A joy of flowers at this nature reserve today (6th August 2021).
From Butterfly Conservation Yorkshire: Ellerburn Bank is a 3 ha. grassland site sloping south-east on oolitic limestone on the southern edge of the North York Moors near Pickering. Despite its modest size, it is one of the most extensive areas of unimproved limestone grassland remaining in the North York Moors . It was notified as a SSSI in 1983 and has been managed as a nature reserve by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT) since 1966, having been informally managed for nature conservation perhaps for the previous decade. The flora and fauna of the site is exceptional for the region, with over 150 species of plant recorded including large displays of Cowslip in spring, orchids in early summer and Gentians in late summer . Flowering plants of regional note include Dropwort, Woolly Thistle, Saw-wort, Fly Orchid Ophrys and Greater Butterfly Orchid. The site is noted for its extensive Lepidoptera fauna , including butterflies of regional note such as Dark Green Fritillary and Dingy Skipper Erynnis tages, and the site also supports a population of Glow-worm Lampyris noctiluca. Management of the reserve currently consists of low-intensity winter grazing by Hebridean sheep and rotational scrub clearance.
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