Wenthillside
Private butterfly reserve
Owned by Les Driffield
Details
Walkers: Les Driffield Distance 1920m walk time approx 1 hour Altitude 39m
Wenthillside is a privately owned and managed eleven acre conservation site in West Yorkshire.bought in 2013 and the lower field in 2017, mostly down to rough un-farmed grass with several small areas of trees and scrub, the lower 3.3 acre field bare agricultural destined to be a wildflower meadow. A SW facing magnesium limestone hillside with a large and varied wildlife content. To date 23 different species of butterfly, 19 regularly, including a large colony of Marbled White
Sections
S1 is an old agricultural field and somewhat improved and has been reseeded and replanted grassalnd. It has the highest counts with Meadow Browns and Gatekeeper at their most numerous here . It also a favourite with Brown Argus , Common Blue, DG Fritillary , Small Copper and the Vanessids and the Whites
S2 with its hedge line and Speckled Woods appear.
S3 comes onto the calcareous grassalnds plus woodland mosaic is the most shaded area and Speckled Woods are at the highest score
S4 grassland are the home of the Marbled Whites and Large Skippers plus Ringlets but also Silver washed Fritillary are seen close to the wood to the west
S5 boundary is an agricultural field at teh top of the hill is similar to S4 but numbers a little lower