Wildlife Sites
The City of York is a special place, not only for its history, buildings and archaeology, but also for its wildlife. York supports a wide variety of species and habitats, many of which are of national, regional or local conservation importance. York is home to the endangered tansy beetle which until 2014 was only known to occur along stretches of the Rivers Ouse and Foss around York and Selby.
Almost 10% of the UK’s flower-rich ancient flood meadows are found in York. Otters and water voles can be found along the Rivers Ouse and Foss. York is also the site of the country’s most northerly example of extensive lowland heath at Strensall Common, as well as hosting internationally important populations of wetland birds in the Lower Derwent Valley.
City of York Council has produced the below guide to a selection of easily accessible wildlife sites to be found in the York area. All these sites are accessible using our bus services, on the service numbers specified below.
Acomb Wood and Meadow Local Nature Reserve
Postcode: YO24 3XN
Bus number: 12
Acomb Wood (East) is a mature, even-aged woodland dominated mainly by oak. Typical species include robin, great tit, blue tit, wood mouse and grey squirrel. Acomb Wood Meadow is an example of agriculturally unimproved neutral grassland. Typical flowers include meadowsweet, greater birds-foot trefoil, common knapweed and meadow vetchling. The meadow also attracts a variety of butterflies including common blue, small skipper and small copper.
Acomb Wood (West)
Postcode: YO24 3XN
Bus number: 12
A small woodland which makes a welcome break in an otherwise urban landscape. Great-spotted woodpeckers, tawny owls and tree creepers have been spotted here. The ground flora includes bluebells and dogs’ mercury with extensive areas of bramble. Uncommon flowers include sanicle and twayblade. The site is owned and managed by the Woodland Trust.
Askham Bog
Postcode: YO23 2UB
Bus number: 3
A small, but botanically rich site consisting of fen, bog and woodland. The fen meadows are particularly colourful in June when a profusion of water violets, marsh orchids, ragged robin and yellow flag can be seen. Birds are abundant, including woodcock, buzzard, willow and marsh tits, grasshopper and reed warblers. A good location for woodland birds, roe deer and the enormous royal fern. The site is owned by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.
Batchelor Hill, Westfield
Postcode: YO24 3BD
Bus number: 1, 4 or 5a
A well-hidden site which provides panoramic views across the city and as far as The Yorkshire Wolds and The North York Moors. Grassy slopes and a copse of pine trees make this an attractive location for picnics. Very unusual in York are areas of exposed sand with clusters of evening primrose adding bright splashes of colour. Part of the site has been enhanced by the addition of wildflowers transferred from a site to be developed.
Chapman’s Pond
Postcode: YO24 2QY
Bus number: 12
This former clay workings is one of the five remaining flooded brick pits in York. The pond is well stocked with a variety of coarse fish species and has three fishing platforms. It is surrounded by meadow grassland and scrub woodland. This special area is a beautiful place to visit for walks and picnics, where there is an abundance of plants and wildlife to enjoy. The pond has always been very popular with anglers and the species of fish present include roach, bream, perch, tench and pike.
Clifton Backies Local Nature Reserve
Postcode: YO30 6PQ or YO30 6JF
Bus number: 6
Clifton Backies contains a relatively large area of old, agriculturally-unimproved grassland, together with thickets and hedgerows. The site previously formed part of Clifton aerodrome. The track verges support an interesting flora. Scrubby areas provide valuable habitat for breeding and wintering birds. Short-eared owls have occasionally been seen in winter hunting over the grassland and Long- eared owl recorded as a possible winter roost.
Clifton Ings
Postcode: YO30 6LP
Bus number: 2
Clifton Ings is an ancient, unenclosed flood meadow, now also a flood storage reservoir, situated beside the River Ouse a short distance upstream of York city centre. The flood meadow supports a distinctive flora characterised by an abundance of great burnet, meadow buttercup, common sorrel, red clover and meadow vetchling and is nationally designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest along with Rawcliffe Meadows. There are several pairs of reed bunting and meadow pipit. The river corridor and Ings provide valuable feeding habitat for bats using nursery roosts at Clifton Bridge and in various trees nearby.
