TORMENTIL MINING BEE

Scientific name: Andrena tarsata

Hi everyone,

I always make my home close to a plant that has given me my name.

And its good that the old industrial areas around Wakefield have lots of these plants growing wild.

You will also see the little yellow flowers of a tormentil plant on roadside verges.

So please don’t cut them down as this was where I grew up as a larvae and became a bee.

As a bee I dig my home in the sand, which is why you call me a mining bee.

I am a busy bee collecting my nectar on the flowers of bramble, harebell, ling, wild angelica and yarrow.

Lots to do

See you later

Otter

Scientific name: Lutra lutra

Hi everyone,

My ancestors have lived in your river Calder for a very long time, although you may find it hard to see us, as we like to hide.

You may see our five toed footprint along the river bank, or our droppings which we leave as scented messages at fallen trees, weirs and bridges.

You call me an otter, and I’m an excellent swimmer, with dense grey brown fur to keep me warm, a broad snout and a pale chest.

I also have webbed feet and can close my ears and nose underwater to help me catch fish for dinner, yum yum

See you by the river, and one day you might even see me.

Hi everyone,

I like making my home in the ponds and brooks you have left behind after coal mining.

I don’t like it if there are too many fish though, as they gobble us up when we are just eggs.

You call me a Palmate Newt, because of my webbed back feet, but we don’t just live in the water.

When we grow up a bit, we start to live on the land, where I like to catch my food during the night.

I am particularly fond of a crunchy grasshopper, yum!