Yorkshire grasslands & meadows, butterflies & wild flowers.

Well more than halfway through what has been a personally testing year, a year like no other to be honest but not something I'm not going to dwell upon here, its just not very interesting and anyway I'm well on the road back to my old self with every intention of getting back on the saddle and planning another foreign road trip later in the year.😃😃

Nature's tale meanwhile continues to unravel and since July is a relatively quiet time of the year for birding I've been spending a fair amount of time seeking out some Yorkshire meadows to wander about in - a great way to while away the hours and plot my road to recovery!

Fordon chalk bank, a SSSI site on the northern fringes of the Yorkshire wolds is more grassland than meadow but the site has some of the most impressive strips of 'created' meadow running alongside farmed crop fields I've seen. Much wider than the 10m or so I regularly see in my part of the wolds and packed full of wild flowers and butterflies.

Marbled White on Clover, Fordon, 16/07/19

Small Skipper, Fordon, 16/07/19

Ringlet, Fordon, 16/07/19

Fordon bank grasslands

I hung around this peaceful valley all afternoon and was rewarded with some pretty decent 'golden hour' shots as the shadows lengthened and the sun dipped lower in the sky.

Grassland at Fordon, 16/07/19

Small Heath, Fordon, 16/07/19

Lady's Bedstraw, Fordon, 16/07/19

Clustered Bellflower, Fordon, 16/07/19

Fordon bank grasslands

Dark Green Fritillary on Betony, Haugh & Gundale Slacks, 12/07/19

Ablaze with floral colour and teeming with butterflies, the curiously named Haugh and Gundale Slacks (another SSSI site) near Pickering was another meadow / grassland visited in July, this time with good mate Rob. Easily the largest number of Dark Green Fritillaries I've ever seen in Yorkshire(50+), Marbled Whites and several other butterfly species.

Dark Green Fritillary on Betony, Haugh & Gundale Slacks, 12/07/19

Dark Green Fritillary on Scabious, Haugh & Gundale Slacks, 12/07/19

Marbled White on Scabious, Haugh & Gundale Slacks, 12/07/19

Dropwort, Haugh & Gundale Slacks, 12/07/19

St John's Wort, Haugh & Gundale Slacks, 12/07/19

Further north and west but still in Yorkshire, a couple of days in the Dales was an opportunity to visit a very different type of meadow. Scattered within the North Peninnes and Yorkshire Dales area there are many fine examples of traditionally farmed meadows termed Northern Hay Meadows. Lying predominantly on upland slopes these species rich grasslands are one of the scarcest habitats in the UK. We chose to visit a series of these delightful meadows that lie adjacent to the upper reaches of the River Wharfe nr Yockenthwaite in Langstrothdale - rough camped there too😃⛺

Hay meadow, Yockenthwaite, 24/07/19

Betony flowers, Yockenthwaite, 24/07/19

Hay meadows are steeped in tradition, entirely man made they are grazed in the autumn and winter months then 'shut off' until late July/ August when they are cut to make hay. The richest hay meadows can contain 30 plant species per sq metre.

More info - Northern Hay Meadows

More Info - Yockenthwaite meadows

Strolling beside the hay meadows

River Wharfe

The source of the River Wharfe is formed by the joining of the Oughtershaw Beck and Green Field Beck, very close to here and where we rough camped. The river is 65 miles long, making it the 21st longest river in the UK, and empties into the Rive Ouse near Cawood

Not a great deal of bird action in the Dales, as expected for July, with several sightings of Spotted Flycatchers, a couple of return passage Ringed Plovers on Grimwith Reservoir, 2 Northern Wheatears at the same location and a handful of migrating Sand Martins beating south in the aftermath of a summer storm.

Ringed Plover, Grimwith Reservoir, 24/07/19

Sedge Warbler, Spital Beck, Fangfoss, 02/0719

Apart from seeking out of meadows and grasslands I've been getting back to doing my normal thing - visiting local sites, doing the business for YWT at Askham Bog, keeping my mum on the straight and narrow after dad's death and of course getting back to my caravan and local patch at Fangfoss. Speaking of which I got a new bird for here last month, surprised its taken so long, but a pair of Sedge Warblers taking food into bush alongside the Spital Beck was a most welcome sight!

Common Swift, Pocklington Canal, 02/07/19

And it only seems like yesterday when we were all bemoaning the lateness and paucity of Swifts, Swallows & House Martins this year, and now they're all on their way back it seems, Swifts have already departed from my neck of the woods!

I heard it was a severe weather system over Iberia in early spring that severely affected tens of thousands of returning Swifts and Hirundines. Been a poor breeding season for them all I suspect.



At some point in the last few months as new and different plants bloom week by week, I realised that I'd been making an identification mistake for years! Told more than one visitor to Askham Bog over the years and probably on this blog that this - (Marsh Valerian) is Fine Leaved Water Dropwort, a much scarcer plant.

Marsh Valerian, Pocklington Canal, 02/07/19

 ....silly me, I'd have said it with such comviction too! This year at Askham Bog a proliferation of A water based plant I couldn't quite place appeared along one of the dykes and .... you guessed it, turned out to be Fine Leaved Water Dropwort!

Fine Leaved Water Dropwort, Askham Bog, 14/07/19

Clustered Bellflower, Fordon, 16/07/19

Love the pure and delicate white flowers on that Water Dropwort but its a totally different plant to Marsh Valerian - what an idiot! Talking about delicate here's another shot of one of the Clustered Bellflowers at Fordon and a few more images from round about my locale in July into early August.

