Clifton Backies was designated as a Local Nature Reserve in 2002. It is situated between Bootham Stray 100 acres of grassalnd off Water Lane in Clifton Without. This area has seen varied use over the centuries, from arable fields in monastic times to an airfield in World War II. Surviving historic features include the ridges and furrows created by medieval ox ploughs, the concrete airfield paths that provide level access today and the old blast shelters. It is well used by dog walkers and the local community and S8 field is rather wet with sedges
There are many good plant areas in S4 and S6 including crested dog's tail, knapweed, red clover, greater burnet and pignut .
Section 1 woodland area is a favourite of the Speckled wood. Section 2 is a favourite for the Brimstone . Section 2, 4 and 5 tend to have the highest scores of Brown Family . The Wall used to be seen in 5+6
2025 Results Return after 10 years!
Countywide, a bumper year that could not have been more opposite to 2024. Butterflies were seen, and flight conditions achieved, almost every day from March through to August. Butterflies boomed in the warmest and sunniest Spring and Summer on record. Sometimes they were seen in clouds, mostly Large and Green Veined whites, either as migrants coming in from the sea along our east coast or in sheltered flowery places where they accumulated in huge numbers. Other species were behaving similarly with clouds of Speckled Wood and even an observation of a cloud of Purple Hairstreak above a tree. Yes, butterflies were swarming, a prelude and postlude to migration and dispersal and this year’s records clearly show this; they were on the move! So,it is no coincidence that it was the best year this century for Clouded Yellow. It wasn't just the sheer numbers, almost every species was absurdly early, averaging two weeks early! By the end of April abundance was already up 50% with record counts of Peacock, Speckled Wood and Brimstone, with some transects recording over 100 insects each week; remarkable as these were summer time numbers but we were still in April! An amazing 22 species were on the wing by the end of that month, which is double twenty years ago and 30 species by the end of May with both Marble White and Silver-washed Fritillary had started to emerge. We had never seen a year like this!
It was also the driest year in a century. By early June plant growth slowed, lawns rarely needed a cut, soils cracked, crops wilted, verges went brown and no hay crops as grasslands were so short and sparse. There were consequences and the boom was certainly not universal with many doing exceptionally well while others were well below par. On thin soils the grass feeding ‘Browns’ which make up the majority of our summer species fared particularly poorly and in fact at Wharram Quarry, with almost no soil, numbers were lower than in 2024 as they were on Inglebrough’s Limestone pavements! This was contrasted with the damp, deep moist soils in the river valleys where those same brown species were booming particularly in part shade of our woodlands and hedgerows. 50% of our sites were up more than 40% and more than double last year’s total. The Blues and Small Copper bounced back from last year's disaster and boomed on the warm thin sparse swards. Small Copper earned its place as ‘species of the year’ by having not only its best year on record with an enormous third brood; 33 times higher than last year, which happened to be a record low. The exceptions were the Small Heath only managed to struggle back to average while the Small Tortoiseshell after a great start, and quite a good first generation the heat and drought caused them to go straight into hibernation and few were seen after mid June except in cooler/damper locations and is forced to higher altitudes to escape.Overall the year was up 30% against the 5 year average and has beat every year since the millennium! For 20 of our species this was either their best or second best year on record. Large White, Brown Argus,Dingy Skipper and Speckled Wood had their best year.
Bootham Stray Things have changed alot over the years but what is for sure the 2006 and 2014 season were teh best buttfly years till 2023. It was also difficult to estimate the first half of the year and thsi year resembles more teh 2004-5 seasons. Its likely management has also changed a great deal as some area now have very rank grasses teh likely reflects in teh loss of most of the skippers. The medieval ridge and furrow area still appear pretty diverse.