Atrocious weather

Micro taken in Pixie wood.??

1398 Rush Veneer
Hi all weather is grim for trapping but ive had the trap out in the rain and wind,Svensonns Copper Underwing ,Sallow,Setaceouse Hebrew Character,a few Silver Y's,Rosy Rustice best th.The top photo is a pyralid/type taken in Pixie wood the other night it had a purpleish/gold sheen to it.??Rush Veneer a common migrant but a first for me in Northowram.

Honey I'm Home :-))

I am back to sunny downtown Elland for a week next week moving my mother from hot sunny Brighouse to the chilly climes of Essex where she is to spend her retirement hours at the Tiptree jam factory (excellant cafe according to mum) and hopefully snaring some rich old bloke who will turn his toes up quickly and leave me loads a money ;-)) I might get some time during the week for a leaf-mining session if anyone is around in the daytime and fancies a trip out ? The main reason I am posting though is that I have a brand new hardly used Robinson 125 MV moth trap that I am willing to loan out long term to anyone who wants one. Only condition is that its used mainly in Calderdale to add records for Andy and any damages are replaced before I get it back in the future.

Apologies in advance Charlie I am about to do it again.....we had loads of Lime Hawk Cats last week on a small stunted Apple tree of all things on our local lane. I took four with a large colour variation and they have now departed underground to pupate. Not done much moffing here in recent weeks as we have been battered by a succession of winter gales throughout August and continuing into September with today the only dry day since Saturday so far, yesterday we had floods :-(( The locals reckon this has been the wettest week since Noah left and are having a whip round to pay my fare back to Yorkshire as they blame me for bringing Pennine Weather to the area since I moved. I might be picking your brains or perhaps green-fingers Charlie as it looks like I am about to get my hands on my own allotment in the near future and might need a few tips. My fame has spread around the village as I am not only known as "Paul the Books" but also the lunatic Yorkshire man who looks for horrible crawling things in his spare time. This paid off last week as I met the only other loony in the village who also likes moths and shes invited Sue and I round to her farm to run a moth trap with her whenever we feel like it (which is why my Robinson is spare at the moment). Anyway that's it for now as I have to get making some blackberry jam and the next batch of Sloe Gin needs to be got underway so its ready for Xmas...the excitement just never stops in the country !

PS Its costing me 10 quid a week on bird food for the birds who arrive in droves in daylight and cat biscuits for the seemingly small army of hedgehogs that arrive in the garden each night to eat me out of house and home. I cannot afford the electricity to run the moth trap now anyway by the time I have paid by other wildlife bills each week !

PPS nearly forgot. Andy I have had your new copy of Skinner for weeks now. I brought it back to Elland a few weeks back but you were on Holiday so I could not drop it off.

Pink Barred Sallow,03 09 09

Found a pink barred sallow,i know its common,but for quite a strikingly coloured moth ,they can be hard to spot on appropriately coloured leaves,and its no coincidence as soon as the first leaves start turning to their autumnal colours,they appear in larger numbers.all the best Bri.

Norway Maple Mine,31 08 09

Found this mine on norway maple with this phyllo sp just besides it,whether just coincidental,or from the mine im not so sure,as the mine and moth look quite damaged,and no pupal case protruding from mine,anyone know if p geniculella uses norway maple,i think p platanoides uses it,and the little info i can find says mine can be either smooth or with 1 or 2 creases,shape and position on leaf seems ok,but not sure ?

Strawberry mine

Here is a picof the mine found on Strawberry.? Any comments would be appreciated.

Tomato moth!

Can anyone id this very poor photo of a cat that has been decimating my friends Tomatoes recently. He describes the adult as a grey none descript moth but of course this could mean anything Win

Pixie Woods/EGP

Rain and strong winds kept things pretty quiet.Great shot of AR by Martyn
7 Sallow
1 Canary Shouldered Thorn
1 Autumnal rustic
2 Lesser Yeloow Underwing
8 Square Spot rustic
1 Brimstone
2 mother of Pearl
2 Broad Bor Yellow Underwing
5 Large Yellow underwing
4 A.goedartella

Carpet Sp

Any commoents on this one.A washed out Silver g ,Purple Bar ,Galium.????

Pixie Woods/EGP

Gonna run the trap in Pixie wood tmrw night ,weather looks rubbish but nowt new there.Will set up abour 8.30 all welcome.

