Things to look out for in the Yorkshire Dales

River Swale meandering through Hudswell Woods — The River Swale in Hudswell Woods | © Seb Mankelow

The Yorkshire Dales are a great place to relax and explore the outdoors. Discover rolling countryside with steep-sided valleys, vast heather-covered moorland hilltops and a patchwork of dry stone walls and barns.

Upper Wharfedale

As well as traditional hardy breeds of sheep and cattle roaming the pastures, this diverse landscape also offers a home to many plants and animals.

In summer Upper Wharfedale is full of life, and you can see the classic Dales landscape, shaped by hundreds of years of farming, looking at its most vibrant. The fields are full of colourful wildflowers, the hillsides are lush and green with trees and scrub woodland, and on the fell tops buzzards are gliding on thermal air.

The hay meadows are farmers in-bye land. In spring they are used for lambing, but now in summer the ewes and lambs are up on the fells and the meadows are 'shut up' allowing them to grow. On a walk through the fields at Cray or Yockenthwaite, you're likely to see cranesbill, devil's-bit scabious, common knapweed, pignut, bird's-foot trefoil, salad burnet, and three species of orchid: common, fragrant and butterfly. These fields aren't just important for wildflowers and the insects and birds they support, in July they are cut and used as winter feed for farmers animals.

Summer is also a great time of year to see butterflies, and good places to see them fluttering by are woodland edges and fields. You might see common blue, large white, peacock, tortoiseshell, fritillaries and northern brown argus. Some of these butterflies, like the northern brown argus, are rare and the limestone habitat is very important for them to survive as the caterpillar feeds on the rock rose, which we monitor yearly.

Mid to late summer is a great time to spot bats. In the evening, at twilight, take a walk down to the bridge in Buckden and you might catch a glimpse of this winged mammal silhouetted against the dusk sky. They feed on insects like midge flies and moths. The pipistrelle bat can catch and eat over 3000 insects in one night!

Walking along the footpaths of Upper Wharfedale, Yorkshire Dales — Exploring footpaths in Upper Wharfedale | © National Trust Images / Ben Selway

Hudswell Woods

Close to the historical market town of Richmond and with the River Swale rushing alongside, you will find picturesque scenery with hints of a varied history.

On a warm summer's day, Hudswell Wood is a mixture of dappled shade and sunny glades. Speckled wood butterflies dance along the woodland edges and the flower-rich pasture and scrub habitats hum with insect life. The River Swale glides by and is only disturbed by fish taking flies off the water's surface.

If you explore the woodland and grasslands, there is much to see from the varied assortment of nectar loving insects enjoying our wildflowers to Daubenton's bats at sunset picking food off the river.

We graze livestock through the winter months to improve our grassland habitats and increase the number and species of wildflowers that grow here and flower through the summer. This will benefit bees, butterflies, moths and other nectar loving insects, and we also think visitors will enjoy it too! Summer is a great time to spend time in the meadows, enjoying the beauty of the wildflowers and watching the pollinators at work.

The meadow areas surrounding Round Howe and along the riverside are especially good for observing butterflies and day flying moths, such as the chimney sweeper moth. In late summer the flowering buddleia shrubs along the riverbank also attract a wide range of butterflies. Although technically a garden escapee these flowering shrubs are tolerated as they offer an excellent source of nectar.

Malham Tarn

The boardwalk at Malham Tarn weaves its way through the National Nature Reserve, a unique and special place with interesting wildlife. Pause on this easy stroll to appreciate the quiet and listen for the songs of our feathered friends. You might even spot the Exmoor ponies grazing in the distance.

In summer, the wildflowers on the reserve are in full bloom, from northern marsh and common spotted orchids to marsh cinquefoil, bog asphodel and ragged robin. On sunny days common lizards can often be seen on the boardwalk. Look out for colourful dragonflies and butterflies too.

The waterfall at Janet’s Foss is a magical place to visit, and legend has it that Janet (or Jennet) the fairy queen lives in the cave behind the waterfall, or foss.

The limestone pavement above Malham Cove is well worth the climb up over 300 stone steps. On top you’ll be rewarded with panoramic views but also the unusual jigsaw of clints (blocks of stone) and grykes (the gaps) and the ferns and flowers living in this distinct habitat.

Birds and bird watching

Cowside looking north to Darnbrook Fell. Drystone walls run across the valley dividing up the fields — Cowside looking north to Darnbrook Fell | © National Trust Images/Joe Cornish

Moorland

Fell tops in the Dales generally don't have a lot of trees and are usually either grazed rough pasture, blanket bog or heather moorland. These habitats can be very quiet for birds with meadow pipit being the most frequent sighting. The mournful call of golden plover is certainly a possibility and on Darnbrook Fell red grouse are often found in reasonable numbers. Moorland like this can also support merlin and short-eared owl.

Woodland

In Upper Wharfedale small areas of limestone woodland exist in steep gills, the deeply cleft scars in the landscape that have been eroded by streams or becks. Where trees meet moorland or pasture is a good spot to look for black grouse. If you are lucky on a fine spring morning you may be treated to the sight of a male bird displaying, or lekking. The often open, scrubby woodland that spills out of the gills is a perfect place for migrants in spring such as chiffchaff, willow warbler, redstart, tree pipit and cuckoo. Hudswell and Hag Woods is a good location for woodland birds including pied and spotted flycatchers.

A brown and white dipper bird above water at Quarry Bank Mill — A brown and white dipper | © National Trust Images/Derek Hatton

Rivers

On the watercourses in the valley bottoms, dippers, kingfishers, goosanders and grey and pied wagtails are all likely to be seen. The Swale at Hudswell Woods or along the Wharfe downstream of Buckden are both ideal locations. In spring these species are joined by common sandpiper, oystercatcher and sand martins. In Wharfedale the surrounding flood plains hold snipe, redshank, lapwing and curlew.

An otter raising its head out of the water among the grass on a riverbank at Croome, Worcestershire. — An otter raising its head out of the water among the grass on a riverbank | © National Trust Images/John Hubble

Malham Tarn

Malham Tarn National Nature Reserve (NNR) is made up of fen, raised bog, wet woodland and open water. In the surrounding woodland you might spot redstart and flycatchers. Lesser redpole, reed bunting, garden warbler and sedge warbler can be seen on the NNR boardwalk, the latter two as summer migrants. It’s also worth keeping an eye out for otters; good views can be had from the bird hide on the north-east shoreline.

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