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Stepping out on work day and sightings update…

Saturday saw our group the Low Moor & Oakenshaw conservation group tackling the broken steps that lead down to Toad Holes Beck.  It was a lovely hot sunny morning but thankfully the area was in the shade and in all fairness we had the work completed within an hour…

Recent sightings:

At Caldene fields a Holly blue butterfly 18/5 and 3 Common Buzzards moving N,  2 Swifts W and 4 Cinnabar moths on 20/5

TH Beck: 2 Eupeodes luniger ( Hoverflies), 1 Tenthredo livida (Sawfly) 7 singing male Blackcaps and 2 Orange tip butterflies

Eupeodes luniger

Tenthredo livida (Sawfly)

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A new moth species discovered but more importantly…

Today in the warm sunshine it was an idea day to do some moth survey work at the large patch of heather at Caldene fields where last year I found Aristotelia-ericinella a heathland species.  This heather is spreading and is almost becoming an extension of the adjacent lowland heath habitat at Raw Nook Nr which is excellent news.

Anyway whilst ( looking a bit daft on my hands and knees ) searching the heather I disturbed a number of micro moths but struggled to get a proper look to ID them however, I did find a Narrow-winged Pug which I have not recorded before.  But apart from it been a new species for our list it is a moth that like the Aristotelia ericenella is a heathland and moorland species.

Narrow-winged Pug ( sorry for poor photo )

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Sightings update…

The hot sunny weather has brought out a welcome array of butterflies.  At Caldene fields at least 2 Green-veined whites on the 5/5, 3 male Orange tips and 2 Speckled Woods on the 7/5 and a single Small Tortoiseshell was at Toad Holes Beck on the 7/5.

Speckled Wood enjoying the sunshine

A single Swift and a Common Buzzard flew W over the field on the 4/5.  A Tawny Owl was calling from Raw Nook Nr on the 6/5 and an interesting observation of a pair of Lapwing or which the male has been displaying was recorded on the 7/5

Male Lapwing

 

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Bullfinches…

This morning in our area I had excellent views of a pair of bullfinches nest building and with another 3 adults seen nearby the species is doing really well here.  There were no new migrants in apart from a House Martin on nearby Common Road.  A pair of Linnets were observed at the top end of Toad Holes Beck showing signs of courtship..

Male Linnet

Herring Gulls are still in the area with 4 at Caldene fields and I think the female Ring-necked Parakeet which spent the winter in our area may have found a mate as she has not been seen now for over 2 weeks.  A Common Green Shieldbug was at Caldene field first spring record this year.

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Goldcrests have one thing on their minds…

Great news today I observed a pair of Goldcrest at last years nest site at Toad Hole Beck.  The male was in full song and chasing the female around…fingers crossed.

Female Goldcrest

However, I didn’t hear or see yesterdays Lesser Whitethroat so I will have to wait and see…Good news however, from the Coots a pair has bred, 4 chicks observed

No news migrants were recorded.

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Lesser Whitethroat and updates…

A male Lesser Whitethroat was in song at Toad Holes Beck this morning.  Interestingly a male can usually be found at the site in song on this date…The species use to breed but not any more but each year I hope a passage male will attract a female and well you know the rest…

A migrant count included:

Blackcap: 1 Caldene Fields, 2 Raw Nook Nr, 5 Toad Holes Beck.

Willow Warbler: 2 Raw Nook Nr.  No birds in at TH Beck as yet

Chiffchaff: 2 Raw Nook nr, 6 TH Beck

Swallow: 2 Caldene fields on 24/4/18

Following on from my sighting of a male Brimstone butterfly at TH Beck,  Clare of the Low Moor & Oakenshaw conservation group saw a further 2 around TH Beck on the 18/4…

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Little Ringed Plover…

This morning I should have been doing a workday for our group but I completely forgot….nothing to do with age…

However, it’s strange how things work out as I did a visible migration watch at Caldene fields and found a Swallow moving N and Meadow Pipits continued moving back N with 41 recorded.  The big surprise was a calling Little Ringed Plover which moved W this is only my second ever record for the species.

Interestingly the last sighting was in the late seventies when a pair bred and laid eggs which were sadly predated.

 

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The sun come out at last and a surprise at Raw nook Nr…

Yesterday I met up with Freddie from Oakenshaw who is keen to learn about general wildlife.  The theme was to find and learn about spring migrants both from descriptions and song as well trying to see 30 different species of birds…The first signs were excellent as the sun was shining but there was a northerly wind which is not conducive to assisting spring migrants.

We first walked into Toad Holes Beck and quickly heard and saw our first two Chiffchaffs of the spring.  At Caldene fields two Herring gulls have been feeding at the site for about the last week which is unusual but they were absent, but a Lapwing (possible male) was seen again.  Another Chiffchaff was in full song at Raw Nook Nr. and as we walked on the main path we had a bit of a surprise as we flushed a Woodcock! my first ever spring record for the site!  I just wonder if all the work we have been doing at the site has encourage a Woodcock to have a look at the site for possible breeding.

So we had seen our first spring migrant and the species list stood at 30.  However, on my back I added House Sparrow and Common Buzzard which drifted north over TH Beck which brought the total to a respectful 32 species seen or heard.

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Project results in and analysed…

In October of last year I was asked if I would like to help set up a project for Freddie Downs so he could gain a bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

The project I came up with was ‘Monitoring Wildfowl movements at Toad Holes Beck’.  The project ran from October 17 through to March 18 and would give an insight into a number of ecological question like do Coots and Moorhens leave the our ponds in winter ? and from a conservation point of view which of the three pond attracts the most species?

Methodology:  Freddie firstly set up a Excel spreadsheet.  We met weekly at about the same time and Freddie noted all wildfowl we had seen then inputted the data onto the spreadsheet, noting the date, time, weather and temperature.

Freddie gained his award and I have now analysed his data although the findings are not definitive ( due to only one years observations ) the project has gone very well and has partly answering some ecological and conservation questions.  Underlined are the main points of interest.

  • Middle pond is most attractive to wildfowl, followed by the bottom pond then the large top pond
  • Coot: From October up to early December 5-6 regularly recorded.  Then numbers dropped in mid-winter till March to around 2-3.  This suggests the birds that left were young birds hatched in 2017 and left their parents territories.  The adult birds that remained did not leave their territories even during the harsh winter weather
  • Mallard: Consistent low numbers were recorded apart from a record count of 10 on 16/12/17. Also recorded on this date were Gadwall and a Water Rail suggesting a movement of birds into our area.
  • Moorhen: In the late autumn early winter up to 8 were regularly recorded.  Then like the Coot numbers dropped slightly as young birds left their territories.  Feeding behaviour changed for the remaining birds as the winter progressed as more birds were observed feeding on land rather than in the ponds
  • A pair of Gadwall an uncommon duck in the Bradford area was recorded twice in October.
  • The only sighting of Goosander was on 22/10/2017 and were deemed as passage birds.
  • It was noted that after very heavy rain fewer ducks were recorded suggesting birds moved on as their food supply became harder to find due to raised water levels.
  • During the counting periods other birds associated with water were recorded. A Water Rail observed on 4 dates at the middle pond. An influx of Pink-footed geese were noted flying north on the 6th and 13th of January 2018 and a Grey Heron was regularly noted feeding at the middle and the bottom pond.
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