Brown Hare, Fangfoss Pk, 21/07/19

Meadowsweet, Pocklington Canal, 02/07/19

Common Cransbill, Fangfoss Pk, 11/07/19

Pocklington Canal (Gardham Lock),

Sedge Warbler, Pocklington Canal, 05/08/19

Been warm wet and muggy in Yorkshire for ages, yet another symptom no doubt of the climate change that surely no sane person can deny is upon us with force. Not gonna dwell on that either (check it out here or even more starkly here should you still need an eye opener) -

Photo Therapy! 'Lifers' at Crowle & Norfolk; Life & death sorted by the long walk at Spurn.

Reflecting upon what has probably been one of the toughest times of my life during which I have witnessed first hand my father battle and eventually loose his fight with dementia, I've come to realise the true therapeutic value of  having an absorbing hobby to turn to when the going gets just too much to bear. Support from family, friends and the various caring services has been crucial too of course during the past few months since I moved back home to help my long suffering mother cope and care with a once proud man who was challenging to the end.

All over now, bar the funeral - the end of one chapter and the beginning of another, especially for my mum. Looking back over my photographs for the period I was surprised that I found the time to take so many but maybe I needed that absorption, the space and time when nothing else matters except getting the right shot. I suppose you might call it photo-therapy!

A few days respite on the coast in Norfolk and Lincolnshire with good friends and fellow wildlife nuts was therapeutic too. I could and maybe should have stayed away longer but it was energising all the same and good for the soul.

Stifkey Marshes, Norfolk, 23/05/19

Burnham Overy, Norfolk, 24/05/19

Spoonbill, Holkham, 24/05/19

Birding highlights included my second UK lifer of the month, a pair of overflying Black Winged Stilts, 3 Turtle Doves, several Garganey ducks, Little Terns, Curlew Sandpiper, Whimbrel, a Turnstone in full summer plumage and several of the Spoonbills that are now breeding successfully in Norfolk - several good views of them flying over but never seemed to get the camera ready soon enough so had to make do with a long range shot from one of the hides at Holkham.

Mediterranean Gull, Titchwell, 25/05/19

Little Tern, Burnham Overy, 24/05/19

Summer plumaged Turnstone, Frampton Marshes, 25/05/19

Curlew Sandpiper, Frampton, 25/05/19

Garganey, Frampton Marshes, 26/05/19

Red Footed Falcon, Crowle, 01/05/19

 My second 'lifer' came earlier in the month after a tip off from my mate Mark - reports of 2 Red Footed Falcons on Crowle Moor, nr Thorne. It was a good opportunity for me touch base with me old mucker and Thorne / Crowle  Moors rarely disappoint so off I went 'a twitchin'. Not sure if I ever saw 2 together but we certainly got at least one Red Foot amongst many more Hobbies. No full on 'in your face' photo opps but some useful record shots of this regular invader from eastern europe.

Red Footed Falcon, Crowle, 01/05/19

 

Hobby, Crowle, 01/05/19

Hobby, Crowle, 01/05/19

Common Cranes, Crowle Moor, 01/05/19

The small breeding population of Common Cranes on the moor is not a secret anymore and I hope they do well this year. Whilst we were marvelling at the aerobatic feats of hawking falcons and trying to pick the Red Foots out from the Hobbies, a couple of Cranes drifted by some way off engaged in what looked like some kind of synchronised display flight.

 Crowle Moor, 01/05/19

Spurn Point, 26/04/19

 A day at Spurn Point on my own and a walk down the 3 mile peninsular and back has long been one of  my 'escape valves', a good way for me to clear my head, get to grips with myself and make decisions. Not a particularly good birding day but I didn't care - it was good head cleansing and more photo-therapy. Setting off in some dull and blinding mist of anxiety and a dark mood, I returned with optimism and mental fortitude refreshed.

Spurn Point, 26/04/19

Spurn Point, 26/04/19

 

Cirrus clouds at Spurn Point, 26/04/19

Linnet, Spurn Point, 26/04/19

Wheatear, Spurn Point, 26/04/19

Barn Swallow, Spurn Point, 26/04/19

I remember my dad bringing me to Spurn once (I must have been 14 or so) along with a couple of mates, all of us budding birdwatchers. He dropped us off and picked us all up a week later! We stayed in one of several self catering Nissan huts (since condemned and taken down) with minimal supervision apart from a nightly round up of bird sightings with the warden and the observatory regulars - it was a great adventure!

Typical of my dad to do that and as I reflect on the whole experience of his distress and merciful passing I remember a happier man, the one who allowed me to wander free and follow my passion from an early age. He bought me my first pair of binoculars and although not an enthusiast himself I know he appreciated the great outdoors in his younger days and always enjoyed telling me about different birds he'd seen coming and going from his garden - including what can only have been a young Bittern by the way he described it -  on the lake behind the house which he took a week to tell me about by which time it was long gone - took me ages to forgive him that one! So in his memory, both alive and kicking and now resting at peace, here's a final few from around York he might have taken a second look at ....

4 Spotted Chaser, Askham Bog, 23/06/19

Ragged Robin, Copmanthorpe, 23/06/19

Large Skipper, Askham Bog, 23/06/19

Bee Orchid, Copmanthorpe, 23/06/19

Pyramidal Orchid, Copmanthorpe, 23/06/19

Orange Tip Butterfly, Askham Bog, 04/05/19

Water Violet, Askham Bog, 04/05/19

Meadow Thistle, Askham Bog, 22/06/19

Singing Corn Bunting, Melbourne Ings, 24/06/19

Pochard, North Cave, 13/05/19

Field Scabious, LDV, 28/06/19

Banded Demoiselle, Askham Bog, 29/06/19

Jack Ward, 1938 - 2019. R.I.P Dad ☘