Trip Reports

We arrived on Redcar seafront and immediately felt at home as we spied the ‘Stray Café’ . A Bettys by the sea, wonderful! But first things first, sea watching. High pressure over the UK was dragging in low cloud and drizzle from the North Sea and reducing the...

We gathered as usual at Trinity Methodist Church and mounted a rather splendid nearly new minibus. Colin Slator, our leader and driver, welcomed us aboard. There was plenty of room for us as our party only numbered eight including Colin, unfortunately Sue Harrison and...

There have been some very good views recently of a juvenile cuckoo being fed by the foster parent. At one point the meadow pipit perched on the cuckoo to feed it.  The  photos below are courtesy of Nidderdale Birders, taken near the carpark at Scar House.

It was a pleasant morning as the six naturalists met up at Quarry Moor car park and distributed themselves into three cars. First stop was the National Park Centre on Sutton Bank where we practised parking-fee avoidance thanks to Will’s inside knowledge. The usually...

Despite the dire forecast of persistent rain, six hardy members met our leader Bob Orange at West Tanfield for the onward journey to Bellflask, which is a working Hanson Heidelberg gravel quarry in process of restoration for wildlife. Luckily for our party the rain...

The forecast was for showers, some thundery with hail, but it was hoped we may escape some of them.  Having arrived at Wykeham, we watched the dramatic westward advance of storm clouds filling in the view over  Fylingdales Moor. We were still hoping to pick out a...

Our first stop was WWT Martin Mere which is known for its collection of global ducks which have been pinioned and afford close range views, which is not how many of us usually get to see ducks! They also run a breeding programme for these species, which was...

Arriving at Seahouses just before 10am the visibility was crystal clear, with excellent views of the Farne Islands. We met up with Muff and Jack who were staying in the area, making eight in total. Low tide enabled us to scan the rocks for waders, revealing Purple...

Hawfinches are best seen in winter when the trees shed their leaves, and can be seen in the high branches of the trees around the visitor centre at Sizergh. Disturbance from visitors can scare them off but we arrived early enough, even with a stopover at Hellifield...

Colin’s shaggy-dog stories came thick and fast as the fourteen of us walked from Ripon’s North Bridge up the River Ure on a dry and intermittently sunny morning. As usual Colin proved a canny observer when he rescued a torpid Great-crested Newt from a drain and...

It was the week before Christmas and ten members took time off from festive preparations (?) to visit RSPB Old Moor and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Potteric Carr. The weather was more reminiscent of October than December, warm breeze and fantastic light. We counted a...

Ornithologically speaking, September on the north east coast is a good month for migrants and sea watching.  An easterly wind and a rough sea is ideal but when we arrived at the Headland the sea was flat calm and the wind which had been in the east for days had...

Nine members met Colin at Pateley Bridge car park, from where we continued to the privately owned, disused quarry near Greenhow.  In the past, limestone was quarried here and towards the end of the last century it was bought to manage the flowers and butterflies that...

Another successful day under the leadership of Colin Slator (The Mountie – always gets his target species). Eighty different bird species were seen, including Great White Egret (GWE), and at least ten types of butterfly, including Grayling and, well, read on to find...

SUNDAY 20th   JULY   2014 With the temperature rising, it was a good start to the day as we began by concentrating on butterflies among the creeping thistles; Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Ringlet, Small Skipper and Small Tortoiseshell being the most...

In spite of a gloomy weather forecast a full minibus of 15 members plus Colin Slator as leader set off for the upland RSPB reserve of Geltsdale in Cumbria.  The route took us via Upper Teesdale to look for Black Grouse, and although persistent drizzle had set in we...

‘Quality not quantity’ was the initial theme for our trip to Skipwith on Tuesday 25th March –I’m referring to the four members who accompanied our guide for the day, Colin, rather than the birds! The weather hadn’t shown great promise, (hence the small numbers?) but...

