16/03/26 - Blackcap arrival

Along with the other signs of spring that we’ve enjoyed during the warmth of the last week or so, have been the first singing Chiffchaffs and Blackcap of the year 🎶

The melodic song of the male, with its black ‘cap’ (rather than the reddish brown of the female and juveniles) is a common sight and sound in spring, and is increasing across Britain & Ireland through the breeding season, as well as now being increasingly encountered throughout the winter months 🐦

Thank you to everyone who has reported wintering Blackcaps in and around the reserve and York area recently, following our last post on here, and thank you to Stuart Masheder for this superb image of a male in his York garden 📸

Small numbers of returning birds are likely to arrive this month, with larger numbers following from early April – please do keep us posted with your migrant arrivals or other signs of spring 😎

10/03/26 - Corncrake pen-building task

Recently, we were fortunate to have another large volunteer group present at our NNR Base at Bank Island, undertaking a wide range of tasks including the construction of new Corncrake pre-release pens (ready for use across the NNR during the summer), erecting new fence lines, and carrying out upgrades to some of our access infrastructure. 

Whilst there, the team also had the pleasure of being joined by Jean Thorpe of Ryedale Rehabilitation, who brought in a young badger cub (recently found lost and abandoned). Jean is now rearing the young cub and giving regular feeds every couple of hours – including through the night, and once weaned, it will then go to a specialist badger centre to join other cubs from elsewhere in the country, to form a new family group, before being gradually released back into the wild (once TB tested and cleared) later in the year. It was a real treat to see this little cub and share the moment with our incredible team of volunteers, who do so much in helping us manage the site both for its wildlife and visitors, so for the team to get a glimpse of such a wonderful creature and into the amazing work that Jean does was a real privilege – thanks once again to Jean for all her hard work and dedication to the cause.

Later in the day whilst everyone was still on a high, the team were then treated to a low and noisy flyover from five Common Cranes, with the rest of the day spent enjoying snatches of Chiffchaff song, bubbling Curlew and displaying Lapwing as well as soaring Buzzards and Red Kites overhead – not a bad place to work! But it's thanks to the hard graft of our team for making the reserve what it is, and so welcoming and attractive to the wildlife that have chosen to make it their 'home'

06/03/26 - Signs of spring

Last week we heard about the first record for the year of a Brimstone butterfly (male on the wing at Skipwith Common NNR), which is a sure sign that spring is on the way – or indeed it might have already arrived – certainly felt like it last week! 😄😎 

Brimstones are medium-sized butterflies with veined, leaf-shaped wings – making them one of our more unusual and eye-catching species. Males are a bright yellow-green colour (the colour of butter – and possibly where the generic name of butterfly came from) and in comparison, the females are very pale, but both sexes have a small orange spot on each wing 🦋

The butterflies appearing on the wing now will have emerged from their chrysalis in July last year and survived the winter, and are now searching for a mate, before laying their eggs on the larval food plant (leaves of buckthorn and alder buckthorn). Brimstones are one of the earlier species to be seen on the wing (this sighting falls six days earlier than the first one recorded there in 2025) and take advantage of various plant species, often favouring purple flowers early in the season (image from our NNR Base garden in a previous year in summer) 🪻📸

During the last week of February the first returning Woodlark was also heard singing at Skipwith Common NNR which is always a great sign of spring, and it was shortly followed by the first sighting of an Adder there a day later. Woodlarks and Adders are both associated with the Common and its remaining areas of lowland heath, with the site managed accordingly for both species - by maintaining extensive open heathland areas, sunny glades, pockets of scrub, basking sites, woody habitat piles, dead hedging and hibernacula locations. 

However, both species are also prone to recreational disturbance, so please try to stick to the footpaths and keep dogs on leads, and if you are fortunate to come across either species, please take photographs from a safe and respectful distance to avoid disturbing our local wildlife and giving them room to thrive.

01/03/26 - Curlew return

Last weekend our BTO Wetland Bird Survey count resulted in a pleasing total of 73 Curlew already back in the Lower Derwent Valley 🐦

Numbers have increased from 30 at the start of the month, to 50 by the 7th, and many individuals can now be heard displaying over the flooded Ings, with their excited, bubbling calls one of the sounds that we love to hear each year – so evocative, and a key sound and sight of the Lower Derwent Valley and surrounding area. It was also interesting to note that two birds spotted at the weekend were individually identifiable from their colour-rings, and from our records show that they have chosen the same territory that has been used annually now for the last five years 🐥

Sadly, the Curlew is one of our most rapidly declining breeding bird species (showing a 46% decline across the UK from 1994-2010) and with the UK holding 28% of the European breeding population, the species has recently been listed as globally near threatened, but... fortunately, we do have good populations across the reserve, with up to 70 pairs recorded in recent years, and unlikely many places in the country, good levels of breeding productivity have been noted. We have also been busy working with the local farming community to delay hay cuts, and through our Responsible Recreation Project, to minimise disturbance to try and help these birds and ensure they have a safe stronghold for the years to come 🪶 

Thanks to local wildlife photographer Stuart Campbell for the image, taken in a previous year in the Lower Derwent Valley 📸