Tag: Chiffchaff
Wildwatch September – December 2019
Highlights Winter birds disappoint, but many new invertebrates found and nine shieldbug species liven up the reserve. Plus a botanical oddity, plenty of fungi and galls. Weather A mixed bag. The wet Autumn’s heaviest rain fell on non-Wildwatch days. September walks were mainly cloudy following overnight rain. October, November and December brought us a […]
Strange times, normal times: climate change at St Nicks
Written by Wildwatch volunteer Sean Garvey in the summer 2019, as an update to our page on climate change at St Nicks This heatwave seems as good a time as any to consider climate change. Extreme weather events of all kinds are set to become more frequent as global warming affects us all. Here in […]
Wildwatch Spring 2018 (March-May)
Highlights Greenfinches bounce back… eight new invertebrates…tiny member of the Rose family. Weather Wildwatch weather at St Nicks from the beginning of March to the end of May reflected the national picture, with both plant life and insect emergence held back by the cold late start of Spring. In March early frosts were followed by […]
Wildwatch Autumn 2017 (Sep-Nov)
Highlights Golden swimmer in Tang Hall Beck, butterflies in November, a galling season and a big “charm”! Weather Autumn weather for Wildwatchers included two completely sunny calm mornings, but was otherwise mostly dull and cloudy with a few sunny spells. There was little or no rain on our walks, and windy days were rare. These […]
Wildwatch: July 2017
Highlights A mouse and a mouse-like bird.. best month ever for hoverflies.. we seek him here, we seek him there – but we didn’t find him! Weather Dry, 16C – 20C with some sun on the first three Wildwatch Wednesdays.. rain on the 26th. Birds Our summer visitors were recorded every Wednesday in July. At […]
Derwenthorpe Wildwatch: July 2017
Wednesday afternoons throughout July were generally overcast yet it was still very warm with temperatures around 20 degrees most weeks, though the 26th was slightly cooler at 17 degrees. Still, we had a very successful month and came across lots of exciting species. Birds Around the pond this month, we were not disappointed by our […]
Wildwatch: March 2017
Highlights The flowers that bloom in the spring (tra-la!).. the year’s first butterflies appear, and the Harlequinade begins.. mewing in the air and creeping in the garden! Weather Temperatures started to creep up during the month, starting with a cool 4C on the 1st and reaching 11C later on subsequent Wildwatch Wednesdays. There were some […]
Wildwatch: December 2016 Sightings
Highlights Over-wintering summer visitor? .. skulking rail still present.. blank on Shieldbugs..return of Water Vole.. Lemon Disco! Weather Not surprisingly, temperatures fell throughout the month. 12C was recorded on 7th December, falling to 2C on the 28th, the latter day being bright, sunny and “nithering”! Birds The long-staying Water Rail was seen on all four […]
Wildwatch: April 2016 Sightings
Highlights Woodpecker sightings increase.. chilly month keeps insect numbers down – where are all the butterflies?.. a strange season for herbaceous plants. Weather Temperatures on Wildwatch Wednesdays remained consistently below 10C, although it was sunny on the 13th and 20th. Birds Great Spotted Woodpeckers, usually an occasional visitor to St Nicks, were seen on […]
March 2016 Sightings
Highlights: new arrival, emerging hibernators, and the flowers that bloom in the spring.. Birds Our resident birding enthusiast was absent for all but one of the Wildwatch walks during March, so it is no surprise that after February’s two broken species records, nothing so exciting happened on the five Wednesdays of March. Our total species […]
