Blog: Wildlife sightings

A large flock of knot and lapwings takes off, filling the frame.

Glorious mud and winter waders

Our blogger spends a day at Paull Holme Strays Nature Reserve...

Close-up side view of a wheatear perching on a low roof in front of a pale blue sky.

The great getaway: autumn migration at Spurn National Nature Reserve

I’m walking along a beach under a big sky. The waves shimmer in the dazzling sunlight. Where the sea meets the sky, the clouds look like a great bank of snow. Higher up, they grow wispier, among…

A pale green brimstone butterfly hangs from a pink marsh thistle flower, using its proboscis to feed.

A nature paradise on the edge of the city: a visit to Askham Bog

I pick my way slowly through the tangle of vegetation, placing my welly-clad feet down carefully on the rough, marshy ground. This place is teeming with life – buzzing, fluttering, rustling.…

Purple and yellow wildflowers in the foreground and a lush green meadow in the background.

Butterfly bounty: a hot, sunny day at Brockadale

It’s a sight to stop you in your tracks – dozens of butterflies clustered in one spot. I watch, fascinated, as they flutter and feed together. But these green-veined whites haven’t been attracted…

Wide shot of North Cliffe Wood. There's a carpet of bluebells on the ground, and the sun is just rising through the trees.

Early birds: dawn chorus at North Cliffe Wood

It’s 4.40am on a calm spring morning. I pull into the layby next to North Cliffe Wood and strap on the head torch that’ll help me find my way through the darkness. There’s no traffic at this…

A Surprise Visitor from Germany: Seal 2895 Makes Waves on the East Yorkshire Coast

Nature often surprises us in the most delightful ways, and this past December brought one such moment for marine enthusiasts along the East Yorkshire coast. Marine Research Assistant Beth, who…

View of wetlands at a nature reserve surrounded by green and a blue sky

The return of the beetles!

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust colleagues are a committed bunch – maybe it’s because wildlife is always throwing us surprises and we never know when a brief check might just reveal something new,…

Get closer to nature and explore your wild garden

Alastair Fitter, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Trustee and Emeritus Professor of Ecology at the University of York, gives his top tips for exploring your local green space.