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New Plant Species added to the list…

Yesterday at the dried up pond at Raw Nook NR I noticed a lovely pinkish flower growing amongst the sedges.

Now I was aware that our colleagues at the YWT had planted some native species at Toad Holes Beck but I believe that this beauty which is a Purple Loosestrife has found it’s way to our reserve by nature’s own methods.

So the Purple Loosestrife is a new species for my records for the site.

I then walked into nearby TH Beck with the intention of viewing the area on the right hand side opposite the smaller pond where last year some native species were planted.

However, just as I was approaching I saw a lovely Emperor Dragonfly patrolling an area of meadow and catching insects on the wing.

When I got to the area I saw a Small Copper butterfly alighting from a lovely Hemp agrimony plant. A further search revealed a further four plants.

Nearer to the path is the now well established Common fleabane which has really developed.

Now both of these plants have been planted by the YWT which is great news. However, both have never been recorded on the site before.

So with conservation in mind I have added both new species to the TH Beck plant species list as new finds.

Well if it help to protect the site….

I also found a further single Purple Loosestrife Sp on the other side of the path near to the pond which was again a new species!

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News from Low Moor Banks…

On Saturday we had our conservation work day at Raw Nook NR. Bill one of our groups members is a regular walker at nearby Low Moor Banks.

He told me that last week he met a dog walker who stated that he had seen a Roe deer stood in the long grass at the site.

However, as he walked on the path and closer to the deer it didn’t move. Then suddenly the deer started to trot away and by it’s side was a young fawn!!. Suggesting breeding somewhere in Low Moor/Oakenshaw area.

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Barn Owl alert

I have received a report of a Barn Owl/s around the Spen valley greenway…

The last time I saw a Barn Owl near to our recording area was about 5 years ago at East Bierley.

I would be very interested if anyone has any other sightings or information of Barn Owls in that area.

Any information received will not be put on social media.

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Seeing Red at Caldene fields…

Yesterday I got a real surprise!.

I had put the moth trap out and there was nothing exciting to be found.

But after recording all the species I decided to have a closer look in the area directly where the moth trap was set.

And I found this stunner…. a Red Underwing resting on a fence.

It had it’s wings closed so I carefully encouraged it into a glass jar and as it woke it gave me a reason why the moth is called the RED Underwing.

This is my third record with the first one been at Raw Nook NR when one fed from a sugar and alcohol mixture I had placed on a tree.

A juvenile Common Buzzard appear yesterday low over Caldene fields only to land in a Hawthorn tree. The good news here is that it was probably a local bred bird ( May be from Birkenshaw/Tong area)

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Three come at once!

I was filled with anticipation on the hot tropical night on the 19th of July, with an overnight temperature of 23c!. I knew because of the weather it was going to be a special night for attracting moths here at Caldene fields. And yes it was!!! However, it was the Ladybirds that stole the show with 3 new species recorded and all in the moth trap!. This brings my Ladybird species list for our recording area to a respectable 11 species.

Eyed Ladybird

Cream streaked ladybird

18 Spot Ladybird
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News updates…

On Saturday it was the Low Moor & Oakenshaw conservation groups work day or should I say morning as it was very hot!

We were tackling the spreading Himalayan Balsam at Toad Holes Beck and thankfully we found an area that was in the shade!

As well as clearing some of the Balsam we trimmed the Bramble from the footpath leading up to the large pond.

There is however, a heart warming tale to tell. It started as my wife and I were walking to the event. We noticed a Robin on a small tree and I thought it strange that it didn’t move despite been a few feet away from it.

It was at this point we met Richard who explained he has put food down and feeds the Robins and has done so for the last 3 years! He explained ‘ They wait for us and follow us up the path and then come down and feed.

And sure enough within a second and at our feet the Robin came down and had it’s breakfast….Brilliant Richard!!! well done

Some wildlife sighting now. There was a Noctule bat feeding early evening at Caldene fields on the 12/7 and although the pond has dried out an Emperor Dragonfly and 3 Brown Hawkers were showing well at Raw Nook NR on the 14/7.

