Hop climbing in the hedgerow as well as a Grey Wagtail in the stream. A single specimen of Small Teasel was seen near the bridge, though not yet in flower. This is very rare in South Yorkshire, though very familiar from Coombs Dale in the Peak District. A number of specimens of Hard Shield-fern grow on the stream bank and can be viewed from the bridge. We then entered the quarry where a permissive footpath follows a loop into Moses Seat Wood. The quarry had plenty of Wild Strawberries and a good range of lime-loving plants including Common Spotted-orchid, Twayblade, Bee Orchid, Pyramidal Orchid, Kidney Vetch, Milkwort, Marjoram and Rock-rose. Originally the quarry floor was quite bare but is slowly being colonized by woody plants such as Birch and Wall Cotoneaster in particular. Sanicle was abundant in the wood and there was a single specimen of Soft Shield-fern by the path. Giant Bellflower grew by the bridge on the edge of the golf course though not yet in flower. The return journey along the dale showed a few garden escapes such as Turkish Sage and Peach-leaved Bellflower with both blue and white flowers. Back on the main A57 road I noticed 2 clumps of the South African immigrant Narrow-leaved Ragwort, originally known only from Meadowhall in South Yorkshire but now spreading all over the county.

Ken Balkow

Wyedale 15/05/2018

The Natural History group met on May 15th at Wyedale to walk along the minor road near the river & return on the old railway track. It was cold under the trees, but the birdsong included blackcap & wren & we watched a pair of dippers feeding 3 young, & a family of mallards. There were also two mandarin ducks. Woodland flowers included water avens, goldilocks, wood anemone, ramsons, golden saxifrage & probably wintercress. The ground was covered with ground elder not yet in flower.

Out in the sunshine we crossed the bridge beside which grew a clump of the white form of red campion. On the wall of the cottage gardens there was wall rue, maidenhair spleenwort, & plants of shining cranesbill & sedum acre. It was perhaps too early to expect to find many flowers but garden arabis grew on the cliffs beside the trail. A whitethroat was heard, & redstart & buzzard seen. We were able to identify several butterflies, with a good view of both male & female orange tips, green veined whites, & small whites.

Liz Cannell

Wyming Brook 19th April, 2018

A group of about ten of us met at Wyming Brook car park for a tour of the reserve managed by the Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust. On a pleasant, early spring day we were shown around by the reserve manager; first climbing to the moorland edge and then along through the woodland and finally down a steep and muddy descent to the main track. As we passed the feeding station we had good views of nuthatch. We managed to see a number of tit species, great spotted woodpecker, meadow pipit, willow warbler and chiffchaff but not wood warbler, a summer migrant, which can be seen on the reserve. In addition to the birds peacock and brimstone butterflies were present.

John Roberts

Old Moor wetlands Centre. Thursday 15th March, 2018

The weather forecast was for a miserable, damp, cool day and it didn't disappoint. We arrived, that is five intrepid souls, for a fairly prompt start. We began by looking at the two feeding stations in great depth as they are both undercover and out of the weather. The usual birds were less nesh than us, although yellowhammer and bullfinch seemed rather more shy. Onwards to the hide overlooking the main lake, and this is where we settled down for a prolonged scan of the water. There were no great surprises among the waterfowl, although I couldn't manage to locate a great crested grebe. I decided that further exploration of the site would be marginally useful, but the rest of the group were free to explore at will. I remained but did pop in to the first field hide for a while before returning to the cen tre and cafe, only to find the intrepid foursome tucking into some well appreciated grub. Not the best of birding days, but not a waste of time. My personal tally was 36 species. Thanks to my birding buddies.

Ken Knowles

Visit to Weston Park Museum. Thursday 15th February 2018

On Thursday 15th February 14 members met at Weston Park Museum. The curator ,Alastair McLean took us on a very interesting tour around the different Natural History areas showing us the various sections connected with wildlife and habitat and items of historical interest. It was a very enjoyable and informative tour.

Al and John Roberts

Ecclesall Woods

16/11/2017

Even though the weather was overcast and drizzly 14 members met at the Wood Discovery Centre. From the centre we walked about two miles in the woods.

Birds recorded: long-tailed tit, robin, blue tit, great tit, coal tit, jay, nuthatch, magpie, wood pigeon.

Fungi: amethyst deceiver, candlesnuff, sulphur tuft, turkeytail, birch polypore, hoof fungus, blushing bracket, bleeding stereum, hairy stereum and bellcaps.

Janet Peel

Barlow

19/10/2017

A dozen members met beside Allen Wood to walk in the countryside west of Barlow. This is an area of small woods and fields which nevertheless has a history of mineral working, as evidenced by local names such as Oxton Rakes and Bolehill. A cormorant was seen over the Crowhole Brook, probably a wanderer from the nearby reservoirs at Linacre. Crowhole Reservoir itself is no longer used but the Reservoir House has been rebuilt as a large dwelling, with a beautifully constructed drystone wall fronting Wilday Green Lane. Several other houses have been rebuilt here, part of the ongoing gentrification of the area. This is all very well, but somebody needs to be left to farm the valley.Apple trees were dropping their fruit along the lane, and there is a long-established colony of Snow- in- summer on the road verge by a house with a For Sale sign outside. Oaks Lane led us down into the Sud Brook valley with orange-red berries of Black Bryony draped across the hedges and Feverfew still flowering. A single Soft Shield-fern grows in the valley bottom, not easy to pick out amongst Male and Broad Buckler-ferns. At Oxton Rakes the large leaves of Monk's-rhubarb grow near a stile, a relic of cultivation and a speciality of the Barlow area near to old farmhouses and granges. From this point the rain became harder and conditions underfoot more muddy, so we tried to complete the circuit fairly quickly, but we did see a flock of long-tailed tits working its way through bushes along the path. Beyond Grange Lane the footpath descends quite steeply through a field that has a good flora in summer, including some Common Spotted-orchids, but of course in October these are not in evidence. At the top of the field was a recently-planted screening hedge consisting entirely of Cherry Laurel; inexplicable, crass and stupid is the only way I can describe this piece of planting work.

