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This distinctive moth is a capital T shape at rest, and can be seen all year round in Otley – you may find one inside your house. Their numbers are increasing, and they inhabit a range of habitats, including gardens and woods. Their larvae feed on a range of plants, including mint, sages, lavender and heather. By Neil Griffin Photo by Mike & Joyce Clerk

This bird has a deceptive name – they’re not our most common gull. The ones we see frequently on the Tittybottle Park railings, for example, are nearly always Black Headed Gulls. There is an argument that Common actually referred to their habit of feeding on common land (short pasture used for grazing) in the winter. A less well-used name is Sea Mew, which is Dutch in origin. I like the RSPB’s description of the appearance of the Common Gull: “like a smaller, gentler version

Now our deciduous trees are bare and flowers have gone, ferns become very visible. I love finding the Hart’s tongue fern in unusual places, it is a medium-sized fern that can be found growing out of a damp wall, as well as on mossy branches, shady gorges and banks in woodlands. It is a very hardy plant and is ideal for gardens, perfect to plant in shade under trees, or on walls or gravelly areas for attractive cover all year-round. It gets its common name from the fact that i

There are places outdoors in Otley that don't succumb to the life-numbing cold. Leaves that gather under hedges are still teeming with life. Decomposition and the heat it produces make these special places, insulated and protected from the elements under a crispy duvet. Which means invertebrates still abound there, this explains why the Blackbird continues to toss around the leaves at this time of year. The Common centipede is among the most impressive resident of this musty

You can see these incredible birds hunting in the fields and hedgerows just to the east of Otley, a habitat set to be destroyed by the new development. A glimpse of such ghostly pale perfection is certainly enough to make my day. The heart-shaped face of the Barn Owl enhances its acute sense of hearing, as does the asymmetric position of its ears. Its feathers have several adaptations to ensure it is silent as it slowly quarters the ground, giving rise to its old country name

Their winter-ripening red berries and glossy green leaves bring natural colour into our homes at Christmas, and also into our woods, where their shade tolerance means they thrive at shrub level. The berries are an important food source for birds and mice, with frosts softening them up and apparently making them palatable (but don’t put them where your pets or children might be tempted!). Dense holly bushes provide good shelter for birds and a relatively safe location for thei

These small white herons still seem quite exotic to me – more a bird of the Nile (or at least the Dordogne) than the Wharfe. Many UK egrets migrate south for the winter, which makes a December sighting seem even more special. These are an adaptable breed that have been in Britain since the eighties, breeding since the nineties. Mind you, if you go to the RSPB’s reserves in the Aire valley you can now get the full set: Little, Great White and Cattle Egrets. The pure white colo

Lichens are a symbiosis, a composite organism emerging from algae or cyanobacteria living among the filaments of fungi. Algae or cyanobacteria benefit by being protected from the environment by the filaments of the fungi, which also gather moisture and nutrients from the environment. The fungi benefit from the carbohydrates produced by the algae or cyanobacteria. Shield lichen are what we call a foliose lichen, there are two other types called crustose and fruticose. Foliose

Fairly common around Otley, especially down by the river this year, it is most commonly found on Ash trees, but can also be found on other trees. The Velvet Shank has a good resistance to frosts so can often be found throughout the winter months, for this reason it is often the last mushroom standing! This fact helps identify the mushroom as it may be the only fungus around. The cap can be between 2-8cm in diameter and can be sticky and shiny with a honey yellow to orange col

We don’t know for certain that the story of the king letting the peasant woman’s cakes burn is true, but he was a really interesting character, and the comparison with the roundish, black fruiting bodies of this fungus is apt. In bushcraft we use King Alfred’s Cakes as tinder – they catch a spark easily and will burn gently for a long time – a practice in use since Stone Age times, when we think they will have used the fungus to transport fire from one place to another. This

Christmas is not going to be the same this year, but some things remain the same, like our constant friend throughout the seasons, the nation's favourite bird, the iconic Robin. At around 14cm in length and weighing just 18g, these birds are brown with white bellies and red breasts, the males and females are practically identical. The Robin is a member of the thrush family and is also a relative of other garden favourites, the Blackbird and the sadly declining Nightingale. Ro

We don’t have many birds with curved bills, and I’m struggling to think of another small one. You can see them spiralling up and round the tree trunks at Gallows Hill and on the Chevin, surprisingly confident in their unobtrusive mousiness, quietly searching for invertebrates such as insects and spiders. Observed closely their movement can be defined as a series of hops, using their long toes, strongly-curved claws and stiff tail. Whilst their mottled-brown backs blend in wel