Fishponds Wood
Postcode: YO26 5JX
Bus number: 1, 5 or 5A
Fishponds Wood is an unusual wood as it is the site of natural springs which produce a damp woodland with water seeping out of the ground in several places. Birds attracted to this wood include long-tailed tit, gold-finch, bull-finch and tree creepers. Frogs and toads are abundant in this wood. A variety of mammals including fox, pipistrelle bats and wood mouse can be seen. Butterflies are attracted to the woodland edge and include red admiral, brimstone and small tortoiseshell.
Fulford Village Green
Postcode: YO10 4QH
Bus number: 7
Fulford Village Green is part of Fulford Ings an important example of a floodplain wetland, located on low-lying land close to Fulford Village. Characteristic flowers include butterburr, meadowsweet, great willowherb, meadow cranesbill and common knapweed. The site is home to the rare tansy beetle, an iridescent green beetle which is very rare in the UK.
Hagg Wood, Dunnington
Postcode: YO19 5NY
Bus number: 10/10A
Hagg Wood is a coniferous woodland, with plenty of wonderful wildlife and flowers. The wood provides a special home for many different types of wildlife including foxes, deer, badgers, and woodland birds. At different times of the year you can hear the call of woodpeckers, wood pigeons and cuckoos. It’s also a great place to spot bluebells in spring, as well as primroses, yellow pimpernel, wood anemone and dog violets. The wood is managed by The Forestry Commission.
Hassacarr Pond Nature Reserve, Dunnington
Postcode: YO19 5PB
Bus number: 10/10A
As the name suggests, much of this nature reserve is occupied by a large pond thought to date back to the last glaciation. The rest of the site comprises alder woodland, a meadow and other smaller ponds. The ponds are home to the great-crested newt, the largest newt found in the UK. The reserve is a great place to see a variety of dragonflies and other pond flora and fauna including the rare tubular water dropwort.
Hob Moor Local Nature Reserve
Postcode: YO24 4PS
Bus number: 4 or 12
Hob Moor is part of Micklegate Stray and is also one of York’s four Local Nature Reserves. It has been used for grazing from the mediaeval period to the present day. Today it is still used for grazing in the summer months but is also a valuable area for wildlife and flora, as well as a recreational area for dog-walkers, cyclists, pedestrians, birdwatchers and many others.
Knavesmire Grasslands
Postcode: YO24 1QF
Bus number: 4, 11 or 12
Knavesmire Grasslands runs along the northern edge of York Racecourse. Paths running through this area make this a pleasant place for a walk and lead to Knavesmire Wood. Plants found in this area include gorse, bluebells, lady’s smock, common knapweed and bracken.
Knavesmire Wood
Postcode: YO24 1JT
Bus number: 4,11 or 12
Knavesmire Wood originated as an 18th century parkland planting, centred on an avenue of lime trees. Typical plants to found in the woodland include ivy, bramble, herb robert, wood dock, enchanter’s nightshade, wild arum, male fern and broad buckler fern. This site is also important for woodland birds with typical species including greater spotted woodpecker, tawny owl, chiffchaff, garden warbler. The wood is owned and managed by The Woodland Trust.
Mayfields Public Open Space
Postcode: YO24 1EY
Bus number: 4 or 12
Mayfields Public Open Space forms a link between part of Hob Moor and The Railway Pond but is worth a visit in its own right. The site is managed by a keen group of volunteers. Flowers found on this site include bluebells, foxglove, common knapweed, meadowsweet, scabious and yellow-rattle. The site also attracts a variety of birds and butterflies including, robin, long-tailed tit, great tit, common blue, comma, gatekeeper and marbled white.
Millennium Green (Poppleton)
Postcode: YO26 6LF
Bus number: 10
This site is one of two green spaces created to mark the start of the new millennium. The site is managed by local people who have planted a thriving orchard. In addition to the usual garden and farmland birds, the site attracts cuckoos, reed buntings and corn buntings. A pond on the site features some colourful flowers including yellow iris, great willowherb and greater spearwort. Deer, foxes and bats can also be seen here.
Millennium Green (Leeman Road)
Postcode: YO26 4XT
Bus number: 10
The Leeman Road Millennium Green is one of York’s largest public green spaces, situated between the River Ouse and the railway line, just west of the City Centre. The site is managed by Leeman Road Millennium Green Trust who have planted trees, bulbs and wild flowers and encouraged wildlife by providing special habitats. Flowers growing on the green include purple loosestrife, meadowsweet, meadow cranesbill and great burnet.
