Backdated Post -18 -20 April. Backlane Ogden and the moor, then Carr Hall Lane.

Sorry for the delay in posting this.. We went to visit friends, I took the camera and left it there by mistake. It took a couple of days to get it. back.

Backlane & moor. 18 April.

It was a sunny, cool day, with a stiff breeze. I saw two Peacock butterflies I was surprised to see them. I would have expected the strong gusty wind to have kept sheltering.

Carr Hall Lane. 20 April.

Again, cool, sunny and breezy. Most of Carr Hall Lane is sheltered, so it's generally warmer, with less wind.

Five peacocks .

One small Tortoiseshell. 

One Comma butterfly.

Over the years, I haven't seen many Peacocks, or Commas around here. I tend see more of them in North Norfolk. The Peacocks have for me, been hard to get good photos of, they are too shy. Is it proving to be a good year for them?

Comma Butterfly.

Peacock Butterfly.

1962...2023....its always been wet(or cold) in Calderdale....thanks A...Arak

 Mothing Evening July 10th 1962.

Mothing is a chancy business. The rain started about 4 o’clock. “If only it will clear” we said, “this may be a good night!”.

I phoned Bill Collinson. We met at 7.20pm and he ran us out in his car to see if anyone had turned up at 7.30.

Since it started, the rain had been a continuous downpour, and it just kept on. As we turned to go up the valley we saw a stream of water coming down the gutter, a wide stream. Higher up, water was pouring onto the road from the hillside in white torrents, and the cataracts at the roadside obscured all drains and rushed down more than a yard wide and was striped with foam.

Stone steps beside a house were now a waterfall. Every field and drain added its quota, in many places debris was spread across the road and we had to slow down to crash through rivers flowing from one side of the road to the other.

We kept on to the Clay Pits beyond the Carr. Here we got out. Everything was dripping wet and grey clouds obscured the hilltops, one arm of the cloud almost reaching down to Scout Hall.

The valley was covered, like a lid on a bowl, with ragged rainclouds. They continued to drop fatness upon the earth so we dived back into the car and sped for home.

(But as we parted we had a good chat on the Natural History of our project).

Castle Carr Road - 21st April

Wall to wall sunshine yesterday but the wind was pretty cool. Despite that we managed to find a single Green Hairstreak fluttering around the small heath-land area. It landed on a billberry and then a reed. I managed in the wind to get a blurred photo on the phone. 

Also along the road there were  a few sheltered spots and managed to find 4 Small Tortoiseshells and two Peacocks.

Lee Mount - 18th April and Luddenden

Lee Mount 

Hebrew Character x 5 in the trap and that was it !

Comma in a garden on dandelion flowers at Bracewell Grove late morning

Luddenden

Sunny warm afternoon in the valley mostly in the shelter from the cool easterly wind.

Brook Terrace area - Brimstone x 2 with one of them travelling up the valley and back again then down the valley and returning, seemed like checking out territory ?

Also in the area, mostly among stream-side vegetation - male Orange-tip x 1, Comma x 1, Small Tortoiseshell x 2 and several Peacock.

We also found another Brimstone in the cemetery this time on yellow primroses and a Speckled Wood by the weir near the church.

Not a bad afternoon !

Sowerby Bridge

 1 male Orange Tip by the canal today

Lee Mount - 17th April

Still a few hangers on from yesterday on the garden fence.

New ones in this morning....

Satellite (white marked) x 1

Hebrew Character x 3

Double-striped Pug x 1

Bee Moth x 1

Lee Mount - 16th April

 At last a few moths.....

In and around the trap this morning.

Clouded Drab x 4

Twin-spotted Quaker x 1

Small Quaker x 2

Common Quaker x 2

Early Thorn x 1

Chestnut x 1

Hebrew Character x 1

Common Plume x 1 

Early Grey x 1

Brindled Pug x 2

Agonopterix heracliana x 1

One micro as below c10 mm - not had much time to study this one yet and still to identify if someone can help ?

Second thoughts - or is it just a Twenty-plume Moth with closed wings ?

Four butterflies this afternoon just off Bradford Old Road - all disturbed on stone walls.

Peacock x 2

Small Tortoiseshell x 2

Cromwell Bottom 15/04/23

 Purple Thorn x 1

Early Tooth Striped x 5

Brindled Pug x 2

Common Quaker x 1

Clouded Drab x 2

Grey  Birch x 1

Twin Spotted Quaker x 1 

Grapholita junigella x 3

Hebrew Character x 11

Lee Mount

 Still not a lot....

7th April 

Common Quaker x 2

Agonopterix heracliana x 1

9th April

Common Quaker x 3

Twin-spotted Quaker x 1

Hebrew Character x 1

Bee Moth x 1 (indoors and nice to be lucky enough to see this one with wings open). At least I can't think of anything else it might be as it does seem unusually dark. I haven't been able to find any other photo's of underwing or reference to it's colour.

