Stainland.

1 x Bee Moth at 11 pm Saturdays night, on the door. It had gone this morning.

Bee Moth.

Also, 2 x Marbled Beauties, grey/black/white form.

1 x Eudonia sp.

Lee Mount surprise !

We have lived here since 1974 with 2 large oaks at the back of us in Shroggs Park. I decided to have my tea outside in the sunshine but what are those butterfly's, about 8 of them, chasing about over the top and around the oaks ?
Camera, binoculars no good and eventually the scope. Purple Hairstreaks of course after I managed to get the scope on two of them resting on leaves in the sunshine. Brilliant, but why have I not picked them out in previous years, I'll never know but I bet they've been there every summer !!!!
Something new to find never ever disappoints. Made my day.

Also in the garden earlier today
Red Admiral x 1
Small Tortoiseshell x 2
Large and Small Whites in my neighbours brassicas !!

More butterfly’s !

Lee Mount - 13th July
Red Admiral x 1
Numerous Large and Small Whites

14th July - Ringby Lane for sound hour and a half and on the top.
Still very hot and sunny after rain overnight.
Red Admiral x 1
Peacock x 2
Ringlet x 30+
Meadow Brown x 40+
Small White x 30+
Large White x c20
G V White x 3
Small Heath x 2
Small Skipper x 2

Mixenden to Ogden golf course and return. 11th July.

Hot sunny weather continues unabated !
Lots of thistles and Ragwort now I'm flower.
Comma x 2
Small Tortoiseshell x 30+
Ringlet x all over the place, lost count!
Meadow Brown x lots
Small White x lots
Large White x 20+
G V White x 20+
Large Skipper x 10
Small Skipper x 20+
Small Heath x 2

New Bagworm for Calderdale....... kind of

I found this yesterday practically on my back door step. I've given it a good looking at under the microscope and keyed it down to Tineidae per Sterling and Parsons micro guide (who knew their palps had bristles!). I think it must therefore be Infurcitinea argentimaculella.

The larva does construct it's own case whilst feeding on lichen but even though it's quite closely related to the true bagworms it just a Tineid.

A new VC record I think unless there are some records awaiting to be entered.

White plume

 Thinking i had a new species of plume moth today , I could not not work out the two projections at the bottom of the body , only to realise that they were the legs  sticking out at the back...dohh..???
Not recorded this one before in Northowram , also had Buff Footman last night which is now lost in the bathroom i am hoping it will come out later so I can get a photo....

Dingy Shell

Martyn at Luddenden Village recorded this Dingy Shell this week to his moth trap , the wing posture is a key id indicator to this species , its only the second local record ,  the first one was in 1897...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well done Martyn and thanks for letting us know..brilliant

Tar Hill Beauties

A patch of thistle, rosebay, raspberry and bramble at the top of Tar Hill rugby pitch, Beechwood Park (access off Whitehill Road) and it was alive with butterflies (and grass moths) including 2 beauties....

Small white (pretty sure)
Green Veined White
Small Skipper
Meadow Brown
Ringlet
Speckled Wood
Small Copper
and saving the best till last - White-letter hairstreak

Ogden Water

There bird cherry ermine all seem to the emerging today, , there were plenty of them on the outside of the silk nests this morning.

Moth Trapping Session This Saturday - July 14th

Hi all,




There will be a moth night this Saturday at Cromwell Bottom by the Café/Cabin and is open to public.


Arrive from around 9.00pm onwards, light switch on around 10.00pm.


I'll be there along with Barry and Andy. The weather looks promising so hopefully we will continue our good run of form.




Charlie.

Its a Beauty

                                                White letter Hairstreak

                                                 Light and Dark Arches

                                                        Burnished Brass ( f.arurea)

                                                            Early Thorn 2nd generation

A call from good friends Cath and Mike Sharpe today saying they had just caught a White letter hairstreak..I could not resist and went straight down to see it...it was a Beauty..thanks M and C. White letter hairstreak is the 24th species this year in Calderdale . So its Dark green Fritillary or Clouded Yellow next................................Many thanks to all who have looked and found many butterflies this year so far , please keep records coming in , they are all adding to a fantastic year for butterflies locally...

Stainland.

