Mystery blobs appear at Gibside.

 Fungi, jelly mould, horticultural swell gel, frog spawn,rock snot or alien invader?

After finding some blobs of jelly near the Octagon pond today, which on examination turned out to be frog spawn. I decided to try and find out what was happening to our female frogs to cause them to loose their eggs.

I came across some pretty wonderful explanations on the web about slime blobs around the countryside. Here are a few theories.

Jelly raining from the sky, the result of dastardly Chemical agencies carrying out experiments to see what effect it had on local populations.

The wonderfully named ‘Rock snot,’ an invasive jelly which affects rivers, streams and water bodies in Canada and New Zealand.

http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/aquatics/didymo.shtml

Star Slime, which appears after meteor showers. I feel I should use the word allegedly at some point soon.

Slime or jelly moulds which appear in grasslands and wooded areas. This is a possible one also where it is found deep down in leaf litter and grass sward or on mosses.

http://www.wheatlandfarm.co.uk/blogmysteryjelly.html. This site has some marvelous comments from people around the world.

Swell Gel, which is used in hanging baskets and planted pots to absorb water and help the plants tolerate dry conditions. This is a possible contender for such stuff appearing in pots or on patios. It is often added to bags of compost which you can buy from garden centres.

Regurgitated spawn,

Well, as you can see clearly from the pictures our slimy, jelly blobs are nothing more than frog spawn, after herons or other predators have eaten the female frog, then decided the jelly wasn’t nutritious enough or needed a bit more raspberry flavouring.

After rummaging around in the first blob I found I came across a small black mass of egg nuclei.

Some of the jelly was slightly red, suggesting blood staining and there was a bit of skin attached which was obviously from a frog. (see below) That solves our mystery, partly any way. Why would a predator such as a heron bother to regurgitate the spawn? Too filling possibly.

I have to say the ability to select exactly what you spew from your innards is a real skill.

Half Term Rhodi Mega Bash

Column to Liberty in sunlight

Wednesday 15th February 2012

Well what a contrast to last week, it was 6 degrees C at 9am & 11 degrees C by 3pm. Our day began with the sighting of several red kites in flight over the estate yard.

Today a small group of us set off to start rhodi bashing, only this time it was different! We would be inviting members of the public to join us for a short spell, if they wished. Before anyone arrived we were treated to the sight of a grey heron flying off from the Lily Pond and a sparrowhawk in flight over the Hollow Walk.

Information Board

We were soon inundated with plenty of “volunteers” of all ages. After a brief description of the nature of the task & why we were cutting back the rhododendrons, our “volunteers” were then given a pair of gloves and a set of loppers. They were given safety advice on how to walk whilst carrying the loppers, how to use them and general advice about care whilst walking on rough terrain.

Some eager volunteers

All our helpers quickly entered into the spirit of the task and before long we had several large piles of rhododendron prunnings.

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and we were most grateful to all the participating families for all their help. While walking back to the Pontop shed at the end of a busy day Phil Younger spotted a pair of buzzards gliding over Parkfields – 3 species of raptors seen in one day!

One of the piles of prunnings

Phil Coyne

Fire Raising Part 2

Wednesday 8^th February 2012

It was a pretty chilly -4^o Celsius when Mike & I arrived at Gibside this morning. We therefore had no hesitation in volunteering to go back to the West Woods turning circle and burning the branches which had been left last week.

We set off at a brisk pace equipped with a pair of loppers, a bow saw and a pitchfork. On arrival we collected some dried grasses, dried pieces of conifer and small twigs ready to begin our bonfire. We had more success this week and quickly had a good fire going (it’s all in the preparation as Phil Younger would say).

Sun shining on the frozen ground

A good going fire.

By lunchtime we had burnt everything that needed burning. So, after lunch, we looked for some tasks to occupy us whilst the fire was dying down.

Winter sun shines through the Scots Pines

We had been sitting on a large log whilst eating our lunch and noticed that the surrounding area was rather untidy with lots of conifer braches which had been dumped. So we set about clearing the area, smaller branches being added to the remains of the bonfire and larger branches together with other large branches and logs were used to create a log pile in the woods nearby. This will provide a useful habitat for various small mammals or reptiles.

Mike adds another branch to the log pile.

The log pile

Bracket Fungus

A productive day complete, we waited for Phil to arrive with some water to douse the remaining embers, and then headed off for home. The temperature had risen to "balmy" 0^o Celsius!

The dying embers

                                                                                                                                         

Phil Coyne

  

A Bonfire in West Wood

Wednesday 1st February 2012

Today it was a rather chilly 3^o Celsius when we arrived at Gibside. There were to be three groups of conservation volunteers today. One group comprising Dave, Lorna, Matthew and Phil Younger set off to cut up two trees which had been felled on Green Close, some of the branches were to be kept to be used as pea canes later in the season.

The second group set off to Snipes Dene where their task was to burn rhododendron prunnings.

The third group consisted of Mike & myself, and our task was to burn the beech and rhododendron prunnings which had been deposited at the turning circle in the West Wood. We soon warmed to our task (or I should say were warmed by our task)!

Mike tending the bonfire

Once we had the fire lit (with a little help from Phil Younger), we had to cut the prunnings into more manageable pieces using loppers and saws. It is important to keep the bonfire to a reasonable size so as not to risk setting fire to any surrounding vegetation.

