With long days and sunny weather, this is one of the busiest times of year for British wildlife
LITTLE EGRET
by Ernie Janes
Little egrets, once driven to near extinction by the trade in hat feathers, are now gradually spreading back into the Dales.
ROE DEER
by Kevin Sawford
The roe deer, our commonest native deer, forms small herds in winter but tends to be solitary in summer.
HARVEST MOUSE
by David Tipling
The harvest mouse, Europe’s tiniest rodent, is light and agile enough to climb to the very tops of barley stalks.
BROWN HARE
by David Tipling
Nowadays brown hares are under serious threat, with numbers believed to have fallen by as much as 80% over the last century.
DUCKLINGS
by Andrew Parkinson
Mallards can be found throughout the UK. They are the ancestors of our domestic ducks, and readily interbreed with them.
PUFFIN
by Drew Buckley
Puffins feed mainly on sand eels, and this one has a beak full of them ready to feed to its chicks.
DAMSEL FLY
by Jenny Hibbert
This handsome common blue damselfly is perched on a dew-covered bud of ragged robin.
SWALEDALE HAY MEADOW
by Ernie Janes
Red clover and golden buttercups bring swathes of vibrant colour to our upland hay meadows in early summer.
RED ADMIRAL
by Ernie Janes
The red admiral is one of our most easily recognised butterflies. Its caterpillars feed mainly on nettles.
