WFV Cattal and Staveley. 8.4.25 

Our last visit to Aubert Ings in Cattal was a fairly distant memory. It is a flood meadow, and a SSSI, on a loop of the River Nidd, and is known to be one of very few sites in our region where wild tulips are naturalised.
When we last went it was a date in May, and I recall just a handful of tulips, well past their best. It’s always
hard to choose the correct date for a flowering species when planning a programme months in advance, but we got it right this time. As soon as we reached the bank edging the meadow, the yellow tulips were clear to be seen. The are delicate, bobbing in the breeze, with pointed petals and a relatively closed form. Although they had a definite scent, we didn’t identify it as lemon, despite what the books say. They spread across three quarters of the bank, mainly growing singularly rather than in clumps. The only disappointing thing about seeing them was that Alice wasn’t able to be with us to share the experience.
The wild tulip, Tulipa sylvestris, has a natural distribution from Portugal to China, but was considered
naturalised in Britain in the 17th century. It has been recorded at Cattal since Victorian times, whereas a more recent arrival in the meadow, about 25 years ago brought by flood water, is the Snake’s-head Fritillary. In contrast to the tulips, these were seen on the lower, wetter meadow area. As well as the standard purple blooms, there were also a number of white variants.
The other species of note were Lesser Celandine, Wood Anemones – some of them very pink, Bluebells just stating to flower, a few Cowslips and a couple of Cuckoo Flower, the first most of us had seen this year. Less welcome, indeed fairly horrifying, was the Giant Hogweed and the vast quantity of Himalayan Balsam seedlings. We won’t make a return later in the summer to pull this up, but I hope someone has it in their work plan.
Despite the small size of the meadow we hadn’t completed the full circuit before lunch, but once we had got back to the minibus we made the short hop to Staveley YWT (with a short pause while the double decker sheep transporter was loaded).
As at Aubert Ings, we heard plenty of Chiff Chaffs and Blackcaps. On the water there were Gadwall,
Shelduck, Mallards, Tufted Duck, Canada and Greylag Geese and a Little Grebe. An Oystercatcher was on
one the artificial islands.
It was a warm, sunny afternoon and we saw several butterfly species; Brimstone, Peacock, Small
Tortoiseshell, Orangetip, and other whites. We could see Water Boatmen, Pond Skaters and Pond Snails in
the small pools, as well as the elaborately decorated Caddisfly larvae. We had a stab at identifying Lesser
Water-parsnip, but as it was the end of the afternoon (and without Alice), we left it as a probable and started our return to the minibus and our journey home.
For future planning, we called in at the toilets near Conyngham Hall in Knaresborough.
(What 3 Words for access to the meadow w3w//flamenco.every.springing)
Julia