Low Moor and Oakenshaw Wildlife

Yesterday I took a party from B.E.E.S on a nature walk around Raw Nook LNR. The weather was warm but very dull and I was a bit worried there would be few insects about to show and discuss with the group. However, I WAS IN FOR A SHOOK!

The weather did start to improve and with 3 young eager children, with good eyesight we started to find an array of wildlife, like Froglets, Grasshoppers and various bugs and beetles.

In fact one bug proved to be a site first (Cinnamon Bug )

The boys enjoyed counting the froglets and Toads both in the meadow and at the shrinking pond.

A total count of 33 froglets and 5 Toads was achieved.

Migrant Hawker dragonflies were about as well as a single Brown Hawker.

Butterflies then started to appear and a rather smart Painted Lady was in the meadow along side low numbers of Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns, Small Whites, single Ringlet, Holly Blue and Red Admiral and a female Common Blue which was really nice to see.

We then started to walk to the very top of Raw Nook LNR by the heather and found another two Painted Lady butterflies.

It was whilst walking in the area the Sue Dunn shouted ‘ What is this butterfly?

I looked in disbelieve as I SHOUTED IT’S A WALL BROWN!

The reason for the surprise was my last recoding of this butterfly which use to breed here was on the 24/6/2009…17 years ago

And there was even better news the butterfly looked as though it had just emerged so could well be breeding again at the site after all these years!

A Dewick’s Plusia – Macdunnoughia confusa moth was attracted to a NI Pheromone Lure at Caldene fields on the 25/7/26.

This rare moth is a migrant although numbers are increasing and there can be little doubt that it is now breeding in the south of Yorkshire.

My moth is showing little signs of wear whereas if it was a true migrant travelling many miles to get here I suspect it would be showing slight damage to it’s wings ect.

Also at Caldene fields I found a pair M+F of Common Blue butterflies which is slightly unusual in that I have never recorded them in that particular part of the fields.

It is pleasing to see that this year there is an abundance of their food plant the Bird’s foot trefoil so fingers crossed they breed.

Female Common Blue Butterfly

Given the abundance of Butterflies we have at the moment due to the hot dry weather, I thought I would do a Butterfly count today at Caldene fields.

The count was always going to be an undercount due to size of the site and movement of species.

Ten species were observed including Meadow Brown, Gatekeepers and Large Skippers which appeared to be everywhere, the final figures were:

Meadow Brown (183), Ringlet (56)

Gatekeeper (25) Large Skipper (36)

Small Skipper (47) Small White ( 11)

Large white ( 12) Small Tortoiseshell (3)

Painted Lady (1) Small Copper (1)

I’ve been going back through my moth records today to see just how many species I’ve logged over the years across our local patch — Caldene Fields, Raw Nook LNR and Toad Holes Beck here in Low Moor, Bradford.

The total so far stands at 510 moth species.

A recent migrant moth arrived, The Bordered Straw (Opposite)

At first glance you might compare that with the roughly 2,500 moth species found in the UK and think, “Well, that’s only about a fifth of the national total.”

But that comparison misses something important.

Our recording area is entirely urban — surrounded by industry, housing and fragmented pockets of green space. These are not sweeping nature reserves or untouched landscapes. They are the small, pressured habitats that cling on between roads, railways and development.

And yet, despite all that, these places support over five hundred species of moths.

That is something worth celebrating.

Moths are also powerful indicators of environmental health. Their diversity tells us how well our ecosystems are functioning, how rich our habitats are, and how much life is still thriving in the cracks and corners of our urban landscape.

Firstly I start with some news from Clare Stonehouse the chair of our conservation group. She was at Raw Nook LNR of the 29th of May when she saw a Kingfisher at the pond flying back and forth from the pond into Raw Nook. Now the Kingfisher does not breed in our recording area but this behaviour may suggest that it was feeding young!!

Now a few years ago I received a sighting of a pair at Oakenshaw Country Park…Has a pair bred there and been visiting Raw Nook ? If anyone has any recent sighting at either site please could you let me know. Thank you.

Now for the rarity..

On the 30th of May following a few days of southerly winds I found a strange moth in the moth trap that I was puzzled with.

I narrowed it down to two?

It turned out to be a rare migrant moth an Eastern bordered straw moth with only a few Yorkshire records!

What has happened is there has been a small influx from southern Europe that have arrived on the southerly winds and one has turn up in our recording area!!