Two moths today. I'm not certain about my ID for either. I'm not 100% at the moment, so my attention span and patience are low. Here we go anyway. Please correct me if I have these wrong.

Two photos of the first one...

Early Thorn - 

Selenia dentaria TBC.

Early Thorn - Second generation TBC.

I thought the moth below may be a worn Green Carpet - Colostygia pectinataria. Thanks to Andy, I now know it is a V- Pug. I've seen one once before, two or three years ago, but I've slept since then.

V Pug.

Lee Mount - 9th July

Sycamore again. I found it resting on the house pebble dashing mid afternoon but it had gone this morning.
Not sure if it's the same moth as earlier in the month on 2nd/3rd though I have photos to compare when I can get around to it.

Also a long list of moths on 9th, including......
Ghost Moth female x 1
Northern Spinach x 1
Poplar Grey x 1
July Highflyer x1
Phoenix x 1
Small Fan-footed Wave x 2
Ysolopha sequella x 1

Withens Clough, Cragg Vale

Plenty of butterflies in the area around the car park at Rudd Lane and around the Reservoir this morning. Lots of thistles in flower and a few Ragwort.
It's a shame to have lost the insect habitat in the wild flora and grasses on the Reservoir embankment but there are probably good reasons for YW having had the grass cut.

Guesstimates in numbers !
Comma x 2
Small Heath c10
Meadow Brown 80+
Ringlet 100+
Green-veined White 100+
Small White - very few
Large Skipper - still plenty about maybe 50+
Small Skipper just a few near the car park but none found higher up around the Reservoir
Small Tortoiseshell - maybe 40+ mainly on thistles

Moths
2 Silver Y

Stainland.

This morning we had 1 Riband Wave, non banded. 1 Marbled
Beauty, grey/black form and 1 very small moth which could have been a Eudonia, it was very narrow winged, streamlined almost, and was pale, with only a few darker markings. It flew off as I got near it.

I went for a 30 minute walk this afternoon, out to the fields. I only saw 7 large white butterflies and one small dark one. I caught a flash of red/ brown on it at one point. It never came nearer to me than about 20 feet. It was smaller than a small tortoiseshell. Not much help there, sorry. After reading Andy's heroic Cinnabar cat rescue, I searched all the ragwort I found, not one cat. Hmm.

Cydalima perspectalis

63.054 BF1409a  Box-tree Moth Cydalima perspectalis

Is a predominantly a Southern Invasive fast establishing as a pest of Box , its  pearly irridescence.and wing stigma marks on the wing mean it can be readiliy overlooked as a Mother of Pearl. I am not sure if Calderdale have a record of  this species but it would be worth looking out if anyone is near large planting of Box from Garden Centres etc  to benchmark its distribution The closely related imigrant  Olive-tree Pearl 63.048 BF1408Palpita vitrealis has been recorded in the VC 's  see Yorks Moths Species  VC Maps - Abroad, the species feeds on jasmine (Jasminium) and olive (Olea so it would be also interesting to see what botany this is using . This species has a faint orange / brown edge to the wing with a sheen  but not irredescent like the former

Northowram last few days

Spent an hour collecting Cinnabar larvae today out of a horse field as the farmer has started chopping all the Ragwort  down,. Moved them to a safe place and it is looking like a good year for them at last...Today I had a lot of Small and large Whites  looks  like a large emergence over the weekend. Plenty Meadow Brown , Small Tortoiseshell , Ringlets and Small Skippers still about and my first Small Copper this year on my patch. A pristine Peacock and Red Admiral were the first larger butterflys for a while. A couple of Purple Hairstreaks high in the canopy and the odd Speckled Wood and Small Heath made for a good day.
  Pete Smith reports Small Tortoiseshell , Comma , Red Admiral , Green veined White and Skipper sp from Ringstone last week ,,,,thanks Pete

Stainland.

1 x Common Footman.
2 x Marbled Beauties - grey/black form.
1 x Eudonia sp.

I spent almost an hour with the Eudonia below. As always, the more I looked, the less sure I became as to which is was. The markings on this are quite different to the Eudonia I posted on the 7th July. I've no idea which one it is. Tricky little devils aren't they?

Eudonia sp.

Lee Mount - 6th July

A lot of moths the last few days, I just can't keep up.....but managing identification with most (well except for the Eudonias!!!)

