Following some good records in 2014 we have had regular sightings of 2 little egrets on the river and opposite bank  since the beginning of February – who knows may be they could be back and breeding in Wharefdale for the fist time in a very long time.  With sightings of pairs of goosander, dipper and oystecatcher spring is here!

Photo by Mark Hockey from a previous year

A few pictures from Mark Hockey’s visit this week:

A cracking picture of a Kingfisher in flight, a Speckled Wood, Peacock and the sunlight on the hills towards Beamsley in the distance.

We are pleased to report there have been several Purple Hairstreak sightings of late. Now is a good time to spot the elusive creatures, who spend most of their time living amongst the branches of oak trees. The warm summers evenings are ideal for spotting them flitting amongst the leaves although getting a photo is not easy. There is more than one oak tree on the site so if you’re interested why not pop down on a warm and sunny evening and take a look. 6:30pm onwards is a good time.

I hasten to add the butterfly photo is not one of ours but we are working on that! You only tend to see them from a distance but if you see butterflies in the oak trees, at that time, it is more than likely this is what they are. We saw some tonight in an oak tree in the Northern corner of the North Lawn:

Site map

An otter picture sent by Mark Hockey – fantastic!

A lovely afternoon with White Letter Hairstreaks – about 30 counted in all with Dave Howson, also seen, Red Admiral (not white unfortunately!), Small Tort, Small Copper, Small and Large Skipper, Comma, and are Les Blues crossing the A65 and moving onto our Reserve?….