Trip Reports

Leader: Kevin Walker 14 members met in Pateley Bridge, focusing on botany, in particular ferns. Upper Nidderdale was a known fern hotspot to the Victorians, who dug up specimens for their ferneries, unfortunately causing the decimation and even local eradication of...

13 of us attended at FGP on this fine morning, and spread ourselves out around the lake in the marked areas previously mapped by the organising team, led by Sonia Starbuck. We proceeded to record all the flowering plants possible – fortunately, fresh from our training...

Leader – Kevin Walker This was Kevin Walker’s identification workshop day at Staveley Nature Reserve, teaching us about grasses, sedges and rushes. These are topics which I had previously managed to avoid, by using the lame excuse that my botany book did not include...

Storm Hector blew itself out during the early evening to leave a perfectly calm night for the trip. The wild weather had greatly weakened the midge population which was a bonus for us, but the lack of moths, the food for Nightjars, was a concern. 16 members joined...

Seventeen members met at the Bowlees visitor centre for a botanical field meeting to study the flora of the area. The visitor centre is located in an old Primitive Methodist Chapel. The walk was led by HDNS long time member Richard Campbell who knows the area very...

Leader : Colin Slator Eleven of us braved the early morning icy conditions to enjoy a walk starting at High Batts NR. After a brief visit to the hide on the reserve where we saw a good variety of birds at the well- stocked feeders, we started walking along public...

Leader: Nick Gaunt On a cool, overcast but dry day nine members were shown around High Batts Nature Reserve by Will Rich. Given the time of year, flowering plants weren't particularly memorable, but a few fungi were identified such as Birch Polypore, Candle-snuff ,...

Leader: Andy Woodall, Mid-Yorkshire Fungus Group Our day in Hackfall Woods got off to a promising start, with the morning’s weather being mild and bright. A group of twelve of us set off (one was following) with our fungi books, magnifying glasses and packed lunches...

After a good run through in the minibus, a Merlin was seen flying over a field as we approached Spurn on a bright day with a fresh southerly wind.  A sea-watch first at the Warren produced Arctic Skuas, Gannets, Fulmars, Sandwich and Common Terns and a Brent Goose,...

Nidd Gorge Biodiversity Project 1999 – 2018, Bio-Blitz Day A biodiversity project will be held in Nidd Gorge on Saturday 22 July 2017, comprising a Bio-Blitz day.  This will be an all day event continuing into the evening.  It is being held to improve knowledge and...

Leader: Charlie Philpotts The 8 naturalists were undeterred by the drizzling rain and the poor forecast as we got ready in the car park, at one of the most unlikely places to begin a natural history field trip. Surrounded by derelict mining buildings in a potholed...

Leader: Kevin Walker Group photo (Will Rich) A splendid turnout of 15 enthusiastic botanists assembled at the entrance to the quarry on a fine sunny morning, under the leadership of the Head of Science of the BSBI, Dr Kevin Walker. The disused Duck Street Quarry is a...

Visit led by Charlie Philpotts on Sunday 25th June. Our focus was on orchids, and 13 species (including hybrids), were found, but as we explored, the diversity of other wild flowers growing in these 2 reserves was a delight and our tally, including other wild flowers,...

On Wednesday 29 March Nick Gaunt led a group of 9 other members on a field trip round Hackfall Woods near Grewelthorpe.  The meeting was primarily to introduce members to the study of mosses and liverworts and to take in any other natural history along the way.  We...

Minibus trip to   Hartlepool and Saltholme -  Leader : June Atkinson After a weekend of grim easterly winds off the North Sea, the day dawned warm and spring-like, with a very light breeze and broken cloud. On arriving at Hartlepool Headland, we noticed the sea was...

Wild Goose Chase Nosterfield LNR and Lingham.  Tuesday 10th January 2017 Leader June Atkinson This was the first meeting of the year and 7 members joined Jill Warwick at the car park at Nosterfield. Jill explained that the water level is very low, but this was not...

