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Another insect-eating warbler that crosses the Sahara to spend the summer with us, adding its almost angry-sounding, “scratchy” song to our summer soundtrack. This song, along with the white feathers at the throat (less distinct in the female), and a hyperactive tail, make it easier to identify than some of our warblers. They are another bird where the males build nests for the females to choose. They arrive here roughly ten days before the females to start this process by es

BRIMSTONE MOTH: This beautiful moth has quite distinctive colouring: yellow with chestnut markings at the edges. You might even be able to spot one in your Otley garden during the day between April and October. When flying at night they are attracted to light. They over-winter as either a larva or pupa. The twig-like larvae feed on a variety of trees and bushes, including Hawthorn, Blackthorn and Rowan, and have a “horn” on their back. Their colour reflects their food-plant,

Whilst out walking with a friend recently, he asked me if a plant was edible, I said to him that most plants are ‘edible’ but if they are nutritious and tasty that is a much harder mark to hit. The plant he was pointing at was Wintercress, also known as Yellow rocket, which does meet both those criteria. It is rich in vitamins C and A, and was one of the anti-scurvy plants eaten in the days before vitamin C was readily available. It has a peppery flavour with a slight tang of

We are well into fly season, any sunny day from now on is going to be accompanied by swathes of flies. Whilst you are batting them away from your picnic though, remember that without them our incredible summer migrants, the warblers, swifts, swallows and martins probably would not bother to make the journey. There is a huge variety of flies to be found, it is thought that over 7000 species of fly live in the UK! Bluebottle flies are distinguished by their distinctive colorati

Green Alkanet More piercing blue flowers are to be found in the wilder spaces of Otley, the pretty flowers of the forget-me-not relative of green alkanet are buzzing with activity, they are extremely popular with our bees and bumblebees. Whilst it is now widely naturalised, it is actually native to south-western Europe and was introduced into British gardens back in 1700, but had already made its escape into the wild by 1724! Alkanet is self-seeding, with long taproots which

ST MARK’S FLY: This is that shiny black fly with the dangly legs that you see in swarms at this time of year. Some people find them annoying, but they are an important pollinator (feeding on nectar). The name derives from the fact that most adults emerge around St Mark’s Day – the 25th April. Another name is Hawthorn Fly. Numbers peak in May, but they’re still around now. The males have the long legs, but the females are larger overall. The males’ eyes are larger, too, and ha

There are more than 500 aphid species in Britain. Some feed on only one or two plant species, but others can be found on a wide range of plant hosts. The Sycamore is an introduced non-native tree and as such has very limited insect fauna associated with it, reportedly only hosting an average of 15 species, where the Oak will support up to 280 species! However one species of insect is extremely loyal to the Sycamore and at this time of year is so prolific, it is hard to find a

This cute little jumping spider was on our patio, but we have seen them inside the house on the bathroom windowsill. We don’t need to worry about cobwebs, though, because cat-like they stalk their prey, with two big front-facing eyes, before pouncing. They have eight eyes altogether. Their diet consists of even smaller spiders and insects, though they sometimes take creatures up to three times their size. The male’s courtship dance involves it waving its pedipalps (front appe

Whilst not as ubiquitous as the Kite, these birds of prey are much more common in the skies above Otley than they used to be. They are often to be seen being mobbed by Crows, especially during the breeding season. Although we are most likely to see them effortlessly riding the thermals, they often hunt for small mammals from a perch – there’s one that sits on the fence by the A59 east of Harrogate, oblivious to the traffic. Their calls often seem to be used by film and TV pro

Whilst out walking along Birdcage Walk at dusk, I spotted a fox eating some supplementary food left out for horses (the second picture). Foxes are most active at dusk and during the night, searching alone for food. They tend to live in family groups of one dog, one vixen and her cubs, with a few additional female helpers from previous litters. When dusk arrives however it’s every fox for themselves, whilst out alone foraging, the adults will try and eat almost anything they c

One of these settled on our gate in the sun. They feed mostly on honeydew in the tree tops, and rarely on flowers. Honeydew is a sugar-rich, sticky liquid secreted by aphids as they feed on plant sap. Northern butterflies are larger because they need bigger wings for thermoregulation. There has been an extraordinary increase in the UK numbers of Speckled Woods due to climate change.

A beautiful bird with an ugly screech of a call, I seem to see more of them around these days, particularly in the woods on the Chevin. They are very intelligent, like the other members of the Corvid family, and viewers of Springwatch will have seen they have a remarkable capacity for mimicry, even imitating birds they cannot have heard for several months. They bury thousands of acorns in the autumn, for retrieval over the winter, and have a special gullet capable of carrying

There are loads of these on the riverbank path between Gallows Hill and Knotford Nook, but they can turn up in your Otley garden, even if you don’t have a pond. The females are often paler, but sometimes don’t look like the male at all, so that they aren’t too vulnerable when they fly near the water for reproduction. The male is a pinky brown when he first emerges – it takes him a few days to acquire his brilliant blue hue. The bulk of their lives, though, is spent at the lar

Another of my favourite birds (how many are you allowed?!). When they’re not bobbing up and down in the manner that gave them their name, watch them walk down a rock and under the water of the Wharfe in search of invertebrates. They’re chunky, and not the most graceful in flight, as their wings are designed for swimming, but they’ve got bags of character. They have strong focus muscles in their eyes, so that they can change the curvature of the lens to improve underwater visi

We saw dozens of these this morning on our walk east of Otley along the old railway track. In the fields beyond, they flew up from the grass in front of us, their colouring subtle browns with defensive eye spots and sometimes a splash of washed-out orange. Meadow Browns will fly in dull weather, when other butterflies are inactive. They are known to have many subspecies, with very subtle differences.

A different tone for today’s post: this invasive species is a significant problem around Otley. On the face of it, there’s a lot to like about it: pollinators like the flowers, lots of people like the smell, and the pink colour is not unattractive. Alternative names include Policeman’s Helmet, Bobby Tops, and Gnome’s Hatstand. But it has a tendency to take over and reduce biodiversity, swamping other species. This is partly due to its extremely effective seed dispersal metho

Regular exposure to these magnificent birds hasn’t dimmed the awe they inspire in me. I once dragged my family over a hundred miles to see some in the Welsh mountains, they were so rare, now I see them from my bed. Long ago they were common, even in urban settings, and regarded positively because they kept the streets clean of carrion and rotting food. But then the Tudors classified them as vermin, seeing them as competition for the produce of the countryside, and with reward

This remarkable name derives from their defensive mechanism: they squirt foul-tasting red drops from their mouths when threatened. This liquid is hemolymph, which circulates blood-like in the bodies of invertebrates. The beetles release it by breaking membranes in their mouth. They are flightless and largely nocturnal. Another name is Blood Spewer.

A native of North America’s west coast, the one I saw was in the Holbeck Wood on the Chevin. What drew me to this tall conifer was the new, pale-green growth at the end of the branches, which made it look a bit like they had been decorated. It is a very shade-tolerant tree, with young ones growing under the canopy of other trees and able to wait years for the chance to exploit a gap. The wood is used for the production of paper, doors and furniture; and the Native Americans o

This moth only flies on warm nights between May and July, but can be found resting on walls, tree trunks and lime tree foliage. The adult lives for about 5 weeks. Where there’s a lime (linden) tree in Otley, I suspect there will be Lime Hawkmoths. The lime tree is the favourite food of their caterpillars. By River Six