wildlife, yorkshire dales

Wildlife In Wharfedale.

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I was fortunate enough to stay at a campsite on the Bolton Abbey Estate , over the weekend. But more about that later. 🙂

The river Wharfe winds serenely through the priory grounds and theres always plenty of wildlife to see , in arguably the prettiest of the Yorkshire Dales, Wharfedale. Wil and I always seem to return to the area every year, enjoying riverside walks with Hugo and glimpses of the varied wildlife that resides here.

Here are a few photos of what birds, animals and plant life, we saw on our walks.

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The Stepping stones at Bolton Abbey.
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Curlew. The soundtrack for our camping trip was a cacophony of calling curlews, so evocative of the Dales countryside.
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Dames Violet. Saw clumps of these fragrant garden escapes all along the riverside, in hues of deep pink, lilac and white.
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Snoozy Ducklings. Mother mallard was keeping an eye on her island of offspring, snoozing in the sunshine. 😁
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Yellow Flag Iris.
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Hedgehog. We saw this beauty scurrying accross the path in front of us in Stridd Wood. He/she seemed in good shape. We quickly put Hugo on his lead and left our prickly friend to its adventures.

Also in Stridd Wood ,we noticed that some trees were covered in what looked like eerie white cobwebs. On closer inspection we saw that the silky webbing was covered in hundreds of tiny catterpillars! I looked up the phenomenon and found that the catterpillar culprits actually turn into White ermine moths. See below. How wonderful to come accross these snazzy fellows.

White ermine moth ~ image via pinterest.
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Cock Pheasant. The fields were full of fine pheasants.
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Foxglove. In fairy folklore fairies taught foxes to ring the bells of foxgloves, to warn of approaching Hunts.
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Goosander in summer plumage. I love that the male goosanders plumage turns from white and black in Winter, to grey, white and brown in Summer. 😊
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Monkey Flowers. Can you see the monkey-faces in these pretty yellow riverside flowers?

Although not really Wild, this impressive looking peacock and his turkey friend lived on the farm, nextdoor to our campsite. 😊

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Lapwing. Where there are curlews, there are often Lapwings. I love their handsome head gear. 😊

Thanks for dropping by. Will return soon with a blog about the campsite we stayed at on the Bolton Abbey Estate.

40 thoughts on “Wildlife In Wharfedale.”

  3. We had a hedgehog in our front garden the other night-the first since I was a teen ( I live next door to my childhood home. Every autumn we had them, back in the days when everybody had privets instead of fences and grass instead of paving. Went upstairs to get my lad to come and see it, but of course it had disappeared by the time we came down. A sad sign of the times-he’s eight years old and never saw one.

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    1. Aw, I hadn’t seen one for ages either. I’m just glad it seemed healthy and in good condition. You only tend to hear about injured and sick ones these days. Hope your little boy does get to see one soon. Maybe your visitor will return!

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  8. Oh what wonderful photos, and such a lovely post. That hedgehog does look in very good shape, how lovely to see! And I just love your description of the curlews calling ♥️. Looking forward to the next one! 🙂

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  9. Great photos. How did you manage to get close ups on the birds?
    Lapwings and curlews are two of my favourite birds. Seeing them and hearing their distinctive calls is so redolent of being up on the moors. (Heard a curlew’s bubbling when I was up on Pendle Hill last week)

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    1. Just a good zoom really. 🙂
      Lapwings and Curlews are two of my favourite birds too. I grew up on a farm below Pendle Hill so heard their calls most days.

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      1. “I grew up on a farm below Pendle Hill” – sounds like Whistle Down the wind! One of my favourite films 🎥- but before your time I think

      2. Yes that was filmed not far from where I lived ( though definitely before my time 😄) and I have watched it a couple of times.

      3. It was my era. The kids in it (the locals) all dressed and talked exactly like me, my siblings and friends. I’m probably the same age as the boy who played Hayley Mills’ younger brother. Takes me back to my childhood whenever I watch it!

      4. The farm and the village of Downham where some of it was filmed were just up the road. I went to the primary school in Downham as a kid. Small world hey.

    1. Thank you. The moth is taken off pinterest. I only saw the cocoons. They will probably hatch soon and Stridd Wood will be full of them. It was amazing to see the hedgehog. Very privileged. 🙂

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  11. Thanks so much Shazza with that wonderful post. The first place we head out to when we come home is usually for a walk at Bolton Abbey & surrounds, although Fountains would be a good choice too. There is just nothing that comes close to your ancient ruins over here, but I’ll admit to being able to see a fair amount of wildlife. Love hedgehogs & got my first ever glimpse on a day out to Parceval Hall gardens some years back & they really are so cute. Look forward to the next installment. Take care.

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