Wildlife
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- Wildwatch Group's blog (external link)
- birds
- frogs and other pond creatures
There is a wide range wildlife living on St Nicholas Fields and this page details some of our observations and surveys of St Nicks wildlife. We will be building this page to cover other wildlife but for now we’re focusing on birds and butterflies. If you would like to helps us conduct regular surveys of St Nicks and its wildlife, we would love to hear from you – no matter how much or little expertise you’ve got, anyone is welcome to join St Nicks Wildwatch Group!
Birds
The following birds have been seen on or above St Nicholas Fields in the last few years. Please click on bird names to open images from either our own image gallery or RSPB Image website (opens in another window). Further below find our latest sightings and bird ringing results.
Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Cormorant, Dunnock, Garden Warbler, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Lesser Whitethroat, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Rook, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Treecreeper, Tree Sparrow, Whitethroat, Willow Tit, Willow Warbler, Woodcock, Woodpigeon, Wren
3rd March 2010 (sunny morning with a bit of wind picking up towards noon)
Paul from the British Trust for Ornithology spotted the following birds during his monthly bird ringing session: Blackbird, Black-headed Gull, Blue Tit *, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Dunnock *, Goldfinch, Great Tit *, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie (building a nest), Robin *, Rook, Song Thrush *, Starling, Wood Pigeon, Wren *
* these were males marking their territory with their singing. Spring is clearly on its way!
7th November 2009 - bird walk
Blackbird, Black-headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiff-chaff – probably a sign of the changing climate, chiff-chaffs used to be only summer visitors to Yorkshire but now they seem to stay over winter, Common Gull, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Moorhen, Robin, Song Thrush, Starling, Woodcock - this is only the 2nd sighting of this bird on St Nicks and the bird is unusual in urban areas, Woodpigeon, Wren
2nd May 2009 - bird walk
Blackbird, Blackcap, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Dunnock, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Magpie, Mallard, Robin, Sparrowhawk (pair), Starling, Swallow, Willow Warbler, Wren
8th April 2009
Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collard Dove, Dunnock, Great Tit, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Pheasant, Robin, Starling, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Willow Tit, Woodpigeon, Wren
14th January 2009 (sunny, light westerly wind)
Blackbird, Blackheaded Gulls, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Greenfinch, Great Tit, Goldcrest, House Sparrow, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Robin, Rook, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Willow Tit, Woodpigeon, Wren
30th December 2008 (very cold, cloudy)
Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Pheasant (male with unusual colouring), Robin, Rook, Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Treecreaper, Willow Tit, Woodpigeon, Wren
7th December 2008
Blackbird, Blackheaded Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Dunnock, Great Tit, Green Finch, Magpie, Robin, Starling, Wren
31st October 2008
Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, House Sparrow, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Robin, Starling, Treecreaper(?),Willow Tit, Woodpigeon, Wren
Bird Ringing
Gently conducted by Paul and Ian from British Trust for Ornithology in the Environment Centre garden. The birds never stayed in the net for very long and were released as soon as they were measured and weighed.
7th February 2009
1 Blackbird, 8 Blue Tits, 3 Dunnocks, 9 Great Tits, 1 Long Tailed Tit, 5 Robins
19th September 2008
1 Blackbird, 1 Blue Tit, 2 Dunnocks, 3 Great Tits, 2 Greenfinches, 1 Robin, 2 Willow Tits
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Butterflies
Over the years more than half of the 52 UK species of butterflies have been found on St Nicks. In 2008 the following butterfly species were recorded - please click on names to open images from either our own image gallery or Butterfly Conservation website (opens in new window):
Brimstone, Comma, Common Blue, Gatekeeper, Green-veined White, Holly Blue, Large Skipper, Large White, Meadow Brown, Orange-tip, Peacock, Red Admiral, Ringlet, Small Copper, Small Skipper, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White, Speckled Wood
24th July 2010 - butterfly walk (led by Tony Fairburn)
Brimstone, Comma, Gatekeeper, Green-veined White, Holly Blue, Large White, Meadow Brown, Peacock, Red Admiral, Ringlet, Small Skipper, Small Tortoishell, Small White, Speckled Wood
25th July 09 - butterfly walk (led by Tony Fairburn)
Comma, Gatekeeper, Green-veined white, Large skipper, Large white, Painted lady, Peacock, Ringlet, Small skipper, Small tortoiseshell, Small white, Speckled wood
For detailed results of 2008 survey please download a report by Tony Fairburn from Butterfly Conservation (582 kB PDF). If you missed his annual butterfly walk, you could have your own - simply download our Butterfly Bingo (147kB PDF) and come for a wander on a sunny day to see how many of the listed species you can see.
Frogs and other pond creatures
26th August 09 - pond dipping session (led by Martin Hammond)
3-spine stickleback, acilius sulcatus (indicator of good water quality), dragonfly larva (probably common darter), frog tadpoles (late developers), Jenkins' spire snail, lesser water crickets, marsh pond snail, physa snail, pond skater, smooth newt tadpoles (very young, still had external gills), water hog lice
Frogs come to the pond at the Environment Centre every spring and this year we caught them in the act with a camera. Thanks to YouTube you can watch them frolicking on 13th March 2009.