Ingleborough's Iconic Wildlife

A very rare plant that can only be found on two mountains in the Yorkshire Dales, Pen-y-ghent and Ingleborough, and was first recorded in the UK on Ingleborough in 1668. Purple saxifrage has small triangular green leaves and bright purple blossoming flowers. 

Where to see: On the limestone crags of Ingleborough between February and May - but do not approach cliff edges to look for it!

Teesdale violet is a tiny purple-flowering plant found on shallow rocky grassland. The violet is only a few millimetres in size.

Nationally scarce, it's found in only four locations in the whole of Britain — which makes our population in Yorkshire especially important. 

Where to see: Ingleborough mountain (not on our land) if your eyesight is very good! From mid-March to late April.

An endemic species, meaning the only place in the world these tiny clusters of white stars are found is on the slopes of Ingleborough. It looks reasonably similar to spring sandwort, and can be spotted on flushes and gravelly areas amongst the limestone cliffs.

Where to see: Ingleborough mountain (not on our land). From May to August.

A lovely sign of spring, mountain pansies range in colour between yellow and purple with varying amounts of each. They are only found in the upland hills of northern England, Scotland and Wales.

Where to see: Ashes Shaw. Upland grassland and calcareous rocks. From May to August.

A short and neat plant (to 20cm) with a small bunch of compact white flowers. Very common in Scotland and Ireland, less common in northern England and rare in the south.

Where to see: Dry grassland on the lower slopes of Ingleborough mountain, flowering from May to July.

This delicate little purple flower is found solely in the limestone belt of Yorkshire and Lancashire, and is absent from the rest of the UK — giving it its alternative name ‘Yorkshire primrose’.

Where to see: Southerscales, Ashes Pasture, Ashberry, Braes Pasture, Salt Lake Quarry, NE land in huge numbers. Enjoy in damp grassland from June onwards.

Aside from early purple orchids, most of the orchids found on our Ingleborough reserves appear in June.

Ashes Shaw has early purple orchids, and Ashes Pasture has seven different species of orchid, including heath orchid, bee orchid and occasionally the scarce white orchid. Southerscales has frog orchids and fragrant orchids, and Salt Lake Quarry has frog orchids, bee orchids, and early purple orchids.

Holly ferns are an evergreen, long-lived, slightly spikey fern. They are well suited to the Yorkshire Dales as they like the deep grykes of open limestone pavement habitats at high altitudes and summer temperatures that aren’t too high! The core area for holly fern in the UK is northern and western Scotland above 600m, and they are rare in the rest of the country.

Where to see: Limestone pavements, year-round.

A spectacular mushroom with varied colours, mainly between green, yellow and blue with a shiny, slimy cap and stem. Common, but found in small localized populations around unimproved limestone grasslands.

Ingleborough is a great place to see unusual fungi because the grassland is unimproved, meaning the soil quality is poorer. This links to an ancient landscape steeped in folklore and heritage.

Look out for our for future fungi and heritage events on the Wild Ingleborough Eventbrite page.

Instantly recognizable for its characteristic curved bill and haunting ‘cur-lee’ call, curlews are ground-nesting birds. 

The UK breeding population of curlews is of international importance, with around 30% of the west European population spending winter in the UK. Ingleborough is a stronghold for resident curlew.

But there have been worrying declines in the breeding population in much of the UK. This is due to loss of breeding populations and range, and intensive farming practices.

Devastatingly, curlews were added to the Red List on the UK Conservation Status Report in 2015.

Where to see (or hear): Ashes Pasture, Ashes Shaw, Ribblehead Quarry. Spring.

Cuckoos are as famous for their spring and summer ‘cuck-oo’ call (listen in June for it echoing out across the Dales!), as they are for abdicating parental responsibility and laying their eggs in the nest of an unsuspecting host.

The once-familiar call of the cuckoo is disappearing from the British countryside, as cuckoos are in decline and on the red list for their UK conservation status. Loss of natural UK habitat and scarcer insect food have played a part, but cuckoos are now also facing increasing problems on migration to Africa due to frequent drought conditions in Spain.

Where to see (or hear): Ashes Pasture. Spring/summer.

Ring Ouzels are slightly smaller and slimmer than a blackbird, and very shy. Males have distinctive black plumage with a pale wing panel and striking white breast band. The ring ouzel is mostly an upland bird, where it breeds in steep sided-valleys, crags and gullies, and its English distribution is solely northern upland England.

Breeding begins in mid-April and continues through to mid-July, and nests are located on or close to the ground in vegetation (typically in heather), in a crevice, or sometimes in a tree. They are in the red band for the UK conservation status list and numbers are declining dramatically, having fallen more than 70% between 1990 and 2010.

When to see: Summer.

Dotterels are unusual because the adult female is brighter than the male, mirroring the role-reversal seen in how they raise their young. Adults have largely grey-brown upperparts and bright chestnut belly, with a white chest band, throat and eyestripe which contrasts with their dark cap. When migrating in spring, this wading member of the plover family is often seen in groups, or 'trips', at traditional stopping places.

They are a red-listed bird and are usually only seen passing through the upland Dales during spring and summer migration. Recent sample surveys estimate that the population has halved in the last 30 years, and their preference for montane habitats makes them sensitive to climate change.

When to see: Late spring, during migration.

The snow bunting breeds further north than any other small bird in the world.

Snow buntings are easy enough to identify as they are large songbirds, usually with bold white in the wing and a variety of seasonal plumages. They have a shrill, rolling trill, and particularly thick plumage. And they crouch when they walk, so that their feathers cover part of their legs — an adaptation to heat loss.

They are ground-nesting birds that are uncommon in the UK, amber on the list of conservation concern, and seen largely in winter.

When to see: Winter.

The male black grouse, or 'blackcock', is famed for its display behaviour, known as 'lekking'. A sight to behold, it fans out its tail and struts its stuff to show its dominance.

Black grouse are about the same size as a female pheasant and lay a clutch of around five eggs in May. They are found on uplands in the north of England, North Wales and Scotland, and are on the red list of conservation concern.

With small populations found along the moorland edge, black grouse were once widespread throughout the Dales. But deteriorating habitat and changing conifer woodlands has caused a big drop in numbers. 

Management work by a number of organisations, landowners, land managers (including shooting estates in the core Black Grouse areas) in upland Yorkshire has resulted in a significant increase in numbers — from around 50 lekking males in the late 1990s to around 150 males in recent years.

Unfortunately a combination of wet weather during the main hatching period and heavy snow during the winter has had a detrimental impact on this reestablished population.

When to see: Winter.

A warm, deep chocolate brown colour, with striking white wing margins, the Northern brown argus butterfly's average wingspan is around 30mm.

They tend to be linked to common rock-rose on limestone grassland and limestone pavement habitats, and are found mainly in the uplands of the UK — and specifically in Ingleborough, Grassington and Settle in Yorkshire. The Northern brown argus butterfly is listed as a high-priority species.

Where to see: Southerscales, Brae Pasture, NE land (Scar Close) from June onwards.