Lee Mount etc - 13th May

This morning - not  a lot...

Alder Moth x 1

Bee Moth x 4

Cinnabar x 1 (also one of these at Southowram - Long Lane mid afternoon.)

Foxglove Pug x 1

Alder Moth

Cinnabar

Also on High Brown Knoll today - lots of Common Heath mainly around the heather but the wind kept most other things out of sight other than Green Hairstreaks (20+) and then mostly around sheltered areas of bilberry. Its an area c 1400 ft but fabulous up there on a day like today.

Stainland.

 

1 X Small Phoenix this morning.

Small Phoenix. (more common form)

I'm posting this photo for those who may not be aware of this. There are two main forms of the moth. The one above, is the typical form. It has an unbroken dark band across the center. The other main form has brown and white lines connecting the top and bottom of the light coloured wing patterns.

To compare the other form to this one, see my post here on the 7th May 2025.

Ringstone Edge

Speckled Wood. I think this is a female, because Thomas and Lewington say that first brood females have larger yellow patches than males.

Lee Mount - 12th May

 Just a couple of nice moths this morning among a few others.

Buff Ermine

Knot Grass

Tachystola acroxantha x 4

Brindled Pug x 2

Common Pug x 1

Lee Mount - 11th May

 A big surprise this morning with what I knew was a new moth for me.

I thought at first, date and location, it would likely be Chamomile Shark however after checking the literature and some facts it made me think again as Shark apparently favours Honeysuckle and Red Campion, both present in the garden, the former currently flowering in profusion.

With thanks to CS and CHF assisting with identification as a Shark.

Also this morning one each White-pinion Spotted, Bee Moth, Heart and Dart, Small Phoenix and as yet an unidentified micro.

Tachystola acroxantha x 2, Twenty-plume Moth x 3 and Brindled Pug x 2

White-pinion Spotted

Stainland.

 I think this moth is a Spruce Carpet. If so, it's a first for me. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks to David for confirming my ID of this moth.

Spruce Carpet.

Ringstone Edge

Orange Tip female on Garlic Mustard

Stainland

 One Small Phoenix. 

It was in a difficult place to reach. I only managed an indifferent photo, it's not worth showing.

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