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More delights from a walk by the river, somewhat understated perhaps until you look closely. The tall spikes of bell-shaped, green-white flowers, become pink with age, appear from May to July. The name comes from the deeply fringed habit of the petals. It is in fact an introduction from North America, escaped and naturalised from private gardens. Whilst it seems to be doing well making itself at home here it is listed as vulnerable in some of its native range. By River Six

I was delighted to find a healthy patch of ground ivy whilst rambling around the East of Otley, I haven’t encountered it anywhere else in Otley, so I don’t know how common it is here, although it is apparently one of Britain’s commonest wild plants. Despite its name, Ground-ivy is not related to the more family ivy but is a member of the dead-nettle family. The plant was widely used by the Saxons instead of Hops in the production of ale, which gave it an alternative name of A

Whilst out on your walk, encountering clumps of bright blue flowers along your path could be the ever popular forget-me-nots, but could also be the much less celebrated Germander Speedwell. I find it a charming little flower and from memory every time I have spotting a clump, there has always been an accompanying mist of flies or a solitary bee. The flower is normally fertilised by flies but as it reacts to rain and closes, it can also achieve self fertilisation. Traditionall

Little white flowers are popping up everywhere around Otley now, from Cow parsley, Wild garlic and the pretty star-shapes of Greater stitchwort. They are joyful to accounted on a walk, I have spotted them along the old railway, by the river and around the East of Otley especially along woodland edges and hedgerows. When featured alongside the beautiful bluebell, also in bloom, they create a soothing woodland scene for the eyes. Later in the spring, when their seed capsules ha

I love these feisty little fellas. They can be surprisingly noisy, especially at this time of year, and the pattern of their feathers often makes them look a tad disgruntled. Their diet reflects their size, including a lot of invertebrates, like earthworms, as well as owl favourites small mammals and amphibians. Unfortunately, they are another bird threatened by the upcoming east of Otley development – hopefully you saw Simon Carey’s wonderful photo of one there. The Little O

A familiar frothy flower (try saying that a few times) has begun to bloom. Whilst out on my daily walk along the river, looking out for kingfishers actually, I spotted my first umbels (umbrella-like clusters of flowers) of cow parsley instead. At this time of year there’s always something new to find on every walk, so I may not have seen the kingfisher today but I have seen another sign of the year moving on. Cow parsley is a hollow-stemmed, tall plant that grows rapidly in t

Picking stinging nettles, even with a really good set of gloves always leaves a sting, but there is a lookalike growing among them without a sting and decorated with beautiful hooded white flowers, the white dead nettle, also known as white archangel. Like its relative yellow archangel, and other members of the dead-nettle family, it doesn't have stinging leaves, in fact their not closely related to stinging nettles at all, they part of a family of plants that include Mint, B

Fruit trees are heavy with blossom now, all pumping out tempting aromas to seduce passing pollinators. A smaller, less blousy cousin of the wild cherry, the bird cherry releases an almond scent into the wind, I follow my nose to find it whilst out walking in Gallows Hill. After being pollinated by insects, the flowers develop into reddish-black, astringent, bitter cherries, good for wildlife but not for us. It is a useful tree for a variety of wildlife: the flowers provide ne

REDSTART: I was excited to get good views of a male Redstart at the weekend. I don’t often see them around Otley, and numbers generally in England have declined by 55% in the past 25 years. Back from his winter home in central Africa, he must have felt a severe contrast in temperature. Redstarts are one of those birds whose parenting services are borrowed by Cuckoos. However, a study found that rather than suffering from the presence of a large Cuckoo in the nest, the Redstar

It is May, soon our Swifts will be back, but first are our House Martins. Having returned from their African winter grounds in the Congo, they incredibly find their way back to the same nesting sites year after year. Reusing old nests, saves a lot of time and vital energy. It is about ten day's work of collecting bill-sized pellets of mud from streams and ponds and gradually building up layers to create the nest, which will require around 1000 pellets, that’s 1000 journeys to

These literally brilliant damselflies are generally found near slow-moving streams and rivers, but could rock up in your Otley garden, like one of those below. The male is metallic blue and the female metallic green. Damselflies differ from dragonflies in that they have identical wings that they hold up together at rest, whilst dragonflies have two differing sets which they hold open and down. Female Demoiselles lay their eggs by injecting them into plant stems below the surf

These guys are described as common moths but catching sight of this striking red and black moth is something special. They fly by day and night. Feeding and resting in messy patches of grass and wastelands but are easily disturbed fluttering up into the sunshine. Their caterpillars depend on the leaves and flowers of the gardeners enemy of Common Ragwort. By River Six

With orange or yellow flowers, these plants have self-seeded all around our garden and throughout Otley. They are native of the damp, rocky uplands of Wales and south-west England, and their success elsewhere has been a bit of a puzzle. They are slow to spread in their ancestral habitats, but with no apparent changes to their botanical constitution have readily established themselves in a variety of habitats throughout the UK. The Welsh Poppy is popular with pollinators.

So many species are suffering serious existential threats that it’s nice to hear success stories. Goldfinch numbers are rising, and these colourful, busy birds can be seen all over Otley, usually in a gang. The collective noun is appropriately a “charm”. Nests are built entirely by the females, often at the end of a swaying branch, to which the twigs are attached with spider silk. Nest design is relatively deep to prevent eggs being lost in windy weather. Poet Patrick Kavana

Perhaps not the perfect name: it’s not that frequently seen in Otley – it’s more that it’s the most widespread of the British blues – and the female can be quite brown. The caterpillar has the classic green with yellow stripes colouring. They secrete a sugar-rich liquid called honeydew, which ants like to eat, in return for which they offer protection, sometimes even dragging a chrysalis into their nest.

There are many medicinal claims made for this common member of the Cranesbill family, including as a cure for diarrhoea. It is believed to be named after Robert of Molesme, a herbalist and one of the founders of the Cistercian Order of monks. Crush its leaves and you get an unpleasant smell that gives rise to an alternative name: Stinking Bob. Other names include Storksbill and Death Come Quickly.

At the moment I’m seeing these fantastic birds between Otley and Leathley, and on the south side of the Chevin, but I used to see so many more. There used to be a flock near the airport on land now built over, and nationally their numbers have fallen dramatically since changes in agricultural practices in the 1970’s. The Lapwing name refers to their unusual wing shape, or maybe their method of protecting their vulnerable nests on the ground. The adult feigns a wing injury to

This has to be my favourite moth, they are fairly common in the parks and gardens of Otley but quite hard to spot, which is hard to believe given how colourful they are! Their visible fur is golden-olive with bright pink bars on the wings and body. Like a lot of moths they are nocturnal, waking up at dusk to start feeding from honeysuckle and other tubular flowers on the wing. by River Six

The nation’s Horse Chestnut trees are under serious attack from a disease called Bleeding Canker, so it’s been good to see the candle-like blossoms flourishing on the trees in the “Conker Park” next to Grosvenor Terrace. The bees will have been pleased, too, in their search for nectar and pollen. Once pollinated, the blossom gets its pink tinge, which alerts insects to not waste their time and energy on them. These chestnuts are so called because of the horseshoe-shaped marks

In my first bird book – a well-thumbed Observer’s Book of British Birds – it was charmingly named the Blue Titmouse or Tom Tit, and accurately described as “a very popular little acrobat”. In 2011 the RSPB estimated there were 3.5 million breeding pairs in the UK, and when not nesting in holes in trees they are keen on the nestboxes we provide. Apparently, if your foolish enough to poke a finger through the nestbox hole, an incubating female will hiss and bite at it, giving r