Moorlands
Postcode: YO32 2RE
Bus number: 1
A particularly colourful nature reserve, this small woodland was planted with a collection of rhododendrons and azaleas in 1909 is now ablaze with exotic blooms each spring. These provide a succession of flowers from March to the end of June accompanied by a carpet of snowdrop, bluebell, primrose and wood sorrel. The wealth of trees and flowering plants in turn attract many species of birds and mammals, including common pipistrelles and brown long-eared bats. The site also attracts a wide variety of birds including great-spotted woodpecker, nuthatch and several species of tits.
The Railway Pond and Reserve
Postcode: YO24 1HD
Bus number: 4 or 12
The Railway Pond is one of York’s old brick ponds. The pond is home to a good variety of large fish including carp, tench, bream, roach and rudd. Both yellow and white water lilies bloom in abundance in the summer months. Waterfowl including mallard and moorhen are frequent. The surrounding woodland is managed by volunteers to encourage a diversity of woodland flowers.
Rawcliffe Bar Country Park
Postcode: YO30 5YA
Bus number: 2
Rawcliffe Country Park as we know it today was built to coincide with the construction of Rawcliffe Park and Ride site. The grounds were landscaped, woodlands planted, and a pond installed. The pond is home to several kinds of dragonfly and damselfly. A cornfield on the site is a haven for wild flowers, insects and birds such as the corn bunting. Mice and voles can be seen with a keen eye out and about and you might even spot a kestrel hunting them too! The site really has really improved local biodiversity and has also provided a space for in which local residents can enjoy nature.
Rawcliffe Lake and Grasslands
Postcode: YO30 4YL
Bus number: 6
This small balancing lake is situated in the heart of Rawcliffe Parish and is surrounded by grassland and planted woodland. The shoreline of the lake is dominated by reed sweet-grass common reed. greater reedmace and common spike-rush. Other colourful flowers include purple loosestrife, yellow flag and marsh marigold. The lake also has some bird interest, with small numbers of overwintering wildfowl and is one of the few sites for breeding great crested grebe. The surrounding planting also attracts migrants and overwintering finches such as redpoll and lesser redpol.
Rawcliffe Meadows
Postcode: YO30 5RX
Bus number: 2
Rawcliffe Meadows are situated along the York-Beningbrough cycle track (NCN route 65) and cover 25 acres of the Clifton area floodplain. The site is home to the nationally rare and very beautiful tansy beetle can be found on the site between May and July and again in September every year on its favoured plant, tansy. The site includes many habitats ranging from grassland with its meadowsweet and great burnet to wetlands with a surprising range of plants including fleabane, devil’s bit scabious and strawberry clover.
St Nicholas Fields Local Nature Reserve
Postcode: YO10 3ST
Bus number: 6
Visitors to St Nicholas Fields may not immediately realize that this local nature reserve was formerly a rubbish tip. The area has since been transformed and is now a wildlife haven in the centre of York. Many birds live on or visit the nature reserve and just under 20 species of butterflies have been recorded. Tits, finches, thrushes, robins and wrens – nest on or regularly visit the site. Water voles are present, but it needs a mixture of luck and patience to see one. Over 200 species of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants have been recorded on the reserve including cowslips, tansy, teasel, field scabious and yarrow.
Strensall Common
Postcode: YO60 7QY
Bus number: 5/5A
Strensall Common is a fabulous large heathland close to York where the pink heads and grey green leaves of cross-leaved heath intermingle with the purple spikes and green foliage of ling heather. Common lizards bask on the stumps of silver birch. The common is home to a host of insects including southern hawker dragonflies and green and purple hairstreak butterflies. Birds using the site include woodlark, green woodpecker, stonechat, coal and willow tits.
Walmgate Stray
Postcode: YO10 5NG
Bus number: 7 or 66/66A
Walmgate Stray is a remnant of the York’s historic landscape. The stray is an area of marshy grassland grazed by cattle. Typical flowers found on the site include black knapweed, bird’s-foot trefoil, meadow buttercup and lady’s smock. The tall hawthorn hedges around the stray provide habitat for birds such as bullfinch, goldfinch, linnet and yellowhammer.
