Calderdale Moths , Butterflies and Dragonflies

Friday, 4 June 2021

Lee Mount - 5th June

Still quiet..

Silver-ground Carpet x 1

Scalloped Hazel (f nigra) x 1

Light-brown Applemoth x1

Brown Housemoth x 1

Ogden

Small copper outside the classroom today, lots of whites fluttering about but no chance to firmly ID

Stainland.

3rd June:

1 x Bee Moth (male)

1 x Garden Carpet

Thursday, 3 June 2021

Lee Mount - 4th June

Expected more than I got overnight but still some nice moths..

Green Silver-lines x 1

Brimstone Moth x 1

Heart and Dart x 1

Garden Carpet x 1

Light-brown Apple-moth x 1

Bee Moth x 2

Twenty-plume Moth x 1

Green Silver-lines

Heart and Dart

Rishworth - 28th, 30th, 31st of May and 2nd June - Fantastic Last Night!

Somewhat quiet throughout the end of May but everything picked up last night. A year ago today I was getting Small Elephant Hawk Moths.

Moth trap 28th May:

Autumn Green Carpet x1 [NFY]

Lesser Swallow Prominent x1 [NFY]

Brown Silver Lines x3 [NFY]

Brindled Pug x2

Buff Ermine x1 [NFY]

Pale Tussock x1 [NFY]

Common Quaker x1

Moth trap 30th May:

Flame Shoulder x1 [NFY]

Lesser Swallow Prominent x1

Moth Trap 31st May:

Lesser Swallow Prominent x2

Moth Trap 2nd June:

Barred Hook Tip x1 [NFG]

Spectacle x1

Poplar Hawk Moth x2 [NFY]

Peppered Moth x1 [NFY]

Marbled White Spot x4 [NFY]

Silver Ground Carpet x1 [NFY]

Brown Silver Lines x1

Garden Carpet x2 [NFY]

Flame Shoulder x1

Bee Moth x3 [NFY]

Smoky Wainscot x1 [NFY]

Green Pug x1 [NFY]

Barred Hook Tip, Rishworth, 2nd of June

Marbled White Spot, Rishworth, 2nd June

Wednesday, 2 June 2021

Although it has been a slow year for butterfly species in general ,it seems that it has been perfect for Green Hairstreak with good numbers recorded from 18th April to 2nd June and still on the wing now with DJS reporting 10 yesterday it only shows for a couple of weeks some years ....!! ..Many thanks for all the records .

I was very pleased to hear that Andrew Sladdin got his first this year on Caslte Carr road after reading this blogg...All butterfly records most welcome

Stainland.

Another first for me - a Scalloped Hazel. It's a good thing that the markings made it easy to ID. This sample has an upturned abdomen, it's been like that since 11.00 pm last night. I haven't found a photo online with one doing that. Is it quite common for them to rest with an upturned abdomen? I'm simply curious. It's a lovely moth.

Scalloped Hazel

Tuesday, 1 June 2021

Lee Mount - 2nd June

Continuing slight improvement in the trap this morning

Small Phoenix x 2

Shuttle-shaped Dart x 1

Garden Carpet x 1

Flame carpet x 1

Twenty-plume Moth x 1

White-shouldered House-moth x 1

Tachystola acroxantha x 3

Gracillaria syringella x 1

Gracillaria syringella

Ogden - 1st June

We went searching the known spots for Mother Shipton's this afternoon but failed...

No matter............

In the heath-land area we did find...

Green Hairstreaks 10+ though they took some searching for but eventually found a group chasing about and not staying in the billberry bushes for long. One pair were spiraling up and down above a short, stubby sycamore.

Silver Y x 1

Common Heath x 6

Small Copper x 1

Peacock x 1

Best shots I could get ...

Green Hairstreak - with a missing antenna

Silver Y

Small Copper

Earlier in the day Ringby Lane (up from the ski-slope above Boothtown) produced ..

Small Tortoiseshell x 10

Small White x 2

On the west slope of heather and bilberry

Common Heath x c20

Silver-ground Carpet x 1

Brimstone

Arrived home earlier today to find this beauty waiting for me by the door

Cold Edge

Female Black darter

Monday, 31 May 2021

Lee Mount - 1st June

Small Phoenix x 1

Light-brown Apple-moth x 1

Bee Moth x 1

Common Pug x 1

Rustic Shoulder-knot x 1 (much paler than the one here on 30th May)

Tachystola acroxantha x 1

Also a Cinnabar - yesterday afternoon in the local graveyard

Small Phoenix

Rustic Shoulder-knot

Bee Moth

Cromwell Botton 29th May

Green Carpet , Brown Silver Lines , Flame Shoulder , Mottled Pug , Common Pug , Silver Ground Carpet , Red Green Carpet , ,Garden Carpet , Heart and Dart , Peppered Moth , White Spotted Pug , V - Pug , Scalloped HAzel , Clouded Bordered Brindle , Square Spot Rustic , 20 Plume ,

Sunday, 30 May 2021

Lee Mount - 30th May

Update (30th May) from those below..

V-Pug x 1

Garden Carpet x 1

Agonopterix alstromeriana x 1

Agonopterix alstromeriana

V-Pug (quite faded)

Scalloped Hazel x 1 -f nigra

Rustic Shoulder-knot x 1 (only the fourth record for here)

Common Marbled Carpet x 1 (orange blaze)

Light-brown Apple-moth x 2

Brown House-moth x 1

White-spotted Pug x 1 (still checking this one)

Mottled Pug x 1 (TBC)

Rustic Shoulder-knot

Mottled Pug (TBC)
with upturned abdomen - is this a consistent feature?

Saturday, 29 May 2021

More butterflies today !

Sitting in the conservatory a Small Copper x 1 landed on a double daisy in a garden pot. Don't often get those in our garden.

Prompted by the Small Copper we took off up to Ploughcroft and the hill above Boothtown and Claremount on this sunny afternoon. We were not disappointed..

Wall x 2

Small Tortoiseshell x 20+

Record shots only but I'll see if they are good enough to post later !

Mixenden / Ogden golf course

Small Heath butterflies x 2 we're the first for the year on an area of close cropped turf and a nice

selection of ground cover flowers.

Plenty of Green-veined Whites (maybe 30+) especially at the lower end of the golf course in Carr's Beck along with a few Small Whites

and 20+ Orange-tips.

Just one Peacock and no sign of any Small Tortoiseshells.
I couldn't find any Green Hairstreaks in the heather / bilberry, just a couple of Common Heath moths.

Also from yesterday on Shroggs reclaimed landfill - looks like Bird-cherry Ermine are preparing to scoff the leaves in due course......

Friday, 28 May 2021

Lee Mount - 29th May

Just one moth in the trap this morning though I did expect a few more with it being so much warmer and overcast last night and a bright morning today !