On Patch & the ''No Idea Tree''

 All day and night, save winter, every weather,

Above the inn, the smithy, and the shop,

The aspens at the cross-roads talk together

Of rain, until their last leaves fall from the top

(From Aspens by Edward Thomas)

The almost blinding bright lemon sunlight enticed me out onto patch and I had the intention of walking to the lake then onwards to the village.  Before I got to the lake I realised that the sunlight gave a misleading suggestion of warmth, as the air was bitterly cold and the paths in part covered in thin black ice.  A fellow walker mentioned as we passed one another that there were two Water Rails at the side of the smaller lake.  This species is only a very occasional visitor to patch so I stepped out.  It was not one to miss. 

I hung around the smaller lake for an hour and a half, the cold eventually seeping through my layers.  I thought at one point that I has spotted the rails in the reeds, but distance, position and light combined to make me uncertain.  My plan to walk further came to nothing although on the positive side I did meet two or three old friends I had not seen for some time and so enjoyed a chat.  No one was picking up Water Rails.  I kept on the move partly to keep at least some warmth and partly to give different angles of view.  I did notice that now the lakes had become unfrozen the numbers of Goosanders had increased, but there were still fewer birds about than would be expected at this time of year.  I decided to give up and make home for a hot drink.  I took one last look, and low and behold, had a decent sighting of Water Rail walking out in the open before disappearing into the reeds again.  I decided that one Water Rail was enough and made for home.  I remembered the Water Rail I found in Jesmond Dene some years ago in the height of a very cold winter.  It was the first one recorded in the dene for almost 100 years!

My next trip out (lockdown will ensure that the patch sees more of me than usual) was made to the area surrounding the village, which I had intended to visit previously.  It was much milder today and the area was waterlogged.  I negotiated pools of water and a pathway which had changed to a running stream, but sadly saw extraordinarily little in the way of birds.  Conditions ensured I had the place to myself and I felt better for the walk as I took in the view across the fields in changing winter light and passing cloud formations.  I did find three sapling Horse Chestnut Trees in a line of hedge after I had carefully watched a Mistle Thrush slowly and methodically searching an area of the field.

Ladybirds on gravestone

Today, another milder, but rather grey day, I met up with Sam and we slowly wandered patch for two and a half hours.  In the main it was trees we were looking for so we began in the church grounds.  There is a Yew and an Irish Yew in there which are always worth checking out for Goldcrest.  There were once again few birds at all today.  I had not previously taken in the numbers of European Aspen growing here and several that appear to be self-setting Aspens are on the outside of the grounds too.  The root of one of the older trees was growing along and into the wall resulting in some substantial damage.  I was reminded of the poem of Edward Thomas, Aspens.  Perhaps not so surprisingly because Aspen are a food source for Ladybirds, Sam got his eye on a cluster of hibernating Ladybirds on the under-edge of a gravestone.

Aspen Bark showing lenticels

I have taken quite an interest in the European Aspen Populus tremula.  On the bark of the tree, diamond shaped lenticels function as pores which allow for the passage of gasses between tree and atmosphere.   The shape of lenticels is one of the characteristics used for the identification of species of tree e.g., the dark horizontal lines on birch are lenticels.  Aspens will often produce clones of themselves by root sprouts that can appear up to 40m away from the parent tree.  If the parent tree dies these clones can still be produced many years afterwards.

Wild Cherry Bark

World War One twin military grave.  One of those identified is probably buried in an unknown area of the grave yard.

We identified many species of tree as we continued our walk including several Horse Chestnut and later at least two Sweet (Spanish) Chestnut.  The name Spanish derives from the fact not that the trees are of Spanish origin, but because the deep swirling bark markings are mindful of flamenco dancers.  We were wondering if the Spanish Chestnuts could have been part of the Avenue of trees which once led from Killingworth House which was demolished in the 1950s.  More research required here I think.  The three trees that Sam confirmed were part of the Avenue are the large old Beech, Horse Chestnut and Sycamore in what is now parkland.

'Sticky' bud of Horse Chestnut.

Bark of Sweet Chestnut

I enjoyed my time spent on tree identification.  Every now and again I would get a reply from Sam along the lines ‘no idea’ when I asked about species, hence the title of the blog.  We are both out to learn, although I have some catching up to do.

Old Lime (prob small leaved)

Early showing of Lime leaf  on  18th January

Not so many birds were seen, but my bird of the day was a male Bullfinch giving an exotic look in the diminishing light.  I had hoped for a song from Bullfinch today but we only heard short calling notes.  The next few weeks are a good time to listen for the melancholic Bullfinch song, however.   The same Mistle Thrush (recognised by obvious markings) was still feeding in the same spot as it had been the other day)

Macro image of moss sp.

Today I am pleased to see that the Song Thrush missing for a few days has returned to my garden, along with a few other species including numbers of House Sparrows which I missed when they deserted the area for a time