This week’s photograph was taken by Michael White, capturing a Blue tit in Staveley Nature Reserve.

Michael White

Photo of the Week celebrates the Harrogate district. It could be anything from family life to capturing the district’s beauty. We are interested in amateur and professional photographs, in a landscape format.

Send your photographs to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk for a chance to be featured next week, we reserve the right to adjust and crop images to fit into our format.

Harrogate firefighters have put eight swift nesting boxes on their drill tower to help save the endangered species.

The swift population has fallen dramatically in recent years due to declining numbers of insects, climate change and the loss of old buildings used for nesting.

The Knaresborough Swift Group estimated last month only a dozen remained in the town and appealed for help finding new nesting sites to save the birds from disappearing.

Its plea, reported in the Stray Ferret, sparked numerous offers of help from Knaresborough as well as nearby towns and villages.

Harrogate firefighter Alex van Zeller, who is passionate about protecting swifts, was among those who responded.

His intervention led to eight boxes supplied by the swift group going up at the drill tower at Harrogate Fire Station on Skipton Road. The station’s aerial ladder platform was deployed to put up the boxes.

The drill tower’s height and space surrounding it makes it a perfect nesting site for swifts.

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A group set-up to protect the few remaining swifts in Knaresborough has appealed for help finding new nesting sites.

Shan Oakes said the informal swift group was created four years ago “to stop swifts falling into extinction”. She added:

“Every year fewer come back. There were only about 12 in Knaresborough last year. We will be lucky to have any in a couple of years.

“It would be a tragedy to lose them. They are the sound of summer.”

“They are disappearing because people are either knowingly or unknowingly getting rid of their nests.”

Two of the new boxes at Knaresborough Working Men’s Club.

Unlike other birds, swifts occupy nest sites rather than build their own. They therefore seek cavities in old buildings or nest boxes and the loss of many old buildings has been a major factor in their decline.

The group is therefore looking for people in Knaresborough and surrounding areas willing to put up nest boxes on their properties. The sites need to be high with an unobstructed flight path.

Knaresborough Working Men’s Club recently agreed to host four of the Knaresborough swift group’s RSPB nest boxes. Ms Oakes said:

“The building is ideal for them, as it’s high, giving them the swoop space they need . The swifts have now arrived here from Africa and will be searching for nest sites, as well as insects so please keep them in mind.

“The swift group is inviting people to offer space for swifts, so please get in touch if you think you have a suitable building.”

Ms Oakes said volunteers were willing to assess whether sites were suitable and to contact her on 01423549376 or 07769607710.

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The Skell Valley Project is inviting people to help restore wildlife habitats at Ripon’s Hell Wath nature reserve.

The £2.5 million project aims to provide a sustainable future for 12 miles of the River Skell through Dallowgill Moor and Ripon an on to the vale of York.

Throughout January, the project team will be working with the Friends of Hell Wath and Harrogate Borough Council to carry out habitat improvements by restoring areas of grassland and continuing to remove areas of scrub.

The areas for clearance have been selected with the aim of creating a rich environment for a wide range of animal and plant species.

The conservation work is part of the Friends’ management plan for the site developed in liaison with the four-year Skell project, which is led by the National Trust and Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

On Saturday January 14, members of the community can find out more about the wildflower planting programme and how they can become involved by meeting at the Ripon City Panthers clubhouse at Hell Wath, where a drop-in session will be held between 10am and 3pm.

Following the public event, scrub clearance will continue throughout the week with various volunteer groups. Information boards and maps throughout the site are being put in place to provide details of what’s happening.

Red Admiral is one variety of butterfly playing a key role in pollination at Hell Wath. Picture: Ripon Photographic Society

Hell Wath is a designated local nature reserve important for its grassland and contains species such as the common spotted orchid and adder’s-tongue fern.

Work so far has helped wildflowers recover and rare bee orchids have reappeared in key areas. This month’s work will ensure these wildflowers are not swamped by the encroaching scrub and woodland, which will create more feeding opportunities for pollinating insects.

The project’s area ranger Gabby Crisp said:

“We’d love the local community to come and give Hell Wath a hand by joining us on Saturday January 14 at a drop-in practical session we’ll be holding on site.

“We’ll be hand-cutting some scrub to allow space for the grassland and the wildlife it supports to thrive. It’ll be a great way to kick off the new year with some fresh air and a chance to burn off some Christmas calories too!’.

Jeremy Dunford, secretary of the Friends, added:

“Growing the wildflower population of the large grassland meadows is a key part of the management plan for Hell Wath. This will increase the range and number of butterflies and other insects in this area which will in turn see a larger variety of birds and small mammals at the nature reserve.

“Those unable to make the public event can still get involved in helping nature thrive in this special place from the comfort of home. Friends of Hell Wath are asking the local community to help by cultivating wildflower plugs to plant on Hell Wath in the autumn.”

For a £5 donation, the Friends will provide a pack of wildflower seeds, a tray of 12 biodegradable seeds pots, peat free compost to fill the trays and an instruction leaflet for cultivating the seeds provided.