The best sighting though was on the 16/7 when I saw a Hummingbird hawk-moth at Caldene fields. There has been an excellent influx’s of these lovely moths from Southern Europe this year. Every year there are reports of a Humming bird feeding in UK gardens….These sightings are of the Hummingbird hawk-moth. So if you have Red Valerian in your garden you may be lucky!!!. Happy to receive any sightings of this moth in our area. Thank you

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/moths/hummingbird-hawk-moth

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Good and bad news from Low Moor Banks

Today I spent a couple of hours surveying the site mainly counting butterfly species and day time flying moths.

So the good news I found a lovely Clouded Border moth (opposite) which is a new species for the site.

At the bottom of the site I stumbled across two Perforate St John’s-wort which again have not been recorded before at the site.

I had a excellent minimum count of the Ringlet butterfly…127! a site record. However, hopefully it was just the cooler weather but I recorded only 4 species of butterfly, and not a single White butterfly.

The other concern were very low numbers of Six spot burnet moth which is normally very common at the site. However, I counted a minimum of 47 Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet many in the mating position.

I visited the orchid area but could only find the 2 original Bee Orchids which are now not looking their best.

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Lunar Hornet Moth found at T H Beck…

Yesterday I took my Lunar Hornet Moth pheromone lure to Raw Nook NR and hung it up by the bench in the meadow area. The reason I placed it there is that the uncommon LH Moth likes Sallows and Goat Willow habitat and last year I attracted a male moth at that location.

I only had to wait about 10 minutes before a male was attracted to the scent of the female within the pheromone lure.

Now last year I tried it at T H Beck with no luck. So I thought I would give it another go.

I hung the lure by the large pond with lots of mature goat Willows.

Well with about 2 minutes a rather frisky male was around the lure…A brilliant record for the site. I now know that the species is at RN nr, THB and nearby Low Moor Banks.

It is now thought in the moth circles that because of the Lunar Hornet Moth pheromone lure this moth may not be as uncommon as first thought as a good number of records are now turning up.

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New species found at the YWT family fun day

Sarah explaining to some excited children the day’s events

Well I have just about recovered from the family day and ‘ALL’ night event with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

Sarah Goldsmith, Peter Gurney and their excellent team put on the event and with so many experts on hand I knew new species would be found for the reserve.

My main role along with Peter and Simon was finding new moth species with the aid of a sweep net and moth traps.

However, the event got off to a great start with Peter finding some Betony in the wildflower meadow, which is a new species for the reserve.


Peter and his team shaking the trees to catch and identify the fallen insects.

As always the pond dipping at Toad Holes Beck was very popular and encouragingly many Smooth newt tadpoles were found.

Time just seemed to fly by as it was soon time for the bat walk when Peter lent all the excited children their own bat detector! Four Common pipistrelle were at RN and at Toad Holes Beck six Noctule bats put on a fabulous display in the early twilight.

At 3.30am myself and Simon had an excellent experience at Caldene fields when we were near surrounded by a minimum of 9 Common pipistrelle bats feeding ‘ Inches ‘ above our heads!!

Then it was the turn to see how the moths had faired. However, sadly the night was cool and a total of only 31 species were recorded. However, 9 were new species for the reserve including 3 which are new for our recording area bringing my overall total to 411 species.

Heart warming to hear a child say I love moths…The stunning Elephant Hawkmoth…..

An adult Hedgehog was in the meadow at Raw Nook NR ( A welcome sighting) and 2 Wood mice were also recorded.

Apart from the new moth species for the reserve, 2 new plant species were recorded ( Including Wood Sage ha..ha Peter), and we now know Hedgehog and Wood mouse use the reserve. A new Hoverfly species was added to the species list and we also know that there is a healthy population of Noctule bats at T H Beck.

So I have to thank wholeheartedly Sarah Goldsmith, Peter Gurney and all other members of YWT team for staging this excellent unforgettable event!!!

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