Ken Balkow

Centenary Riverside.

21/9/17

Nine members attended the meeting to Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust site at Centenary riverside. The morning was very grey but the rain held off until we had left. This interesting post-industrial site was developed as a nature reserve as part of a flood alleviation scheme and was officially opened in 2009. A european flower mix was planted at this time and quite a few of these plants remain including a large red clover, rose campion, Maltese crossand an interesting bush with large red berries that Ken Balkow identified as probably being red chokeberry. In one small area we found small flowered cranesbill, dove's foot cranesbill and common storksbill. There was also a patch of hedgerow cranesbill with unusual white flowers and just the odd mauve flower. We were interested to see that a young oak tree had both marble and artichoke galls.

The pond that had been created had shrunk back to a much lower level and had large parts of it covered with New Zealand pygmy weed. We were unsure why this had occurred. However, we had a beautiful sighting of a kestrel above us when we were in this area.

When we walked towards the river there were animal footprints in a muddy area. Mink are present and otter has been unofficially recorded.

Al and John roberts

Ogston Reservoir.

17/8/17

The morning brightened after early rain and the visibility was good for seeing birds on and around Ogston Reservoir. The eleven members present were disappointed not to see an osprey which are not being seen so frequently this August as in previous years. Sightings were made of little egret, grey heron, great crested and little grebe, cormorant, Canada and greylag geese, mallard, tufted duck, swallows and spotted flycatcher. Lapwings and carrion crows were plentiful with coots and occasional moorhen on the shores. Buzzards were often heard but were not seen.

Malcolm Swiftston

Stones Wood

20th July, 2017

Ten members met at Anston Parish Hall car park. It was raining, but we decided to go ahead and walk to the meadows to see which orchids were out, hoping that the rain would stop.

At the edge of the playing field and the edge of the adjoining field were mounds of waste soil, possibly from some allotments. Here we found an amazing number of plants including fat hen, corn spurrey, redshank, spear-leaved oracle and white borage. There was also prickly sow thistle, creeping thistle, common speedwell, sun spurge and the very large leaves of garlic mustard.

We walked through the woods and fields and saw limestone loving plants such as betony, yellow rattle, musk thistle, harebell, hairy St John's wort, red bartsia, common and greater knapweed, rockrose, wild basil,thyme, wild marjoram, sanicle, rest harrow, centuary, yellow wort and many others. Unfortunately the rain continued. Several members of the group returned to their cars but six of us continued to the meadows where we found spotted and pyramidal orchids all past their best. We saw two butterflies, a meadow brown and a marbled white which was hanging to a plant stem.

We returned through the beautiful limestone gorge which has yew trees growing along its edges. A young fox jumped out of the undergrowth a few feet from two members and ran off with a yelp. As we left the wood we found several plants of the rare wood vetch and were pleased that it continues to grow there. We arrived back at the car park very wet having had an interesting walk.

Calver.

July 6th 2017

We met at Calver on a warm, overcast morning to walk from Calver Bridge where we found monkey flower, to the bridge at Froggatt, returning on the opposite bank. We identified most of the flowers we found, about 40 in all, including figwort, yellow pimpernel, imperforate hypericum, dame's violet, common valerian, feverfew, 3 types of thistles, dying doronicum. Sue took a photo of one unusual looking plant, later idenifying it as Achillea Macrophylla, large leaved yarrow. Perhaps a garden escape, it will be interesting to see if it spreads or survives in an area of quite dense undergrowth.

Wall rue, white sedum, ivy-leaved toadflax, wall lettuce were growing on the walls of the bridge at Froggatt and two spectacular plants of astrantia outside a garden beside the road. A large poplar had recently fallen into the river near the marshes, partly dead, covered with thick trunks of ivy. Three common spotted orchids were growing near the path. Birds were scarce but we heard blackcap, chiffchaff and willow warbler and watched a family of young moorhens.

Chris Cannell

Deep Dale

15th June 2017

9 members attended the meeting to this limestone dale owned by the charity Plantlife. Near the start of the walk we passed a Small-leaved Lime tree, recognizable by the orange tufts of hair on the underside of the leaf. Elsewhere there was a good display of typical limestone dales plants in flower such as Hairy St John's-wort, Salad Burnet, Rock-rose, Common Spotted-orchid, Columbine, Yellow- Rattle, Milkwort, Mouse-ear Hawkweed, Dove's-foot Crane's-bill and Wall Lettuce, along with a few more acid-loving species such as Tormentil and Heath Speedwell in some places. On a windy day butterflies were not much in evidence though we did see Large White, Red Admiral, Brown Argus, Small Heath and Large Skipper. After a few of the group left early the remainder climbed the steep path to Great Shacklow Wood where a few specimens of Bird's-nest Orchid were in flower. This is very rare in Derbyshire though this site has been known for a number of years. The plants are saprophytic, contain no chlorophyll and ofter appear to be dead even when in full flower. Nevertheless it was good to see that it still survives at this location, probably unnoticed by the many who pass by each day.

Ken Balkow

Pleasley Pitt May 18th 2017

It was a pleasant, sunny morning when 10 members set off for a walk around Pleasley Pit led by John Scholey. Although it clouded over there was no rain.

Warblers were singing-chiffchaff,willow warbler,blackcap, garden warbler and whitethroat were all heard. In addition a yellowhammer was also heard.

The heavy rain of the last week had brought a lot of plants into flower. There was a small-flowered cranesbill in the car park and some of the other plants found were catsear, black medic, beaked hawksbeard, mouse-eared hawkweed, yellow-wort and yellow rattle. In the orchid field we found many common spotted orchid coming into bud and one northern marsh orchid. There were sedges including carnation sedge and glaucous sedge.

