WILDLIFE
June is nature’s time to show off our wildlife. From bats to butterflies, make time to go wild
It’s time to let our eyes take in the glorious colours of verdant hedgerows, and let the warmer days inspire us to get out and enjoy the best of what Yorkshire has to offer. June heralds the brightest and most active time for our wildlife busy feeding and raising their young; butterflies flutter by in glorious meadows, dragonflies and damselflies skim over ponds, and the late evening is punctuated by the swoop of swifts, bats and the occasional owl.
With three beautiful months of summer stretching out ahead of you, a wild reserve adventure awaits. Here are Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s top tips on where and how to go a little wilder this summer…
GO BATTY
Bats are most active in the summer months following hibernation and can be spotted hunting insects especially around sunset or sunrise when it is warm and dry. A summer evening stroll along the Lines Way, near Leeds, will offer a glimpse of bats foraging overhead. Potteric Carr nature reserve, near Doncaster, is also a great place to spot bats – the car park closes at 5pm, but it is possible to stay later if you arrive ahead of time and speak to staff. Staveley nature reserve in north Yorkshire is particularly good for an evening stroll to spot pipistrelle bats, as well as resident barn owls.
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust bat-spotting events can also help you spot these flittering creatures at Spurn, Castle Howard, and reserves near Barnsley, Hull and Leeds.
SEASIDE SAFARI
Our stunning coastline may be the number one draw in the summer and if you head to Flamborough Cliffs nature reserve this month, you’ll spot internationally important numbers of breeding seabirds, including kittiwakes, guillemots, and puffins – creating quite the raucous.
You could even enjoy them from an open-water cruise in a traditional Yorkshire fishing coble. Alternatively, adventure down to Spurn Point nature reserve at the very tip of Yorkshire, where as well as marine mammals like seals and porpoises you can enjoy the spectacular views from the spit and the top of our restored lighthouse.
Really keen to get stuck in? There are a multitude of craft sessions happening at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Living Seas Centre at Flamborough, including seaweed soap making and sea glass jewellery crafting – or enjoy a rockpool ramble searching for starfish, a shoreline search at low tide for kelp forests and sea slugs, shark egg searches or beach litter picks.
WILDFLOWER WONDERS
Our wildflower meadows are bursting into a riot of colour which attract swathes of butterflies, moths and bees. There’s a beautiful wildflower meadow for every corner of the county; Brockadale’s famous valley
