A day trip doing a circular walk around Sprotborough Flash with Hull Nats. It is warm and sunny, with barely any breeze. We walk counter-clockwise, visiting the woodland and limestone meadows and then going back through the disused railway track and returning by the River Don. The River Don joins the River Went to form Dutch River before draining into the Ouse at Goole, and reaching the Humber. At Sprotborough it is canalised in places, with locks and weirs to control its flow, but the landscape is dominated by the picturesque Don gorge (above), excavated in magnesian limestone and clothed in woodland, which can be seen from various viewpoints along the reserve. The flash, a wetland parallel to the river, was formed due to subsidence after coal mining, and can be watched from three hides and screens.
Long boat moored by the island on the River Don.
Weir
Two Great Tit fledglings sunbating.
A yellow and black longhorn, Rutpela maculata
Conservation grazing by Hebridean sheep is used by YWT to control succession of woodland in patches of meadow surrounded by woodland. The richness of plants is astounding, Hull Nats recorded 198 species of plants in our walk today. In the patch of meadow 4 species of orchid were in bloom, including large numbers of Twayblade and Pyramidal Orchids. Not only plants, insects are plentiful and a swarm of hidundines and swifts feed over our heads. Two Buzzards chased by a Hobby are also around.
Common Spotted Orchid.
Twayblade.
Bee Orchid.
Pyramidal Orchid.
Centaury.
Small Skipper.
Andrew photographing a Twayblade.
Lunch break by the meadow.
Damsels and DragonsWe watch eight Odonata species on the wing, including hundreds of Common Blue Damseflies in the River Don, Large Red, Blue-tailed and Azure damselflies and Banded Demoiselles; also several Brown Hawker, Four-spotted Chaser ovipositing and Emperor patrolling the river. Four species of damselflies were mating.
Azure Damselfly.
Blue-tailed damselflies mating.
Banded Demoiselle on a pond.
Andrew and Helen photographing damselflies.
Mating Large Red Damselflies.
Common blue damselfly.
Mating Banded demoiselles, with attending Blue-tailed damselfly.
A cluster of Pyramidal Orchids.
Photographing orchids.
6 spot burnet moth.
Scorpion fly, Panorpa sp.
A tunnel under the disused railway track that borders the reserve.
A dead Hedgehog on the path. Victim of a Badger?
Hoof fungus, Fomes fomentarius, the largest I've even seen
The Flash
We make use of the hide and watch the birds using the flash. There are plenty of Gadwall, some with grown ducklings, two Grey Herons and a Cormorant. Coots with young and a few Black-headed gulls.
The flash and woods.
A drake Mandarin in the river moulting into eclipse plumage.
Ringlet.
Great Heron.
A wonderful, diverse reserve, which I shall revisit.
No comments:
Post a Comment