Yorkshire comes alive in July with a wealth of wildlife. Here are Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s top tips for watching wildlife in the summer sun
July is a month brimming with life. Warm summer days are punctuated by the hum of insects, occasional swooping swift and the glorious colours of verdant hedgerows and butterflies flutteringby. Our evenings too are filled with the fragrance of honeysuckle and jasmine, the buzz of a bat skimming by, and if you’re very lucky, the occasional owl. Savour every moment ....
BE MERRY AMONG THE MEADOWS
Britain’s meadows hum with life during the summer. Whether it is a blaze of yellow from meadow buttercups, the whirr of grasshoppers and crickets or the nodding, papery petals of the rare snake’s head fritillary – colours and sound fill the senses.
Wildflower meadows are a great source of nectar-rich food for many pollinator species, as well as a place to shelter and nest. But between the 1930s and 1980s, 97% of lowland meadow was lost in England and Wales – an area of 64,000 square kilometres identical in size to the whole of Bradford.
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust look after a number of stunning meadow reserves across the county. Ashes Pasture nature reserve is set in an idyllic location in Ribblesdale. In summer the grassland supports over 12 species of orchid including the nationally scare small white orchid; bird’s-eye primrose; and blue-moor grass, as well as other flowering plants, and buzzing bumblebees.
Those closer to Leeds can enjoy a visit Ledsham Bank nature reserve, a botanist's dream from midsummer when it comes alive with colour from the fantastic displays of wildflowers and large variety of butterflies. Finally, a wander through Kiplingcotes Chalk Pit nature reserve in high summer will reveal a riot of colour, with dozens of butterflies fluttering around an explosion of wildflowers in some of the sheltered spots and farmland birds such as yellowhammers singing from the scrub.
BATS ON THE WING
Quick, flitting glimpses over our gardens on a warm summer’s evening, spotted over woodlands or skimming a river – the sight of a bat quickens the heart. Popping out of the darkness, these nocturnal mammals are as charismatic as they are misunderstood.
Britain is home to 18 species of bat; the smallest, the pipistrelle, weighs as little as a 2p coin, whilst the largest weighs up to four £1 coins. Bats are important indicators of local biodiversity; their numbers might suffer when there are declines in insect populations or when habitats are destroyed or poorly managed.
Bats are most active in the summer months when they come out of hibernation, hunt insects, give birth and raise young, and the best time to see them is around sunset or sunrise when it is warm and dry. A summer evening stroll along the Lines Way near Leeds will offer a glimpse of bats foraging overhead, as well as an opportunity to spot newts in the ditches and admire the orchids on the embankments. Potteric Carr nature reserve near Doncaster is also a great place to spot bats, and Staveley nature reserve in north Yorkshire is particularly good for pipistrelle bats.
The Trust run regular events, with details on their website, including a Summer Bat Walk at Castle
Howard on the July 28 and a Bedtime Bat Walk at Water Haigh Woodland Park on August 25.
DRAGONFLIES IN YORKSHIRE
Did you know that dragonflies were one of the first winged insects ever to exist on our planet? The ancient relatives of modern-day dragonflies first evolved approximately 300 million years ago – that’s at least 50 million years before the arrival of dinosaurs on earth.
Around two-dozen types of dragonfly breed across Yorkshire, with several others visiting as occasional migrants. A warm, sunny day is best and the margins of pools and ponds being great places to stake-out. The chaser and darter species in particular frequently perch and often favour a particular emerging stick or iris stem.
A great stop-off after a day on the coast, the myriad pools and ponds of Filey Dams nature reserve are dragonfly heaven. Almost 20 species have been seen here including many of our largest and impressive ‘hawker’ dragonflies, and Britain’s smallest, the black darter.
Potteric Carr nature reserve is an ideal site for beginners looking to take off in their dragonfly adventure just on the edge of Doncaster, or man-made North Cave Wetlands is home to an array of specially designed dragonfly pools. Look out for the honey-coloured four-spotted chaser or the sky blue of the broad-bodied chaser, with hobbies a regular late-summer visitor.
SNAKES AND STEAM TRAINS
Yorkshire’s heather blossom peaks in August, providing bees, stonechats and skylarks with a sundrenched home. Allerthorpe Common is one of the last three remaining pockets of lowland heath in the Vale of York, and a great place to catch a glimpse of an adder basking on the warm soil – enjoy them from a distance!
At Fen Bog nature reserve, listen out too for curlew, spot the swoop of a merlin overhead, or spy the famous North York Moors Railway steam trains, which pass next to the Nature reserve.
With over 100 nature reserves across Yorkshire, there’s a reserve for everybody and soul. Go a little wilder this July and see what you can discover, or join the Trust and directly help to protect precious wildlife on your doorstep.
Find out more at ywt.org.uk
