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MICA CAP MUSHROOMS

We usually see these packed together in dense clusters, and those I found in our garden are no exception, growing from the roots of an...

REDWING

I saw a small flock of these thrushes eating hawthorn berries along the old railway line, though you can sometimes see them in flocks of...

YEW

In the cemetery I think we have examples of both Common or English Yew and Irish Yew. The former is a native evergreen, the latter a...

DEAD MAN'S FINGERS

The second part of this fungi’s latin/scientific name is Polymorpha, which means “many forms”, but this fantastic specimen found by Simon...

BLACK HEADED GULL

Chocolate Brown-Headed Gull would have been more of a mouthful, but more accurate, at least in the spring and summer. Now the colouring...

GREY SQUIRREL

Another occupant, perhaps, of the Wildlife Rogues’ Gallery, but let’s not over-anthropomorphise this animal. They may not be your...

OAK

Blimey! How do I do the “King of the Forest” justice in a short paragraph? It really deserves a book. This magnificent tree can live up...

MALLARD

They may be very common, but they’re worth a second look. This is not just for their breeding season plumage, with the glossy,...

RABBIT

Rabbits were important to us as a source of food and clothing for many centuries after the Normans brought them to Britain. Although now...

MOLE

Well, okay, I didn’t actually see a mole, but the fresh mounds of earth were pretty compelling evidence. On the few occasions I have...

TURKEYTAIL FUNGUS

This is another fungus with a helpful name slowly eating the rotting wood around Otley. We can thank the Americans for what is now its...

CUCUMBER GREEN SPIDER

These cute little lime-green spiders are to be found in the gardens, hedges and woodland of Otley. Confident in their camouflage colours...

ORANGE PEEL FUNGUS

Some fungus names leave you scratching your head (Destroying Angel, Chicken of the Woods, Hairy Curtain Crust anyone?) but not this one....

HARLEQUIN LADYBIRD

WFO-supporter Emma Dunnett yesterday spotted adults and larvae together on some fence posts above Weston Woods. The larvae have a quite...

OYSTERCATCHER

I love these striking, noisy waders, with their long red beaks for opening molluscs or probing for worms. Once called Sea-pies, they were...

ROWAN

This is a hardy tree, for whom the sometimes disappointing weather of Otley is no problem at all – it flourishes in Arctic Norway. There...

LARGE BLACK SLUG

Possessors of a strange beauty, but undeniably slimy, these invertebrates produce three different types of mucus: one as a lubricant for...

ROOK

There are several rookeries in the Otley area, including one on Kirkgate, though the avian ones are quiet now after the din of spring and...

HAZEL

There are many examples of this sturdy tree in the Otley area. Its edible nuts are loved by mice, squirrels and woodpeckers, as well as...

MISTLE THRUSH

This stocky, loud thrush exemplifies the complex inter-connectedness of nature with several mutually-beneficial relationships. So for...