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Recent sightings…

Well a bit of a negative to start with…

Female Kestrel has been at the watch point for the last few days.

A number of vis-mig (Bird visible migration) sites including my site at Low Moor are to date reporting a lack of numbers of migrating birds.

I am recording low number of common species like, Chaffinches, Greenfinches and Goldfinches as are Meadow Pipits for this time of the year .

The weather as we known pays a vital role in the migration of birds and at the moment the temperature is still relatively mild so finger crossed this may be a factor or is Global Warming a factor?

So yesterday over the watch point 3 Goosander and 2 Swallow flew south. A single party of 45 Siskin flew overhead also to the south.

I also flushed a Common Snipe which flew off high to the north.

This morning a single Swallow battled against the wind to the south and 2 Chiffchaffs and 2 Goldcrests here keeping me company at the watch point.

On my back home I called in at Raw Nook Nr to have a quick look for moth leaf mines.

It wasn’t long before I found a new species of micro moth larva for the reserve in an Oak leaf.

The larva is of the moth Tischeria ekebladella.

The good news about finding tenanted moth leaf mines is that I can prove the species is breeding at the site which is good news for the reserve.

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A brilliant time at Raw Nook nature activity day!

Well the day couldn’t have been better…

We ordered sunshine and that arrived we were hoping the next generation would attend and they arrived too.

The day had been organised by Sarah Goldsmith & her excellent team from the Yorkshire wildlife Trust.

We, the Low Moor & Oakenshaw Conservation group were helping out mainly with the planting…or so we thought!

I was also keeping an eye out for any wildlife that wanted to attend the event…And it wasn’t long before a late..ish Chiffchaff was in song nearby with a party of Canada geese moving low overhead.

The event started with a Herb Walk presented by Heather from the YWT which was really interesting and informative.

We learnt about the medicinal purposes of plants like the humble Dandelion and the Goose Grass ( that horrible sticky grass ) that actually makes a nice cup of tea!

The children were busy collecting all the herbs as they were looking forward to making the …Potions

They collected Dandelions, Comfrey for making garden feed and Ribwort Plantain and Docks for treating nettle strings.

Excited children with their potions that they had mixed themselves (Below)

It was then onto the planting which all the adults were looking forward to doing….Well at least planting a few plants!! However, the next generation had other ideas…They thankfully needed no encouragement as little legs were running about with plants and watering cans.

Peter Gurney YWT had brought a good number of Bird’s foot trefoil plants to plant in the meadow to try and attract back the once common, Common Blue butterfly.

So the day ended with the next generation been tried, having dirty hands and asking can we do it again!

JUST HOW IT SHOULD BE..

MANY THANKS TO ALL SARAH’S TEAM AT YWT FOR MAKING AND ORGANISING THIS WONDERFUL EVENT…

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Rose-ringed Parakeet

This morning at the watchpoint a Rose-ringed parakeet came in from the N and flew overhead to the south.

Also whilst this is an urban site with sedantary House Sparrows in the locality I have never recorded a HS at the watchpoint until today.

A female came in from the N and landed in a small nearby Hawthorn bush. It stayed in it’s resting postion for about 15 minutes before leaving and gaining height to the S. Calls of Meadow Pipits heard over head but few seen. An ‘Early’ flock of Wood pigeon to the S were deemed moving birds

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Peregrine falcon

This morning it was an early start at the Vis-mig ( visible migration) watch point. Migration in our area in early September is just starting and it’s always nice, like this morning to find the first moving Chaffinch of the autumn or the first Meadow Pipit as it moves south for the winter.

However, the the highlight this morning was a faint call…Peregrine. And sure enough a Peregrine Falcon was flying high moving N/E.

What was interesting was below the falcon was a group of BH gulls moving south. The falcon closed it’s wings and dived. However, the gulls had spotted the danger and scattered and the falcon swooped back up and carried on it’s journey.

A Common Whitethroat and 4 Chiffchaffs were grounded.

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We’re on the map…

You may remember the great news I had when I found this beetle (opposite) Ancistronycha abdominalis ( Blue Soldier Beetle) at Caldene fields on the 14/6/2021.

Because the beetle is uncommon I sent my observation to IRecords for clarification.

I have just received conformation from Michael Geiser NH Museum of IRecords that the sighting has been accepted!

According to the latest NBN Atles data there are only 209 UK records for this Beetle.

So this is an excellent record for our URBAN wildlife area.

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Celebration time…

I have been studying and recording moths at Caldene fields, Raw Nook NR and Toad Holes beck for well over 20 years. The data I have collected gives a good indication not only into the population trends of the moths in the recording area but of the health of our urban environment and other local ecosystems.

So it is celebration time, as the rather unaspiring adjacent Rush Veneer –Nomophila noctuella was my 400 hundredth moth species I have recorded in the above urban sites.

A quote from Butterfly Conservation on moths states:

  • Areas rich in moths are rich in other invertebrates. These collectively provide a wide range of environmental benefits, including pollination and natural pest control.
  • Moths and butterflies are an important element of the food chain and are prey for birds, bats and other insectivorous animals (for example, in Britain Blue Tits eat an estimated 50 billion moth caterpillars each year).

It will be interesting how many more moth species will be recorded over the coming years in our urban wildlife oasis.

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Beware of the Devil !!!

On Monday the 23/8 I did some survey work at the heather patch near the bridge at the top end of Raw Nook NR. I was netting to see if I could find any moths or other insects of interest.

I was on my hands and knees looking for a Mottled Grasshopper which I feel must be present on the site but as yet I have had no luck finding one!

However, I was suddenly aware of a large beetle (25mm to 28mm) moving towards my leg! I immediately jumped up as I thought it looked devilish big.

I had no idea what it was so I took some photo and did some research. It is a Devil’s coach horse beetle! a new species for the reserve. https://www.buglife.org.uk/bugs/bug-directory/devils-coach-horse/

Thankfully the pond at Raw Nook had a small amount of water in it…and it was like the old days!! with a female Southern Hawker egg laying, 3 Common Darter including a pair in the mating wheel and a stunning Emperor Dragonfly. Sadly though all the eggs will not survive as the pond will dry out and all will be lost.

Four Common Buzzards also drifted N over Caldene fields. This morning 3 juvenile Blackcaps were also at the fields and 13 Sand Martins were feeding over the Low Moor tip.

Talking of the autumn feel…starting to find more autumn moths like this lovely Sallow today at Caldene fields

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