Walkers Are Welcome Rosedale Abbey is part of the “This Exploited Land of Iron” Project. Click for more info.

Wild Rosedale

Rosedale is a wild and rugged landscape and is teeming with wildlife. In this section you will find posts relating to nature and events that celebrate our rich countryside.

Beetle Plague

First we had floods of biblical proportions, then the Wuhan Flu and now a plague of beetles. The little insects flying into your face or dropping down the back of your shirt collar are heather beetles, aka Lochmaea suturalis:

A Plague of Beetles

Heather Beetle – Lochmaea suturalis

The larvae of the beetle feed on heather shoots and therefore damage the plants, which is why last year there was comparatively little purple up on our moors and great swathes of brown, sickly heather plants instead.

Rosedale Wildlife Week 23 to 29 June 2019

As part of the Land of Iron Project, The National Park is running a series of wildlife events in and around Rosedale. The programme dates, times and locations are shown in an earlier post and there is time to book in to more of these fascinating events which reveal the rich diversity of nature within the dale – and by attending any of them there is the opportunity to win a 4kg/9lb chocolate egg! (see below).

9 lbs of delicious chocolate to be won!
Moth Morning 23 June
Fabulous Foliage 23 June
Photographing Wildlife by Steve Race, 23 June
Meadows and Pastures of Rosedale, 24 June
Some locals joining in!
From Goshawks to Whales – Richard Baines talking about the wildlife to be found in the National Park – 26 June
Hidden Hartoft Nature Walkers – 27 June 2019
Dippers, Nuthatches and Ring Ouzels
Bat Walkers about to set off – 28 June
Nature and History Walkers – 29 June
All over and celebrating at Graze on The Green!

In summary, the week was a great success with most of the varied events being well attended. A huge range of animal and plant species were spotted and studied, of which some of the many highlights were spotting the rare Arctic Starflower in Hartoft, the rarer Tachina Grossa, a fly with attitude, along with bird wing moths as well as hearing (with the aid of bat detectors) and then watching Daubenton’s bats hunting by night along the River Seven at Dunn Car bridge.

Huge thanks to Elspeth ingleby and Sam Newton from the National Park for organising a truly fascinating, entertaining and instructive week – more please next year!

Rosedale Wildlife Week – 23 to 29 June 2019

A reminder that the Rosedale Wildlife Week runs with a varied and fascinating programme from Sunday 23 June to Saturday 29 June. All the events are free and to attend and take part, please book through www.northyorkmoors.eventbrite.com or call 01493 772738.

In summary the programme is:

Sunday 23 June: 0900: Moth Morning ,Village Green. 1000 – Fabulous Flora, Churchyard, 1900 – Photographing Wildlife, Updale Reading Room

Monday 24 June: 1000 – Meadows and Pastures of Rosedale, 1900 – Gardening with Nature for Nature, Reading Room.

Tuesday 25 June: 1000 – Wildlife Walk, Reading Room.

Wednesday 26 June: 1000 – Wild Woods of Rosedale, Reading Room, 1900 – Wildlife of The North York Moors, Reading Room.

Thursday 27 June: 1000 – Hidden Hartoft Wildlife Walk, Reading Room, 1900 – The Wildlife of Rosedale, Reading Room

Friday 28 June: 1000 – Aquatic Rosedale, Reading Room, 2100 – Bats In The Abbey, Village Green

Saturday 29 June: 0900 – Moth Morning, Reading Room, 1030 – Village Nature Walk, Village Green

Hope to see you all next week!

Dippers doing well

We are very fortunate to have dippers here in Rosedale on the River Seven. A bird of upland fast flowing water they feed on aquatic insects and dippers are a good indicator of a clean river.

Dippers nest early in the year and here in Rosedale pairs were nest building in February and laying eggs by mid March. We already have two nests with fledged young and another two pairs still feeding young at the nest. The fledglings continue to be fed by the adults along the river away from the nest for a few weeks until they can feed themselves. A fledgling will perch motionless on a rock between feeds perfectly camouflaged by its mottled colouring, protecting it against predators. As well as feeding duties the adults will strip out the nest and refurbish it ready for a second brood.

Dippers get their name from their habitat of dipping while perched which enables them to blend in with the surrounding flowing water. To watch a newly fledged dipper dipping tentatively is a great pleasure. Dippers are born to dip. Updale Natural History Recorder

Newly fledged dipper perfectly camouflaged
Adult dipper

Our ring ouzels are back

Two male ring ouzels were back up on the moor on the east side on 21 March. Always a pleasure to see the first ones return from winter migration. We are very lucky to still have this upland bird which is in serious decline in the UK. Updale Natural History Recorder