Fungus and Mosses Foray. Leaders: Nick Gaunt ( mosses and liverworts )  and Andy Woodall  ( fungi ) We assembled in Nidd Walk Car Park and headed off beside the River Nidd towards Glasshouses. The walls along the track had a good selection of mosses and liverworts...

A sellout bus load was greeted by a glorious autumn day for Colin's last field trip as leader. The wind was a light South Easterly, which kept the temperature bearable, unlike parts of Britain which were experiencing thirty degrees, temperatures not seen in September...

A full mini bus set off from Harrogate on this fine day with great hopes of finding Waders. Our first port of call was North Cave which happened to be en route to the main destination. Not only did we get our first dose of birds - including a nicely challenging...

The 2014 Bird Report is ready!  They can be purchased from Jill Warwick (contact details on the HDNS membership card  - Moth Recorder) at £5.00 plus £1.30 p&p. There will also be some to purchase at the next meetings.  Posted ones are on their way....

It was a fine morning as 12 naturalists, having managed to outmanoeuvre the Great Yorkshire Show, set off for East Yorkshire. Whilst negotiating the M62 Colin was casually identifying stock doves, buzzards and other tiny dots on the horizon. Arrived at Thorne village,...

We set off from Harrogate in glorious sunshine, knowing that if the met. office had got it right, we had until lunch time before we hit the deluge coming in from the west. We stopped off at Hellifield Flash where there were Common Sandpiper, Ringed Plover, Lesser...

Nine of us walked down the track from Scotton Banks car park and eastwards through Scotton Banks woodland to the 'Drummerboy Seat' where there is exposed Magnesian Limestone. From there we scrambled down to the bank of the River Nidd where we enjoyed lunch before...

This was an eagerly awaited trip because of the superb habitat along the coast and the promise of Roseate Terns along with thousands of nesting seabirds on Coquet Island. As luck would have it, a pair of Whiskered Terns were lingering at RSPB Saltholme so a quick...

After an operation worthy of the Royal Logistics Corps 10 walkers started from Kettlewell to trek over Great Whernside, back to Scar House. After a quick scan of Gouthwaite Reservoir for a reported Red Phalarope  -  operation Dotterel began.   We summited about...

Our party of thirteen set off from Trinity Church in overcast weather, hoping for a dry day.  In this, however, we were to be disappointed since, shortly after we arrived at the Potteric Carr Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve, the heavens opened and subjected us to a...

A cold and slightly overcast day heralded our minibus trip to Fairburn where we hoped to find some wintering birds. At our first port of call we met up with two more members (so twelve in total) and walked to Charlie’s Hide on Village Bay where we heard that Smew had...

This should be re-titled as , 'Signs of Spring in Ripon'......... A group of eight members, including Leader Colin, set off by car to scour the Ripon area for the target species. We were being guided by Colin's intimate knowledge of the patch he has worked all his...

This was the driest, coldest day of the year so far but the recent deluge was evident in all the fields and on the paths. Setting off from Roecliffe, we walked through a small copse where Colin showed us a huge, active badger sett, unusual in it being on flat ground,...

On arrival Simon Warwick gave us a resume of recent conditions at Nosterfield. High rainfall had increased water levels and this had attracted huge numbers of Teal and Wigeon as well as good numbers of Lapwing and Golden Plover. Due to foggy conditions, we more or...

This is always an eagerly anticipated trip. A full minibus, driven as usual by Colin, set off in good time from Harrogate, leaving behind the mist and fog. The weather at Spurn was cloudy with light south, south easterly wind. The Spurn Bird Observatory Website...

Excellent Turnout for Ian Wallace Commemorative Tree Planting on October 20th 2015 More than 25 people turned out to celebrate the life of Ian Wallace by witnessing the planting by members of Ian’s family of a wild service tree in Seven Bridges Valley, Studley Royal....