It has been a strange summer weather wise; June was very dry and sunny but with cold evenings.

We have at least one pair of sparrow hawks which operate in the village. Those of you with bird feeders will be aware of the sudden attacks on garden birds, or more usually the tell-tale sign of a patch of feathers on the lawn.

Recently I walked up Meeth Gill just west of Reeth to the Old Gang Smelt Mills to see how many species of upland birds I could find, especially summer migrants.

by Andy Johnston Rewilding is all the rage at the moment. However it may come as a surprise that there are over 2,000 non-native species of plants & animals already established in the UK. Many have been deliberately introduced, but a significant number have arrived accidentally. Examples in our neighbourhood include Himalayan balsam, Japanese knot-weed,…

Recently the north of England was subject to a ridge of high pressure and a NE airflow. These conditions were ideal for the creation of Britain’s only named wind ‘The Helm Wind’.

Those of you who live near the Green or at the top of Ham Hall Lane are well aware of the rooks.

While admiring the spring flowers in the church yard, I noticed grey squirrels chasing each other along the church wall.

At last signs of spring: great tits, robins, starlings, mistle thrushes and song thrushes are all starting to sing.

Ten years ago the sight or a photo of an otter on the Swale would have made the local newspapers. Today they are more common than kingfishers.

by Andy Johnson The Twelve Days of Christmas is an old English Carol* featuring mainly animals.  A partridge is an English or grey partridge. Turtle doves are now rare but occasionally seen locally. French hens are thought to be Breton hens. Calling birds (or ‘colly’ in early versions) meant blackbirds. Gold rings were thought to…