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A blue sky and warm breeze greeted 16 members for an afternoon walk around this remote moorland Nature Reserve situated in the north-east corner of the Society’s recording area. Fen Bog was gifted to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust in 1964 by the Baldwin family in memory of two relatives who were killed in action in World War II.

At just under 20 hectares the nature reserve is one of the finest examples of an upland valley mire in Britain and as such has been designated a SSSI. With over 300 plant species recorded it is widely regarded as a botanist’s paradise. A full list of the plants seen is included below. We did not see the full range of seges (around 20 I think) that grow here, partly because we kept to the paths rather than diving in to the bog itself as we did not wish to damage this fragile habitat. Also I suspect there were several species we might have seen earlier in the year that were in seed and therefore not obvious. We did however see the locally rare White beak sedge Rhynchospora alba and some beautiful spotted orchids including heath spotted orchid Dactylorhiza maculata.

Heath spotted orchid Dactylorhiza maculata

White beak sedge Rhynchospora alba

We also saw some Lesser clubmoss Selaginella selaginoides (another locally rare plant) and plenty of sundew (an insectivorous plant like butterwort, catching and “eating“ insects to boost its intake of nitrogen whichis in short supplyin bogs), including this specimen with a flower spike.

Lesser clubmoss Selaginella selaginoides

SundewDrosera rotundifolia

Few birds were recorded which was to be expected this late in the season, those noted were: Swallow, Chaffinch, Wren, Herring Gull and Redpoll – the later not seen but heard singing in the trees alongside the railway line; this was thought likely to be the Lesser Redpoll Acanthis cabaret that is present year-round unlike the Common Redpoll Acanthis flammea that is mainly a winter visitor in this country.

Disappointingly not many dragonflies were recorded being restricted to just one female, one male and one dead male Keeled skimmer, and a Golden-ringed Dragonfly. Butterflies seen were: Small skipper, Small heath, Meadow brown, Dark green fritillary, Common blue, Large white and Ringlet. Moths recorded were: Fox moth larvae, Brown china mark, Agriphila tristella, Agriphila straminella, Catoptria margaritella, Crambus lathoniellus and Amblyptilia acanthadactyla. On the way back to the car park a Tiger beetle was seen scurrying through the grass alongside the path.

A small frog and a llizard were also spotted by some keen-eyed members.

Returning to the car park the now traditional slice of cake was awaiting, the perfect end to what all agreed was an enjoyable afternoon.

Species lists

Plants

Butterflies

Small skipper, Small heath, Meadow brown, Dark green fritillary, Common blue, Large white and Ringlet.

Moths

Fox moth larvae, Brown china mark, Agriphila tristella, Agriphila straminella, Catoptria margaritella, Crambus lathoniellus, Amblyptilia acanthadactyla.
[Ed: Thanks to Graham Featherstone for the Lepidoptera IDs.]