The sunshine brought out butterflies including several dingy skippers, orange tip, green-veined white and quite a large number of brimstones.

Padley Gorge

April 20th 2017

Although we have had a dry and warm patch of weather. It was still early in the year for flowers, so the main aim of the day was to find the pied flycatchers which arrived a couple of weeks ago

15 members met and walked down the gorge to the Bole Hill sign post and then uphill to the nesting box area. From there we walked up and turned right to the top of the hill and the heathland, circling the edge of the gorge back to the main road.

There were very good sighting of the flycatchers including a pair which was preparing their nesting box with moss. There were a number of willow warblers singing and mainly seen on the top in the trees there and below a stonechat was flying across the heather

Below is a list of all the birds, flowers insect etc which were seen by members (but not necessarily everyone) Birds. Flora Butterfly Insect Pied Flycatchers celandine willow warblers golden saxifrage orange tip Ants nests grey wagtail creeping corydalis pied wagtail wood sedge stonechat hairy sedge nuthatch wood sorell Mammal ?vole chaffinch hairy woodrush long tailed tits crowberry blue tits cloudberry great tits goldfinch blackbird crow canada goose meadow pipit

Orgreave Lagoons 16th March, 2017

This was a well-attended meeting (about 18 or so??) on a bright and breezy March morning which became chillier as the morning wore on. We were serenaded by a multitude of skylarks around the two lagoons, always a nostalgic sound with memories of childhood summers.

This is the site of a former coal mine, and the famous Battle of Orgreave during the 1984 miners’ strike took place nearby. The site is now being developed for housing and offices.

We did pretty well for bird species, the highlights on the water being Goldeneye, Redshank and Teal. We recorded a total of 26 species as follows:

Black headed gull Great Crested Grebe Oyster catcher Buzzard Greater Black backed Gull Pied wagtail Canada Goose Great Tit Redshank Carrion Crow Kestrel Skylark Coot Lapwing Song thrush Cormorant Lesser Black Backed Gull Teal Gadwall Mallard Tufted Duck Goldeneye Meadow pipit Wren Goosander Mute Swan

We were also lucky enough to spot a hare sprinting up the bank in front of us.

The area is not so rich in plant species as there is quite a lot of recently disturbed ground, but there were celandine and coltsfoot in flower and we managed to identify Himalayan balsam seedlings near the bridge . We struggled with some plants on a recent spoil heap but Sue took some photos and these were later identified by Ken (thanks, Ken) as Scilla luciliae (Boissier's Glory-of-the snow- possibly a garden escape), Ragweed (Ambrosia artemesiifolia) (usually from bird-seed) and Charlock.

Carol Sudbery and Jude Warrender Carsington Water 20th October, 2016

On an increasingly wet and cold day 8 hardy souls met at Carsington Water visitor centre. We first visited the two birdhides near the Sheepwash carpark. The day was cloudy and the birds on the water hard to distinguish without telescopes. We saw most of the common ducks and a variety of small birds on the feeders. As we walked between the hides we saw a tree with mistle thrush and a great spotted woodpecker on the branches.

We then moved to the heated hide near the visitor centre where several tree sparrows were on the feeders and a variety of ducks and gulls were on the water.

Altogether we saw 32 species of birds.

Great crested grebe little grebe goldeneye wigeon

pochard gadwall mallard tufted duck

coot moorhen teal lapwing

Canada goose lesser black-backed gull black-headed gull cormorant

jackdaw carrion crow magpie pheasant

wood pigeon great tit coal tit willow tit

robin dunnock chaffinch tree sparrow

house sparrow mistle thrush blackbird buzzard

Bridget Jack

Rivelin Valley 17th November, 2016

Our October walk was along the Rivelin Valley from the Rails Road car park to Hind Wheel dam. A grey start soon became a glorious autumn day and we could appreciate how pretty the valley is. As we set off walking along the river a heron obliged us with its own stroll along the opposite bank as it chose a choice fishing spot. On the way other birds spotted included tree creepers, nut hatches and some jays squabbling with the local magpies. These last two species inhabited some very large oak trees, which along with hazel, alder, holly and beech are some of the most common trees in the valley.

Candle Snuff Fungus

Dead Man's Fingers

Although by autumn most of the flowering plants have finished there was still plenty of interesting plant life. The damp river banks and many fallen tree trunks provided habitats for a good variety of ferns and fungi. The fungi proved to have some of the most interesting names of the day, very descriptive of their form. These included the saddle fungus, sulphur capped fungus and my favourites, candle snuff fungus and the gruesome but apt dead man’s fingers.

We continued as far as the round pond at Hind Wheel. This was oldest mill in the valley with a recorded date of 1581.The buildings have now disappeared but the pond, which served the mill, is still a popular site for visitors. A striking feature of the pond was the large bed of horse tails in the water.

As we turned back we took a short detour along Rivelin Road before retracing our steps to the car park. The road is bordered by one of the longest avenues of lime trees in Britain, planted in 1906. 700 trees were purchased for princely sum of £147.

A few of us concluded the morning with a pleasant trip to the Rivelin Valley café where it was warm enough to sit outside in the autumn sunshine.

Carr Vale 15th September, 2016

On a misty autumn morning a dozen of us set off on one of the winding trails of the Carr Vale reserve. Leaving the Peter Fidler memorial we gave a passing thought to that gentleman's exploits in Canada. Nearby we noticed several grey alders which were almost stripped of their leaves. On closer inspection we found that the trees were infested with small but voracious black beetles. Checking later they were probably alder leaf beetles. Many other trees were festooned with cobwebs showing up clearly with water droplets in the damp air.

Walking toward the flashes we observed trees and shrubs laden with autumn fruits- rosehips, brambles, guelder rose and a profusion of hawthorn berries. At the flashes themselves it was hard to spot birds in the mist, but the most numerous were lapwings, coots, mallard and Canada geese. Others sighted were tufted duck, teal, gadwall, moorhen, mute swan, heron, cormorant and snipe. A small vole was discovered having a crafty meal on a nearby bird table.

