Buddleia

The White Buddleia in our hilltop garden is far more attractive to Butterflies than the Blue one only 10 feet away which has the odd Small Tortoisehell visit now and then, but the contrast is massive. The white one has has a max count this morning when I just checked 20 mins ago of

Small Tortoishell 10

Red Admiral 2

Peacock 2

Painted Lady 2

Speckled Wood 1

Wall 1

I cannot fit all the species in in one shot as its shot on my phone.

Ps the bush is only small as I only made and planted the garden this year with cuttings and seedlings.

Free Books

I am gradually closing down my book business and getting rid of surplus stock and have the following books free to anyone who wants them

Souths the caterpillars of the british moths vol 1 and 2

Tutts Practical Hints for the Field Lepidopterist

Just let me know an address and the books will be mailed out free of charge.

Copley Garden 10/9/21

 Put the trap out for a couple of hours last night, not a great deal of activity but some nice moths

Copper Underwing x8

Autumnal Rustic

Common Marbled Carpet

Dark Marbled Carpet

Large Yellow Underwing

Barred Sallow

Red Underwing

Thanks to Charlie and Anthony for help with the IDs 

Lee Mount - 8th September

 Usual fare with the Yellow and Copper Underwings agg. The latter with up to 15 on 6th after a re-count.

New ones today....

Autumnal Rustic x 1

True lover's Knot x 1 (looking  a bit ragged)

Vapourer x 1 fly-by several times late morning - wish it would just land in front of me !!

Gold Triangle resting on the leaf of  a garden plant but it was off before I could catch it on camera.

Also I just got the new 3rd Edition Field Guide but not had chance to have a good look at it just yet.

Carr Hall Lane, Stainland.

 I've not been able to get onto my emails, or Google blog for over two weeks. Also, I've been ill for eight weeks. I've still been photographing the moths we get here, when I could. I'll start putting them on my machine and the post them soon.

In the meantime, today I went for a walk down Carr Hall Lane to Robber Dodge. I counted 20 Speckled Wood, and one (!) Large White. It must be the year for Speckled Woods.

 Speckled Wood

Moth Trap Needed

Hi all, I'm moving to Luddenden Foot next week and the entire garden is decked over. So I thought the quickest way to attract moths would be to buy or borrow a moth trap (actinic?) - any help much appreciated.

Butterflies back......

Some hot sunny spells this last 2 days

Cold Edge a good show of Small Tortoiseshells yesterday (5th) with an occasional Peacock and Green-veined White.

Lee Mount - not a lot other than a Peacock and 2 Speckled Wood.

Carrs Beck and Hunter Hill this afternoon - 3 Walls (good to see there are still some about) and a single Small Heath. Also  a few Small Tortoiseshells, a Peacock, Green-veined White and a Small White

Not a lot doing with moths at home other than a max of 7 Copper Underwing agg and another Angle-striped Sallow this morning along with plenty Large Yellow Underwings still and a Small Phoenix etc...

Angle-striped Sallow

7th September

So hot today and started off well with at least 10 Wall butterflies along Ringby Lane. Included 5 together chasing each other around in spirals. Also 2 Small Coppers, a Red Admiral and a Peacock and a good show of Small Tortoiseshells.

Also found a couple of small nettle patches with a few Nettle-taps came flying around when I brushed past the nettles.

Lee Mount

Nothing too much out of the ordinary or expected this week. A Campion and 2 Small Phoenix on 30th August.

Still a good show of the various Yellow Underwings etc, Mouse Moth, Brimstone Moth and Garden Carpets (x 5 on 2nd September) with a Double-striped Pug this morning.

I suppose the best was this Centre-barred Sallow (2nd September)

Butterflies have gone very quiet this week with this dull weather - mainly just  a few Speckled Woods and a Green-veined White.

Cold Edge -9th August

 I keep going back to these photos and I still can't get my head round this one - any thoughts welcome.

Sat 4th 8.30pm Bat & Moth night.

 Saturday 4th September, CREATURES OF THE NIGHT.

We have a bat walk, with detectors, looking for Noctule, pipersrelle,and daubentons. 8.30pm at the cabin.

You never know what you may see, big juicy spiders, owls calling or watching you, or Mr Foxy running off.

On return to cabin after the Moth trap should be starting to simmer nicely. Hopefully with a few specimens already potted.

Start time for bat walk 8.30pm arrivals from about 8PM onwards.

Dont sit watching rubbish on T.V. - get out and get hands on.

Walk is round reserve, stout footwear, coats to suit evening, torch would be very useful.

We hope to see whoever then.

Lee Mount etc....

 Not a lot to report from the last few days.

