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As the Wildlife Trusts’ website says, “as the Bluebells fade, Yellow Archangel takes its turn to impress”. You’ll find them in the woods and hedgerows around Otley, looking like a nettle but with hooded, yellow flowers. The Archangel tag may well come from the fact that they are in the nettle family but do not sting. I like the colloquial name “Yellow Weasel Snout”.

I spotted a Mayfly over the riverbank, near the confluence of the Wharfe and the Washburn. Their up-and-down flight pattern is quite distinctive, as is their body shape. Their life structure is famously unusual, with the nymph living sometimes for years in the water, then the adult only surviving for hours. There are many references to this brevity in literature. Mayflies are in the same ancient family as dragonflies and damselflies, and it’s believed they have the characteri

We saw this large, colourful bird near the old railway line to the west of town. As well as a vibrant green you see a strong yellow and a flash of red. They don’t actually do as much wood-pecking as our other woodpeckers, preferring to eat ants and other bugs on the ground, using their very long tongues (10cm!). As with other woodpeckers, these are coiled up inside their skull when not in use. Their call is a remarkable laughing-like noise, which gives rise to their colloquia

It flew so near me I could hear its wingbeats. As dusk drew in it was hunting insects, flitting expertly in and out of the kitchen/bathroom extensions along our terrace. The Pipistrelle is the smallest UK bat, with the weight of a 2p coin, and our most common, but one can eat three thousand flies in a night. Females give birth to a single pup up to 30% their bodyweight – if my maths is right, the human equivalent would be a 50lb baby! They take very young pups with them when

One of our most common bees, their ability to forage at very long distances has made them a little more resilient to the negative environmental factors that are damaging our bee populations. I saw this one on some Green Alkanet at Knotford. It's not easy distinguishing the Buff Tail from a White Tailed Bumblebee, but the yellow bands tend to be a bit darker. Like honeybees, bumblebees are eusocial, which means they live in complex societies with several generations in the nes

I don't remember a better year for Wild Garlic - it seems to be really flourishing around Otley, competing with the Bluebells for aromatic supremacy in our woodlands. Also known as Ramsons or Bear Leek, in other countries bears and boars will dig up the bulbs to eat, and the leaves are used as cattle fodder, resulting in milk with a garlic tang. The bulbs, flowers and leaves are all edible to us - see below for a recipe using the latter instead of basil in pesto.

We saw these small, shiny, carnivorous insects swimming in their crazy circles on the surface of one of the Gallows Hill ponds. Apparently this movement is defensive, and they can dive down below their usual habitat if further disturbed, trapping a bubble of air to take with them. When on the surface, their divided eyes enable them to see above and below the water level simultaneously, which is pretty cool. Their waxy, water-repellent skin makes them difficult to catch, and t

Flowering now, in a hedge near you, living up to its other name: Maythorn. Monty Don makes some interesting points about this timing in the link below. There are some spectacular ones to be seen around Otley. My photos were taken on the opposite sides of the Wharfe to the east of town. The blossom gives off a strong scent, which is not to everyone's taste - it used to be thought unlucky due to its resemblance to Plague. On the other hand, many trees and hedges survived becaus

When it comes to flight, the Swift makes a lot of birds look like chickens. Not only does it fly thousands of miles to spend a few months in Otley, and over 3 million miles in its lifetime, but it sleeps on the wing too. They only land for breeding, so having fledged, a young Swift may well spend the next 2 to 3 years in the air. As I write, a group of Swifts hunts noisily for insects high in the blue sky - a "screaming party" this is called. In a normal year, Otley Swift Wat

The limbs of these mature trees on Birdcage Walk or in Great Dib Wood throw some dramatic shapes - they're simply magnificent. Their foliage is just one part of the varied palette of gorgeous greens on the spring Chevin as you look up from town. I like the beech even more now I know how it will defend itself and alert other trees when under attack. Apparently the saliva of deer stimulates the production of foul-tasting tannin in the leaves; furthermore, it will prompt similar