As the sun finally broke through swallows and martins appeared over the water. We found water pepper growing by the water's edge and some of us sampled the taste of its peppery leaves. Moving on to the patch of flowering water mint its profusion of flowers attracted our first butterfly of the day. The sun rose higher as we made our way back to the car park finding more butterflies, three species in all on the day, speckled wood, small tortoiseshell and a single comma as well as a number of damsel flies but no moths.

Alysoun Dungworth

Coombsdale

18th August, 2016

Thirteen members met at Calver triangle before taking the short walk to Coombsdale. The weather was cloudy at first but warm and it promised to improve during the morning. Walking through the wood we noted many trees including osier, white, eared and goat willow and large leaved lime. We noticed common valerian in many areas beside the path, common figwort and large patches of small teasel. In the shaded areas there was common polypody and maidenhair spleenwort As we came into the more open part of the dale a fresh small copper was seen plus some very faded meadow browns. The weather was improving and once we entered the more open part of the dale butterflies began to appear. There were many peacocks feeding on knapweed and fresh brimstones were also plentiful.

Field scabious, small scabious, Devil's-bit scabious, knapweed, eyebright, hoary willowherb, ploughman's spikenard and rest harrow were found beside the path and in the open areas. A single fragrant orchid was still out. We were pleased to see two more small coppers and a single common blue. Dark-green fritillaries were still flying although most of them were quite faded. The group was pleased to see a brown argus, a small skipper and two fresh red admirals. Other butterflies seen were small white, green-veined white, gatekeeper and speckled wood.

We did not see many birds but did have good views of raven and buzzard.

Al and John Roberts

Hartington Meadows Nature Reserve 21 July 2016

A group of 13 met at Hartington Station car park on a hot sunny day and we proceeded to Derbyshire Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve at Hartington Meadows. Shortly after entering the reserve we passed through some dense vegetation including zig-zag clover, great burnet and twayblade. We turned left to a rocky bare area and Ken spotted some frog orchids. In this bare area were thyme, mouse ear hawkweed, carline thistle, hairless lady's mantle and autumn gentian in bud. From here we went along the footpath through a meadow rich in yellow rattle which had mostly gone to seed and was rattling and there were several common spotted orchids growing here.

We walked up the hill passing greater bird's foot trefoil to another hay meadow with flowers including meadow cranesbill, ox-eye daisy and hundreds of the rayed version of common knapweed which had everyone in raptures. From here we walked round the top of the quarry which was rather muddy as cows had been grazing here and less flowers to see. Then we turned right to another hay meadow with lots of rough hawkbit, field scabious and flowers seen previously. We returned along this path and descended towards the way we had entered the reserve, but turned left at the bottom of the hill and walked up the hill side to view the dropwort, betony, hoary plantain, small scabious, greater knapweed, kidney vetch, grass of Parnasus, and fragrant orchids.

We saw buzzard, heard and saw ravens and at the toilets at the car park there was a swallow's nest with the birds flying in to feed the chicks.Butterflies spotted were meadow brown, ringlet, small skipper, gatekeeper, dark green fritillary, common blue and yellow underwing moth.

Sue Jackson

Maltby Common

07 July 2016

The weather was fine as a group of 12 met George and Beryl Griffiths and their friend Tom on Outgang Lane at the western end of Maltby Low Common. George had been instrumental in getting Maltby Common designated as a SSSI in the 1970's and his friend Tom is a Maltby resident who is out and about on the common most days.

We set off at 10 o'clock, crossed the railway line, walked down a cutting and quickly found ourselves on the edge of the Low Common. The group spread out examining the flora and Ken and George were kept busy identifying various plants. We moved on down a slope and found ourselves on the main part of the Low Common. There were numerous Common Spotted Orchids and Twayblades in evidence here and Ken was keen to find the rare Meadow Thistle that grows on Maltby Common in the South Yorkshire area. We were accosted by a volunteer from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust who said that him and his companion were due to survey the common on the next day. He was apparently not pleased to see a large group of people spread out and what looked like to him, trampling the flowers. A quiet word from George though and he very soon quietened down and was soon asking George's opinion.

At 11:45 the party split and George and Beryl along with several others went back to their cars whilst the rest of us followed Tom to Maltby Far Common where he had seen a Bee Orchid the day before.There were Marbled White butterflies and Dark Green Fritillaries flying over the common as we walked through. Unfortunately the Bee Orchid remained elusive and so we headed back. On the way we met the two YWT volunteers again. It appeared that they only had a rudimentary knowledge of the plants they were surveying and Ken was called on to identify several species from photographs taken on a iphone. These included Yarrow, Greater Knapweed and Aqualegia.

We were back at the cars by 1:00 and joined several others of our party in the Millstone Pub / Restaurant in Tickhill for lunch. Unfortunately George and Beryl had not been able to join us. Lathkill Dale

16 June 2016

The weather restricted our members to seven. Rain started just as we met up, so we donned our waterproofs, wellies and boots and set off down the nice, grassy but wet path. Birds seemed scarce and there was little hope of butterflies. Ken found plenty of plants and flowers to compensate but the tall wet grass put some of us off. Our boots were severely tested. The repeated alarm calls from the vicinity of a tree near a stone boundary wall attracted our attention and we obtained good views of a male redstart. A female also appeared. Chiffchaff, garden and willow warblers were heard singing but were probably not seen by our members in the intermittent rain. However, dozens of chimney sweep moths were active and noticeable. We walked off the main path on to a minor one which led us to the village of Monyash and the rain stopped for the last hour which was more pleasurable. Most of us then enjoyed much appreciated refreshments in the Bull's Head.

