One for sorrow, two for joy...

As I walked along the bottom of the acre yesterday I saw a magpie hopping around looking for worms. So this is my bird of the day. We get quite a few magpies on campus and non breeding birds will normally gather in flocks which is why there are always several together.

The magpie (Pica pica) is part of the crow family (Corvidae).

It stands out amongst other members of the crow family with its black and white feathers that have a purple/blue sheen to the wing and a green gloss to the tail.

The magpie is a scavenger, predator and pest destroyer who is an omnivore, which is to say they will eat other animals, plants, seeds and nuts, fruit, insects, and eggs.

They can be found all year round across the UK from lowland farmland to upland moors, but they are absent from the Scottish Highlands.

More information is available from the RSPB website (http://www.rspb.org.uk)

(Photo taken by myself on 11th February 2016)

Queenswood roundabout

Yesterday saw Carl and Paul working at Queenswood to repair the turf on the mini roundabout. A bus went the wrong way and ended up driving over it as the turn isn't quite large enough for a bus.  

They had already made a start by the time I arrived to take pictures but you can see the tyre tracks embedded in the turf. 

The damage was rather extensive this time so it required them to use a turf cutter to put new turf on the area. Normally we are able to just use forks and lift the turf back up to remove the tyre marks.

 

The turf was taken from a side of Queenswood that doesn't get any passers by or visitors on it. So this means we'll be able to re-seed the area and let it grow back without too much worry. If we get mild weather then it doesn't take long at all for grass seed to germinate. 

Here you can see Paul tamping down the turf to make sure there is definite contact between the turf and soil beneath to ensure it has every chance to survive. 

We usually get a bus or lorry going the wrong way and they do end up driving over part of the roundabout so I'm sure we will be back out fixing this patch in the future.

 

 

(Photos taken by myself on 11th February 2016)

February maintenance

What to do in your garden in February

·         Prune your wisteria to two or three buds

·         Near the end of the month, prune summer flowering clematis

·         Cut down winter shrubs grown for their colourful winter stems to the base

·         Cut back old foliage from ornamental grasses to a few centimetres off the ground

·         Prune overwintered fuchsias to one or two buds on each shoot

·         Prune winter flowering jasmine after flowering to encourage new growth for next year

·         Prune winter flowering shrubs once their colourful winter display has finished

·         Cut off old hellebore leaves to remove possible diseases such as leaf spot

·         Trim winter flowering heathers once the flowers disappear

·         Now is the time to move deciduous trees and shrubs, provided the soil isn’t waterlogged or frozen

·         Plant lily and allium bulbs

·         Plant bare root roses for a summer display, but not in the same place as old roses were grown. This can cause the new roses to suffer from replant diseases

·         Plant fragrant winter flowering shrubs ready for next winter

·         Trim deciduous hedges before birds start nesting

·         Vines such as ivy can be cut back now

·         Remove any reverted green shoots on variegated evergreens to prevent reversion taking over

·         If the grass is dry, set the mowers cutting height to its maximum and cut the grass

·         Hang fat balls and keep bird feeders topped up to attract birds

Information taken from the Royal Horticultural Society (https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/in-month/february/) and Thompson and Morgan (http://www.thompson-morgan.com/what-to-do-in-the-garden-in-february)

Anyone fancy a pint?

Unfortunately no, I'm not talking about alcohol. Sorry. 

On Monday, Jen, Sam, and I headed off to the student accommodation blocks at Kirkstall Brewery. The weather on Monday was terrible. It rained pretty much constantly so we definitely needed our waterproofs and wellies on. 

We went here to check on the trees planted over the last couple of years. 

Some were planted in November and the team were lucky enough to see some deer grazing in the area. 

The trees are still attached to posts to keep them stable in bad weather conditions, and to ensure they have the support they need to grow straight and become established. Once they are well established we will remove the ties completely.

We needed to check the supports because the tree trunks can grow so fast that the ties become too tight and then choke the tree. You can see from the picture below what happens when a tie is too tight. This was only one years worth of growth, so we need to pop down at least a couple of times a year to check the trees. 

It's very unlikely that the tree will survive with such extensive damage, but we'll keep an eye on it just in case. 

So Sam and Jen went round cutting the old ties and then replacing them with new looser ones. 

We managed to get all the ties replaced and not get too wet in the end, so all in all it was a very satisfying afternoon. Although it would have been amazing if we had seen the deer grazing this time. 