• The first AGM to be held by the Friends of Hell Wath since it gained charitable status will be held at South Lodge, from 7pm on January 19. All are welcome to attend, although voting is open only to members of the charity. For more information click here.

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John Chadwick

A government order for bird owners to keep their animals inside to prevent the spread of bird flu ends today.

The order began in November after cases of avian influenza were identified across the country.

It meant hens and other birds have had to be kept indoors for almost six months.

There is no evidence that the virus can affect humans but it is highly contagious among birds and can wipe out poultry flocks.

But the government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) now says it is safe to relax the rules due to a low number of cases.

 In a joint statement, the four chief veterinary officers said:

“Whilst the lifting of the mandatory housing measures will be welcome news to bird keepers, scrupulous biosecurity remains the most critical form of defence to help keep your birds safe.

“It is thanks to the hard work of all bird keepers and vets, who have played their part in keeping flocks safe this winter, that we are in a position to take this action. However, the recent cases of avian influenza show that it’s vital that bird keepers remain vigilant for signs of disease and maintain stringent standards of biosecurity.”

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Ring Ouzels have returned to the Nidderdale moors to breed after flying back from winter in the Atlas Mountains in North-West Africa.

The birds are a close relative of the Blackbird but are slightly smaller and slimmer with longer tails and a distinctive white crescent across the top of the breast.

In the UK, Ring Ouzels are of high conservation concern and are classified as ‘Red Listed’ after declining by almost 50% in the last 40 years.

The birds are known as the ‘Blackbirds of the mountains’ and enjoy eating juniper berries. The migration route of the birds follow where juniper berries grow.

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Nidderdale Moorland Group posted on its Facebook page that AONB gamekeepers work to ensure the ground-nesting birds can safely incubate and rear their young chicks when they arrive.

Nesting begins from mid-April when the female lays 3-5 eggs in a nest found on the ground or in moorland gullies, craggy screes or rocky areas.

The female will do most of the incubating, but both parents feed the chicks who fledge after 12-16 days.

AONB moorland gamekeepers recorded the birds’ distinctive call last weekend whilst watching a returning male on the moor.

The males like to find a prominent perch from which the strong, flutey song can be heard.

Listen below to the call of a Ring Ouzel.

Harrogate Borough Council‘s co-working space, Co-Lab, has opened.

Co-Lab consists of new offices, a meeting room and communal space. It’s based on level 3 of Harrogate Convention Centre on King’s Road.

The authority secured £540,000 of funding from the Leeds City Business Rates Pool to fund the project.

It aims to connect digital, tech and creative businesses in the Harrogate district.

Alistair Forbes, Harrogate Borough Council’s in-house growth manager who will support businesses at Co-Lab said:

“Co-Lab will be focussed on digital and tech businesses, but we are inviting anyone interested in collaborating with the business community to talk to us.

“From designers to hardware specialists, technologists, marketers and developers, our aim is that everyone works together to help our community become more successful.”

Ripon butcher wins contract with Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason

Ripon-based online butcher, Farmison & Co has won a contract to supply London stores Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason.

Farmison’s new Saucepan Ready range was curated by the company’s Michelin-starred executive chef, Jeff Baker, who has cooked for the Queen and Barack Obama.

The deal comes after Inverleith LLP, an Edinburgh-based specialist consumer brand investor, acquired a majority stake in the business, so it could press ahead with expansion plans.

Business founder and chief executive, John Pallagi, said:

“It’s a real feather in our cap to get Saucepan Ready listed with these two such iconic British retailers – it’s also recognition of the superb quality of the heritage breed meat our farmers supply.”

As well as the Saucepan Ready dishes, Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason are stocking Farmison & Co’s beef dripping and chicken schmaltz.

Battery storage facility planned for Burton Leonard

Plans have been submitted to build a battery energy storage system near Burton Leonard.

The application has been submitted to Harrogate Borough Council by Harmony Energy Limited. The company also hopes to build a solar farm nearby.

The battery energy facility will store electricity so it can support the National Grid and provide electricity during high demand.

It would be built next to the Wormald Green Northern PowerGrid substation, off Station Lane, Wormald Green.

The storage facility would be built in the field marked in red.

Harrogate Borough Council will again leave sections of the Stray uncut this year to improve biodiversity.

In 2021, the council’s parks team left grass verges close to the roadside on West Park Stray uncut until late autumn.

The new look was welcomed by many who saw it as a sign that the council, which manages parks and green spaces, is serious about improving biodiversity and attracting bees, birds and insects.

But those who cherish Harrogate’s long reputation for organised and elegant planting said it made the town look untidy.

Others suggested the move was down to cost-saving reasons, which the council denied.

A council spokeswoman said this morning:

“We will be repeating what we did last year and will leave the bulb areas on the Stray uncut until September/October time.”

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• Your guide to Valley Gardens’ Fire and Light Experience, which starts tonight
• Conversion of former Harrogate Arms moves step closer