Malcolm Swift

Padley Gorge

19 May 2016

On a pleasant spring morning a group of 16 met on the approach road to Grindleford station. On the railway bridge whitlow grass, sticky mousear and wall speedwell were noted. In a garden close by white-tailed bumblebees and common carder bees were seen on comfrey.

As we entered the wood we had good views of spotted flycatcher and further on excellent views of wood warbler singing above us. We could clearly see the yellow throat and the tail vibrating as he sang. There were good sightings of several male and female pied flycatchers as we made our way onto the open moor. Here we had a fleeting view of redstart and good views of tree pipit.

On the moor we saw wavy hairgrass and a large area covered by climbing corydalis. The wood ants were busy in their nests. Although we searched unsuccessfully for green hairstreaks we did see a common white wave moth.

Al and John Roberts

Porter Valley

21 April 2016

18 members met at Forge Dam cafe for a walk eastwards along the valley on a chilly but fairly sunny morning. Nuthatches were often heard calling and we saw several treecreepers as well as other common species although no water birds. A few bumble bees were active and a comma butterfly sunned itself on the wall at the Shepherd Wheel. In this part of the valley there is a good selection of woodland plants plus some long-established garden escapes. Wood Anemone, Dog Violet, Early Dog Violet, Bluebell, Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage, Coltsfoot, Lesser Periwinkle and Great Woodrush were all in flower, whilst others such as Bistort, Wood Sedge, Pendulous Sedge and Fringe-cups were all identifiable from their leaves. Below Wire Mill Dam it is still possible to see the remains of the allotment gardens which originally occupied the valley bottom, with shrubs such as Snowberry, Privet and Mock Orange being left to grow wild. In Bingham Park a few unusual trees have been planted including Portugal Laurel and Green Alder, and a Fuchsia was seen growing out of the retaining wall of the brook. At the end of the walk on the way to the bus stop in Fulwood I found some Spring-beauty growing on a wall in Brookhouse Hill, an uncommon plant around Sheffield as it prefers light sandy soils. This is an American species which was here probably an escape from cultivation.

Ken Balkow

Botanical Gardens

17th March 2016

17 members were given a tour of the Botanical Gardens by Kay Keeton, a member of FOBS. The land was originally bought through subscription & the garden laid out by Robert Marnock, the first curator in 1836. In spite of poor soil, the variety of trees & plants grown in 19 acres is huge.

We started in the pavilions which house plants from temperate areas of the world, including Kashmir Cypress, already touching the roof, an impressive garden of cacti, & a variety of unusual plants. We followed the magnolia walk, too early for flowers, but in the Mediterranean climate garden which includes plants from several parts of the world, there were several euphorbias in flower including the honey spurge from S. Africa, Australian fuchsia, bottlebrush from Tasmania, red anemones, as well as palms & a Banksia growing outside.

The rose garden has been restored to its original Victorian design with the old roses in the centre & hybrids around the edge. Whether the bear pit was used as a permanent home or only as a temporary home for a bear during special events at that time seems uncertain. The distinctive shapes & growth of conifers in the Evolution Garden include an impressive Wellingtonia & Weeping Spruce. There is a Dawn Redwood, a native of China, known only from fossil records until 1940s, a Gingko, & a young Monkey Puzzle, among other unusual trees. Boards give information about the evolution of different types of plants. We had time to see only a few areas, but could admire the Spring bulbs & early camellias on our walk. There is much to see at any time of year.

Grindleford

18th February 2016

On a cold but sunny morning 13 members met at Grindleford station to walk past Padley chapel and down to the River Derwent. A number of Navelwort plants grew on the wall at the chapel and some had dried-up flower spikes from the previous year. Behind the chapel a wren was busy in one corner and some Hairy Bittercress was starting to flower. A large colony of Stinking Hellebore grew beside the railway tracks, no doubt escaped from a nearby garden but flowering well in late winter. Along the river Great Woodrush was conspicuous but not yet flowering and 2 dippers were spotted perched on stones. Further on were 3 goosanders but these flew off as we approached. A buzzard soared over nearby woodland and long-tailed tits and goldfinches were active in the riverside trees. Other birds seen on the walk included blue and great tits, chaffinch, dunnock, robin, redwing and a pair of bullfinches eating leaf buds, whilst the distant drumming of a woodpecker was a reminder that spring cannot be too far away.

Ken Balkow Agden Reservoir

19th November 2015

An intrepid group of 8 members met in the Low Bradfield car park on a cold but bright morning. At first there was little to see apart from a lone cormorant resting on a buoy in the reservoir. As we moved into the shelter of the trees by the shore things picked up. Corn spurrey, water pepper and burr marigold were noted at the water’s edge, the reservoir being quite low. Moving into the wood a treecreeper was spotted and then there was a flurry of feeding tits. We were rewarded with good views of goldcrests feeding in the pines. As we left the woods we came upon a new feeding station beside the path where coal tits and nuthatch were feeding. There was the odd duck on the reservoir but nothing to detain us. We passed Agden Bog and then approached the second feeding station. A great deal of tree planting had taken place and a notice board explained that there was a plan to clear non-native species and replant native trees. The usual tits were at the feeders but also a great spotted woodpecker. There were distant views of winter thrushes as we returned to the car park. 18 species of birds were seen on a very pleasant winter walk.

John and Al Roberts

Fairburn Ing

15th October 2015

Only 6 members made the trip to this RSPB reserve which is adjacent to the River Aire,east of Leeds. The visit was made with the knowledge that the Visitor Centre was closed due to to a scheduled power cut but the car park was open. However, it was very quiet but there were plenty of birds around the feeders .Our group recorded 34 species, the most notable being a green woodpecker. We did not see half of the reserve as it is quite large but the visit was worthwhile and the weather reasonable.

Malcolm Swift

Fungi Foray in Shillito Wood/Ramsley Moor

17th September 2015

17 of us met at Shillito Woods car park on Ramsley Moor for our monthly outing, this time to seek fungi. The moor is managed by the Eastern Moors Partnership which includes the National Trust & the RSPB. The weather was overcast, cool, but dry underfoot.