(Photos of the deer taken by Rach in November, the remaining by myself on 8th February 2016)

#wildlife #biodiversity #groundsmaintenance

A windy start

Well the 1st of February got off to a blustery start thanks to Storm Henry. The gale force winds meant that Jen could not continue with her hedge cutting regime around the campus as all the cuttings would have blown all over the place. So she could be found in the border on South drive, edging the grass from the Acre to the far end of the steps opposite Bronte.
Carl and Sam could be found in the borders at the refectory/student hub, tidying the shrubs up and weeding. They had to keep an eye on their buckets, otherwise these could have blown away taking their weeds with them!
I was working my way along the bottom of the Acre edging the grass to neaten up the path. This involved a half moon implement, a bucket, and sore knees. It did get my fingers after awhile, pulling up the overgrown grass from between the paving slabs, but it was worth it for the end result. You can see from this image that the grass had crept over the path quite away, so with it being a main thoroughfare for people, it really needed tidying up.

I'd made a start on the side below and already you can see a difference.

 

It's surprising just how much of a difference it can make to edge a pathway like this. It looks a lot tidier and now shouldn't need doing for another year.
Once I'd finished this, Carl told me about some Galanthus nivalis (snowdrops) that were starting to come out at the bottom of the rockery. So if you get the opportunity you really must see them.

At the top end of Fairfax there is a bed of Erica carnea (heathers) that are starting to bloom. So these are definitely worth seeing too for their colour at this time of the year.

(Photos taken by myself on 1st February 2016)

I've got my eye on you...

I took this picture when we had all the frost on 21st January but I couldn't resist choosing him as my bird of the day today. I never truly realised just how much wildlife we have on campus so I'm really going to keep my eye out in the future for more pictures.
So here's the blurb about the Blackbird or as its Latin name, Turdus merula, for you. It is part of the Turdidae family of chats and thrushes.
The male of the species are the most recognisable as they live up to the name of Blackbird, whereas the female is brown with speckles or streaks on the breast. They really stand out in the garden with their yellow/orange eye ring and beak. The eyes are just like those ones you get for stuffed teddy bears.
The blackbird can be found pretty much all over the UK and worldwide really, anywhere from gardens to countryside to coasts to hills, unless they are high peaks. This bird can be rather partial to insects, worms, and berries for their diet. So make sure you have plants such as Holly and Cotoneaster horizontalis that produce berries in your borders, well tended healthy soil and even a bug hotel to attract them to your garden.

You can quite easily buy a bug hotel at your local garden centre but should you have the materials to hand then you could make your own. All you really need is some wood, bamboo canes and straw or leaves and pile it up in your border. The insects want somewhere they can wiggle their way in to for protection and shelter. By having one of these in your garden, you are more than likely to get some inhabitants which will increase the biodiversity in your garden and will increase the likeliness of birds visiting you. If you do this then I bet you're more than likely to get some amazing wildlife right in your back yard!

Check out the RSPB website for more information www.rspb.org.uk

#biodiversity #wildlife #birds

(Pictures taken by myself on 21st January and 23rd January 2016)

Can't see the wood for the trees

This is just a little bit of the woodland at Churchwood. The path runs all down the side of the campus connecting North Lodge to South Lodge. It mainly consists of beech (Fagus sylvatica), holly (Ilex aquifolium), laurel (Laurus nobilis) and birch (Betula pubescens). It's used by dog walkers, cyclists, and students.

Ilex aquifolium

In this woodland, as with the one at the opposite end of campus, Queenswood, there are several bird and bat boxes to try and encourage more wildlife onto the campus.

It's not possible for me to say whether or not they are being utilised as we don't monitor their usage, but it would be great if we could. The last time bat boxes were affixed to trees was in 2012 by Paul, Carl and myself. Hopefully next year we will be putting some more bird boxes as well as bat boxes up.

At the opposite end of campus is the woodland known as Queenswood. This woodland is very similar  to Churchwood in that it contains the same variety of trees. This woodland is used mainly by dog walkers and a student running group. The paths are extremely muddy at the moment so take care if you walk through the wood!

One of the stand out sections of this woodland has to be the Queen Victoria monument. No one really knows its origin except that it was created in 1858. Some say it was built as a celebration of Queen Victoria's 39th birthday but no-one really knows for sure. If it was for her birthday then it was such a shame as she didn't even turn up!

The grounds team are in the process of clearing some of the trees from this wood to try and open it up a bit more and to allow stronger trees to develop. There is a lot of overcrowding in some patches so we need to thin these out so that at least some of the saplings have a chance. By doing so we are encouraging more ground cover plants to appear which is great for the local wildlife and it allows visitors and members of the public to see all the gorgeous bluebells that are starting to appear.

Fingers crossed we don't get too much frost or snow which could kill off these bulbs before they flower. The weather seems a bit crazy at the moment so a lot of plants are thinking spring is already here and are starting to get their buds or even, like these daffodils, starting to flower!

#woodland #wildlife #trees
(Photos taken by myself on Thursday 28th January, daffodils taken on Tuesday 26th, and Paul putting up the bat box in 2012)