Churwell Urban Woodlands

Monday morning was freezing and frosty with a tiny hint of snow and I took about 20 minutes before work to walk into the woods.

It wasn't that long after sunrise, in fact the sky was still pink in the distance and birds were everywhere. Flocks of Tits - Long-tailed, Great and Blue, Dunnocks, Blackbirds, House Sparrows, Robins, Magpies, Wrens, Woodpigeon, Starlings, Gulls overhead plus Squirrels and the rat we usually see too.

I couldn't resist a few photos of the frost.

Churwell Urban Woodlands

I had a couple of quick walks around the woods before work this week, heading towards the dipping pond one day and then the through the main woods the next. Both mornings there were squirrels everywhere.

Lots of birds on both days - Blackbirds, Wrens, Robins, Great, Blue, Long-tailed Tits, Dunnocks, Woodpigeons, Chaffinch, Nuthatch, 2 Jays, Magpies, Crows and a pair of Mistle Thrush flying overhead.

Some Woodpigeons seem to manage without their head.......

Dunnock

Blue Tit

Blackbird

Spotted a Woodpigeon with a head

Jay

Wren

Dunnock

Blackbird

I saw a couple of different fungi though I spent most of my time looking up into the trees.

With the leaves falling now it's easier to see the surrounding houses of course but I noticed this view through a gap in one of the trees - the view towards Leeds city centre.

Around the Patch

I've managed to get out and about a little around the patch mostly some quick walks around the woodlands before work and a stop there last Sunday afternoon to do a Butterfly count.

Ringlet

Comma 

There were Small Skippers everywhere, the last one is possibly an Essex Skipper.

I also spotted this Damselfly on the pond

Other butterflies seen - Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown, Large White and Speckled Wood

There are a fair few young birds around there - Great and Blue Tits, Woodpigeon, Dunnocks and Robins. In fact i've never seen so many Woodpigeons there, i've spotted a couple of nests over the past few months, they've obviously done well!

Similarly the woods are full of Squirrels too. 

There are plenty of other smaller bugs about too, we spotted Vapourer Moth Caterpillars, Hoverflies, Soldier Beetles. Plus this huge hoverfly like insect sat by the stream, maybe a Sawfly?

A few more pictures from the Woods.

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