Buzzards are back!

During our post-storm checks of the Reserve we found yet more evidence that Buzzards bred in one of the conifer blocks at….

Monday, July 30th 2018

Seeds, Fruits and Fungus

Once flowers have been pollinated they set seed.  Marsh Cinquefoil is only found on the wetland. Many different insects….

Sunday, July 29th 2018

A Variety of Bugs and Beasties

Our moth trapping continues to give us interesting moths.  One that we all know and can never remember the name of,….

Saturday, July 28th 2018

Half a Day for Ducks

Don't get me wrong I'm very happy that we've finally had some rain, however with rain comes exponential plant….

Friday, July 27th 2018

Cutting, Pulling and Copper-coloured butterflies

Continuing on from yesterday's reed cutting we worked further up the boardwalk on the Scrapes and finished cutting and….

Thursday, July 26th 2018

Heaths, Hedges and Hay Rattle

We've had people working all over the reserve today, from cutting net rides, to trimming hedges and removing encroaching….

Tuesday, July 24th 2018

Pillwort Assessment

Anne Heathcote from the Freshwater Habitats Trust led today's Pillwort survey, and after a disappointing start surveying….

Monday, July 23rd 2018

Bempton Cliffs and Little Things

Some of the bird ringers have been involved over the weekend fitting trackers to Gannets at Bempton Cliffs. The trackers….

Sunday, July 22nd 2018

Moths, Dragons and Damsels

Moths are not a favourite of some people, but they are a delightful group of creatures.  Amazingly they sat still for….

Saturday, July 21st 2018

A Good Morning for Peacocks

The warm weather continued this morning, so the first thing would have been a check on the ponies to see how they had settled….

Friday, July 20th 2018

Good Housekeeping

With no schools or goups booked in for today, it was a good opportunity to catch up on a number of jobs.  The boot brushes….

Thursday, July 19th 2018

A Busy Species Day

The moth-ers identified the moths collected from the trap.  Some were easy to ID, some proved a little more difficult,….

Wednesday, July 18th 2018

A Visit by BEES

WIth the thunderstorms and very heavy rain late yesterday evening being followed by another downpour early this morning,….

Tuesday, July 17th 2018

Of Wetland and Water

On a day when a couple of hours rain was most welcome, the topic of the blog just had to do with water and things living….

Monday, July 16th 2018

Events and CES 8

Following on from yesterday's blog, if you are interested in searching for and finding out more about Foxglove's….

Sunday, July 15th 2018

Foxglove’s Marvellous Insects!

This week the moth trap has been put out in the same place on three evenings and a different catch has been recorded each….

Saturday, July 14th 2018

Leyburn Primary School visit Foxglove

Today we have been teaching children from Leyburn Primary School all manner of things from identifiying plants using different….

Friday, July 13th 2018

Bracken Bashing

Continuing on with the theme of controlling unwanted vegetation; today we have been bracken bashing along the Coppice bank….

Thursday, July 12th 2018

Vegetation bashing by the Scrapes and Lake

We started our day moving Lark and Taurus across the road to one of the other Heath paddocks, and after a few false starts….

Tuesday, July 10th 2018

Dung Beetles

Before we get onto Dung Beetles of the UK I must make mention of the kids from Great Smeaton School who found one during….

Monday, July 9th 2018

Butterflies Galore!

Over winter those of us who like our bugs complain about the cold and the fact that there are very few multi-legged creatures….

Saturday, July 7th 2018

Yorkshire Countrywomen’s Association

I combined this morning's usual trip to see the ponies with putting up some new interpretation boards detailing interesting….

Friday, July 6th 2018

RAF Leeming CPS: Part 2

Today we had the second half of our visit by RAF Leeming Community Primary School. The other half of reception enjoyed a….

Thursday, July 5th 2018

RAF Leeming Community Primary School

Today we were joined by children from RAF Leeming CPS, who enjoyed a fruitful morning of Pond Dipping and Mini-beast Hunting….

Wednesday, July 4th 2018

Water Voles on the Wetland

A number of different practical tasks have been going on all at once today; with some people strimming on the Wetland, others….

Tuesday, July 3rd 2018

Vole Platform Remodelling

This week we will be joined by Caitlin, our fourth student carrying out work experience on the Reserve this year. After a….

Monday, July 2nd 2018

CES 6 - A Great Tit Day Amongst Other Things!

By 0400 we were all in the ringing room collecting bags, papers and nets getting ready for CES 6.  It was cool and the….

Sunday, July 1st 2018