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The annual
cross-country run took place on the 12th and, as usual, I
walked down to the bridge, overlooked by the viaduct,
where the runners For example, one
section of the hedgerow contains some very distinctive
twigs. These During my stand at the bridge, I also heard the 'zeet zeet' call of a willow tit and managed to spot it in a hawthorn hedge, where it was feeding with some bluetits and great tits. Willow tits are quite easy to find locally but are not normally found inside the school grounds. Other sightings made at the bridge were of a water vole swimming in the Went and a heron flying over. |
first cross the
Went. I enjoy standing in this spot once a year as there
are lots of things to be seen. 
look like any other
twig towards the tips but, lower down, the bark grows
outwards to form wings or flanges, making them look quite
unusual. At first sight, it might be thought 
that
the strange growth is caused by a viral infection, as
happens in some other plants, but it is actually quite
normal for Dutch elm. Large elm trees have disappeared
from the area around Ackworth because of the effects of
Dutch elm disease but elm survives in some locations,
such as Hessle Common, as a hedgerow plant. In one or two
places, specimens have been allowed to grow into trees
but they are
now reaching the size
at which they can be expected to become the second
generation of elms to fall victim to the disease.