December 2010
An unusual object has appeared on the moor:
And if you’re wondering how big the igloo is:
November 2010
The Council’s application for funding from Natural England’s Stewardship scheme has been approved. This provides grants to assist with the management of environmentally sensitive areas, provided certain environmental and conservation criteria are met. An outline of the plans will be added to the website over the next few months.
October 2010
Details of the AGM 2010 Minutes held earlier this month is now available.
A kingfisher was spotted fishing on Holgate Beck. The first time one has been seen for a number of years.
A new section on the trees of Hob Moor can be found here.
September 2010
Our Newsletter 2010 Sept – No 25 is now available.
August 2010
Along with York Council, Friends of Hob Moor have jointly funded two new benches. One is by the central causeway, next to the hawthorn tree in the middle of the moor (see photo below). The other is in the south, next to the sports pitch towards the railway tunnel.
July 2010
We have produced a new 4 page colour leaflet about Hob Moor. It has a map of the moor and takes you on a guided walk highlighting some of the key features to look out for. Click here, Hob Moor, to open a pdf version, or right-click to save the pdf to your computer. Paper copies are available at Dringhouses and Acomb libraries.
Mark Tyzska lead another of his interesting walks on Hob Moor, this year concentrating on bugs and beasties. The umbrella was not because of the rain, but to catch the creepy-crawlies found in the hedges!
The Council have been cutting some of the grass on the moor as part of their plan to tackle the ever creeping Creeping Thistle. This will hopefully prevent the thistles seeding. More action is planned next year.
June 2010
Cows are now back on the moor for the summer, a month later than normal. The reason for the delay is a switch to a different grazier from last year. Because they are later this year, there will initially be a slightly greater number than usual in order to get all the grass eaten!
May 2010
We have held a couple of events this month and had a third cancelled. First of all Margaret Weeden lead a bird walk around the moor where we saw, amongst other birds, swifts and a meadow pipit (but no skylarks). We also heard a blackcap on the Triangle.
Later in the month Martin Hammond showed us some of the ecology to be found on the moor. Unfortunately, due to the late spring this year, a lot of the wild flowers he was expecting to find at this time of the year still hadn’t come into flower.
Finally, the Hob Moor Local Nature Reserve Fair was due to take place at the end of the month. Unfortunately, because of a weather forecast of torrential rain (after an almost totally dry month!), the Council decided to cancel it on the morning of the event. This was a real shame after all the hard work that had gone into organising it.
The first swifts were seen over the moor at the start of the month. They come to the UK to breed over the summer, having spent their winter holidays in Africa. They have short forked tails and are dark underneath, in contrast to swallows which have long forked tails and light underparts.
April 2010
Our spring Newsletter 2010 April – No 24 is now available.
Cowslips are flowering at various points around the moor.
March 2010
The first skylark of the year was heard on March 9th.
February 2010
Details of the summer events organised by Friends of Hob Moor and York Council can be found here.
January 2010
Sunrise over Hob Moor on New Year’s Day. A Happy New Year to all.
Friends of Hob Moor 