Westfield Marsh (Fen)
Postcode: YO26 5DR
Bus number: 1 or 5
Westfield Marsh is a small wetland close to Westfield School in Acomb accessed via a children’s play area. The fen habitat here is associated with a peat-filled depression, apparently on the site of medieval fish ponds serving Acomb Grange. The marsh supports fen vegetation such as sharp-flowered rush, meadowsweet and brown sedge, whilst marsh marigold is also abundant. A flower-covered slope adjacent to the marsh attracts many colourful butterflies and other insects.
Westfield Wood
Postcode: YO32 3GL
Bus number: 1
Westfield Wood is one of The Woodland Trust’s ‘Woods on Your Doorstep’ woodlands, created to commemorate the Millennium. Within the site are a number of old hedgerows and mature hedgerow trees, together with a small pond. Trees growing in this wood include sessile oak, ash, crack willow, field maple, whitebeam and rowan.
University of York - Heslington East
Postcode: YO10 5DD
Bus number: 66A
This extension to the University of York is a developing landscape. Before 2009 it was arable farmland. A large lake was excavated and the surrounding area was sown with wildflowers to create colourful meadows. 50,000 trees were also planted across the site. The lake attracts a wide variety of waterfowl including pochard, grey herons, gulls and little grebes. The meadows attract insects such as common blue and southern brown argus butterflies. Dragonflies and damselflies are becoming more abundant as the lake matures.
University of York - Heslington West
Postcode: YO10 5DD
Bus number: 66/66A
The main wildlife feature of the university is a large lake which attracts a variety of waterfowl and has a large population of coarse fish. Other parts of the campus are managed as wildflower meadows, marshy ditches and other habitats including woodland. Birds found on the lake include snow and barnacle geese, great-crested grebes and pochards. Parts of the campus have developed as meadows with banks of ox-eye daisy. Bee and spotted orchids can also be found on the campus.
York Cemetery
Postcode: YO10 5AJ
Bus number: 7
York Cemetery is one of only two privately owned Victorian Cemeteries in the country. Whilst still a working cemetery, the site is actively managed to encourage wildlife and has a butterfly walk, woodland glades and many other features attractive to wildlife. Foxes can often be seen roaming the grounds. A number of wildlife events are organized during the year including bat nights, butterfly walks and moth nights.
The River Ouse
Bus number: Any headed for city centre.
The River Ouse is bounded by public footpaths leading north out of York to Beningbrough Hall or heading south to Bishopthorpe and beyond. The banks of the river are home to the rare tansy beetle, which is now only to be found in the vicinity of York. Otters are known to be present. A variety of bats have breeding roosts under Clifton Bridge. Birds found along the river include kingfisher, sand martins, cormorant and goosander.
The River Foss
Postcode: YO32 2SJ to YO31 8RA
Bus number: 5/5A
The River Foss supports a wide variety of wildlife as it winds from its rural source to its urban confluence with the Ouse in York. The 28 miles of river are home to a good range of waterbirds including kingfisher, little egret, heron, mandarin duck, little grebe and mute swan. Mammals found along the river include otters, mink and water voles. A good range of aquatic plants can be seen including yellow flag, arrowhead, water plantain and yellow water lily.
York to Selby Cycle Path
Postcode: YO23 2RY
Bus number: 3 or 11
This great cycle and walking route takes you on a mainly traffic free path through the Vale of York to Riccall and then onwards to Selby. The route uses the trackbed of the old East Coast Mainline railway. A wide variety of flowers grow along the verges of the path including oxeye daisy, common knapweed, and birds-foot trefoil. Bee orchids can also be found in June. The flowers attract butterflies including common blue, gatekeeper and speckled wood. Birds seen along the route include whitethroat, blackcap and yellowhammer.
The Countryside Code
We hope you will enjoy seeing some of the amazing wildlife living in York. Please respect these precious places, obey any local regulations and follow the Countryside Code to get the best enjoyment and protect the countryside now and for future generations:
- Respect other people
- Consider the local community and other people enjoying the outdoors
- Leave gates and property as you find them and follow paths unless wider access is available
- Protect the natural environment
- Leave no trace of your visit and take your litter home
- Keep dogs under effective control
- Enjoy the outdoors
- Plan ahead and be prepared
- Follow advice and local signs
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