Waxwing sighting
There has been a report on the Bradford birding website of 14 waxwings in Ilkley Town Centre car park on Tuesday 15th November. Please let us know if you spotted them too. The first...
There has been a report on the Bradford birding website of 14 waxwings in Ilkley Town Centre car park on Tuesday 15th November. Please let us know if you spotted them too. The first...
Whilst not in Wharfedale, John Gavaghan came across a strange site on Saturday: lots of Large White caterpillars scaling the white walls around Golden Acre Park’s café plus two that had already pupated! My...
August was a month of few sightings reported through the website, but it is typically when people take holidays. Thank you to Denis O’Connor and Hazel Goulden for their reports of a Great egret...
Thank you to all those who have been sending in their sightings. We have had quite a lot of Cuckoo reports and, further to John Waite’s Redstart sighting at Scargill Reservoir, another was spotted...
Conditions were great today for butterflies and there were a few sightings of green hairstreaks on the moors. They have appeared slightly later this year in some of their usual spots. The featured image...
We had a request through recently asking about possible sites, in Wharfedale, where one could maximise their chances of seeing or hearing a cuckoo. The last time I had a cuckoo encounter was several...
A bit of sun has brought out the insects in our garden including this bumblebee. I was surprised to find out there are 24 different species of bumblebee in this country and 275 worldwide....
This frog was spotted on the pavement outside the Wheatley pub in Ben Rhydding looking slightly out of place. Maybe it had popped in on the way home?
It has felt a bit more Spring like the last few days and the weather looks promising for the coming week. The featured image is a picture of a fresh looking Tortoiseshell spotted today...
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The secret to spotting otters is to go birdwatching and wait for a kingfisher to appear. That’s what Frank Munkes a regular visitor to the reserve did on Monday morning with stunning results. I believe we have here a male kingfisher eating a stickleback and a dog otter that includes the this section of the … Continue reading August 8th Kingfisher and Otter! → [...]
A stunning female Golden-ringed dragonfly photographed by John Gavaghan last week. Will be checking back on our records to see how many sightings we have had in the past. From a distance its similar to a Southern Hawker so wondering if we have misidentified them I the past. [...]
Great to host 1st Ben Rhydding Beaver Scouts last night on their 1st visit. The sun shone and all seemed to have a fun time on our nature trail and a bit of pond dipping. Look forward to welcoming you back in the Autumn [...]
When visiting the reserve why not take a few minutes checking out the butterfly info. You can see photos of our main species and a handy table to see which butterflies you have a chance of seeing that week. Warm, still, sunny times are best. When the sun comes out after rain shower can be … Continue reading Butterflies → [...]
Wonderful to see that the orchids are back in abundance this year after the massive decline a few years ago. Many are quite small which may be down the dry spring.. Estimate around 200 flowering stems. Most are southern marsh orchid with a few common spotted orchids and hybrids of the two. The large fenced … Continue reading Orchids → [...]
We discovered this American signal crayfish whilst working on restoring the beck. These were introduced into the wharfe over 20yrs ago and have spread everywhere. Unfortunately they brought a virus with them that our native crayfish are very vulnerable to and are now locally extinct. I believe this is a large male. It is … Continue reading American Signal Crayfish → [...]