Without even leaving the car park, we spotted numerous different fungi growing under a tree. They included Penny Bun, Fly Agaric, Larch bolete, Horse hair toadstool, Oily milkcap, Common puffball, Galerina hypnorum (poisonous), Milkdrop bonnet & a small bracket fungus on a nearby dying tree with even more we couldn’t identify.

Then, crossing the road to the moors, noticing a couple of furry Fox Moth caterpillars on the way, we saw the work that had been done in attempting to kill the bracken & introduce gorse & trees to the moorland. On the open moor we found, Magic Mushrooms, both amethyst and common Deceiver, a fairy ring & a few more we weren’t sure about. Going further down the hill we discovered, Spotted toughshank, Clustered toughshank, common Earthball, brown Rollrim, common Funnel, false Chanterelle, a Petticoat fungus, dung Roundhead, golden Waxcap, Ergot on grass flower heads & others that were a mystery to us.

The majority of fungi we found were under trees as some trees have a symbiotic relationship with some fungi types. Also it was amazing to see how many different fungi we discovered, but then there are at least 10000 species. Some are difficult to identify, even for the experts. Many have common names which reflect their appearance, such as ‘Penny Bun’ and petticoat fungus but they come in all shapes, sizes, colours, ones that ooze “milk”, have twisted stems, or have different coloured spores. We treated all we found with great respect as although many are edible, some are very poisonous, but again others have been used medically.

It was an altogether fascinating morning and we were greatly assisted in identifying the specimens by Robin Peel & Ken Balcow.

Tim & Helen Marsh

Anston Stones Wood,

20th August 2015

A group of 13 people were led by Marg on a walk through Anston Stones wood. It was dry and there was occasional sunshine which helped to bring out the butterflies. We walked from the carpark by the playing field where we found a large area of disturbed soil and here Ken showed us black nightshade, annual nettle, wormwood, redshank, borage with white flowers instead of blue, and scarlet pimpernel. We then walked through the woods to the meadows noting the knopper gall on the acorns of some of the oak trees. Some of the plants we saw were zig-zag clover, pale St John's wort, hairy St John's wort ,torgrass ,bearded couch grass, tufted hair grass and burnet saxifrage with the feathery upper leaves and upright hedge parsley.

In the fields the orchids were over and the yellow rattle in seed. Some of the flowers seen were marjoram, knapweed, greater knapweed, thyme and smooth hawksbeard. As we descended into the wood we saw sanicle, small and large leaved lime and spindle. Ken also pointed out the rare spurge laurel that flowers in Spring and also the rare wood barley.

The butterflies seen were meadow brown, gatekeeper, small white, peacock, common blue, green veined white and male and female brimstone looking very fresh and beautiful. We also saw six spot burnet moth and a pink shield beetle.

Group visit to Hartington Meadows,

30th July 2015

A group of 13 visited Derbyshire Wildlife Trust nature reserve at Hartington Meadows, and it was the first visit for most of the group. Shortly after entering the reserve from the Tissington Trail we visited a gravelly area with lots of low growing plants including thyme, bird’s foot trefoil, fairy flax, yarrow, selfheal, eyebright, common mouse ear, mouse ear hawkweed, frog orchid, carline thistle, autumn gention and yellow and orange waxcap fungi. From here we proceeded to the hay fields which had not been cut and the predominant flower here was the yellow rattle which certainly rattled as we walked through it, also growing amongst it were common spotted orchids. We passed a couple of dew ponds and in one we saw common newts. As we continued round the reserve, parts of which had high growing vegetation we encountered the following flowers:- great burnett, salad burnett, field scabious, zig zag clover, meadow vetchling, common knapweed including the less common rayed form, lady’s bedstraw, meadow cranesbill, hop trefoil, lesser trefoil, twayblade, betony, St. John’s wort, and dropwort. At one point we looked across the reserve and could see a huge pink mass of rosebay willowherb.

We saw a heron flying in the reserve and meadow brown, ringlet, small blue butterflies and an orange under wing moth conveniently posed on Al’s trouser leg for us.

Report of the field meeting to Holmebrook Valley,

9 July 2015

17 members met for a walk in this area of former open-cast land. The car park had a single specimen of Bristly Oxtongue and a selection of planted shrubs such as Osier, Himalayan Honeysuckle and Russian Olive, the latter a greyish thorny member of the Elaeagnus genus. The lake here is not as attractive to birds as nearby Linacre but there were great crested grebes, moorhens and coot, with a sparrowhawk overhead and blackcap and whitethroat round the edges. The grassy slopes held showy flowers such as Meadow Cranesbill, Field Scabious, Agrimony, a pink form of Yarrow, Meadowsweet, Wild Carrot and large numbers of Orchids, chiefly Common Spotted, Southern Marsh and countless intermediates. The waterside vegetation was easy to inspect from the fishing platforms and revealed plants such as Monkey Flower, Gypsywort, Yellow Flag, Water Mint, and various sedges such as Greater Pond Sedge, Pendulous Sedge and the Derbyshire rarity Cyperus sedge. In the warm sunshine butter flies were very active and these included numerous meadow browns, ringlets, large skippers and small tortoiseshells, together with day-flying moths such as large yellow underwing, twin spot carpet and one of the 5 spot burnets.