Grisly goings on !! 28 08 09

Heres a pic of 4th instar sallow kitten at 25mm now.and a pic of grey dagger larva with parasitic cocoon attached,nature eh !!

Apple Mines 23 08 09

Noticed 1 small apple tree on way to corner shop with quite a few mines on upper surface of leaves,and this 332a phyllonorycter leucographella emerged on 23 08 09,head down wing tips up reminded me of argyresthia sp until seen up closely.

Neglected Rustic/Sallow Kitten larva 22 08 09

Heres pics of neglected rustic from langfield edge and sallow kitten cat 3rd instar,2 cm long including tail like appendages.

Two micros

We would appreciate help IDing these micros. Apologies for poor pics.

Anomalous 19 08 09

Managed a few hours at langfield edge with actinic,2 male,2 female anomalous,saw this one laying eggs on wavy hairgrass,1st time ive seen it, 2 eggs can be seen to right.

News from Todmorden15 08 09

Hi all,comps finally working again ! Had a try with actinic in attic,and got this common emerald,1st ive seen locally,chequering on fringe isnt very evident due to wear.all the best Bri,ps hoping to get out mothing more now.

National Moth Night

National Moth Night (NMN) is Britain’s celebration of moths and moth recording. It was launched in 1999
and has taken place annually since then, the date varying each year in order to focus recording effort on
different parts of the season. Atropos (the journal for butterfly, moth and dragonfly enthusiasts) founded
the event and it is now run jointly with Butterfly Conservation (the UK charity taking action to save butterflies, moths and their habitats). Is on the 18th and 19th of September 2009 not the 12th as i posted earlier this week.(thanks Chris)

News from Pellon

dark sword Grass

Orange sallow
Martyn caught these on sunday night along with Sallow,Silver Y and Common Carpet

ID request

Not a great photo I'm afraid. Thought at first a rather worn Lychnis, but not sure.

An easy one ??

Bits and Bobbs

Common 'Bedstraw' Carpet
A few decent moths over the weekend including 2 Ruby Tigers last night which were my latest by 10 days.A good show of Common Carpets (i prefer there old name of Bedstraw carpet as they aint that 'Common'),Garden pebble,Straw Dot ,Copper Underwing,Shuttle shaped Dart,Brimstones,Rosy rustic and minor ,Campion,1126 ancylis badiana,Willow Beautys and Flame shoulders.
Brain reports good numbers of Anomalous,Heath,Autumnal and Negleted Rustics and he also found Anomalous eggs on wavy hair grass at Langfield edge.
National Moth Night is on the 12th (Sat night)September and I am planning to go to Withens clough car park for the night.All welcome.

Woss this then?

Sallow feeding

Anyone help ID the top one (from a few days back)? There seem a few candidates but it eludes me nonetheless.

Plum Tortrix

Another new one for our garden is the Plum Tortrix. We also had another Red Underwing last night. Mind you , we are not complaining.

Some new ones for us

golden ringed dragonfly green withens res 13th august 2009

a very nice suprise to find this cracking dragon! it was hunting over the north drain before getting carried away by the strong wind and landing in the bracken.
to make things better it was my first ever of this species

Old Lady

Was quite pleased to find this imposing dowager yesterday, it should be ideal territory for them down here by the canal - not too often found in traps though so I was lucky. Less welcome is the carnage caused by wasps of late - is this a common problem in light traps I wonder?

A good night 1 & 2

Canary Shoulered Thorn

Sallow Kitten

Scarce Silver Lines
Loads of moths last night with over 200 Yellow Underwing types including a record count of 18 LBBYU's for me, Sallow kitten(an excellent year for this species locally),Scarce Silver lines,Lesser Swallow prominent,Phoneix,Small Phoneix,Campion,Burnished Brass,Snout,Antler,willow beauty,Flounced rustic ,Square Spot Rustic ,Small Square spot Rustic,Ypsolopha sequella,Stigmella sp and a whole\host of micros for id.
Canary s.Thhorn,Gothic,Spectacle(latest by 9 days),Dunbar,Brimstone,and 2 very nice Ypsolopha Scabrella

Sowerby Bridge over weekend

The Heath Trap attracted the following :

LYUnderwing 27
Lesser Broad bordered YU 9
Common/Lesser Rustic 8
Dark Arches 8
Lesser YU 4
Marbled Beauty 2
The Sallow 2
Svensson's Copper Underwing 1
The Campion 1
Common Carpet 1
Mother of Pearl 1
Light Brown Apple Moth 1

Not to mention one Vespula Vulgaris which had decapitated and partially eaten one of the Lesser Broad bordered LU's. Grisly stuff.

