Tranquil woodland in the heart of Skipton

2014

Rod visited the Wilderness, often in the early morning, usually weekly and mainly on a Friday. These are his observations.

3 January 2014
Another new year starts in the Wilderness. Lots of usual thrushes, blackbirds, wrens, robins in the scrub. Magpies chattering and small flocks of tits moving in and out of the trees.

10 January Still very wet but buds are pushing through the earth. Lots of bird activity. Rooks flying across with twigs, rebuilding nests.

17 January
Cold. Strange weather. House sparrows chirping on the building at the bottom of the Wilderness. They breed any time now so busy with nest material.

24 January
Very mild week. Birds singing, buds coming through. Feels like Spring not Winter. Seen a hedgehog this week that proves the weather fools Nature’s wildlife.

31 January
More buds bursting through. Mistle thrush singing top of trees. Very early nesting bird. We just need the rain to ease now.

7 February
Heavy rain again. Beck in full spate. Heron trying to catch food. Some herons will be on eggs, one of the earliest to lay.

14 February
Starling busy singing a varied and sometimes bubbling song. Also a good mimic. There is a bird near my house mimics a curlew quite often.

21 February
Another wet week. Oyster catchers flying over, heading for breeding grounds. Blue tits busy in and out of boxes.

28 February
Dry start to the week. Lots of bird song. Mistle and song thrushes, blackbirds, robins, dunnocks and wrens. Lots of curlew flying over calling on the way back to nesting grounds.

6 March
Good dry week. Several peacock butterflies out in the sunshine, also a few tortoiseshells emerging from hibernation. Grey wagtails back on the beck looking for nest sites.

14 March
Good start to the week, nice and warm. Lots of birds singing. Quite a lot of ladybirds on the tree trunks and bumble bees flying.

21 March
Snowdrops almost gone now but beautiful yellow daffodils in bloom. Blossom and buds showing on trees and bushes, but a cold snap forecast. So hard again for the flora and fauna

28 March
Spring is really here. Now birds calling throughout the Wilderness. The first warblers are back, chiff chaff, call repetitive but still iconic of spring woodland..

4 April
Seems like Autumn today, sudden drop in temperature. Low mist and fog. Mistling, as we say in Yorkshire. Sure enough there is a mistle thrush calling from the tree tops!

11 April
Daffodils are fading, blue bells coming into bloom.
Comma, peacock, tortoiseshell, orange tip butterflies, all hatching. Lots of bumble bees.

17 April
Warmer this week. New flowers appearing, lots more colour.
Peacock and tortoiseshell butterflies.
Stag and hind roe deer browsing on the new buds and shoots.

24 April
Wet, wet, wet. But swallows are over the wood. Bluetits busy at the boxes. Jackdaws building. The rain doesn’t stop Nature.

2 May
3 or 4 good days this week. Warblers are still in full song. Chiff chaff, willow warbler and black caps. Fantastic dawn chorus.

9 May
Swifts arrived back this week. That’s the sound of summer.

16 May
Taking a party to Kent for a week’s bird watching.

30 May
Mixed weather this week. Warblers still calling. Lot of fledged young birds about. Predators watching, magpies and crows.

5 June
Stunning summer’s day. Butterflies everywhere: speckled woods, small whites tortoiseshell, peacocks, comma, holly blue. Fantastic range of colours on show.

13 June
Very early walk
Blackbirds, singing, the odd robin and dunnock too. Then a song thrush starts up. Followed by willow warbler, black cap and various tit calls, a great dawn chorus.

20 June
Scorcher of a week. Everything is green and lush. Birds singing, feeding young. Summer in its full glory.

27 June
Early walk. Blackbird alarm call. Tawny owl sitting in the tree trying hard not to be disturbed. More birds join in until the owl flies off.

July – holidays

25 July
A few warblers still singing. Blackbirds on second broods. A change in the air. Cooler. Some birds will start to leave soon.

1 August
Very wet morning but early start. Hedgehog crossing the path
The cool wet night brings out the slugs so plenty to eat

8 August
Mixed week of wet and warm weather. One or two young robins in the undergrowth speckled and skulking away so no predators can see them

15 August
Very wet week. Beck in full spate. Heron trying to fish and a teal, for the first time for me. Looking for food in the flow between stones.

21 August
Lots of curlews flying over calling, moving to the coast now. Soon the pink footed geese will be flying over to their wintering grounds on the west coast.

29 August
Cooler week. Mixed dry and wet. Heron in the beck bottom. Nuthatch and tree creeper foraging on the trunks of trees.

5/19 September holiday

26 August
What a dry month. A superb summer. Swallows and house martins all gone now. Robins back on territory, singing, Birds feeding on berries.

3 October
Autumn just about here. Cooler today but butterflies still flying. Lots of starlings in the trees. Good colony of house sparrows on the building near the bottom gate.

10 October
Still mild. Leaves staying on the trees and the Autumn colours are showing. Watching a hedgehog, early just before light, going under a large stick pile.

17 October
Lots more colour to the leaves. Slight frost overnight. Roe deer, hind and fawn from this year, browsing.

24 October
I’ve seen my first green woodpecker in the Wilderness this morning and two minutes later, a pair. Fantastic birds.

30 October
Late walk, tawny owls calling and bats flying, pipistrelle mostly.

14 November
Peacock butterflies still about and lots of pink footed geese flying over towards the west coast.

21 November
Very wet and cold today but first redwings in the wood brought down by the wind and rain.

28 November
Dry quiet week. Large flock of finches in the wood this morning, goldfinch and green finch and three siskins. May be we will see a brambling soon.

5 December
Very cold and frosty morning. Heron looking for food. A few blackbirds and thrushes moving around. Great views of a tree creeper, fantastic little bird.

12 December
Another cold wet week. House sparrows and starlings near the entrance. Flushed two pheasants, first time I have seen them in the wilderness. The weather can bring anything down into the undergrowth.

19 December
Very wet week. A few birds in the underbrush. Heavy rain coming down. Walking back, saw a nice nuthatch looking for grubs on the bark of a tree.

26 December
Boxing Day. There is still wildlife around , winter is yet to arrive and times will get harder. Some of the birds won’t survive but Nature always amazes. Looking forward to the next year.