Butterfly lovers enjoyed a bumper crop of Painted Ladies last week. Many dozens were warming themselves on the black soil of molehills among the pastures of Flixton Carr, sheltering from the cold breeze. Numbers of these migrant butterflies were boosted thanks to favourable verdant conditions in their Moroccan breeding grounds over winter when the caterpillars were hatching.
Another bumper crop, this time of birds, has been reported for Lapwings on other fields of Flixton Carr, where wet autumn conditions led to spring sown cereals in place of winter wheat, maintaining the open conditions in early spring that they prefer for nesting, especially when there are wet places to feed nearby. Short-grazed pasture with damp areas is ideal for them and farmers with HLS wader grassland are helping to attract more of these plovers.
Brown Hares and Roe Deer are among the mammals more regularly spotted on the Carrs, but if you are lucky (and patient) there are Otters and Water Voles present on the Hertford, both protected by European legislation due to their conservation importance. Mink are a problem on the river as they pose a threat the water vole. Foxes and badgers are seen from time to time as well and in the evenings look for bats hunting insects along the lanes.
A stroll down Crook Lane or Flixton Carr Lane from Flixton village usually offers some good spotting. Look out for the Tree Sparrows nesting in the mature hedges or in the special nestboxes put up by the 'Flixton In Bloom' group. Linnets and Yellowhammers frequent the hedgerows along with Whitethroats but while you are there look for the distinctive Water Figwort in the stream beside Crook Lane, and note the masses of tiny cased caddis fly larvae on the stream bed - like little clusters of gravel stuck on the rocks.
Other important farmland birds on the Carrs include Reed Bunting, Grey Partridge, Curlew and Corn Bunting - the latter most easily identified by its distinctive song, often described as the sound of jangling keys. They nest among tall crops like barley.
Anyone wishing to share wildlife sightings can contact Scarborough Field Naturalists who are glad to receive records of all kinds of wildlife, whether insect, bird, plant, amphibian etc and keep records which they compile each year. Their website is a good source of info on what's been sighted recently. If your interests are mostly birdy, Scarborough Birders have an excellent sightings page updated daily with noteworthy records.