Photos from Barlow Common
A great little nature reserve for wildflowers, butterflies and fungi in North Yorkshire, England
A warm welcome to all my valued subscribers and followers. It’s hard to believe that it is approaching the end of July already! Regular readers will be aware that Matt and I are planning to move home. With all the research, organization and stress that involves I had completely of lost track of time, and was quite shocked when I realized August was rapidly approaching!
This post is a compilation of photos from a lovely little nature reserve known as Barlow Common, close to the town of Selby in North Yorkshire, England. As usual the photos are from several visits in different seasons over the course of several years.
Managed by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Barlow Common is on the site of a former refuse tip, and it is quite literally in the shadow of the huge cooling towers of Drax Power Station.
Which doesn’t sound particularly appealing. But in fact Barlow Common is a super little reserve to visit.
Unlike many of the nature reserves I like to frequent, Barlow Common is not a wetland reserve. Although it does have a couple of large ponds and reed beds!
Instead the reserve consists mainly of patches of woodland and meadows, with short and easy trails to follow, and it is one of the best places I know to see displays of wild flowers in summer.
A particular feature of the reserve is the masses of teasels that grow here, providing seed for birds in winter.
If you visit on a sunny summer day when the teasels are flowering you may be lucky enough to see swarms of butterflies feeding on them. In some years the numbers can be impressive.
Bees love to feed on the teasels too, like the buff-tailed bumblebee below:
A pair of buzzards live in the woodland on the reserve, and we often hear their distinctive calls as we walk around the trails.
In late summer and autumn berries appear in trees and hedgerows around the reserve, providing food for countless creatures.
Summer is undoubtedly the best time to visit Barlow Common to see the flowers and butterflies, but autumn is also a great time to visit. This is when redwings and fieldfares arrive to feast on the copious berries.
It is also when a huge variety of fungi appear in the woods and deadwood habitats around the reserve.
The colours around the reserve on a sunny day in autumn or winter can be truly spectacular.
Barlow Common may not be as well known as some of Yorkshire’s larger wetland and coastal nature reserves. But it is a perfect place for a gentle walk, and perhaps a picnic, in beautiful surroundings.
And it is always heartening to see nature flourishing here, despite the proximity to such a massive (and controversial) power station.
For more information see Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Barlow Common.
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Wonderful images and words, Angie, and good to see nature thriving so close to Drax. Thanks for sharing.
Wonderful photos!