I wondered how Colin was going to cope with us all (16 in total) as we gathered eagerly at Brimham Rocks, energized with the promise of a fine day and clear skies.  But, obviously used to instilling a sense of order and purpose, Colin established ground rules and...

A good number of members (seventeen) turned out for the first, mercifully dry, field meeting of the year.  This was very gratifying for our leaders, Colin and Brian, who had put in a considerable amount of work placing and setting the twenty-nine mammal traps.  Colin...

Saddleworth Moor, despite its grim reputation, was looking beautiful in the bright sunshine as we arrived at RSPB Dove Stone.  Walking up Chew Road towards Chew Reservoir we were treated to excellent views of a female/juvenile Kestrel which perched for long intervals...

After an 8 am pick up in Harrogate I drove to Ripon in the hired mini-bus to collect a further three participants, to make a total group of eight members. Driving north up the A1(M) towards Newcastle and then skirting around the south side of the City and passing...

Reports of a Pallid Swift and Western Bonelli’s Warbler made the minibus trip to Hartlepool a hopeful prospect.  We arrived with rain abating and a fresh SE wind. We all looked skyward but no Pallid Swift. It had been seen earlier that morning so surely it would...

Red squirrels, part of our countryside for 10,000 years, used to number 3.5million in the UK.  In the 19th century the larger grey squirrel, introduced from North America spread relentlessly, out competing the red for food and spreading a deadly virus which left the...

The forecast threatened cold, strong winds and with rain later in the morning.  Absolutely correct, but despite this seven optimists met at Barley car park before moving on to a suitable parking spot near  the foot of the hill.  The walk to the top was steep and Ann...

Thanks to good weather, about 30 members  attended Members’ Day this year on Sunday 14th July.  An optics and camera display, supplied by Marcus Grover from Northallerton, provided additional interest for those seeking new equipment. Butterfly species produced an...

Eight stalwarts braved lashing rain as we were conducted through fen and bog at the reserve, which being at 1200ft can be rather uninviting in these conditions. However Peter Welsh, our articulate and knowledgeable guide, compensated for the weather with his sunny...

Eleven of us set off from Trinity in bright sunshine which fortunately persisted all day.  Prior to meeting Ian, our leader, we called in at Nosterfield, where the highlight was a distant Garganey. Ian and wife Mavis were waiting for us at the Old Glebe Field near...

A good turnout of 18 members arrived at Bellflask on a brilliantly sunny morning to be greeted by Brian and Susan Morland.  Brian showed us around this fascinating gravel quarry which is being restored and is already a haven for wildlife.  He treated us to his robust...

This event was well attended, thanks largely to our leader's reputation as a consummate bird finder.  Fifteen of us set off in the minibus, followed by four in a car.  Our first stop was North Cave Wetlands, where species including Avocet, Yellow Wagtail and Little...

As some of us waited in the sunshine for others to arrive in the car park at King Rudding Lane, a very pale Buzzard flew directly overhead, with a pair displaying further away towards Selby.  Eventually ten of us set off for the "Bomb Bays" and a photographer in the...

As usual, a sprinkling of snow led to traffic chaos in Harrogate and we were 30 mins late setting out.  The snow fizzled out north of Ripon and it was a beautiful sunny day when we arrived at Hartlepool.  It was high tide at the Headland and we were treated to the...

Fourteen of us assembled outside the gates of Ripley Castle and were greeted by the sight of two Nuthatches in a nearby tree.  We then entered the castle grounds, where unfortunately a shoot was in progress, so we could not enter the deer park.  Nevertheless, the...

The weather was kind to us and we enjoyed sunshine for most of the day, whilst nearby Hull appeared to have been afflicted by heavy showers. Disembarking the minibus, we were told in no uncertain terms by June, our leader, to stop talking and start stalking. ...

We drove across the Pennines into Cumbria to the Smardale Gill National Nature Reserve, one of only two English sites of the Scotch Argus butterfly, a species in flight during late July/August. We might also be lucky to see another English butterfly rarity, the...