The Bonfire

Blue Skies over West Wood

After lunch, our task completed, we watched the fire begin to die down and realised how cold it still was.  As we admired our nicely cleared area, we were dismayed to see the arrival of Dave with the first of three truckloads of branches from the trees on Green Close. We arranged the branches into neat piles; they were going to have to wait for another day to be burnt!



Mike looks on with dismay as another
truckload of branches is delivered!

                                                                                                                           Phil Coyne

Vista Management

25^th January 2012

Another mild day with temperature of 9^o Celsius at 9am. The weather certainly has been kind to us volunteers so far this winter. There were two tasks to be completed today. Phil Younger set off to Snipes Dene with Dave, Lorna and Matthew to burn rhododendron prunings, whilst the rest of the group set off for the Monument to pull up silver birch seedlings on the hillside above the Lily Pond. The idea is that there should be a clear & uninterrupted vista from The Lily Pond up to the Monument.

When we arrived at the Monument a large number of molehills were noticed. Terry and Mike quickly got to work flattening them out (the molehills,  not the moles!), to improve the look of the area.

Flattening the molehills

More molehills to flatten

An A-board was then set up to explain to any visitors the nature and reasoning behind our task.

Keeping our visitors informed

The team then made their way down the hill, and spreading out across the hill began to work upwards removing small silver birch saplings, and any other saplings likely to obstruct the view. It wasn’t quite as easy as we had been led to believe; some of the saplings had been pruned in previous years and this meant that the new growth was on fairly large roots. We had, therefore, to revert to digging them out using garden forks.

The Team in action

Mary was given the additional task of asking any passing visitors for their views on our conservation efforts. So, equipped with a clip board (in true management style), she eagerly set about her task. I just hope the comments are favourable.

Laura takes a break in the sunshine

Another task completed we all headed for home, I wonder what's in store for next week?

A Tale of Two Teams

Wednesday 18th January 2012 was another mild day, if somewhat overcast.

Team Meeting

One team set off to clear the leaves from the Ha-ha which runs along the length of The Avenue. What is a Ha-ha? Well, a Ha-ha is a type of ditch in which one side is vertical and made of stone, while the opposite side is sloped and turfed. It allows an unobstructed view from The Avenue whilst creating a barrier to livestock.

A Cross-section of a Ha-Ha

The Ha-Ha Clearing Team

The leaves were loaded into large sacks
then taken away to be composted.

The second team set off for The Lily Pond. There was a fine drizzle of rain as we set off but this had stopped by the time we reached the Lily Pond. John began by scything tall grasses  behind the Pond, which was still frozen after several very frosty days. Laura (a European Volunteer from Moldova) and I began raking up the cuttings and adding them to the dead hedges at either side of the pond. Our peace was soon shattered by the arrival of Bruce and Mike with petrol driven strimmers!

One of the dead hedges topped with grass cuttings, runs

from the edge of the pond to the nearby trees.

The strimmers arrive!

Raking the longer grass cuttings, bracken, horsetails etc was fairly easy but the shorter grass cuttings were more difficult as the tines of the rake tended to snag on the tussocks of grass.

We were treated to shortbread biscuits at our coffee break which were kindly provided by Mike.

Once the scything and strimming  were finished we headed back to the walled garden where we had an early lunch break. After lunch, we collected more rakes and headed back to The Lily Pond to complete our task.

Laura takes a breather.

By early afternoon, true to form, there were breaks in the cloud and brief spells of sunshine - well it was a Wednesday after all!

Wednesday 11th January 2012.

Another fine Wednesday and mild for January with a temperature of about 10 degrees Celsius.
There were several tasks for the landscape consevation volunteers today. Matthew headed off to chop and bag logs, John took 2 "volunteers" to dredge weeds and some of the reeds from The Lily Pond. Phil, Dave and Johnny set off to strim the grass on the bank upto the Banquetting Hall, whilst the remainder of us headed off to prune laurel bushes.

A laurel hedge has been planted along one side of the ride down from the Banquetting Hall, it's purpose being to guide the eye down towards Gibside Chapel.

Dave Prunning

Mary Prunning

Whilst we got to work with the delicate task of prunning the laurel bushes, Keith began cutting up a larch which had fallen down. We used secateurs for our prunning (a change from the usual loppers and bow saws!), and tidied up the prunnings into sacks as we went along (another first for us!).
Hopefully the laurels will bush out sideways to form a nice looking hedge with the trees behind it.

After a coffee break and fortified by flapjacks and cookies provided by Dave & Lorna we returned to help Keith cut back a small holly tree and some hawthorn bushes to complete the vista.

Just before lunch we spotted a red kite circling overehead, it was probably just checking up on us!



Keith cutting back the hawthorn bush



The Finishing Touches

After lunch at the Stables, we headed off to the bank below the Banquetting Hall to begin raking up the grass which had been cut by the strimming party in the morning.

Dave & Johnny Strimming

Phil with strimmer, Mike raking

John Grundy appeared and asked for 2 volunteers with pitchforks to go and help clear up the pond dredgings at the Lily Pond. Terry and I drew the short straws. The dredgings were muddy & smelly. After we had loaded them onto the back of the truck we helped the others collect up some of the reeds from around the periphery of the pond which had been scythed by John and added them to the dead hedge.

John with his Scythe

Dave & Terry