WFV Ben Rhydding Gravel Pits 20.05.25

This nature reserve is located below Ben Rhydding on land between the main road, the A65, and the River Wharfe. It is a few minutes’ walk from the garden centre, which had kindly given permission to park there.

We were only a handful of people that day which was again bright and cloudless. We have been experiencing weeks of sunny weather and without rain but promising conditions to find damselflies and dragonflies.

The site is fairly small with well-grown trees, open spaces, small ponds/lakes (used by an angling club) and is  bordered by the river on one side.

Our first vista was goat willow trees covered in the white fluff of the now mature and pollinated female catkins. Seen at a distance it looked like blossom.

Following a footpath we past an open area bounded on the far side by trees. This field had teasel growing, but the dry conditions were having an effect and one patch had completely dried out: the young teasels withered and the moss around them dried out. We passed plenty of a species of healthy bramble called Dewberry. This has  white flowers, and (eventually) a bluish raspberry-like fruit. 

The damselflies were flying, some hard to see as they were immature adults with grey or buff colouration. However, they frequently rested on leaves for short periods of time. John identified what we saw: Azure, Blue-tailed, Large red, and a glimpse of a streak of green was a Banded demoiselle.

One feature of the visit I think was the amount of bird song. We heard a variety of bird calls: twittering, cheeping, singing, – and this was  frequent: Black-cap, Chiff-chaff, Warblers, Wren, Blackbird, Robin, and over all, Song Thrush.

Plant-wise we were kindly reminded of identifying features and introduced to new plants by Alice. In particular I mention these as unusual or rare – Cut-leaved bramble (which does not even feature in my plant i.d. book), also Hairy sedge (the only sedge that is hairy), Ostrich fern (like a shuttlecock but whose fronds do not bear spores…) and Marsh fern. Both species of fern were growing in the same location close to the lake. 

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood and Orange Tip butterflies. Not to go unmentioned are the bees, hoverflies, beetles or moths present, but unrecorded. 

Lunch was by the river opposite a riverbank used by Sandmartins. 

Continuing our walk Alison drew our attention to a large party of adolescent Greylag geese together with their parent going downstream and just before they all headed into undergrowth.  They walked across a short stretch of land largely hidden and then went back in. Other birds spotted included  heron, dunnock, long-tailed tit, mallard.

Passing closer to the lake we were able to see clearly the yellow water lily flowers and pass patches of flag iris, also yellow.

In the dappled light we passed blue patches of Forget-me-not and Germander Speedwell, more unusually Fringe Cups/Tiarella and Yellow Pimpernel.   Yellow flowers of Silver weed, Cinquefoil and  Bird’s foot trefoil brightened grassland.

Other plants include aquilegia, a single specimen of ragged robin in a small area protected from rabbits, crosswort, bush vetch, a southern marsh orchid, barren strawberry, Solomon’s seal. This is not a complete list.

I would say we had a surprisingly full natural history day and thoroughly appreciated the introductions to plant species, damselflies and the bird song.

Thank you all round.  Madeleine