A couple from last night

Pebble Prominent (Northowram)

Map winged Swift(Midgley

Knott wood Friday night meeting about 10ish.........................

Beautiful Golden Y

Sandra, snap!

Campion vs Lychins.??

Cromwell Bottom

http://calderbirds.blogspot.com/Further to a post on the Calderdale birders blog with regard to the Local Nature Reserve at Cromwell Bottom and a request from Hugh Firman for more local naturalists to get involved in its future there is to be an opportunity to join the staff from Calderdale Council's Countryside Service for an evening of discussion over the key issues the Reserve faces. The evening walk will include a look at the access issues, habitat management and discuss plans to help this Local Nature Reserve improve and develop towards its potential. The meeting will be held on site on 22nd June meeting at the Fisherman's Car Park (behind Cromwell House) at 7pm.

This is an opportunity for local naturalists to have an involvement in the area and hopefully influence the decisions that are taken re habitat management etc. an area which it has to be said has received its share of criticism in the past.(and justly so)

Recent sightings and trappings

A few records from the past couple of days

Friday 11th June
Langfield Common
Latticed heath
Small heath
Small tortoiseshell
Peacock
Lots of whites
Orange tip

Saturday 12th June
Trapping - garden in Hipperholme
1x Pale tussock
1x Heart & dart
1x Common marbled carpet
(Unfortunately my girlfriend turned the trap off at 2am as there was a lot of noise in the area and she did not want anyone coming into the garden)

Sunday 13th June
Trapping - garden in Hipperholme
4x Pale tussock
4x Heart & dart
1x Clouded bordered brindle
1x bright line brown eye

Alder Moth

Caught this beauty i n the trap at northowram last night a rarely recorded species in calderdale.

June so far

A real week so far with this female Ghost Moth the first of many I hope.43 species of macro this week so far and the Top pic is a selection from last night in the trap with 8 species on show if you would like to guess and 131 Incurvaria oehlmanniella from Knott wood last week.

Knott Wood sat night

Meeting with Bri about 10ish up there ,all welcome.............................................Highlights were Scalloped hooktip,Welsh Wave,Green Arches(4)Grey Birch(2) , White Pinion spotted (5).Pale Tussock (2)Green Carpet (22)Coxcomb prominent(1),flame sholder (13). Broken Barred Carpet(5),Ingrailed Clay(29)Small rivulet(1)Small angle shades(4)Purple Bar (9)Broom Moth (2)True lover knot(2)Peach Blossom (2).

Also the cat found on the 1st May feeding on Heather emerged today...a Mottled Beauty.(nice one Martyn)

Northern/Oak Eggar Caterpillar

Thanks to Andy and Charlie for identifying this caterpillar which I found at Cold Edge Dams this morning.

Found on Honey suckle

One of the larvae I found on honey suckle earlier in the year has spun this' little hammock ' !!Should I discard the leaf or just leave it to decay around it .??

Midgley Moths

We have made some modifications ( put card round the inside to make it darker) to the Actinic trap which seem to have made it more moth friendly as we have gone from around 3-4 a night to 10-15, not as many as some folk I know but still an improvement. Have also tried moving it around to attract more moths so will see what happens.

Recent Moths include :
Orange Swift
Flame Shoulder
Scalloped Hazel
White Ermine
Brimstone
Ingrailed Clay
Silver Ground Carpet
Common White Wave

Beautiful Golden Y

Clouded Silver

Have put on some pictures of a couple of Pugs which we are unsure of ID (is one Foxglove Pug?)

And have put the Beautiful Golden Y on because it's a belter!

1076 Celypha lacunana

Hi all. This one arrived in the trap last night. Initially the nearest I could get is 1087 Orthotaenia undulana but thanks to others I can now reval it is in fact 1076 Celypha lacunana. Many thanks. Winston

Fox Moths

here's a few photo's of the newly emerged Fox Moths and a couple hatching out

Marbled White Spot 05 06 10

Heres a pic,finally,forewing is 11mm,from knottwood sat night 05 06 10

411 Argyresthia goedartella

Found this golden micro in my bedroom on Sunday morning, a nice way to start the day. Winston

Lime hawkmoth

Allways nice to see.

damselfly I.d please!

Just a quick I.d problem! Went to holiday in norfolk over the holiday and on thursday we went to pensthorpe. plenty of damselflys but me and my dad are unsure about this one. It is obviously a red eyed or a small red eyed but I cant decide. look hard enough and you should see some blue on segment 1 (a feature of small red) plus there is some red sheen on the back (also a feature of small red) but there is no blue on segment 8 (red eyed feature) nor is there a noticable ammount of blue behind the head (a feature of red eyed). please could somebody help me. Cheers
p.s. also had my first swallowtail, black tailed skimmer and banded demoiselle

Knott Wood sat night

Green Arches

Rivulet

Bri report a real night at Knott wood with 42 sp of macro including a mega Marbled white Spot,19 Green Carpet,6 White Pinion Spotted,9 Purple bar,22 Common white wave ,1 Green arches,1 Rivulet,....Lime, Poplar and Elephant Hawkmoths,6 Pale tussocks and 20, 1015 Eulia mimistrana 131 Incurvaria oehlmanniella ,Bri is off line again for the moment

Last Night in Hebden Bridge

Whilst I am on a roll of not been abl to identify almost anything I see out of the ordinary I will have a stab at these two from last night.

