Monad of the Month - SE6447 - Heslington Tillmire SSSI, York

Welcome to our new series, Monad of the Month! This series will feature a monad (1km) grid square within the North and East Yorkshire area where we’re lacking records in our database. We’ve chosen grid squares that lack records but also contain interesting or valuable habitats or (locally or nationally/internationally) designated sites, and that are close to large towns, cities, or transport links where possible, to make them accessible, should you wish to visit and do some recording!

Our Monad of the Month for September 2025 is SE6447, located south of Heslington, York.

SE6447 is located close to Heslington, York, approximately 3km south of the village. It includes part of Heslington Tillmire Site of Special Scientific Interest, 40ha site of unimproved, wet meadow grassland. Despite being a nationally important site, known for its populations of ground-nesting birds including Curlew, Redshank, and Lapwing, it is not widely visited, as demonstrated by its feature in our Monad of the Month series! SE6447 has only 12 records associated with it, with most species only recorded at a 1km resolution – the map shows records for all taxa apart from Odonata are at a 1km resolution. As well as including part of Heslington Tillmire SSSI, this monad also includes arable farmland and woodland, cut through by drains and ditches. The Tillmire is open access land, with public rights of way along its western, northern, and eastern boundaries. Parts of the site do flood.

Records can be submitted directly to us at records@neyedc.co.uk. We would encourage recorders to collect a spreadsheet of records over a set period or from a certain site before sending to us, rather than submitting individual records. However, if you spot something particularly special, we’d love to hear about it!