Cunnery Wood/Shibden.last night

Blue Bordered Carpet

July Highflyer
What a splendid hour or so we spent in Cunnery woods last night, Winston commented it was a little like been in one of those butterfly tropical green houses, with bright Brimstones / Light Emeralds,Poplar hawkmoth and Swallowtails wheeling round our heads as soon as we put the light on.It was so hectic we just let the moths fly around the light and tried to id them.Highlights included 3 Blue Bordered Carpet,Bee Moth,Straw Dot,Small fanfoot,Purple Clay,Clouded Border,Mottled Beauty,Common wave,Small Fan footed wave,Common Carpet and a Common Lustering (which we initially id as a dark July Highflyer).

Garden

St the trap going in teh garden last night (sorry I have not been on the blog for a couple of days so did not know about the Cunnery Wood trip - hope it went well). I tried the dropping a towel over the trap at 4 in the morning technique to keep the moths in. It seemed to work.

1 flame

1 flame shoulder

2 clouded border

1 snout

1 Poplar hawkmoth

2 common footman

2 buff arches

1 burnished brass

1 leopard moth (bottom photos, have a close look it looks like she was laying eggs, I have them in a jar on the desk. If anyone wants them or knowns what to do with them, then please let me know)

Also two top photos - I think is a green pug and a common wave but not sure on either, any ideas.

Chris

Northern Eggar Larva,09 07 09

Hi all,thought you might be interested in these n eggar larva only a day old and already 6mm long,wont be able to make it tonight,unfortunately,all the best Bri.

Withens Clough .field trip tonight XCL

We are going to move to Cunnery wood Shibden tonight as the wind is a bit strong for Withens Clough.Will be there from 9.30/45

Hebden Bridge Last Night

Hi All, Amongst the usual visitors were two moths that puzzled me a little.

The first Lesser Yellow Underwing? WL 20mm. Hindwing brown but with yellowish outer edging. has 2 distinct black marks near tip (The one thats intact at least) like Lunar Y U.

The second, Is this The Engrailed (2nd Gen?), I have never had one of these and know they can be very variable WL ~15mm. Hoping you can help. Win

Bird Pictures from Mick and Kath

We do a small bird picture site of local and Spurn birds if anyone is interested. Have just put a cracking Hobby on from last week

http://thefitter.blogspot.com/

Blackneck Moth

Blackneck caught in trap last night along with a Leopard Moth and migrant Diamond Back that Andy has already mentioned.

Smal Yellow Wave

Marion posted this on the calderdale wildlife network ,never recorded one here but I know there have been a few throughout the area.

Withens Clough .field trip

Withens Clough .field trip tomorrow night Thursday.Meet down by the Hinchcliffe arms in case its too windy.Make dissision tomorrow night where to set up.

Leopard Moth +help

Popped down to see Mike and Cath today as they had just caught this beauty(pic above)
They had also 2 Blacknecks,Brown China Mark,and a couple of Diamond Backed Moths.First time they had the trap on for 2 weeks because they had been at spurn,if any one is interested in seeing some excellent photos of Hobby cheque out Mikes birding blogg.I had 3 Polar Hawks ,1 Poplar Grey and 1 Iron promnent(northern form) in the trap last night and this micro which I should know but carnt put my finger on it.???

146 Nemophora cupriacella

Hi All

This is 146 Nemophora cupriacella. As comfirmed by Harry after looking at the photo. It's not a Calderdale find I'm afraid so wasn't going to post but Charlie asked me to post it up, enjoy. It was descovered at Paull nature reserve near Hull last friday. There are only a handfull of yorkshire records so far.

Win

Straw Dot

Hi All, Has anyone else seen more of these than usual this year. In the last week I have disturbed 3 in grass during the day.

1) Around the edge of a school playground in Widnes.

2) Up on the waste ground over the river tunnel just past Morrisons on the way to todmorden. a good locationfor Small Skippers incidentaly (See pic)

3) Wandering around at Glastonbury Festival

and 4) One in the moth trap recently.

I also read that this moth can be a migrant, any info anyone. Whilst on this subject is there any evidence for reverse migration from the UK in Painted Lady butterflies. A friend saidshe had heard this on the radio?

Win

Puss moths

Went into Cunnery Wood today with the naughty children brigade. Happily the puss moths are doing well, they have striped 2 or 3 branches of the sallow and are still growing in size. If anyone can get a video of them eating it would be well worth it. We counted 7 of them is that the number that were released? and will they spin their cocoons on the sallow itself of waddle off and find another piece of wood - just wanted to know so we don't trim back where they are.#

Peppered moths

Hi everyone,

So following up an exchange with Andy this morning, I thought I would post directly to ask if anyone might be willing to send me some melanic or typical peppered moths they might catch.

I am a biologist working in the Zoology Department at Oxford and have an historical interest in repeating some of HBD Kettlewells (and others) old moth breeding experiments that deduced the genetics of the melanic allele.

