YWT Ashberry - 30 June 2013

The last day of the first half of the year and we headed north of York to Ashberry, near Rievaulx. I have heard much about this place from a variety of people including colleagues and family friends. The reserve is not well marked as yet, though this should change soon.

 Taking the left turn signed Scawton and Old Byland from the Helmsley to Stokesley road, you drop down through the woods and shortly after the quaint little humpback bridge, hang a right. The road bends round to the left after crossing another stream and then up a hill. After c200 metres there is a narrow layby on the left and this provides parking close to a wooden gate which is the main access to the site. If you carry on a little further you will see a marked bridleway and another pull in. This is where we parked, having missed the main entrance! The bridleway seems heavily used by horses and was consequently quite muddy.

From the main entrance you can follow a track along the valley parallel to the stream. The last meadow seems to be the most interesting and this is where we found patches of stunning globeflowers, marsh hawk's-beard and a few bird's-eye primroses.

The place was a botanists heaven and was covered in common spotted orchids and twayblades. Many plants went unidentified with a whole range of sedges and rushes present. The place was full of insects, with large numbers of chimney sweeper moths present and it seemed that there had been a large hatch of common blue damselflies. Not many butterflies noted though orange-tip and meadow browns seen. Blackcaps, chiffchaffs and chaffinches sang from the woods, which we didn't really explore as the meadows and stream were so lovely they took all our time. We had a little explore of the stream looking for white-clawed crayfish but we couldn't find any. There were some minnows present and the banks were lined with water mint and flowering common butterwort.

An absolutely stunning place, with lovely scenery and spectacular plants.

YWT Wharram Quarry - 16 June 2013

Number 30 on our list of YWT nature reserves visited this year is the delightful Wharram Quarry, just south of Wharram-le-Street, between Malton and Wetwang on the Yorkshire Wolds. I first visited this site late last summer, when the quarry floor was purple with Autumn Gentians. Today, the site was lush and green, with yellows of Bird's-foot Trefoil, various yellow composites including my favourite (possibly because it is one of the few I can confidently identify!) the delightfully pale lemon yellow Mouse-ear Hawkweed. When the warm sunshine came out, the short sward came alive with peach-orange Small Heath butterflies, plus the azure of Common Blues and the dappled brown and white Dingy Skippers. This latter species was very approachable, particularly when the sun went in and allowed me to get some reasonable photos with my smartphone - see below. Up close this species is really exquisite and surely has been unfairly named! I had a good scan of the cliffs to look for Red Hemp-nettle but couldn't see any. We noticed a few spikes of Yorkshire or Thistle Broomrape just coming up, next to the basal leaves of some large Woolly Thistles. On the northern side, we checked out some collosal Meadow Ant nests, each one of which displayed its own mini-habitat on top. One clump had a fine display of Wild Thyme on its northern face (I would have expected it on the southern face to be honest) and another a crest of Germander (?) Speedwell. Purple Milk Vetch was growing on the more open chalky areas and Whitethroats were singing from the scrub at the top of the quarry faces. A great site and well worth a visit on the way to the coast from York.

Common Blue

Dingy Skipper

Small Heath

YWT Sherburn Willows - 15 June 2013

Following our brief visit to Bolton Percy Station, we headed west to Tadcaster and then south to Sherburn-in-Elmet. Heading straight through the town, we turned right down New Lane and past the High School on the right. You can park at the end opposite the entrance to a business and at the head of a track by a metal barrier. We followed the track down through the Oilseed Rape fields to a gate, which we went through and turned immediately left along the path. From here you can see the kissing gate and sign at the entrance to the nature reserve. And what a stunning place! The track winds up along the limestone slope with lovely views to the west, over rolling countryside. The grassland was frosted white with thousands of blooming Ox-eye Daisies. Among these were large patches of yellow Bird's-foot Trefoil and here and there the first Common Spotted Orchids poking through. We headed along the ridge and then dropped down the valley side into the marshy area alongside Mill Dike. The area was very dry though presumably gets very boggy. Lots of Yellow Flag were flowering here and a Whitethroat was zipping around feeding young. A bird shot into the bushes at the far end which I was sure was a Turtle Dove, but given their scarcity in Yorkshire these days, I couldn't be certain. After a walk round the path that has been cut in a snaking track through the marsh, we headed up the hill and back along the ridge. On the way back we came across a nice little patch of Sainfoin near the small quarried area. A lovely spot and I would like to revisit a little later to see the orchids in all their glory.

YWT Bolton Percy Station - 15 June 2013

This lovely site was taken on by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust in the 1960s when Ringlet butterflies were first recorded. Fifty years ago, this species was much rarer in Yorkshire than it is today. A small site, it can be accessed by turning right just before the railway bridge on the way out towards Tadcaster from Bolton Percy village. You can also park by the gate just before the bridge. The site is the old sidings and platform where apparently cattle were loaded and unloaded going to and from Ireland. A variety of habitats from moss and Stonecrop covered bare ground through to mature Hawthorn scrub can be found, and the presence of the railway line close by entertained by three year old! A few nice plants here including Figwort and Bird's-foot Trefoil, though I didn't find Columbine. Plenty of Swifts overhead and Whitethroats and a Chiffchaff singing.

The old railway platform can be seen on the right on the bottom photo.