lesser celandine

The thin ice of a new day

next page nature diary previous day back Wild West Yorkshire Nature Diary,
Tuesday 22nd February 2000, page 1/2
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female blackbird robin A FEMALE Blackbird stands on the thin ice of the garden pond and pecks, apparently picking up small items of food. She skids as she turns to hop back to the bank. The Robin comes to my inverted dustbin-lid bird-bath and takes a few sips from the cracks in the flaky crust of ice.


wire fencelesser celandine The first Lesser Celandines have flowered by the meadow at the entrance to the wood. Next year, if they survive construction work, they will flower at the corner of a built-up area.

After our nine year battle we heard yesterday that the Department of the Environment has decided Coxley meadow should go for building land. The builder's metal fence panels went up straight away.

I'd like to think that I did what I could to save it, but I'm sorry now that I didn't explain the ecological impact of brick and tarmac on woodland edge habitat in a more understandable way. Some people literally 'can't see the wood for the trees'. To me the meadow is essential to the ecology of the wood as so many creatures shelter in the wood but forage in the meadow; Green Woodpecker, Tawny Owl, bats and so on. In nature everything is connected. So much of our woodland wildlife actually prefers the woodland edge.

Richard Bell
Richard Bell,
wildlife illustrator
E-mail; 'richard@daelnet.co.uk'

  
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