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Gorse

The bright yellow flowers of this extremely thorny evergreen are at their best in spring, though it has a reputation for being virtually...

Coal tit

Not as large and loud as the Great Tit, or as colourful or cute as the Blue and Long-tailed varieties, the Coal Tit’s latin name...

Blackthorn

One of the first trees to blossom each year, the Blackthorn does so before it even has any leaves, and this is one of the ways to...

Goat willow

Also known as the pussy willow, the male catkins of the goat willow look like a cat’s paws and are extremely soft to the touch. It is...

Feral Pigeon

Another in our occasional series on the supposed “bad guys” of Nature, Feral Pigeons have an interesting lineage. Originally Rock Doves...

Crows building nests

A lot of our resident birds are busy getting an early start and building their nests already. Perhaps the most visible because of the...

Alder

Coppiced since mediaeval times, people have found all sorts of uses for this member of the birch family, including charcoal, clogs and...

Tree Bumblebee

Another early riser and brilliantly busy bumblebee (try saying that over and over as quick as you can), the tree bumble was first...

Little grebe

Not Crested and definitely Little, this modest grebe is still good to see down at Gallows Hill and other ponds and lakes around Otley....

LESSER CELANDINE

Another important source of early nectar for our sleepy pollinators are these fabulous yellow stars appearing along damp woodland paths...

White tailed bumblebee

It’s a great time of year for bee watching! As there are so few flowers out, staking out a sunny patch with a few blooms will guarantee...

GREAT CRESTED GREBE

“Great” is right – the head and neck feathers look positively extravagant, so much so that the bird was almost hunted to extinction in...

Spring crocus

Vibrant pops of colour are appearing all over Otley, they are joyful to see on the grey days before spring. Whilst not being a native...

Dogwood

On grey winter days when most plants are not at their best, the deep red bark of the Dogwood bush provides some welcome colour. The name...

Cormorant

“What’s that?!” It was an understandable question as a large black bird emerged from the swollen waters of the Wharfe, barely ten yards...

WOLF LICHEN

A brilliant and almost fluorescent yellow-green extra-terrestrial growth caught my eye. It is a moss-like lichen that clings to the bark...

Crab Apple

So called because its gnarled and twisted twigs can appear crabbed or spiny, the branches of the one in our garden are still bending...

Common smoothcap

Mosses have been around for over 350 million years! Us homo sapiens have been around for a mere 200,000 years. Around 20,000 species of...

TAWNY owl

Okay, heard in Otley…..The Tawny Owl in the cemetery was relatively quiet last Autumn, so I’ve been glad to hear it re-asserting itself...

Snowdrops

On gloomy, grey days like the ones we had last week, a sighting of a few of these tough bulbous perennials, flowering despite the bitter...

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