July 2024 - trip to Yorkshire (part b)

It was agreed by everyone that I thoroughly deserved a morning’s peace and quiet whilst I was visiting the UK and so I decided to have a walk somewhere in the Yorkshire Wolds to look for some chalk-loving species. I chose the area round Wharram, between Driffield and Malton, which is one of the highest parts of the Wolds and has a small nature reserve. It was a hot, sunny day and I pulled into a car park right at the top of the hill ready for a mile walk to the Wharram Quarry Nature Reserve.

The Yorkshire Wolds - from the car park overlooking the valley where the nature reserve sits

Immediately, as I started walking down the chalk path, I started to see unfamiliar species, such as Yellowhammers perched atop bushes and on wires. The most common butterfly in the valley appeared to be Marbled White which I’ve hardly ever seen, although many were very worn, as were the handful of Ringlet that were still on the wing.

Phosphuga atrata - Wharram, 29 Jul 24 - a new species of beetle for me

At the bottom of the valley there was a walk up an old railway track which was quite a shaded, wooded place. There were lots of wildflowers growing along the side including lots of Meadowsweet, Butterbur and Wild Angelica, none of which we get in Guernsey. I ticked off two new species here - Meadow Crane’s-bill and Common Comfrey, the former being very common in this part of the world. In the sunny spots, butterflies congregated, plus a Shaded Broad-bar moth was flushed and a dead Mole on the track (which didn’t flush, and was quite confiding).

Meadow Crane's-bill - Wharram, 29 Jul 24

Scorpionfly sp. - Wharram, 29 Jul 24 - despite being relatively common in the UK, we don't get any of the species in Guernsey

At the end of the railway track, the path went through a tiny hamlet and I went through a gate into the old quarry nature reserve which was a large flat area full of wild flowers. I was a little late in the month to see it at its best but it was still fabulous, with lots of useful paths going through it. I spent about an hour here poking around but I regret not taking more time to find more things.

There wasn’t a lot of new plants to tick as I had seen a lot of late-summer chalk species a few years ago down south. If I’d spent more time on my hands and knees and focused, I could have found probably a few more subtle species. The Yorkshire Wolds are the most northern chalk hills in England and a lot of species don’t get this far north so the selection here was more limited. Reading the information sign, I was surprised to find that there was a big rarity here and it was easy to find. First of all was to find the Cotton Thistles (also a tick) which was easy because they were massive, and sprouting out from their base were a few (albeit very crispy) Thistle Broomrapes. This species is very rare and only occurs at a few sites in Yorkshire in the whole UK and I wasn’t aware that this was one of them until I got here - bonus.

Cotton Thistle - Wharram Quarry, 29 Jul 24

Thistle BROOMRAPE - Wharram Quarry, 29 Jul 24

Autumn Gentian - Wharram Quarry, 29 Jul 24

Carline Thistle - Wharram Quarry, 29 Jul 24

The best species I found at the nature reserve was a small, plain brown moth that I happened to spot resting on the flower of a Red Clover. I potted it up and looked at it through the lens but could not notice any features that could identify it in the field. I thought about throwing it back but something told me to keep it and take it home for proper study. When I had a look through the microscope, the only notable features that I could pick out were a very pale underside to the lower abdomen and some pale scales around the eye, palps and mouth area. Reading through the books, this seemed to match a species of Scythris and picaepennis looking the most likely. It needed checking though and I managed a tricky dissection on such a small moth and the gen matched female Scythris picaepennis. I had recorded this species before, in Scotland (must have been an ambitious ID!) but looking at the Yorkshire Moths website, there are only 3 records listed in the county, none since the 1800’s. I have sent the record in and am awaiting confirmation of the rarity. Goes to show, if you’ve got a gut feeling about a specimen, always keep it to check.

Scythris picaepennis - Wharram Quarry, 29 Jul 24

I saw very few other moths as I kicked through the grass, but there were some burnets buzzing about. They mostly were Six-spot Burnets which is widespread throughout the UK but is surprisingly absent in Guernsey. There were also a couple of faded five-spots which was very useful to me because, in the UK, I have only ever seen five-spots in areas where the two species’ range overlaps. However, in Yorkshire, only the Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet occurs, so this becomes a new species for me, even though I will have seen some in the past before I knew of such things.

Six-Spot Burnet - Wharram Quarry, 29 Jul 24

Narrow-bordered Five-Spot Burnet - Wharram Quarry, 29 Jul 24

Small Skipper - Wharram Quarry, 29 Jul 24 - we have no skippers in Guernsey

Marbled Whites - Wharram Quarry, 29 Jul 24 - a much fresher individual (in both senses of the word!)

Just off the track back to the car was Wharram Percy, “Europe’s best-known deserted medieval village”, so I went to have a look. It might be the best-known but I was certainly not the most visible. It really consisted of rectangles on the floor showing where things used to be. I guess it was more of archaeological excitement than anything else. The church was first there in the 10th century but most of what can be seen is a lot newer than that. After a quick look around it started to get very hot and I headed back home.

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July 2024 - trip to Yorkshire (part b)

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