I'd be particularly interested in melanic males and females (but typicals would be useful too) and would be willing to cover the postage and packing costs. The moths are usually ok if stored in the fridge for a few days or a week, so you wouldn't have to mess about sending every single one...

Thanks everyone.

Last Night in Hebden Bridge

Hi All, A bumper crop of 31 moths amongst the midge storm last night. Some interesting micros new which were new to me (These has taken all day to identify and with some considerable help) I think they were almost as spectacular as the Macros, judge for yourself. I have been tring to get a pic of a Light Emerald for years now. They never seem to settle. I was lucky last night I think. Can anyone confirm the Ingrailed Clay? Winston

Ypsolopha sequella 1
Mompha ochraceella 1
Crambus sp. 3
Bird Cherry Ermine 3
Scoparia ambigualis 1
Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix 1

Marbled Minor agg. 2
Poplar Hawk-moth1
Large Yellow Underwing 1
Common Footman 1
Map-winged Swift 1
Straw Dot 1
Light Emerald 2
Riband Wave 4
Mottled Beauty 1
Buff Arches 2
Snout 2
Clouded boarder2
Small Square-spot 1

Total - 31

Northowram over the weekend

Burnished Brass

Green arches

The cooler temps dont seem to have made a bit of difference to the trap catch over the last couple of days with,large numbers and species recorded.This Green arches was my favorite.Excellent numbers of Bright Line Brown Eye ,Gothic,Diamond Backed Moth,Common Footman,Flame and Light emeralds.New for the year were Slender Brindle,Secateaous Hebrew Character,Map winged swift,Small Rivulet,Straw Dot,Clay,Swallowtailed moth, Small dusty wave,Pinion Streaked Snout and 1201 Eucosma Cana.
Butterflies,,,,Painted Lady(4)Red Admiral(2)Gatekeeper(2)Ringlet(2)Small Skipper(1)
Speckled wood,Small tortoiseshell,Small Heath,Peacock larvae and Small White

Sallow Kitten egglaying

Heres a pic of sallw kitten in process of egglaying.

Langfield Edge,04 07 09

Hi all,had a few hours with heath trap,a lot cooler mostly clear with light cloud drifting through,a sallow kitten ,map winged swifts 2 in cop,5 true lovers knot,3 broom,and this caloptilia stigmatella pic,also diamond back moth,pic too of sallow kitten egg which was laid on upper surface of goat willow leaf.all the best Bri.

Midgley last night

A better night last night with several new species for us including a Burnished Brass (poor photo, great moth!) and this Gold Spot which looking at the book looks more like a Lempke's GS to us but it does say they are very difficult, any suggestions? Waiting for a couple of ID confirmations from Brian/Andy but the rest of the list is

Large Yellow Underwing 4

Lesser Yellow Underwing 1

Burnished Brass 1

Middle barred Minor 3

Common Footman 2

Northern Spinach 1

Gold Spot sp. 1

Puss Moths

Probably a stupid question this (I'm good at them) but we have kept one of the Puss Moth catapillars and are hoping it will pupate on a log we have put in with it, assuming it does then when can we expect it to emerge? will it overwinter as a pupa or hatch in a few days/weeks?

Peppered Moths

In contrast to just about everyone else things are very quiet up here in Midgley, just getting singles of odd species, nothing like what most of you guys seem to be getting, I think we might try moving the trap. One other suggestion for our lack of moths has been that they may be getting out of the trap before we have chance to check it, anyone got a solution to this (apart from getting up at 4 am!). The Peppered Moths were on our wall by the trap, is it usual for the two forms to mate? Anyone know enough about PM genetics to be able to say what form the next generation will be?

More from Somerset

Hi All

New for me were these two from my Somerset trip. Can anyone help/confirm id. bottom - Single-dotted Wave? Top - Looks alittle like Dotted Border Wave yet unlikely? Help. Also white plume moth which was new but even I can manage to id that one

Win

large skipper??

on ogden moor this morning

also a small heath there too plus 2 meadow browns

Northowram GMS /last night

Uncertain ?

Muslin Footman ?
Still a good number of moths despite the cooler temps.With Short Cloaked Moth,Common Footman(5),Straw Dot and 3 igrant Diamond Backed moths amd a beautiful Amblyptilia acanthadactyla.Also these two above a Muslin Footman and the Uncertain but I am still a bit uncertain about these two.

Ramsden Wood Clough,03 07 09

Hi all,had a try with heath trap dusk till dawn,unfortunately clear skies didnt help,still got 16 species of macro and 2 micro species,barred straw,common footman,5 small dotted buff,2 buff ermine being the pick with lots of green carpets including this strikingly marked one .loads of crambus sp,and a few scop species to be id .all the best Bri.