Clouded-bordered Brindle 1
Dusky Brocade 1

There companions were a good assortment -

Buff Ermine 1
White Ermine 2
Brimstone 1
Silver-ground Carpet 3
Common Swift 2
Buff Tip 1
Scoparia ambigualis 1
Poplar Hawk-moth 2
Agonopterix heracliana/ciliella 1
Water Carpet 1
The Flame 1
Flame Shoulder 2
Pale Tussock 1
Flame Carpet 1
Unidentified pug 1
Unk Macro 1

I blieve teh Brocade may well be a pale-shouldered !

Last night Northowram

Pug sp ?

Seraphim

A real night with 34 sp of macro recorded including The Miller,Campion,Pale tussock and this Seraphim also this distinctive pug if any one would like to guess.

Painted Lady

Painted Lady butterfly seen yesterday at Sunnybank Todmorden. Also Broad Bodied chaser dragonfly, male and female at pond same location during the last week.

Small Copper

Found a small copper on the hillsides above Walsden today, also lots of whites around over the moorlands towards Gaddings Dam and Warland res.

Knottwood sat 05 06 10

We are having a mothing session tomorrow night at knottwood,if anyone fancies it,it will probably be Manic !! hopefully some great moths.maybe bring some repellant !!prob get there about 9ish.

Elland gravel Pits Last night(Wainscot night)

Common Waiscot

Looper ??

Silky Wainscot

Silky wainscot

Met with Bri last night at EGP and went looking for Southern wainscot larvae ,we had a quick walk acrooss tag meadow which produced 100's of Burnet moth cocoons and 3/4 straw dots and a lot of Crambus sp.Silver Ground Carpets were in good numbers and a Herald caught in the net was a bonus.Entering the reed bed we found the looper on Phragmites (??}above and immediatly found what I think was a southern waiscot larvae but as i tried to pot it it fell to the ground never to be seen again(drat).We then found what we think is a Silky waiscot which will be a first for calderdale if confirmed(carnt think what else it could be).The other cat looks like Common Wainscot.

636 Denisia similella

I know its good weather for trapping but I have had a great time this week sneaking off for a couple of hours now and then to look in woods and meadows. Didn't see much today in Pecket Well till I bent down to tie my laces and this good looker seemed to pop out of a dry stone wall. Distinctive markings so I thought I would be able to track this one down. Spent too long looking now and eyes are now boggling! Now correctly identified by Charlie Streets as 636 Denisia similella. seems to be relativly scarce.

Tonight

Bulrush waiscot empty cocoon from todmorden
Meeting with Bri in the car park at Elland Gravel Pits looking for larvae etc about 9ish all welcome,

Elephant Hawk Moth

Local population boosted by one !! Emerged this a.m. Flew off an hour ago, heading south.

News from Todmorden 01 06 10

Hi all,finally back on line ! im doing well for parasitica,even wasps emerged from an emperor cocoon ! is nothing sacred,thats nature.at least a Sallow Kitten emerged on 30 05 10,course it was the middle of the night,anyway thought id make a collage of most of the stages,regards Bri.

Glaucous shears ?

Anyone dissagree with Glaucous shears.?? All you trappers out there should be getting plenty of moths now and looks like an excellent week ahead.

516 Large Clover Case-bearer Coleophora trifolii

Found this little chap nectering on dandelion a few days ago and unfortunately he has had to wait until today for the weather to be bright enough to take his photo. Can't seem to find this one on UK Moths, anyone any ideas? At first it looked like a rather bland specimen but the lens has revealed his beauty. A shimmering golden black sheen to the wings and white ends to the antenae. (About 9mm long).

See latest comment for id notes.

win

Mothless Midgley

Ran both the actinic and an MBT lamp tonight with Brian, too clear and too cold we think, nothing caught and just four distant unknown moths seen in flight. Leaving the actinic running all night in case things improve, fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Monday Night

Im thinking of going to elland GPits on Monday night looking for southern wainscot larvae.if any one would like to join me ................................
late May to early June
The reedbeds should be swept after dark for the larvae. I have seen the larvae near the tops of the reeds in large numbers, where they are rather conspicuous, and used to pick off those within reach, and sweep for the more distant ones with a net. The larva pupates in or on the soil, and emerges without much trouble [Tutt]

Last night Northowram

Been a bit cool again this week but had my first Silver y's(2) and 1 dark Spectacle , 1 Spectacle,small square spot and a Scalloped Hazel(melanic) last night.

Birdguides Moth Article

Latest moth related article on Birdguides can be found at
http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=2112

Jerusalem Farm LNR

Working at Jerusalem Farm today, found this 1648 Pebble Hook-tip, also had large red damselfly and green-veined white.

Mother Shipton

Just IDed this one.

Sat. at Cromwell Bottom.