Anyway a couple here with this top one for scrutiny ?

 The nearest I can get with this one is July Highflyer but I am not convinced.. slightly smaller than Common Marbled Carpet but different shape of course

 Small Yellow Wave

Copley Garden 7/7/18

A nice trapping evening with a few differnet moths and some that I need help identifying.

Large Yellow Underwing - 9
Buff Tip
Snout
Flame - 4
Light Emerald
Flame Shoulder
Common Footman - 5
Swallowtail Moth
Heart & Dart - 7
Silver Y
Cloudered Border
V-Pug
Bird Cherry Ermine - 2
Bramble Spot - 2

Moth 1

Moth 2

Moth 3

Moth 4

Moth 5

Springwood Ave Butterflies - Sat 7th

Large White

Comma

Ringlet

Gatekeeper

Small Tortoiseshell

Green Veined White

Also found the egg below on a willow leaf in Cunnery Wood, any ideas?

Stainland.

I found a moth in the hall a while after I made the last post. Rather than confuse things, I thought I'd give this an entry of it's own.

I'm reasonably sure that the moth is a Eudonia murana, judging by the white spot on it's thorax. I'm happy to be corrected of course.

Eudonia murana.

Stainland.

4 x Marbled Beauties, black/grey form.
1 x Riband Wave, non banded form.
1 x Eudonia sp. (Probably). It's so high up that I can't see much other than size, shape and colour.

Stainland.

For some reason, butterflies have been scarce in our garden this year. We do have plenty flowers, but perhaps will get some butterfly friendly ones for next year. The good news is, we have a lot of bees of various types, as several hoverfly species.

I've seen three Small Tortoiseshells over the last week and three whites. Non of them wanted to settle on any flowers, so I was unable to photograph them. The white I saw today, (and the only one I could ID) was a Spring brood Large White.

Purple Hairstreaks

One or two flitting around in the late morning sunshine yesterday around the pond dipping ponds at Cromwell Bottom. Not very approachable and reluctant to settle for long.

Cold Edge and Ovenden Moor

Yesterday
One Painted Lady bear the former Withens Pub.
Lots of Small Whites mostly heading north west after brief stops mainly on Ragwort and Thistles which are now coming into season - good !
Only one Green-veined White which was surprising.
Ringlets all over the place especially the Cold Edge area. A few Meadow Brown, Large Skippers and a couple of Small Skippers and a few scattered Small Tortoiseshell.
4 Silver-ground Carpet Moths and 2 other medium/large day flying moths which avoided identification unfortunately.

Stainland.

Two Marbled Beauties  today.

1 x Gray, black and white form
1 x Grey, orange/brown and white form. No photos, sorry.

For those who may be interested, I was in Physio at Spire hospital today, they were very pleased with my progress. Afterwards, I decided to walk down to the main road and catch a bus to Halifax. I had dinner in Weatherspoon's, then got a bus back to the village. I wanted to prove to myself that I was getting some independent travel back, I was very pleased with myself.  I'm still in a lot of pain, but at least my strength is returning. Onward and upward!

Lee Mount - 5th July

Amongst others - three nice moths from this morning.

 Common Wainscot (and not Smoky ?)

 

After studying the Sycamore earlier in the week I knew this was one below was different (but similar), slightly smaller and darker than Sycamore and wings more rounded and showing the pale area just below the kidney mark. pretty sure this is another first for here - must check!

 Poplar Grey

 

Another similar grey moth below but smaller than Poplar Grey and slightly different markings with the two chalky white spots.

Knot Grass

Lee Mount

Been struggling with this Pug from 1st July - they don't seem to give many obvious pointers - just subtle ones !
Wondering if this one could be Wormwood Pug ??

 

This one below - have had a small number of these this last week and not sure of identification ?

Wondering about Clepsis consimilana - it's about the same size as a Green Oak Tortrix

 

Moth Identity please

I saw this moth mid-morning and again at 10pm. I thought it was a different species at first but realised it had the same markings. It was only a couple of foot from earlier in the day.

                                                        Beautiful ruff around its neck.

Stainland.

