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Winter is on it’s way!

Yesterday at Caldene fields two winter visitor had arrived into the UK from the Scandinavia area. A single Fieldfare and 3 Redwings were resting in a tree with a further 13 Redwings flew overhead. On the 14th of October a pair of Blackcaps and 2 Chiffchaffs were also at the site.

The other day an interesting fungi was found by Steve at the top end of Raw Nook LNR.

Sadly after much research the species (which I feel would have been a new species for the reserve) could not be correctly ID by only photographs.

A new species of moth was added to my moth list a Pearly Underwing which is a migrant to the UK and is not a common migrant in the Yorkshire area.

It is a rather drab species however, it’s hindwing is translucent.

Pearly Underwing

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Great Time for Fungi

If your interested or just like fungi Raw Nook LNR is the place to be right now.

There are a lot of fungi out at the moment and within the next two weeks more will appear.

Sadly I am not a fungi expert..in fact far from it so many go unidentified, although I’m OK with the more common ones like the lovely Amethyst Deceiver (opposite) which can be found in the large Oak patch at top of the site.

Another lovely fungi that is easy to find is the Pleated inkcap below.

Changing the subject to birds Redwings should start to arrive from mainly the N/E starting around mid October so keep a look out as well as moving flocks of high flying Pink-footed geese.

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Thinning out the Bogbean…

On Saturday it was our conservation’s group (Low Moor & Oakenshaw Conservation Group) workday.

For years we have watched the expanse of the Bogbean which is rapidly taking over the pond at Raw Nook LNR and have pondered over how best to tackle the problem.

However, Clare bought from our groups funds a number of pairs of waders to wade in and rake out some of the invasive Bogbean.

Perhaps it was fitting that weather was awful with heavy rain but we got in and tackled the job.

The uprooted Bogbean was raked and left on the side of the pond so any amphibians and insects could crawl back into the pond.

The job isn’t finished and will require a number of sessions over time but the aim is to reduce the Bogbean and plant additional native pond plants to encourage more bio-diversity to the pond.

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Sweeping up with the Oakenshaw Walking Group

This morning I escorted the Oakenshaw Walking Group around Raw Nook LNR & Toad Holes Beck.

However, the weather was coolish and dull so there were few butterflies about…

So I thought what about an ‘ insect sweep ‘ of the meadows at both sites

There were some eager volunteers ready to have a go with the art of sweeping with a net.

We didn’t find any new species but it was great fun and many had never done anything like it before.

The star of the show were 3 lovely Hairy Shieldbugs.

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Bad & Good News!!

Let’s start with the bad news first..we the Low Moor & Oakenshaw Conservation Group arrived at Raw Nook LNR on Saturday to do some conservation work.

We were greeted by this all this Litter!…So disheartening…So a message to those irresponsible people..PLEASE TAKE YOUR LITTER HOME WITH YOU. Rant over!!!

Now for the good news!

A lovely single Hemp Agrimony has appeared in the meadow at Raw Nook LNR and is a new species for the site.

The seed may have blown in from nearby Toad Holes Beck as the plant has recently established itself there.

There is a moth call True Lover’s Knot – Lycophotia porphyrea which is a moorland and Lowland heathland species.

I have recorded the moth a number of times at nearby Caldene fields and thought the moth may breed in the lowland heath habitat of Raw Nook.

However, today I used my sweep net on the Heather at RN and found a tiny caterpillar which I was unfamiliar with. Research revealed the caterpillar to be a True Lover’s Knot moth.

This is great news for the reserve as this proves this moorland and lowland heathland species is breeding on our reserve…

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Bumper year for the Butterflies…

The UK’s Butterflies are doing well at the moment due to the good weather and our recording area is no different.

Sightings of the once common Common Blue butterfly have been sparce in recent years however, this year two males were recorded at Low Moor Banks on 24/7 with a single male at Raw Nook LNR on 25/7 and another male at Toad Holes Beck on 31/7.

Small White butterflies have been seen in good numbers with a count of 21 ( minimum count) at toad Holes Beck on 25/7.

The Large White is normally recorded in single figures here. However, they are doing really well with a minimum count of 16 at Caldene fields on 25/7.

Number of Gatekeepers have been good at all our sites with many newly emerged butterflies noted.

The Peacock has not as yet shown any improvement in numbers although two were at Toad Holes Beck on 31/7.

A real surprise was a freshly emerged male Brimstone Butterfly at Toad Holes Beck on 31/7.

A good count of mainly newly emerged Speckled Wood butterflies were at Raw Nook LNR.

So all in all most butterflies species in our area appear to be having a good breeding season…Long may it continue.

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Excitement from Low Moor Banks

I recently went to Low Moor Banks to do some survey work.

The main work was to count butterfly/moth species as well as trying to find new species for the site.

It was whilst I was using a sweep net in the grassland that I found this instar (young) Long-winged or Short -winged Conehead which belongs the the Cricket family.

This is an exciting find for the site as it appears the species is breeding at the site. Because it is very difficult to separate the young Short and Long Coneheads I will submit the record to IRecord for clarification.

Eleven species of Butterfly were recorded with the Gatekeeper been most abundant. Two male Common Blue were observed feeding.

Ladybirds are having a good year with the sunny weather with an excellent count of 33, 7 spots noted and a minimum count of 6, 14 spot ladybird also noted.

The Dittander opposite ( Which is probably an escape ) is flourishing and expanding near the entrance to the site from Dealburn Road


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Smart! and Butterfly survey…

Our conservation group has been going for many years but finally we now have some smart tabards with the groups name on. So if you see us about stop and have a chat or join the group!

During this hot sunny weather I thought the 30/6 would be a good day to do a butterfly count survey in our recording area.

Nine species were found with the absence of the Speckled Wood

Over the sites Caldene fields, Raw Nook LNR and Toad Holes Beck the combined numbers were:

Ringlet+ 95. Meadow Brown =83. Small White =37. Small skipper =21. Large white =21. Small Tortoiseshell. =5. Comma = 2. Gatekeeper=2. Large Skipper=1.

Also noted was my fifth record of a Cream-Spot Ladybird at Raw Nook with a 7 Spot to it’s right in photo.

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Moth trapping session at Raw Nook LNR

On Friday night myself and my son-in law conducted a moth trapping and sweeping with a net session at Raw Nook LNR for about 2 hours.

24 species were record which is low but this was due to only a 2 hour session due to the rain. However, 9 new species were added to the Raw Nook LNR moth species list which is brilliant news. This list now stands at 179.

A new beetle for Raw Nook LNR was also found (attracted by the light). The beetle was a Colymbetes fuscus, a large water diving beetle and was found well away from the pond!

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