Partners

Wold Ecology Ltd.

Wold Ecology Ltd. is a professional company providing a bespoke service for environmental management and a range of specialised advice aimed at integrating business with nature. Its work includes:

European Protected Species Surveys of bats, birds, Great Crested Newts, Water Voles, Badgers, crayfish and fungi; Phase 1 and Phase 2 NVC habitat surveys; landscape character assessment and environmental impact assessments.

Environmental Grant Applications: Natural England Higher Level Stewardship Scheme (HLS), Farm Environmental Plans, English Woodland Grant Scheme and Heritage Lottery funding.

Land Management: Management plans, landscape designs, monitoring and site evaluation.

Practical Conservation: Habitat creation, tree planting, maintenance programmes and access management.

Wold Ecology has adopted an important site for nature conservation on Flamborough Head.  Northcliff Marsh, owned by a local farmer, is an integral part of a Higher Level Stewardship Scheme supported by Natural England and the RSPB.  Wold Ecology directors Richard Baines and Chris Toohie have provided free advice and practical conservation work for nearly ten years on this site. 

Wold Ecology supports The Wolds Barn Owl Study Group, Driffield Millennium Green and RSPB projects with volunteer staff time and financial resources and is a corporate member of the RSPB and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and benefactor of the Bat Conservation Trust. 

RSPB Bempton Cliffs

RSPB Bempton Cliffs is the best place to observe nesting seabirds in England. In the breeding season (April to July/August) visitors are amazed to see at close range from the viewpoints the 200,000 birds of different species – puffins, guillemots, razorbills, gannets, fulmars, kittiwakes etc. – with their eggs and chicks, constantly flying in and out from the cliffs to find food. This teeming bird population in constant activity has been dubbed ‘Seabird City’.

The birds on the cliffs can also be watched live on CCTV in the visitor centre between March and October, including close-ups of the nesting gannets.

Grasshopper warblers, sedge warblers and whitethroats also breed. Migrant warblers, chats and thrushes pass through in autumn and in winter short-eared owls can sometimes be seen hunting over the fields. Present year-round are skylarks, pipits and finches such as linnets.

Yorkshire Coast Nature and its sister company Wold Ecology Ltd support the RSPB with corporate membership and work closely with staff on the reserve. We have provided financial contributions towards projects such as pond management for amphibians including great crested newts and vulnerable farmland birds like tree sparrows; we have also bought a moth-trap for RSPB Bempton so that moth species on the reserve can be recorded on a regular basis. Our staff also support the reserve by devoting time to bird research, e.g. weekly surveys of kittiwake plots throughout the breeding season.

Tel: 01262 851179 Email: bempton.cliffs@rspb.org.uk

Green Future Building

Green Future Building is an independent non-profit making social enterprise, founded in 2012 to help disadvantaged young people access alternative education facilities and employment in the sustainable construction industry.

YCN and Wold Ecology Ltd have supported GFB since its creation. We have used their conservation products, from nest boxes to bird hides, with great success. GFB's re-cycled plastic eco-board is a fantastic material providing flexibility of design and long-term durability.

Yorkshire Naturalists' Union

1861-2011: Celebrating 150 years of recording the ever-changing flora and fauna of Yorkshire

The Yorkshire Naturalists' Union is an association of amateur and professional naturalists covering a wide range of aspects of natural history. YNU deal with the 'old' county of Yorkshire, as individuals and through our many affiliated societies, many of which are local naturalists' groups.

All are welcome to attend the field meetings, training sessions and conferences throughout the county organised by the YNU (view the Events Calendar on YNU's website).

The YNU publishes three issues of The Naturalist each year, plus an annual bird report. These, together with the annual butterfly and moths report produced by the Yorkshire branch of Butterfly Conservation, are all free to members. YNU also publishes books on natural history subjects from time to time.

Yorkshire Coast Nature has been an official sponsor of YNU's annual bird report since 2010.

Flamborough Bird Observatory

Flamborough Bird Observatory (FBO), formed in 2002, is an organisation run by volunteers committed to birds and bird conservation. An important aspect of migration study is the ringing of birds. Ringing is carried out on the Head throughout the year under the control of the East Yorkshire Ringing Group, licensed by The British Trust for Ornithology. 

FBO's three aims are: maintaining and retaining records for the analysis of bird
migration to meet the requirements of the Bird Observatories Council; preserving
and enhancing the environment of Flamborough Head within the designated boundaries
of the Observatory; and advancing the education of the public in the appreciation
and protection of the environment, especially the avifauna.

Bird watchers who visit Flamborough can contribute to the recording of birds by supplying their records to FBO's Recorder via the Secretary. All observations within the Observatory
recording area are appreciated, and help towards the monitoring of bird movement and breeding birds.

YCN and Wold Ecology Ltd support the work of FBO by donating small annual grants to fund Bird Observatory conservation projects. In 2011 and 2012 we jointly funded a new bird hide at Thornwick and Sea Farm Holiday Centre Country Park and wetland restoration
projects at North Cliff Marsh on Head Farm.  

East Yorkshire Ringing Group

The East Yorkshire Ringing Group (EYRG) was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of the Filey and Flamborough Ringing Groups. Initially the main ringing aims were to continue with the two group practices of monitoring the migration of birds through their respective coastal sites. However, with the increasing number of trainees joining the group, it was felt other areas had to be considered during the quiet summer and winter coastal months. With this in mind and after the formation of the Forest Bird Study Group a number of sites within the forest areas to the east of Scarborough were identified as winter feeding and summer CES type projects.. These sites now account for a good proportion of the birds ringed and are the mainstay of training for the trainees, who are hopefully rewarded with the excitement of passage migrants on the coast during the spring and autumn.

The group organises the annual 'Ringing Week' which is open to the public to see the work carried out at Bird Observatories during autumn migration

Much of what we know today about bird migration is thanks to the hard work of thousands of bird ringers around the world. Wold Ecology Ltd and YCN supports the work of EYRG with an annual grant towards the cost of rings.

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust

Yorkshire Coast Nature are corporate members of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, the fastest growing of the UK’s 47 wildlife trusts, which collectively have over 800,000 members.  Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has 95 reserves over the vast area of North, South, East and West Yorkshire, and over 33,000 members.

The Trust has been leading the Nature Tourism project in eastern Yorkshire since 2010.  With our partners RSPB, Yorkshire Water, East Riding of Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and Ryedale Councils and LEADER, we know that interest in nature can contribute economic benefits, improving the prospects for both wildlife and the local economy.  If more people understand the pressures - and the recent successes – of wildlife conservation, the UK’s biodiversity can be made more secure for our children and grandchildren. 

The Trust works to protect and save threatened species, such as otter and water vole, while inspiring people, helping people of all ages understand and enjoy their natural environment, and encouraging communities to protect wildlife in their local area.  Advising landowners on how to manage their land for wildlife, from large companies and local authorities to farmers and individuals, is a large part of the Trust’s work, as is influencing planning decisions and campaigning for better protection for wildlife.  The Trust is the only conservation organisation working exclusively in Yorkshire.

For an all-round introduction to Yorkshire’s wildlife, the website  http://www.ywt.org.uk/ is a great place to start.