Rishworth - First micro of the year

Moth Trapping Session 31st January 2020
A good night with the first record of Tortricodes alternella for the garden .

List of Species
Tortricodes alternella x2
Chestnut x2

                                                        Tortricodes alternella

Chestnut

Moth Night at CB

See cromwellbottom.blogspot.com

The Butterflies and Moths of Calderdale is now ready to order......

Copies are £7.50 + £2.00 for post and packing......they can be obtained from -
1 ) e-mail andrewcockroft@talktalk.net
2) Collect from 9 Hedge top lane Northowram HX3 7ER (correct money please)
3) Hebden Bridge birders meeting at Fox and Goose 7o 'clock Tuesday 4th Feb
4) DJS has 10 copies and will be at the HXSS meeting on 11th Feb ( Askam Bog talk) or speak with Dave and collect...

Lee Mount - 25th January

All still a bit slow yet with the weather still pretty cool - but it could be a lot colder !!!.
2 Pale Brindled Beauty on and off this week - think they are just hanging about.

A new species for the year this morning on the fence by the trap was very welcome ! With another darker individual turning up on the pebble-dashing this evening.

Spring Usher

Rishworth - A hiding one!

Moth Trapping Session 24th January 2020
A Chestnut hiding next to a rock on a tarpaulin covering wood!

List of Species;

Chestnut x1

Least Carpet Yorkshire records

One to keep an eye out for in the Summer ................

Rishworth - 2 More!

Moth Trapping Session 23rd January 2020
I had nothing in the trap last night but got 2 Chestnuts tonight.

List of Species
Chestnut x2







Seperately a melanistic Pale Brindled Beauty just flew in the house.

                                                          Chestnut

Pale Brindled Beauty F. Monacharia

Add caption

Bare Head Tunnel

I could only find 8 Heralds yesterday and no Butterflies in the tunnel..?/ they are probably flying around in this glorious weather...!!!!!

The Butterflies and Moths of Calderdale

This will be available as from next week the price will be £7.50 its just short of 200 pages , after i have paid for all the costs , any monies left will be donated to the Yorkshire branch of  Butterfly Conservation....Many thanks to Charlie Streets , DJS , Brian Leesey , Martyn Hayes , Colin Duke , Annie H and Charlie Fletcher  for much help over the years........ Lets go moffing.........

Rishworth - First Moths of the year!

Moth Trapping Session 21st January 2020
A good night with the first moths of the year. V. pleased. trapping session ended at 8;30 as no point carrying on.

List of Species
Chestnut x2
Pale Brindled Beauty x3 ------- Normal x2
                                                   F. Monacharia x1

                                                           Chestnut Above

                                                    Pale Brindled beauty f.monacharia Above

                                                Pale Brindled Beauty Above

Lee Mount - 21st January

A good start tonight with this Common Plume that arrived soon after sunset.

Emmelina monodactyla

Lee Mount - 20th January

Persisting with the light trap paid off at last with 2 moths.
First was a Dotted Border, it came into the conservatory when I opened the door and I managed to catch it in a plastic cup - hence the hazed photo.
I checked the trap and in the slots on the fence was this melanistic individual - Pale Brindled Beauty. Thought.... I need to careful with identification with this form. I guess the pink on the abdomen is a help so I'm thankful the photo just shows this feature which was impossible to see otherwise.

 Dotted Border

Pale Brindled Beauty

Anomalous in the Rishworth Area

Afternoon,

I am planning to go to the green withens area or baitings area one night next month searching for Anomalous larva.

2 Questions :

Are there any records for the Rishworth Area?

And..

Are there tips that may help me other than searching on wavy hair grass and tufted hair grass ?

Edward

Stainland. First Caterpiller this year

I've seen my first moth caterpillar of the year the year, just now. It's an Angle Shades. It's sheltering on the pointing right, by the door. It has it's head tucked into where two strips of pointing meet. All the moths I've had here, put their heads into any small depression with a slight overhang, in wild weather. They're protecting their brain, obviously.

 Angle Shades.

Detail, showing the red-brown side marks

and the whiteish markings on it's back.

First Garden Moth Species Of The Year

Doing a bit of tidying up in the garden yesterday and I noticed a few of these on the Pyracantha. It's the mine of Firethorn Leaf Miner, the upper surface silvery blotches are easy to spot, as are the feeding larvae. I suspect most bushes will have a colony of these, if you have one nearby give it a once over and let me know if it's colonised, apparently supermarket car parks are good places to search.

I wonder what else that garden has to offer this year...……..

Small Magpie ..!!!!

An interesting record of a Small Magpie flying about a house in Cragg Vale on the 23rd December 2019(Jacki and Nick)...I sent the record to Charlie Fletcher and this was the reply ..... The latest we’ve got is 19th October and the earliest is a couple of March records, both indoors, so nothing in December at all.!!!!!!

Also a Satellite (white spot) to an outside light in Hebden on the 4th Jan (AMills)......

Out of Calderdale

I have been in Cheshire East for the day and I saw a Pale Brindled Beuty at a security light in  Wrenbury. Not exactly Calderdale but sorry...

National Moth Night 2020 Date

Morning All,

I put this up to notify everyone that NMN (National Moth Night) Date has been confirmed by 'ATROPOS' the theme will be Red/Rosy/Crimson Underwings and the date is 26-28 August.

Cheers
Edward

Rishworth

Blank in the trap. Nothing apart from 100+ flies.

Lee Mount - 1st Jan

Reasonably mild - ish when I went out late evening to check the trap.
Pale Brindled Beauty x 1 with a pinkish abdomen looked freshly emerged.
Mottled Umber x 1

 Pale Brindled Beauty

Mottled Umber looking a bit worn out !

Queen bee

Not a moth or butterfly but a very large queen red tailed bumblebee was in the garden this morning. Buzzed me and the kids before continuing her way. Nice start to the new year.

Lee Mount

Trap on last few nights to the year end. A Mottled Umber has been on the fence near the trap for the last four days/nights and it's still here this morning though it keeps moving about. Nothing else but looking forward to some good mothing for everyone in 2020.
All the best
Dave

Rishworth

Nothing last night.