Swalesmoor area

 Hot, calm day with plenty sunshine always worth looking for some butterfly's.

2 Wall Brown just on the track off Bradford Old Road this afternoon. 

Also nearby 2 Small Tortoiseshells and further along Hag Lane 3 Speckled Wood - and that was about it. Little else, other than  few Nettle-taps Anthophila fabriciana on the host plant and a couple of Green Longhorns Adela reaumurella on  billberry bushes! 

Earlier in the day I managed a couple of record shots in the garden, on the phone, of  a female Orange-tip - not downloaded yet !

Lee Mount etc.....

Lee Mount - felt sure there would be a decent haul of moths this morning. What a let down, and quite a surprise that the trap was inundated with hundreds of Green and Blackfly and only 3 moths. Best was a superb Ruby Tiger, a Common Quaker and a Small Phoenix.

Ruby Tiger

An even bigger surprise was 14 Pugs on the fence. Never had so  many at once and not had chance to check through the photos yet. Suspecting Brindled and Common Pugs to dominate  but quite a few are fading fast and might just have to ignore them - and move on !

Castle Carr Road - this afternoon produced a decent number (20+) of Green Hairstreak among the heath-land vegetation and they seem particularly fond of sunbathing on the rhododendron leaves.

Also several each of Peacock, Green-veined White, Orange-tip and Small Tortoiseshell and a single Small Copper.

Lee Mount and Ringby Lane

 Lee Mount - a nice day for butterfly's with 2 Speckled Wood, 1 Large White + a few unidentified 'whites' as fly-by's. The best was a Holly Blue that landed briefly on the violas but it was off before I could grab the camera. Our neighbour described it to me as he was sitting in his garden on Sunday so I was on the look-out for it !

In the hot sunshine this afternoon I tried Ringby Lane - one of my favoured spots for butterfly's on a day like today. It did not disappoint. The lower reaches produced a Wall Brown, Small Copper and a Small Heath. The Wall proved a challenge to photograph 'stop and move and stop and move' then chase off Small Tortoiseshell so I failed to get a photo.

I did get some record shots of the other two......

Small Heath

Small Copper

Further up the lane, on the top,  2 Peacock, 4 Small Tortoiseshells and a Large White

Brighouse canal

I think this is a Comma, although it is more orange and has paler markings than usual. It must be the form 'hutchinsoni', which Thomas and Lewington (The butterflies of Britain and Ireland) describe as a brighter golden form produced by the earliest caterpillars to develop in spring.

Also, 5 male Orange Tip

Ringstone Edge

Orange Tip 1 male

Hardcastle Crags ...3 hours on Tuesday night...

Pine Beauty (brick red) , Sallow Kitten and another Orange Footman last night , ran trap for 1 hour .

 

Stainland.

 Warmer weather is bringing moths to our garden, at last.

2 x 20 Plumes (Not shown, poor photos due to using telephoto lens.)

1 x Small Magpie moth.

Small Magpie 

Dyseriocrania subpurpurella ?

 Wondering if these two are just variants of subpurpurella ?

Ringstone Edge

Peacock 1, Small White 5

Bar Lane

1 of 2 Small Whites. 

Also 2 male Orange Tips.

And:-

Cromwell Bottom

                                                    Shoulder Stripe
 

 Acleris cristana

Twin - spotted Quaker 

                                                        Pale Prominent (thanks Luke)

A busy first session at Cromwell Bottom last night..