Wall Brown butterflies still around with ones below from Cold Edge and Ringby Lane still at least up to 29th August

Wall

Not a lot doing with the moths in the recent cool evenings and northerly winds but a nice Campion this morning (30th )

Campion

Not a lot else other than 2 Small Phoenix, Large Yellow Underwings, Lesser Yellow Underwings, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Square-spot Rustics and 2 Mouse Moths.

Barred Sycamore Pygmy

Found this vacated Stigmella speciosa mine this morning near Spring Hall sport's ground. Not something you see every day😊

Soil Hill.....

So warm up there this afternoon - most unusual for that location.

Butterflies were the stars of the afternoon along Ned Hill Road and the track as well as on the top and by the mast but the best spot was on the north slope where Buddleia bushes, self seeded, were in full flower. I gave up counting Peacocks after I got up to 35.... also on the bushes were a few Red Admirals, Small Tortoiseshells, Small Coppers and 2 Wall Browns.

Wall Browns total was at least 10 over the whole site but there were probably more that I missed though generally they favoured the dusty tracks and bare area and of course the stone walls.

A few Green-veined Whites were also around and just one Meadow Brown

Moths included 

Yellow Shell x 1

Shaded Broad-bar x 2

Latticed Heath x 1

Also micros that I suspect were Udea lutealis though they were looking quite faded.

Latticed Heath

Yellow Shell

Beacon Hill

 Speckled Wood 2

Svensson's Copper Underwing

My sugaring post and butterfly feeder I posted about a couple of weeks back now has regular vistors butterflies, flies and wasps daytime and moths at night usualy on the sugar. Last night sitting out late sipping a beer or in the dark I thought I saw a moth hovering over the banannas in the tray and sure enough when I got the torch out I saw four moths of the same species feeding on the bananas. By the time I got the flash working on my phone two of the moths had flown off but dureing the course of the next 2 hours there were never less than 2 feeding. On netting one and checking it this morning I think its Svenssons Copper Underwing not Copper Underwing but I have since let if go as I have no interest in killing it just to satisfy my couriosity and even if I did it would only prove which species I dissected not what the others were. So as longer as Andy is okay I will record as copper underwing agg. The really interesting part of this sighting fore me was the fact they totally ingnored the sugar mix the whole time I was looking at them despite other species feeding on the sugar, the underwings only ever fed on Bananna and ignored the sugar and the scented plants below the feeder. I will try and look most nights now to see what takes bannanas in preference to the sugar mix.

Elephant Hawk Cats

The larvae of this species are all just about fully developed and almost reaady to pupate now. If you want to find some to rear through and over winter for next year they are at their easiest to find now and most decent sized patches of Rosebay Willowherb will have at least one larvae. The easiest way to find them is to pick a sunny late afternoon or very early evening whilst the sun is still hot and on finding your rosebay bend down/kneel and look upwards from below the plants and you will see any larvea present as a large silhouette near the top of the plant where they are getting some sun. I dont know wny they do this but it maybe they need to speed up and food digestion before they pupate. They wont be on the top of the leaves but hung under a leaf or hanging from a stem. Its easy enough to bag a few to rear through to pupation and overwinter in a shed out doors in a pot or tub filled with peat.

This is one I found out in the open so I suspect it could well have parasite"s" in it causing it to sit out in the open. One year I reared through some cats of this species and on opening the container they were overwintering in early spring to check on them an enormous ichneumon wasp flew out and scared the crap out of me :)

Lee Mount - 24th August

 Nineteen moth species in and around the trap this morning. Just three of note.

Centre-barred Sallow

Copper Underwing agg

Small Square-spot (Forewing 13mm)

Fly Flats this afternoon - 1 Black Darter and a Common Hawker - both appeared as the sun came out - briefly. Red Admiral, Peacock and 6 Green-veined Whites around at the north end of the reservoir. 

Also a dead mole. I turned it over and... hey ho .... c12 Sexton Beetles ran for cover.

Shibden Valley

 Cinnabar caterpillar on Ragwort

Swales Moor

 Ringby Lane this morning. With  the NE wind I went down the west slope where it was sheltered and very hot. A really good spot on the day for butterflies though others were along the track up to the top field.

Gatekeeper 

Small Copper

Totals

Wall x 7, Small White x 2, Small Tortoiseshell x 8, Small Copper x 7, Gatekeeper x 1, Peacock x 11, Red Admiral x 1

Also moths - Udea lutealis x 4 and Shaded Broad-bar x 2

I also got a message from Andy H with a Red Underwing on a wall at  Calderdale Business Park.but not yet  been able to transfer the photo/video from Andy. Thanks Andy. A great find. 

Slack Bottom

 Small Copper 2