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The brackets of this species can be from 8 to 22 cm wide and are characterised by having a sharp edge. They are pale brown on the upper...

This is one of those birds that is a little easier to spot in the autumn and winter as migrants join the resident population, and harsh...

A fungal disease of woody plants causing branches to die back. Small coral-pink raised spots (pustules) form after the branch dies,...

One of the most commonly encountered slime molds in the UK. This one was spotted on the Chevin, it is found on decaying wood. It appears...

Pictures of the male suggest the painter gave up “colouring-in” after the front third: the head and chest have an unusual...

Also commonly known as the Dirty Tricholoma. Can be found throughout Europe, where fruiting bodies appear under conifers, particularly...

Not short of great names, this fungus is also known as Lawyer’s Wig, and is quite common in Otley’s meadows, woods and verges (and...

Probably my favourite insect, though not one I associate with Otley, more with holidays in France, but here we have a video to prove the...

These are the chestnuts that you can eat, once you’ve extracted them from their formidable spiky cases and cooked them to help remove the...

An intriguing looking shield bug, the shoulders of the Forest bug are very distinctive and distinguish them from other shield bugs. I...

Another wort in flower right now, also known as clown's woundwort, clown's heal-all and marsh hedgenettle. Its traditional use was to...

Also (more prosaically) know as the Common Garden Spider, it’s worth overcoming any inclinations to arachnophobia to examine the...

Autumn is almost here but there are still wildflowers to be found. I found this one finding its way through the wooden slats of the...

Not a common butterfly in Otley – they prefer the warmer south of the country – but spotted on Ragwort in Alex Eve’s wilded garden on the...

This angular, slender seabird visits Otley in the summer for the fishing at Knotford Nook and the Wetlands, though they will also eat...

These common, carnivorous beetles are sometimes used as a biological control agent, consuming aphids in greenhouses for example, and it...

These noisy invertebrates can be seen in Otley’s fields and gardens from May to October. The sound, of course, is once again...

This brown butterfly has a variable number of small, yellow-rimmed eye-spots (the “ringlets”), but when it emerges its wings are...

Another insect-eating warbler that crosses the Sahara to spend the summer with us, adding its almost angry-sounding, “scratchy” song to...

BRIMSTONE MOTH: This beautiful moth has quite distinctive colouring: yellow with chestnut markings at the edges. You might even be able...