Wildlife at St Nicks has been flourishing this spring. Wildwatch volunteers would normally be meeting every week to record – and enjoy – this. Alas, this is impossible right now. However, several Wildwatchers have been able to visit individually and share their sightings with us all. And of course staff members continue to do essential […]
New life sprung forth this March at St Nicks – as always. Despite inevitable difficulties, the Wildwatch team was still able to enjoy some great wildlife sightings. Wildwatch groups met as usual on the Wednesday mornings of the 4th and 11th of March – seventeen of us on the latter date. (What a long time ago this […]
Hard times for us all. So many pressing concerns. Not least of these, for many of us, is the way in which our access to the natural world has suddenly become so constricted. Absence, it is said, makes the heart grow fonder. How true this seems now, regarding not just family and friends, but also […]
Highlights Still very few wintering bird visitors or migrants, but lots of invertebrates seen under logs and stones. A surprising number of insects above ground too. First flowers spotted as well as fresh evidence of otter presence. Weather Wednesdays in January were kind to Wildwatchers, with chilly starts, frequent sun and no rain. […]
Our 24-hour BioBlitz in Heworth Holme revealed signs of over 200 types of wildlife, including otters, bats, frogs, owls, foxes, mice, beetles and water scorpions as well as trees, grasses and other plants. We have been working at Heworth Holme for three years to improve its habitat for wildlife after many years of neglect. The […]
In January 2018, our Natural Habitats Manager, Jonathan, wrote a brilliant spotlight blog about the woodland structure, focusing on the understory. In this blog, Jonathan discussed the background of St Nicks woodland and talked about our plans for improvement as we launched our exciting new project; St Nicks community woodland, funded by the Postcode Local […]
Looking back, it is clear to see that otters (Lutra lutra) had a rather difficult time throughout the 20th century; they were hunted, much of their wetland habitat was destroyed and the introduction of poisonous pesticides led to dramatic declines. When used, these pesticides were washed and leeched into watercourses where they were then ingested […]
Highlights Winter birds still with us, but signs of Spring.. First hoverfly of the year enjoys the snowdrops, while beetle is one-in-a-thousand Weather Cool (4 – 9C) but with some sunny intervals. The Wildwatch team stayed dry! Birds Winter visitors are, not surprisingly, still with us! Two Redwings flew over on the 8th and there […]