Ken Balkow

Field meeting to Coombs Dale,

21 May 2015

John and Al led us on a walk to look for butterflies, but conditions were not in our favour as it was fairly cloudy and cool. However, occasional bursts of sunshine brought out orange tips and a speckled wood in the main dale, plus a dingy skipper and several green hairstreaks in the side dale. A hairy caterpillar walking over the soil was possibly that of the garden tiger moth. There were spring flowers in quantity, such as Red Campion, Wood Forget-me-not, Water Avens (plus hybrids with Wood Avens), Crosswort, Meadow Saxifrage, Cowslip, Early-purple Orchid and on the lead rake Spring Sandwort and Mountain Pansy. The rare Spring Cinquefoil hung down from a limestone outcrop, and a variety of trees and shrubs were present, including Small-leaved Lime, Buckthorn, Spindle and Dogwood. Badger latrines with beetle remains were noticed in several places, and we had views of redstart and buzzard in the upper part of the dale. Along the main road at Calver Danish Scurvy-grass was present on both sides because of winter salting, and Janet gathered some Sweet Cicely for use in rhubarb crumble, though in my experience plenty of sugar is still needed to make it palatable.

Ken Balkow

Field meeting to Lathkilldale

April 16 2015

The walk was attended by 11 members. We walked up the dale from Alport to beyond where the road comes down from Over Haddon. Many of the spring flowers were blooming and the common ones included bluebells, red campion, opposite leaved golden saxifrage, marsh marigold, primrose, wood anemone, dog violet, Lords and Ladies, male and female butterburs, ivy leaved speedwell and common whitlow grass. Some of the group had not seen the small green town hall clocks (moschatel) before and were interested to know that it gets its common name from its appearance of a town hall clock with a single flower on 4 sides and one on the top. The snake's head fritillaries were in full bloom and looking magnificent. Ken spotted a single wall whitlow grass growing on a wall and said it is uncommon in Derbyshire. We also saw a big specimen of alexanders in bloom near Conksbury Bridge, usually coastal but probably planted here or at least introduced by human agency. Ken knew that there was a deadly nightshade plant in the area, but was unable to find it. We also saw hard shield fern, maidenhair spleenwort, wall rue and Good Friday grass. The blackthorn bushes were in full bloom and the ash trees had flowers on them. The following birds were either seen or heard: blackcap, song thrush, chiffchaff, chaffinch, swallows, tufted ducks, pair of mute swans, coots, pair of Mandarin ducks, sparrowhawk, woodpecker drumming and an owl hooting.

Sue Jackson

REPORT OF THE MEETING TO THORESBY PARK,

19 MARCH 2015

13 members plus one guest met for a walk through this attractive Dukeries estate. The Hall itself is now a hotel but it remains an impressive building, especially in autumn when its covering of Viginia creeper turns red. In front of the Hall gates is a pair of Acers which I took to be Silver Maples but without leaves it was hard to be certain. Both were flowering but the orange-red flowers are fairly inconspicuous and one of them bore a sizeable clump of Mistletoe. The latter was seen on many other trees especially on Limes by the River Meden. Henry's Grove contains about 40 Giant Sequoia trees, probably all planted around the same time. These were perhaps 30-40metres high, well under half the size they can attain in their Pacific North-west home. On a cold dull day birds were not as conspicuous as hoped but a variety of species were seen or heard including redwing, nuthatch, long- tailed tit, buzzard, skylark and a very early chiffchaff. A dead fox was seen in a field where pebbles had been heaped up, perhaps a victim of the farmer's gun in an area where many pheasants are kept. Only a few plants were in flower, just one or two specimens of Red Dead-nettle, Hairy Bittercress, Groundsel and Common Speedwell but surprisingly no Celandines out yet. A Cherry- plum was in flower by the stables, similar to Blackthorn but with bigger petals and about 2-3 weeks earlier.

Ken Balkow

REPORT OF THE MEETING TO OLD MOOR,

19 FEBRUARY 2015

13 people attended this meeting on a cold wet morning but despite the conditions we saw a pleasing range of bird species under the expert guidance of Malcolm. Both dabbling and diving ducks were in evidence, and we had close-up views of wigeon and teal although the golden-eyes stayed quite far away and only surfaced for a few seconds at a time. Fairly high water levels meant that waders were not numerous, though we did see a single oystercatcher and a pair of snipe well camouflaged in the dead reeds. Both common and black-headed gulls were present and standing on its own was a single lesser black-back. A nice feature of this reserve is that a lot of different species are attracted to the feeders set up close to the visitor centre. In addition to a brown rat we had good views of bullfinch, reed bunting, redwing and yellowhammer. The bright yellow head of male yellowhammer seemed to echo the colour of gorse which was just coming into flower along the paths.

Ken Balkow

Report of the meeting to Ecclesall Woods,

16 October 2014

14 members met at the Visitor Centre for a walk in the woods chiefly seeking out fungi. Lol and Robin named a few species on site but a representative selection was collected by Lol and later identified at home. There is a full list of species below. Fallen Chestnuts were abundant on the woodland floor and in one place a lot of Hornbeam fruits had been knocked down by the rain and winds of the previous day. Hornbeam was planted in several Sheffield woodlands as the timber is hard and was used to make cog wheels for water mills and other machinery.

Ken Balkow

1. Scleroderma citrinum (common earthball) - not edible, common 1. Scleroderma verrucosum (puffball family) - not edible, occasional 2. Chlorosplenium aeruginascens (green wood cup) - not edible - of interest: infected wood known as "green oak", used in manufacture of Tunbridgeware to make coloured veneers 3. Mycena family - several types found - difficult to identify - most not edible due to small size 4. Clitocybe geotropa (funnel shape) - edible, rare 5. Xylaria polymorpha (dead men's fingers) - inedible 6. Piptoporus betulinus (birch polypore or razor-strop fungi) - inedible, very common bracket 7. Pseudo-trametes gibbosa - inedible, frequent bracket 8. Coriolus versicolor (many zoned polypore) - inedible, common 9. Myphodontia sambugi - inedible, very common 10. Peniophora quercina - inedible, very common 11. Dacrymyces stillatus - inedible, common 12. Stereum hirsutum (hairy stereum) - inedible, common 13. Coprinus atramentarius (common inkcap) - edible but causing alarming symptoms (nausea, palpitations) when taken with alcohol! 14. Lycoperdon foetidum (puffball family) - edibility unknown, frequent 15. Calvatia utriformis (puffball family) - edible when young, uncommon, more frequent in north 16. Xylaria hypoxylon (stag's horn or candlesnuff) - not edible, common 17. Tyromyces stipticus - not edible, frequent bracket 18. Daldinia concentrica (crampball/King Alfred's cakes) - not edible, common# 19. Auricularia mesenterica (tripe fungus) - not edible, common 20. Nectria cinnabarina (coral spot fungus) - edible, common