Common Emerald

Brian leesey has been out of action for a couple of weeks with a bad back,but he has been running a heath trap in his attic for the last couple of nights and a Common Emerald appeared as the first moth last night a first for brian and Calderdale.Get well soon Bri and keep up the good work.

Early Appearance?

The Sallow

Found two of these in the Heath Trap this morning. Thought this was a September/October species, maybe they think it's autumn already...

Midgley GMS

Moths from Midgley last night were

LYU 48

Lesser Yellow Underwing 2

L/C Rustic 2

Lesser swallow Prominent 1

Dark Arches 1

Coxcomb Prominent 1 (photo)

Common Wainscot 1

Copper Underwing sp 1 (Photo, forgot about the palps until it was too late)

Broad bordered YU 1

Plus the top moth which we are in dispute about, can anyone help with this please?

Gold-ringed Dragonfly

Just got back from a few days in the Lakes. I was trying to photograph some dragonflies when one obligingly landed on my leg for a close-up. Do we get this species in Calderdale ?

Did anyone else have a bumper moth night on Tuesday? We had our best night ever for numbers of moths, including over 60 LYU. A couple of new ones too inc Chevron, a bit of a worn one, would like to see a " newer " one. Also new was Satin Beauty.

Large yellow Underwing 60+
Lesser Broadbordered Yellow Underwing 3
Least Yellow Underwing 3
Lesser Yellow Underwing 4
Common Wainscot 3
Smoky Wainscot 1
Square Spot Rustic 3
Antler Moth 3
Marbled Beauty 2
Dark Arches 2
Flame Shoulder 1
Ruby Tiger 1
Lesser Common Rustic 4
Chevron 1
Satin Beauty 1
Riband Wave 1

New one this morning (Friday)in trap was Orange Swift, another belter!

Kebcote Moth and Copper Underwings

A bit of a belated post here, but had this (bottom pic) in the heath trap while out camping by the Sportsman, Kebcote last Sat. There were three others of the same species. Six striped Rustic I think - can anyone confirm/correct? Due to various factors, general incompetence resulting from hangover being the main one, I didn't get a complete record from that evening but along with many LYU's, Common/Lesser Rustics and Smoky Wainscots there was one Northern Spinach one Antler Moth and one Grey Mountain Carpet.

Also below from last night in Sowerby Bridge. Was interesting to find a couple of Copper Underwings which I differentiated from Svennson's using the labial paps method described in UK moths and (I've just noticed) featured in a couple of interesting posts from last August by Paul T and Andy C. Anyone know whether the underside of wing method still has any validity as it still seems to be widely quoted?

10 LYU

6 Lesser Broad bordered YU

2 Copper Underwing

2 Common Carpet

1 Purple Thorn

1 Dark Arches

1 Bird Cherry Ermine

Any ideas?

I'm not sure what this small carpet actually is, it looks like Grey Mountain Carpet or Yellow-ringed Carpet, anyone got any more ideas please........


also i think this is Dark Marbled Carpet, can anyone confirm this please

Jerusalem Farm

1 small copper feeding on thistles at top of field this morning. Also in the garden the knot grass caterpillar is getting much bigger.

A few sightings from the last few days

Been out and about over the last few days so not had time to post, here are a few sightings

Friday 7th August
Walk over Walshaw Dean
Green veined white - over 200
Large whites - over 75
Painted lady - 20+
Speckled wood - 5
Ringlet - 6
Meadow brown - 30+
Small copper - 1
Comma - 4

Brown hawker - 2

Antler moth - 1

Saturday/Sunday
Moth trap in garden
Ruby tiger - 1
Clouded border - 1
LYU - 6
Antler moth - 4

Sunday 9th August
Walk from Withens Clough to Stoodley Pike and back
Green veined white - over 50
Large white - over 50
Red admiral - 1
Comma - 4
Small tortoiseshell - 10+
Gatekeeper - 3
Meadow brown - 15
Small heath - 1
Ringlet - 7

Scarce silver Y - 1

Ermine again

Just found a better picture of the Ermine sp.