Cunnery Wood/Shibden.last night

Let the Puss moth cats go in the wood last night.Again a good turn out with Straw Dot(4)Snouts (20+)Light emeralds(30+)Green Oak Tortrix,July High Flyer,Geen Pug(4) and Carpet(5)Poplar hawkmoth,Purple Clay(6)Clouded silver,Clouded Border,Brimstone (20+)Just a few highlights.

Narrow bordered five spot burnets

Lots of these newly emerged in a Northowram field probably well known to Andy C. Also the first Red Admirals I've seen this year, Painted Ladies, the odd Common Blue ( I think, went by rather quickly and didn't have time to pursue) Large Skippers and a battered looking Small Tortoiseshell. Thanks to Trish for camera work (my photos were pretty rubbish, obviously the camera's fault!) -she says hi by the way Andy.

Was interested to read the comments on recording local species by Paul below and agree wholeheartedly with what he has to say. As Andy comments some sort publication giving information about local species and habitats would be good. What would also be nice is an update of Collinsons 1969 work Butterflies and Moths of Halifax and District with all the new, or supposedly new, species added while retaining much of his interesting commentary (which itself draws on records going back to 1863) to give a historical perspective - well, yeah, a lot of work but if it were shared out amongst a few people it might be do-able. I'm certainly willing to volunteer help with the donkey work of typing things up etc. Food for thought anyway.

Moth Recording in Calderdale

I had been going to post this has a comment on the What A Month thread but its sort of grew into a post on its own !

I want to post my thoughts on moth recording in general in Calderdale and hopefully start a discussion on the matter as I don't claim to be correct in all aspects of what I say, these are just my own personal thoughts on the matter

Its not surprising that more "new" species are being recorded in Calderdale each year. This is due to the fact that in the past (and I speak from personal experience here) there were maybe one or two people in any period regularly recording moths in Calderdale. When I started, apart from Brian Cain recording in his garden in the middle of Halifax, there was only me with help from Martin Todoff and Ian Kimber. Second point on this is that we probably have less pollution and a higher annual mean temperature that at any time in the past when moth recording was taking place. This is obviously going to increase the range of species if not the number of moths recorded.Third point on this is that much more of Calderdale is now being regularly light trapped and searched than at ANY time in its past so again more species are turning up. Fourth point is this, probably some of the "new" species to Calderdale are not new at all but have been here all along but no one looked in the right area for them before.

The facet I find most interesting personally is the comparison with Collinsons statement of realative abundance of each species. My own figures tended to tie in with Collinsons for the more common species which were recorded in numbers. This poses the question, why if we suffer much less pollution are these moth populations not growing ? This leads onto speculation that "improvements" in agricultural methods, vastly increased road traffic (just check how many moths are stuck on your radiator grill when you drive at night),the huge increase in light pollution and lastly the vast areas of Calderdale that have been built on in the last 60 years have all played their part. One can only conclude that despite the drop in atmospheric pollution and cleaner rivers, many species are just about hanging on and if the "progress" of the last 60 years continues then ours might be the last generation to be able to record moths in Calderdale in any meaningful way, especially in lowland habitat. This in turn makes every record of every species vital in the fight to try and preserve habitat in Calderdale now, so that hopefully we will not be the last generation to record these marvelous insects

Cherry Trees

It may be worth having a look at your local cherry tree at the moment for two very atractive 'micros'1216 Cherry Bark maoth and 420 Cherry fruit Moth I recorded both yesterday at Northowram.

Somerset Moths

Hi All, Two apologies first. 1) Sorry fornot being around, this is my busiest time of year. My working season is the same as the mothing one unfortunately. 2) Sorry for posting an "Outside Calderdale" subject but thought it might beof interest. Right, went on a 2 day camping holiday with my daughter this week. On a 12 mile walk in the boiling heat we saw a red flash. This turned out to be a Scarlet Tiger. A moth locally abundant where we were (Near Martock on the river Parrett, where we found a colony of 50+) but is rare in the north. The black wings have a lovely green sheen on them. Very difficult to photograph though. The next new one for me was a Blood-vein. enjoy. Winston

What A Month!

June has been fantastic! Lots and lots of Moths, too many to mention, the pick of the bunch this last two days are these,


Double Dart

what's the status of this Moth locally? I'm going to keep it over night if anyone would like to see it, it's a bit lively and hard to get a decent photo of




Puss Moth


Dark Spectacle

I've also had this Plain Golden Y?, which is a bit odd, the markings on the wing join together instead of being seperate, if you know what I mean. I had 3 the other night and this one looked really perculiar, is this normal variation in this species.

Cunnery Wood/Shibden..Field Trip No ??

I will be there at 9.45 to set up.

Wax Moths

Lesser Wax Moth

Wax Moth
Thanks to C.fletcher and Yorkshire moths for the id on the wax moth.Both these species assosiate with bee hives so I presume they are from the local Shibden Honey hives in Northowram.The Lesser Wax Moth runs around like a Mouse Moth.