Benign Neglect

An oddity on Blacka is the area near the car park on Hathersage Road. The car park itself has been seriously neglected by the council and the wildlife trust over many years and the recent minor touching ups don't amount to much at all, being simply a way of getting rid of the mountain of stuff they had left there for several months.

But within a radius of 30 yards from where people get out of their cars a surprising number of interesting things can be seen and heard, that are in some cases absent from the rest of the 450 acres.

This orchid, one of the Marsh Orchids, has just begun to flower alongside the track and will become more attractive in the days to come.

The displays of Buttercups and Cow Parsley have already been mentioned and soon Ragged Robin will appear. A patch of Ramsons with their characteristic garlic smell has just ceased flowering.

The bird life is also notable. Here the songs of Blackcap, Song Thrush, Blackbird and others are louder than anywhere else on Blacka. At times we could believe ourselves in a tropical rain forest, odd considering this is one of the coldest parts of the site.

And ^Goldfinches are rarely absent adding more colour to the scenem. This being favoured by birds must owe a lot to the benign neglect to date of the vegetation around the Rhododendon. Here bramble and nettles etc. are impenetrable but doubtless fine places for birds to build. In  fact everything contributes with grand cover below, the mid -height Rhododendron and the tall pines and Sycamore towering above; water is plentiful as the stream flows under and across the road from Houndkirk.

It's something of a puzzle that the restless managers haven't intervened here before now especially considering their reluctance to ask chain saw operatives and volunteers to stray far from the car park. Perhaps this is just too close: they like to think they've walked for a few minutes before starting work, it just feels more right?

Almost forgotten  was the winter spectacle viewable from here, the Jackdaws jousting with commuter traffic on their morning flights westward.

Young Survivors

Two of the young Oaks that had started to colonise the previously treeless shooting estate of Blacka. These are the lucky ones that were missed when SWT's chain-saw people came along a few months ago. Their days may be numbered.

They are some of the last native trees to come into full leaf, understandable in the circumstances not wishing to draw attention to oneself when such people are around.
The gales have taken a few of the new leaves off,

but nowhere near as many as for Sycamore.

Times Flying

The stages of spring pass so quickly even for those of us who try to make the most of them by observing each day. The flowers of Wood Sorrel will not be seen again until next April and it's a similar story for Bluebell. That day when the woods are suddenly full of warblers happens just once a year as does the hearing of the first Cuckoo.

The span of some of the wild flower stages can be increased by spells of settled weather or prematurely dashed by strong winds and rainstorms, giving each year a character of its own. In some years Rowan trees have an extended period of blooms while in others spring storms disrespectfully trash the creamy displays early.

This week's squalls have shown their effects on Rowan blossoms

Hawthorn is a little more resilient on the leeward side of the tree.

The Cotton Grass sedge that does much to give some relief to the monotony of heathland suffers more than most from a heavy downpour.

In wayside and woodland parts Cow Parsley's improvement of our path sides is anyway coming to an end and beating down by heavy drops falling from the overhanging branches doesn't help much. The Buttercup companions resist more.

But these two complement each other to make one of the year's greatest natural triumphs deserving far more than a comparison with white and yellow lines on the urban roadside.

Each has a special role in the appeal of May's end** the climax of spring. I've already suggested Buttercup is what Wordsworth should have been celebrating in any mention of a golden host. The astonishing detail in Cow Parsley is another miracle that just does not get due recognition.

** we can but hope.

Voting for Wildlife

Blacka is in the Peak District, an area with strong associations with the shooting industry which has been linked with wildlife crime. Driven grouse shooting has much to answer for in the recent history of persecution of birds of prey and other predators that are so vital to a properly functioning ecosystem. Birds like Peregrines, Buzzards, Hen Harriers are known to be targeted by those who profit from Grouse shooting. There should be far more birds of prey across the upland areas of this country including the Peak District, the Dales and Moors of North Yorkshire.

Birds like the young Peregrines currently fledging at Sheffield University will be lucky to survive unless we manage to protect them better from those intent on persecuting them. 

In Scotland there's rarely a week goes by without a report of birds being illegally killed to support the practice of driven grouse shooting (DGS). And let's remember that the artificial, over-exploited treeless state of our upland moors owes much to the rich men's sport of shooting grouse. Two petitions were recently presented to parliament, the larger one calling for an end to DGS, the second, smaller one a reaction to the first calling for the opposite. It was fascinating to see that the bulk of those signing the first were from areas where the shooting actually happened despite the shooting industry claiming the practice wasgood for the local economy! By contrast the largest numbers signing in support of DGS were clustered around London and the South East where you might expect to find wealthy people who could afford to enjoy themselves killing wildlife, an expensive hobby.

Some people in the Peak District will have a chance next week to cast their vote in a way that registers their disapproval of the current state of affairs:

http://markavery.info/2017/06/02/andrew-bingham-high-peak/?platform=hootsuite

Come to think about it, I've seen remarkably few birds of prey over recent months. I know there's a local shooting syndicate. Is there a link?

And why do we hear so little from the local conservation charities about this key issue - if anything at all?

Come and Bash Some Wildness

This picture illustrates perfectly that SWT despite having the word 'wildlife' in its name and talking about 'wild' have absolutely no idea what wild means. We see in the picture farm buildings and a fence and a style indicating a field with farm livestock.

It's #volunteersweek! If you fancy helping us keep your local area wild, why not book on a Volunteer Work Day? Visit https://t.co/1DVbAeDtxy pic.twitter.com/XxC0mhbZhF

— Sheffield WT (@WildSheffield) June 1, 2017

If the kind of volunteering you are engaging young people in is focused around a farm then how ambitious is that as an example of wildness? Farms are businesses and no more wild than most back gardens. And volunteers helping to keep their area wild? A hundred to one that means the sort of work that destroys wildness they should be protecting.

Out With May ...

... and in with June?

Or  out with May, the blossom of the Hawthorn. Often it's not till the month is over that Mayblossom reaches its peak.

Rowan can come first, but May is whiter (not to mention "stronger" and more "stable".)

And then there's one week to go ...

Magic in a Tree

However many rare and unusual species any birder or twitcher logs in a season he/she would surely admit that no spring is complete without experiencing this bit of bird magic.


                             

It takes some performers a score of years to achieve that degree of relaxation.

More from the same improviser:



Such a quality of improvisation. Once, during a well-lubricated late night discussion we mused on which jazz musicians were brought to mind by certain birdsongs. Trying to find a comparison to a certain Blackbird, still performing on a rooftop an hour earlier, we agreed on Ben Webster. I can't recall as accurately the others although Charlie Parker may have been suggested by the Blackcap or the Garden Warbler; he was of course 'Bird'.