Monad of the Month - SE5632 - Bishop Wood, north-west of Thorpe Willoughby

Welcome to 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!

August 2026’s Monad of the Month is SE5632, which includes part of Bishop Wood, north-west of Thorpe Willoughby in the Selby district.

SE5632 is located north-west of Thorpe Willoughby and covers a section of Bishop Wood, a publicly accessible Forestry England woodland, which is also a North Yorkshire SINC site. The other areas of the wood are well-represented with records, but we hold no records for the south-east section covered in this grid square. There is also part of another North Yorkshire SINC site within the grid square, however this is not publicly accessible and should not be visited unless permission has been granted. The remainder of the square includes a golf course and caravan leisure park area, Dutchman’s Dike, a waterway that joins Selby Canal, some small strips of other woodland, and arable farmland. Currently, we only have one record for this grid square, located between the two caravan park areas, of a pipistrelle bat species. The mixed woodland of Bishop Wood has free parking and its main paths are wide, flat, and generally fairly accessible.

Whilst there are many sources of biological records, including on the likes of NBN Atlas and recording platforms like iRecord, as well as through organisations like BTO or BSBI, it should be noted that LERCs do not always have access to these records for local decision making, or cannot use them due to incorrect licensing, poor resolution, lack of verification, or other reasons. This series is intended to highlight areas where we have fewer records, forming gaps in our coverage. If you have records - particularly linked to specific sites or species groups - that we may not have access to, we’d love to hear from you!