Hi

I know this post is a a bit off the mark, but I think it's worth alerting people about. I was looking through last year's Norfolk photos and came across a (poor) photo I took of the Rosemary Beetle - Chrysolina americana at Norfolk Lavender.

It's an imported pest and becoming a problem in the UK. The RHS have an informative page on it and a distribution map. There is also a link to a survey, in case you find one of the little beasts. I filled it in last year. They don't reply, but don't be put off.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=555

Rosemary Beetle - Chrysolina americana. 

2018 so far...bit of a bumper..

Highlights so far....After a slow start....
local firsts....
Grey Shoulder Knot
Marsh Pug
Sycamore
Acleris logiana
Anania perlucidalis

Scarce local species

Bloodvein
Red necked Footman
Dingy Shears
Clay triple lines
Barred Yellow
Common Emerald
White Satin

And 23 species of Butterfly so far..............

Lee Mount - 2nd July

It's getting more difficult to catch up with the blog and identification with a good selection of moths the last few nights.
4 here that were nice surprises. This first one definitely to check please.

 (thinking Sycamore rather than Poplar Grey but have never seen either previously) I have some more pictures !

 

 Common Lutestring

 

 Common Quaker - if it is it seems a very late individual ?

Green Arches

Northowram today

                                                                    Ragwort

                                                                   Small Skipper

A great day today hot sunshine and lots of Butterfly's on the wing . Ragwort is now out in full bloom and looks like Cinnabar will have a good year.  I have never seen as many Ringlets and by late afternoon numbers were 60 + , Small Tortoiseshell 50+ , Meadow Brown 50 + , Small and Large Skippers 5 of each . The week ahead looks much the same........

Cromwell Bottom Moth Night June 30th

A great night was had for the eight or so people who attended.


Some highlights here: https://cromwellbottom.blogspot.com/

Butterfly update

 Brian reports Purple Hairstreak this week in Todmorden and Gatekeepers (22nd and 23rd species for the year) were out in good numbers today at Cromwell Bottom also flying today lots of Ringlet , Meadow Brown , Small Skipper , Large and Small Whites..Northowram today at least 10 Small Tortoiseshell ...........(White Letter Hairstreak , Dark Green Fritillary and Clouded Yellow to look for...)

Cromwell bottom

Quick update from last night........
Blackneck ,
Common Emerald (4+) ,
White Satin
Suspected (5+)
Dingy Footman
Buff Footman
Dingy Shears
Water Veneer ( 3+)
more to follow ...Thanks to Charlie and BARRY...............

                                                           White Satin

                                                       Dingy Shears

Stainland.

One Riband Wave -non banded form.

Butterfly records - Cunnery Wood & Ogden Water

Cunnery Wood & meadows 28.6.18
Comma
Meadow Brown
Ringlet
5 spot burnet
Small skipper
Large Skipper
Common Heath




Ogden 29.6.18 - around edge of reservoir
Large White
Red Admiral
Comma
Meadow Brown
Small Skipper
Large Skipper
Ringlet

MOTH NIGHT AT CROMWELL BOTTOM

A reminder there's a trapping session at Cromwell Bottom tomorrow (SAT 30th). I'll probably be there from 8.30pm onwards searching for moths before the light goes on. It's a leisurely affair with tables and chairs around the trap and refreshments are available inside where we examine the moths throughout the night. Arrive from dusk onwards, if the gates are locked just give us a shout.


OTHER NEWS: Norland yesterday.

Surprised to find some eriocrania mines still tenanted as we're almost in to July. The larva has two cloudy projections just behind the head making this E.sparrmannella.

Kept an eye out for grass mining elachistas and found this E.triatomea straight away. As much of the moor's plateau is now covered with Purple Moor Grass surely it's worth a look for Elachista subalbidella at some point.

Apple Fruit Moth - Argyresthia conjugella resting on Rowan - a first for me.

Also:

Northern Spinach x 2

Epinotion trigonella

Orthotaenia undulana

Mompha raschkiella

Lee Mount - 29th June

One from this morning, in the trap and a new one for here. A nice orange looking moth with hooked forewing tip, think it must be a Clay Triple-lines.

Stainland.

1 x Riband Wave - Banded form. No photo.

David,  Thanks for the nice comment on my last post. I'm recovering well now, just a little weak yet, but I always bounce back.