Report of the meeting to Pleasley Vale,

18 September 2014

Eleven members attended this meeting on a mild but misty morning. We walked eastwards along the valley by following the road through the mill complex, and returned via the old railway track. Mid-September is not an ideal time for flowering plants, but a few specimens of Nettle-leaved Bellflower, Hedgerow Crane's-bill, Ploughman's-spikenard and Perennial Sow-thistle still bore flowers. The war memorial garden looked very attractive and some of the cultivated plants such as Aquilegia and Verbena bonariensis had already begun seeding themselves into the surrounding gravel. Across the River Meden near the old Post Office is an established colony of Deadly Nightshade, but this had been cut back in order to remove the poisonous fruits, a sensible action perhaps in a public place, but one plant growing higher up on the rocks still bore 4 shiny black berries, enough to kill a child if consumed. Because the rock outcropping in the valley is limestone a good variety of shrubs can be seen, and the presence of fruits in September helped identify Buckthorn, Mountain Currant, Wild Privet, Dogwood, Spindle, Guelder-rose and Barberry. The latter is present only as a single specimen on the old railway and is a local rarity. One of the more remarkable features of the Vale is the large quantity of Traveller's-joy (or Old Man's Beard) which sometimes scrambles over the ground but also climbs to a great height up rock faces and trees with thick woody stems at its base. On a foggy day few birds showed themselves but Lol and Robin collected or identified several fungi, including an Earth Star which I had never seen before.

Ken Balkow

REPORT OF THE FIELD MEETING TO MILLERS DALE,

21st AUGUST 2014

A group of 7 met at Millers Dale Station car park and proceeded along the trail to the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve in the direction of the Wye Valley. Ken soon spotted a Wood Sedge with spikes about 2m tall, the biggest he had ever seen, and nearby were Prickly and Smooth Sowthistles growing together. In the nature reserve we found Autumn Gentians though most were dried up and also the seed heads of Fragrant, Spotted and Bee Orchids. We also saw Common Knapweed, Ploughman’s Spikenard, Goldenrod, Field Scabious, a Green Shield Bug and 2 Buzzards and heard a Green Woodpecker calling. Returning along the trail towards the car park and the area in front of the station we saw Greater Knapweed, Perforate and Hairy St. John’s Wort, Musk Mallow, Dark Mullein, Orpine, Bloody and Meadow Cranesbill, Betony, Wall Lettuce and Common Toadflax. Over the bridge in the Bakewell direction in the wooded area on the left I had hoped to find Yellow Birdsnest, but found none, but we did see lots of Common Wintergreen leaves and dead flower heads and I found a new small Daphne Mezereon plant. Previously I had only seen the plants on the opposite side of the trail by the lime kiln where we then went and saw another Mezereon plant, but unfortunately without berries. Near the steps was a single Hard Shield-fern growing next to a Male Fern.

Sue Jackson

REPORT OF THE FIELD MEETING TIDESWELL DALE,

31 JULY 2014

15 members of our Natural History group met at Tideswell Dale, where blue sowthistle was flowering in the car park. Within minutes of leaving there we were watching young spotted flycatchers being fed by their parents. Nearby were a redstart, goldfinch & long-tailed tits, while two buzzards flew above the dale. The vegetation in the dale was quite overgrown but we found a variety of flowers which included wild basil, marjoram including one plant with white flowers, betony, red bartsia, and welted thistle. Also a few leafy hawkweeds and smooth hawkbeards, goatsbeard, lesser stitchwort, and several different willowherbs including a plant of the less common pale willowherb. In the shaded areas ferns were growing – hard shield fern, polypody, maidenhair spleenwort, hart's tongue and brittle bladder fern. Bellamy's Bank was a good sight of blues and purples on the north side, with greater knapweed, saw-wort, and devil's bit scabious, also field and small scabious. We also found wild onion, goldenrod, burnet-saxifrage and St. John's Wort. There were some butterflies, gatekeeper, meadow brown, a green-veined white and a dark green fritillary, but, had the weather been less overcast we might have seen more. It was an interesting and enjoyable morning.

Liz Cannell

REPORT OF THE FIELD MEETING TO WHITWELL WOOD,

19 JUNE 2014

14 members attended this meeting on a somewhat cloudy morning. At the start of the walk we noticed that the grassland adjacent to the layby held a good range of plant species, such as Bee Orchid, Common Spotted-orchid, Yellow-wort, Purging Flax and Kidney Vetch. In summer the wood is quite dark and shady and largely devoid of birdsong, but a number of woodland plants were noted along the rides, including Woodruff, Hedge Bedstraw, Sanicle, Hemp-agrimony, Aquilegia, Tor-grass and Gromwell. Some of the latter still carried its hard shiny seeds from the previous year, and this accounts for its scientific name of Lithospermum (=stone seed). At the N end of the wood limestone outcrops held specimens of Hard Shield-fern and nearby were a few clumps of Wood Barley. It was not sunny or warm enough for butterflies to be on the wing, but a Chimney-sweeper moth was active and its foodplant Pignut grew nearby. We also spotted a couple of Common Toads. After some deliberation and consultation with other botanists it was decided that an unusual Figwort near the wood entrance was just a greenish variant of Common Figwort rather than the much rarer Green Figwort. Finally at the wood edge several examples of Wild Liquorice were flowering, a plant that is characteristic of the Magnesian Limestone but by no means common.

Ken Balkow