Site description
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After the clay capping in 1993, St
Nicholas Fields have been extensively planted with native tree, shrub and plant
species and contain areas of scrub, young woodland, thicket, meadow, rough
grassland, and coppice as well as a watercourse. It is intended that this site
become a mix of habitats for a range of wildlife and a good educational
resource.
The
central part of the site is divided between wildflower meadow and rough
grassland, along with developing scrub and a few mature willows. The wildflower
meadow and scrub provide larval food plants and nectar for a variety of
butterflies. Common Blue, Holly Blue, Orange Tip, Ringlet and Meadow Brown are
seen regularly with many more species less frequent visitors. The rough grass
and scrub contain large stands of teasels and thistles providing seeds for finches.
Large groups of Goldfinch can be seen in winter along with Chaffinch,
Bullfinch, Brambling and Siskin as frequent visitors.
The
south of the site contains a thicket dominated by Elder, Hawthorn and Bramble.
These thickets provide cover for nesting robin, wrens, sparrows, dunnocks,
blackbirds and thrushes. Both song thrush and mistle thrush are seen along with
occasional migrant redwings in winter.
The
northern part of the site contains a considerable number of fruit trees along
with well established ash and alder, and scattered hawthorns. This area feeds
large numbers of blackbirds and bullfinches.
The
western area of the site is formed by a clay bund acting as a boundary between
the nature area and an adjacent commercial site. This whole area has been
planted as John Lally Community Woodland over a period of 5 years from 1996-2001. Some
trees are well established now while others are slow growing on the clay
substrate. The woodland mix included ash, lime, field maple, willow, dogwood
and oak.
There are linear extensions to the north and south of the nature reserve, taking in land alongside the Tang Hall and Osbaldwick Becks. Osbaldwick beck flows into St Nicks from the south east out of a culvert where it remains open for a few hundred metres. It is then culverted again and flows underneath the reserve where it converges with Tang Hall Beck and opens again towards the north West of the site. Blue tits, coal tits, great tits and long tailed tits can be seen feeding on the mature willows and alders along the beck along with a regular kingfisher.
St Nicholas Fields Tree Trail
Our easy access 1 km trail starts at the York Environment Centre and takes you round St Nicholas Fields Local Nature Reserve. There are ten stopping points by notable trees - just follow the map and look out for the wooden marker posts. You can either pick up a printed copy of the accompanying leaflet and map from the Environment Centre or download it here (lower printing quality, 648kB PDF file).