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WFV, North Cave Wetlands, 19th Sept 2023

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Wed, 20th Sep 2023, 7:29pm

The trip started with waiting for the minibus in driving rain, luckily Stuart and I were sheltered from the worst of the gale by Gillian, who was standing in the path of the wind with us safely behind her. 

We anticipated squelching around North Cave for the whole day but on arrival at the car park were greeted with warm, dry weather and the enticing smell of sausages, bacon and chips from the butty van. Despite having come prepared with our usual packed lunch a good number of us were tempted to buy a substantial and very enjoyable pre-lunch lunch on arrival.

I was very happy to see some birds with very strange mouths, and was told they were curlews, avocets and shovelers. I certainly don't get those on the bird feeder in my garden in Bradford.  Apparently though, I dilly daddled too long en route to the final bird hide and missed even more amazing birds. John's list consisted of:

WFV - Leighton Moss RSPB, 5 September 2023

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Fri, 8th Sep 2023, 12:34pm

It was a beautiful sunny day for our trip to Leighton Moss, where we were delighted to welcome back Lorna.  On arrival Julia dropped off a party of 7, who proceeded to walk down the lane to the shore hides, whilst the remaining 3 of the party carried on to the reserve.  The Eric Morecambe hide proved to have the greatest concentration of birds but identification was made extremely difficult because of the reflection of the sun on the water and even with the scope we gained little advantage.  The one bird that was new to many of us was a cattle egret, standing on one of the small islands next to a little egret.  In fact over the course of the day we saw all 3 species of egret, encountering a great white egret which we viewed from Lilian's hide later in the day.

WFV, East Chevin, Otley & Caring for Life/Crag House Farm, 22nd Aug 2023

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Thu, 24th Aug 2023, 3:01pm

This was an own transport gathering & nine of us met at the topmost car park on the East Chevin Rd. We proceeded in an easterly direction along the Ebor Way. There was little botanical interest (just as well, as our principal botanisers were absent - maybe they knew?) as this was largely a boulevard of balsam. The remaining flora was a mixture of ferns, brambles & thistles with only the occasional native wild flower. 

We went as far as the end of the new boardwalk & then walked past what used to be a splendid dragonfly pond. Alas, this has degraded considerably over the years & is now virtually reeded over. The weather was fine but unremarkable & only a few butterflies were seen; Speckled Woods, Green-veined White & a Red Admiral. Lunch was taken on the benches at Caley Crags. It is a shame that the views are diminishing year by year as the vegetation (birch, oak & rowan) takes over.

WFV, Ledsham Banks NR & Fairburn Ings, 15th Aug 2023

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Wed, 16th Aug 2023, 2:43pm

Owing to several cancellations, only four began from Culture Fusion. The only other pick up was at Low Moor, where Sally & Angie joined us. We met up with Sue when we arrived at our first destination.  We were repeating an event we had last done way back on the 12th Aug 2014.

Alice began by showing us an Hawkweed Ox-tongue she had found outside the building. According to her Flower book this is neither a Hawkweed nor an Ox-tongue; enough said !

WFV, Sunderland Point, 8th August 2023

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Thu, 10th Aug 2023, 9:55am

This was our second visit to Sunderland Point, the first having taken place almost exactly 6 years before.  In planning the day careful study of tide tables is required as the hamlet of Sunderland Point is cut off from the mainland at high tide, evidently the only village in the UK so affected.  Fortunately we had calculated correctly and we were on our way home in good time before there was any risk of being stranded. 

WFV - High Batts Nature Reserve, North Stainley 25 July 2023

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Thu, 27th Jul 2023, 1:27pm

We last visited this site in May 2018 so it was a pleasure to be welcomed back by Alwin Knowles, who gave us an interesting introduction to its history having been formed as a private reserve in 1973.  It comprises approximately 32 acres on the west bank of the River Ure and is a mixture of woodland with open clearings and ponds, which provide a broad range of habitats.  We were then given free rein by Alwin to explore at leisure having been given detailed information about layout, pathways and potential areas of interest.  The forecast for the day was showery so we initially took advantage of a sunny morning to head for the pond area hoping to see  dragonflies - and we did - in abundance.  There were numerous brown hawkers on the wing, which were an absolute delight, but we were also able to see southern hawker, common darter and black-tailed skimmer. Common blue and blue-tailed damselflies were also on the wing as were banded demoiselles.

18/7/2023 Ripon City Wetlands

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Wed, 19th Jul 2023, 8:02am

Todays visit to RCW was a tale of two halves. The morning was fine and warm, following lunch temperatures dropped and rain clouds appeared. We completed our walk in light drizzle. It had been commented that this "summer" it had been difficult to decide upon what to wear or bring on outings due to the variability of the weather from day to day and during the day. Nevertheless we were well prepared, Maddy wearing wellingtons and others bringing umbrellas. 

Due to the warm weather conditions in the morning we were able to watch and enjoy a variety of butterflies, dragonflies and other insects. The butterflies included Gatekeepers ( a good number- they were everywhere), similarly Holly Blue. Others were Ringlet, Speckled wood, Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown, Small and Green veined White and Small Skipper. Damsel flies included Common Blue and Banded Demoiselle seen by Angela along the side of the canal. Several Brown Hawker dragonflies were trawling the reserve.

WFV, Bishop Wood, nr Tadcaster, 11th July 2023

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Wed, 12th Jul 2023, 1:21pm

This was our group's first ever visit to this ancient woodland which lies to the east of the village of Biggin. Three of us did do a recce back in early 2020 when the plan was to go in early June of that year to see the Argent & Sable Moth, at its only Yorkshire site, but sadly Covid ruined our plans. The site is quite extensive & is bordered to the west by a main railway line & to the south by a busy road. It is very flat with some wide rides so walking this woodland is as easy as it gets.

The forecast was for sunshine & showers so we were all prepared for some rain & though it often threatened it never arrived !

Nob End SSSI 4th July 2023

Submitted by Amanda on Fri, 7th Jul 2023, 5:34pm

The trip to Moses Country Park and Nob End SSSI (near Bolton) started well when Sally and I watched a wasp eating a mayfly while we were waiting for the minibus to arrive. The journey from Bradford seemed surprisingly short, most likely helped by John entertaining us by reciting Stanley Holloway monologues like “Albert and the Lion”.

WFV, Salt Lake Quarry, Ribblehead, 27th June 2023

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Thu, 29th Jun 2023, 6:45pm

This was the first time we had explored this small quarry near Colt Park (Ribblehead). Yorkshire Wildlife Trust took over management of the quarry in 1985, originally worked for construction of the Settle Carlisle railway. It is a SSSI and hosts several rare plants. 

The rain throughout the day meant our notepads and books stayed well and truly in our bags, though we would have benefited from studying the features of Northern Spike Rush, and the differences between the Fragrant orchids. Despite this, we enjoyed a great and varied display, and happily identified lots of species.