Field Notes

In line with the adage " safety in numbers" many of our birds flock together in winter, both for safety from predators and also to forage for food more effectively. We now have large flocks of thrushes, tits and finches moving around Knaresborough Forest Park taking advantage of this year's bountiful supply of berries and fruit, especially hawthorn. Some of the birds are with us throughout the year but their numbers have been swelled with visitors from Northern Europe, coming

It's been a great year for fungi, sadly we haven't seen many Wax Caps but we have seen spectacular examples of Dog Vomit Fungus on grass in the Garth field Probably Didymium Spongiosum Dog Vomit Fungus is not actually a fungus but a Slime Mould, an interesting group of organisms somewhere between a fungus and a protozoa. There is another variety which is even more spectacular being shiny yellow. Not fixed to the ground they can actually move and have been shown to take the sh

It's a great year for seeds and nuts but also a great year for fruit with huge crops of Crab Apples and Sloes at Knaresborough Forest...

I almost didn’t see you. I was focused on the lady’s smock, its pale petals catching the spring light, when you revealed yourself -...

While walking on Butler Hill yesterday - a commanding mound on the edge of what was once the Royal Forest of Knaresborough - I came...

The other day, we spotted a pair of jackdaws setting up home in a hollow of an old ash tree near the Garth, its branches bare and twisted...

Each spring, the bluebells return, carpeting woodlands and hedgerows in a haze of violet-blue. This week, walking across the land, I...