Purple Thorn x 7

Early Thorn x 4

Herald x 2

Lesser Swallow Prominent x 1

Pale Prominent x 1

Pebble Hook-Tip x 1

Spectacle x 1

ETS x 1

MG x 1

Shoulder Stripe x 1

Grey Birch x 1

Grey Shoulder Knot x 1

Brindled Pug x 1

Golden Rod Pug/white spotted Pug  x 1 

Common Quaker x 6

Clouded Drab x 4

Hebrew Character x 5 

Twin-Spot Quaker x 1

Dark Barred Twin Spot Carpet x 1

Tufted Tortrix  Acleris Cristana ( new to Calderdale)

Grey Birch Dot x 1

Common Birch leaf miner x 2

Emperor Moth - Castle Carr Road 100425

 I took a newly emerged female to Castle Carr Road (where I found the Caterpillars last June) 

I had only been there a few minutes before she attracted three males

Stump Cross

Orange Tip 1 male

Hardcastle Crags

 

Lee Mount - 1st April

 A warmer night and slightly better results !

Diurnia fagella x 4

Early Thorn x 1

Early Grey x 1

Common Quaker x 6

Hebrew Character x 2

Double-striped Pug x 2

Oak Nycteoline x 1

Acleris literana x 1 NFM

Acleris literana

Early Thorn

Oak Nycteoline

Also on the last day of March

Dotted Border x 1

Early Grey x 1

Hebrew Character x 1

Common Quaker x 1

Clouded Drab x 2

Twin-spotted Quaker x 1

Common Plume x 1

Falcon Moth Traps

https://www.facebook.com/people/Falcon-moth-traps/61562905817521/ 

Hebden Bridge

1 Peacock

Hardcastle Crags last night...

 

Luddenden 260325

 Still doing pretty well despite the clear nights

Oak Beauty 5

Common Quaker  18

Small Quaker  4

Twin-spot Quaker 1

Hebrew Character  4

Clouded Drab  3

 

Luddenden 220325 - Grey Shoulder-knot

 A much cooler night with heavy rain, still a good variety of Moths though

Oak Beauty 19

Mottled Grey 1

Dotted Border

Common Quaker 5

Clouded Drab 2

Grey Shoulder-knot 1 - only the second record here

Luddenden 210325 - Oak Beauty Invasion

 Another great night for Oak Beauty here with a massive 45 caught

Engrailed 1

March Moth 3

Oak Beauty 45

Early Grey 1

Common Quaker 27

Clouded Drab 3

Chestnut 1

Earl-toothed Striped 1

Engrailed

Early-toothed Striped

Luddenden 20th March 2025 - Night of the Oak Beauty

 A great night last here

Oak Beauty 20

Twin-spot Quaker 2

March Moth 2

Common Quaker 11

Small Quaker 1

Clouded Drab 1

Chestnut 1

18 of the twenty Oak Beauty

Hebden Bridge 20th March 2025

 I ran an LED trap in our friends wood in Hebden Bridge last night and what a great night it was

Brindled Pug 3

Oak Beauty 19

Yellow Horned 7

Common Quaker 41

Clouded Drab 5

Mottled Grey 4

Hebrew Character 4

Chestnut 3

Twin-spot Quaker 2

Engailed 3

Small Quaker 1

the highlight was the 19 Oak Beauty

Lee Mount - 20th and 21st March

Slight improvement after two milder nights

Oak Beauty x 2

Clouded Drab x 1  (and a Grey form x 1)

March Moth x 2

Hebrew Character x 1

Common Quaker x 5

Satellite x 1

Early Grey x 2

Dotted Border x 1

Common Plume x 2

Agonopterix heracliana x 1

Clouded Drab (above and below)

Common Plume

Hebrew Character

Oak Beauty

Early Grey

Micro.....puzzler

This was on the fence post near the trap yesterday and at a funny angle to photograph.

I have had one of these previously, checked by CF - must look up the date.....19th March 2024

It seems it is one that needs Gen Det to be sure of identification. I don't have it but I will look out for this sp again and pot it.

I'm suspecting - Caloptilia (elongella or betulicola) c7 mm

Lee Mount - last few days....

Still pretty slow here, not a lot going on - just a few !

Beautiful Plume

Chestnut

 

Common Quaker

March Moth

Marmalade Hoverfly - Episyrphus balteatus

Shibden Valley

2 Buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) in the garden today, feeding on Pulmonaria (Lungwort) flowers. A welcome return.