Meadows Edge 11 12 10

Nearly forgot about this,found 11 male Winter Moths on the surface of a small pond, recued 6 which were thought dead which came around when placed on Birch trees.there must have been quite a movement the previous night 10 11 12 which was in between the two Freezes.they must be very hardy as some of the moths were on the ice !! and were perfectly ok when placed on trees ! regards Bri.

2010...A quick look back on a great year

January and February

A quick look back at the year in photos,many thanks to all who have posted and those who have just had a look ..Merry Holidays

March

April

May

June

Awesome July

August

Undoubtedly the highlight of the year this Devon Carpet found at Hardcastle craggs..also Small wainscot,Gray Moutain Carpet and Lime Speck Pug.

September

A realy excellent month with record numbers of Red Underwing,Angle striped Sallow and Flounced chestnut .

October

Merville du Jour at Broadhead Clough was an excellent find along with small autumnal moth

November

Good Numbers of Winter Moths recorded

December Highlights

Mottled Umber female emerges from larvae found at Knott wood in May

Ogden winter visitor

Found this moth (above) on the notice board at Ogden on Monday 13th Dec.... is it a winter moth?

Chris

MERRY X-MAS......

Bingo,,,this emerged last night from one of the cats found in a folded birch leaf  at Knott wood on the 20th May this year with Bri and Martyn .When I looked in the tub the whole thing was frozen solid (it was -9 in the garage) I thought it must have been frozen to death )I saw the slighteast movment and within 30 seconds of it been blown on it was up and moving around.....Fantastic Female Mottled Umber..

Request for speakers from Hx. Scientific. Soc.

If there are any entomologists who might enjoy giving a short talk to the Society we have recently lost our ex-member Roy Crossley, who has finally decided the journeys from York are getting too much. It's fair comment. I wouldn't fancy travelling to York just for the evening. He has been very gracious to us over the years and taught us a lot, starting many on a lifelong interest in insects, if not the dedicated specialism to one group that he has (flies).

Any talk does not have to be a full-scale university level lecture. An hour or less, even half an hour, would be very acceptable. A set of or just a few slides or digital images are usually shown, though not always. We have both kinds of projector. Subjects that can broaden our outlook on rambles are popular with members.

Some of us tend call at Wetherspoons after the talk, which take place in the downstairs room of the library, at 7.15, on the second Tuesday of each month.

We can pay a fee. Anybody interested can email me on steve.blacksmith@btinternet.com or my tel. 01422 348222. (I need speakers for 2011 booked within the month really, to get the programme printed.)

Moorwatch website

The following website may be of interest, it has been set up by Pennine Prospects as a means for the public to report damaging activities on our moorlands (eg illegal off roading etc)

http://www.moorwatch.com/

Bransdale, North Yorkshire

Spent a weekend in the remote valley of Bransdale (VC62) in the middle of the North Yorkshire Moors. On Friday there were plenty of moths on the wing soon after dark 20+ epirrita sp and the next night this very nice male 1933 Scarce Umber. Also found a peacock hibernating in outbuildings. I have also spent some time this last week or so looking for the females of flightless winter species but no luck here. Sorry to go off the Calderdale subject, Winston

Knottwood18 11 10

Got about 3/4 of an hour in then heavens opened ! did find 5 Winter Moths and possibly 2 Northern Winter Moths which were larger with whitish hindwings pic included,as well as this either worn Scarce Umber or unseasonal Dotted Border ?although very worn the dots on fore and hindwing are prominent ! regards Bri.ps no females found but definately going to keep trying,tried from dusk,all were on birch trunks on the 1st couple of feet.

2010....Records

Well what a fantastic year it was after the very cold start..Some realy great local records and well done to all those who have been out collecting records from all parts of calderdale. Must apologise for lack of posts recently but been unendated with the horrible four letter word...WORK...yuck.Also many thanks to all who have posted throughout the year on the blogg all post are important to keep us all up to date  .If any one has any records for this year I would very much appreciate them..Cheers all....

Late sighting of Peacock

A lone Peacock butterfly was seen flying and basking in warm sunshine in fields near Miry Lane, Sowerby today.
Philip

Late Peacock 16 11 10

Hi all me and Ros saw a Peacock Butterfly today near Orchan Rocks,think its the latest we have seen.

Flightless Winter Moths - trapping!

This 1938 Wills Cigarette card shows how the application of grease around the circumference of a tree can be used to trap the ascending flightless females.

A search on Ebay for "Moth trap" will show various products, at this time of year, that can be used for this purpose.

I am wondering if any of these could be adapted so that the moths are not harmed but merely slowed down enough to be photographed and then released............?

Last GMS

1 Light Brown Apple Moth........................................................

Last but 1 GMS

Moths are getting a bit thin on the ground up here but managed 1 Blairs Shoulder Knot and 1 Spruce Carpet on friday night...........

No Moth Night

National Moth Night – a statement from Atropos and Butterfly Conservation


National Moth Night has become a national institution since it started in 1999. It has proved

hugely successful with over 1000 sites returning records annually, hundreds of public events

introducing newcomers to the wonders of moth recording, and massive media coverage raising

awareness of the much-maligned moth. Many thanks to all those who have taken part and

helped achieve this success.

Now the event has reached a crossroads. The cycle of repeated NMN events in different months

of the year has been completed and, as the event has grown, so have the resources required to

manage NMN, to the point that it is not sustainable in its current format. Atropos and Butterfly

Conservation have agreed that there will be no National Moth Night in 2011. The time will be

used instead to regroup, reconfigure and reinvigorate NMN in preparation for the 2012 event.

If you have suggestions for the future of NMN, we would be very glad to receive them via

views@nationalmothnight.info. Please be assured that your views will be considered, but we

regret that we will not be able to respond individually to such emails.

Scottish Cat..?

Found this on the beach sunning its self on a large rock in the south west of Scotland this week any ideas.??

Knottwood 24 10 10

Saw a late male Vapourer Moth flying around Birch.also found Large White Caterpillars still feeding on Sprouts on 25 10 10.regards Bri

Can anyone help with id?

Leylandii does the trick

The leylandii did the trick eggs deposited over the weekend,also found a couple of brown House Moth in cop in the garage and my first Juniper carpet of the year

Map Winged Swift larva 16 10 10

Found this restless Map Winged Swift larva on Whiteholme Drain yesterday,at 39mm must be looking for a spot for the winter,and hopefully emerge next spring,as theres no bracken in this area,must have fed on roots of other plants ! poss grasses,there are a few creeping thistles and heather in area where found,it could rapidly move backwards,which when you think about it could be usefull living in a tunnel below ground ! Bri.

Thursday

Did'nt see daylight yesterday due to heavy workload but these were from the day before...also 5 red Green,1 Grey pine, 3Spruce,1 Common Marbled  and 1 Autumn Green carpets ,3 silver Y,5 Blairs sh Knot,1 yellow Line Quaker and 2 LBAMoth

Blair's shoulder Knot..

Found this in the Greenhouse today with eggs...................................

Over the weekend

Speckled wood and small Tortoiseshell in the garden today  and on the trap over the last couple of nights Feathered ranunculus,Angle shades , Silver Y ,Blairs Shoulder Knot(15)Black Rustic,Light Brown Apple Moth Red Green and Common Marbled carpets.