New Mills U3A birds and botany

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BIRDS AND BOTANY Coordinator: Jay Turner Meetings: Once or twice a month on various days to minimise recurrent clashes with members' other commitments.

We usually meet at the Co-op car park, Church Road, New Mills at 10:00 am. The number on walks is limited only by having enough seats in cars (but we’ve never yet left anyone behind). Attendance varies with members’ diaries, inclinations and the weather (we are sensible people, not masochists).
Come and join us. There's no limit to the number on the mailing list. Willing drivers of 4-door cars are specially welcome!

Summer Programme 2011
I’ve weaved my way through all the Bank Holidays and other commitments and drawn up a list of proposed dates for B&B Walks over the summer. I’ll give destinations a week or so in advance. If you intend to come on a walk, please let me know beforehand (for if nobody says they’re coming I might not turn up myself). Any changes or cancellations I’ll announce on the website as soon as I can, and warn anyone who has said they’re coming, but I don’t promise to tell the silent majority.
	Thursday 21 April 2011 Monsal Dale (White Lodge car park)
	Monday 16 May 2011 Peter Dale
	Friday 3 June 2011 Millers Dale - the parts we haven't previously reached!
	~~Thursday 23 June 2011~~ 13 July 2011 Lathkill Dale - Jacobs ladder, Mulleins, butterflies ... The planned June 23rd visit to Lathkill Dale was drowned in the car park; but it seems a pity to miss Lathkill (and Jacobs Ladder) for a whole year, so we'll try again on July 13th 2011 and hope for better weather.
	Thursday 18 August 2011 Destination Priestcliffe Lees (starring Grass of Parnassus). Faced with contradictory weather forecasts, we'll decide starting point and route (long-&-leisurely or short-&-steep) on the day.
	Tuesday 6 September 2011 The programme of walks for what is now officially the coolest Summer for 18 years has somehow managed to avoid most of the rain. The long-term forecast for September is 'changeable' (= 'don't know'). For the last walk of the list on Tuesday 6th September we'll go to either Monsal Dale or Millers Dale depending on the short-term forecast for the day.

BIRDS AND BOTANY WALK April 2011 in the Monsal Dale
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Pictures taken by Pat Cooper.

BIRDS AND BOTANY WALK March 2011 in the Goyt Valley		Sessile Oak
		We went up to Taxal Church - then into Hillbridge Wood (DWT nature reserve) & down to the river.
	From there we went back uphill to Knipe & along the track to the Fernilee dam & had lunch.	Since it was still dry we went round the reservoir, then down to the river again & followed it back to Taxal.
		7 flowers of Butterbur
	Because we'd been brave the day improved & became sunny & warm, & we saw the first butterfly of the year (Small Tortoiseshell) & a Dipper, & saw & heard Buzzards & Curlews.

	Click on images to enlarge. Then to return to this page click < back button at top left of your screen.	tree with strikingly twisted branch
	Pictures taken by Pat Cooper.	fallen tree with bracket fungus

BIRDS AND BOTANY
Walk February 2011

The big snowstorm covering most of Canada on Groundhog Day (2nd February) grounded all the groundhogs, which is supposed to mean two more weeks of Winter. So perhaps it will be safe to nominate Friday 25th February for the first walk of the year in Etherow Country Park.

Carsington Water - November 2010
pochard	The few who went to Carsington on November 24th had a cold, bright day. The expected repertoire of ducks was there; mostly Mallard, Tufties & Teal with a number of Wigeon and a few Pochard & Gadwall - the rich chestnut heads of the Pochard were very striking in the strong sunlight. As usual, large numbers of Lapwing and the resident Cormorants, but curiously the only wader presence was a single Redshank.		mallard
teal	tufted duck	gadwall	wigeon
tree sparrow	Most interest centred on the small passerines on the feeders, especially the Tree Sparrows. This was still a regular garden bird 20 years ago, but since then has suffered a 90% population crash - Carsington is one of the few places locally they can be relied on to appear in small numbers.		cormorant
willow tit	But for me the star bird was a Willow Tit - like the Tree Sparrows, I used to have them in my garden, but Carsington is the only place I've seen either bird this century! Jay		redshank


PHOTOS TAKEN BY PAT COOPER - September 2010 (click on images to enlarge)
Looking at one of the Lathkill specialities, a Mullein, either Great or Dark - advanced stuff, that's why we've got our books out.		Anni reading the display board about the other Lathkill special and the jewel in the crown, Jacob's Ladder (see the Miller's Dale pictures). Unfortunately they were largely over by late August, and we only saw two in flower.
Scenic shots up into the quarry in the valley side.		That old tramp getting high on the last of the Meadowsweet.
Knapweed	Harebells	The jumble of rocks is the bed of the river when there is a river. Very seasonal - it comes out of a cave in the upper valley, but rarely in the summer.
	Two photographs taken at One Ash Grange farm, one of three genuine medieval monastic granges above the valley on the south side. One Ash (to distinguish it from Monyash of course) belonged to the the Cistercians of Roche Abbey in Yorkshire. No visible medieval remains, date stone of 1699 on one outbuilding. Features of interest include an ice house and a range of stone pigsties now housing dolls. The Christmas Crib statuary in the icehouse is not medieval - last few years in fact.
Ice cream stop at the end of the walk

Martin Mere trip

(click on images to enlarge)

Carsington Water

Millers Dale walk 2010
Jacobs Ladder (blue and white varieties)	some old tramp entirely surrounded by Hogweed	Knapweed	Dyers' Greenweed


photographs taken by Pat C (click on images to enlarge)
Hawkweed	more Hawkweed	Bloody Cranesbill	Common Valerian
We travel to a chosen destination, then walk at an appropriate pace, not to cover miles but to enjoy looking at seasonally available wildlife: not only birds and plants, but butterflies, mammals and whatever else we find.
Goatsbeard seed head	Bee Orchid	Common Spotted Orchid	come and join us
bring a packed lunch and a contribution to drivers’ fuel costs	Hogweed	binoculars recommended	some kind of rose