To balance the previous serious post…here’s the positive stuff šŸ™‚

The valley of the Gill Beck: we’ve said it before and it’s worth repeating -it’s a great thing in a slightly gloomy world that such a beautiful natural space remains on the doorstep of two large cities. Looking after this place is vitally-important to our well-being (Photo: Ros Crosland)

We’ve been plugging away at the paths and getting fitter (younger participants) or more cream-crackered (the middle-aged) in the process of wheelbarrowing tons of aggregate around.

The path below Spring Wood in it’s newly-engineered glory

We’ll be needing another delivery soon Richard!

And we continue to fight the torrent of litter, poop and general trash that gets left down there. Many thanks to the legendary Jeff Yates of Litter-free Guiseley for supply of bags.

All of the following pics were taken in the Gill Beck valley late summer and autumn:

Barn Owls have had a bonanza year locally. The wide roughs of the golf courses, the rough pasture at Tong Park and Baildon Moor are rich in voles (photo: Ros Crosland)
These days, it feels increasingly special to still have Swallows nesting in the valley. Happily there are still parts of the valley where pesticides aren’t (much) used and there are enough flying insects for them.
A juvenile Whinchat on the wires at Low Springs Farm:
this is another species rapidly decreasing in the UK as a whole (Photo: Ros Crosland)
Migrant Wheatears also at Low Springs Farm (Photo: Ros Crosland…….this is a beauty Ros!)
Juvenile Green Woodpecker (Photo: Ros Crosland). There’s a lot of standing dead wood in the various bits of woodland around the valley which is important for woodpeckers.
Oyster mushrooms sprouting in the colder weather this week
Lurid Bolete at Hollins Hall
Russian Comfrey also at Hollins Hall
Birds foot Trefoil at Tong Park is still in flower late September
Crosswort alongside the Beck
And finally…not going to win any photography prizes with this one but I wanted to include it because I’ve seen very few Hedgehogs in the valley over the past couple of years.

This week there are still lots of Chiffchaffs hanging around and a few Swallows and House Martins. Lots of Siskins, Redpolls and the occasional Crossbill have been moving through overhead. The male Goshawk normally resident in the Shipley area, which is presumed to be a escaped falconer’s bird occasionally visits us.

Published by tongpark

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