Bee Moth

Lee mount - 7th April

 One Peacock butterfly this afternoon in the garden - nothing else to report !!!

Lee Mount - 4th April

 At last - a butterfly. Just the one, a Comma landed briefly on a Cotoneaster never to be seen again !!

Nothing doing on the moth front either. The light is attracting nothing but the weather is not helping at all. Just a Bee Moth found in the bathroom this afternoon - and that's the lot.

Castle Carr Road - 27th March

Just a single Fox Moth caterpillar crossing the road from the heath-land area across to the fields this afternoon . Narrowly missed by traffic, including  a tractor. They are always an exciting find but like Hedgehogs they live precariously when on the move.

Lee Mount -24th March

Some lovely spells of sunshine so I spent a lot of time in the garden, mostly sitting and watching the sky in the hope of an Osprey passing through ! No luck there but also watching for butterfly's, none whatsoever but mid afternoon an Orange Underwing came through the garden, right past me, then up through the trees in the park. Some really good birch woodland down there so if conditions are right this next week I'll be taking a look down there.

Stainland. 20th March 2023

 Hello

A brief account of the last few months.

At the end of August 2022, I became unwell. Over the next few weeks, I became worse and was very ill until mid January. Just as I was recovering, I started to feel quite ill again. I'd contracted a viral infection. After about 6 days, the effort of walking upstairs left me short of breath. I was incredibly weak and aching all over. I had to lay on the bed until I felt better. I began to improve about ten days ago. I need to build my stamina up, Other than that, I'm finally alright again. I have to say, I've felt better in my life and it messed Christmas up. Still, it takes a lot to keep me down.

Spring is here, wonderful! Yesterday, I woke to find two Angle Shades caterpillars by the door, it was a great discovery and bucked me up no end. They are only about 1 inch long, I assume they must be quite new.

Angle Shades.

Angle Shades.

Hello Edward. I wondered what had happened to you last year. (Not prying) I assumes it was you who left a comment in my October Graphics post. I did leave a reply. I'm working (slowly, see a above) on a new post. It should be online in a week or so. Keep dropping in.

Lee Mount - 20th March

Got the light on last night for a couple of hours till the drizzle set in

Common Quaker x 1 (first of the year here)

March Moth x 4 (included one in a spiders web that was a 'gonna')

Agonopterix heracliana x 1

Pale Brindle Beauty - this one too, probably a few days old in a different spiders web. Body gone but the wings were intact.

Heavy drizzle tonight now, so trap shut down. It's a lot cooler than last night as well.

17th MArch 2013

 Had my first Orange Underwing at Cromwell Bottom today , 20 Fox Moth , 1 Ruby Tiger and 1 Oak Eggar caterpillars at Walshaw Dean and an Early Grey drowned in a puddle....

Last night in the trap...

Hebrew Character x 1 

Clouded Drab x  1 

Oak Beauty x 1 

Oak Nycetoline x 1

Chestnut x 1

March Moth x 3

Red green Carpet x 1

Common Quaker x 5

Brindled Pug x 1

Agonopterix Arnella x 1

SHibden Head

 9  Heralds in Bare Head tunnel today.............

Luddenden 21st February

My best night ever in February variety wise last night

Oak Beauty 4

Pale Brindled Beauty 3

Dotted Border 1

Mottled Grey 1

Chestnut 1

Satellite (orange spotted 1) 

March Moth 1

also my first Hebrew Character this year on the 19th

Lee Mount

 A second Dotted Border on 14th Feb 

A fourth Pale Brindled Beauty (monochraria) on 19th Feb and still here on 22nd

Tortricodes alternella x 1 on 21st along with a single March Moth

Tortricodes alternella

 LUDDENDEN - February so far

It's been pretty good in Luddenden so far this February starting with the first Moth on the 3rd

3rd.  Pale Brindled Beauty 1 (f monochraria)

10th  Pale Bridled Beauty 2

11th Pale Brindled Beauty 2  (1 f monochraria)

        Spring Usher

        Dotted Border

        Chestnut

Spring Usher

12th Pale Brindled Beauty 3 (1 f monochraria)

14th Pale Brindled Beauty 2

15th Pale Brindled Beauty 4

16th Pale Brindled Beauty 10 (1 f monochraria)

        Spring Usher

        Dotted Border

        March Moth

17th Pale Brindled Beauty 7 (3 f monochraria)

        Spring Usher 

Usually most of my Pale Brindled Beauties are f monochraria but there has been very few this year despite having more already than my total numbers for the last 12 years.

Pale Brindled Beauty

Pale Brindled Beauty f monochraria