Today in the sunshine and the brisk wind I glanced what I thought was a dragonfly at Caldene Fields. A closer look and I was right it was a Southern Hawker and it was egg laying! A fairly rare event to see one egg laying in late September.
The dragonfly was in excellent condition suggesting that it had hatched recently and appeared to be desperate to lay her eggs, which she did several times.
Firstly what a stunning pre dawn it was this morning just prior to starting my visible migration watch at Caldene Fields.
However, this soon changed to 100% white cloud which was great as this coincided with Meadow Pipits moving south in very good numbers. A total of 586 were recorded and in the first hour after dawn a party consisting of 64 was noted.
Their was a slight movement of Swallow 103 and Goldfinches 73 this morning over Caldene Fields moving to the west.
A Diamondbacked moth and a Parsnip moth was also at the site the latter been a second ever record.
Whilst neighbouring Wyke is not in our recording area it was interesting to receive a bird report from Phil: On the 14th Sept 24 Canada Geese flew right over roof flying towards Hell Fire Corner Wyke Lion direction.
15/9/16 4 Grey Wagtail, 2 Pied Wagtail, 83 Swallow South West, along with 12 House Martin, most seen at anyone time this year, 48 Black Headed Gull, North, in one V shaped group, 1 Willow Warbler in garden.
Today 16/9/16 I had 1 Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler in my garden so far, been a good year for Willow Warbler this year, photographed one which i picked up after flying into window. Flew off after a drink and a warm in my hand.
I’m sad to say it but early autumn is on it’s way..
And here’s the proof..an Autumnal Rustic found at Caldene Fields last night. But early autumn is a welcome time for me as it is the start of my visible migration observations from Caldene Fields and this morning 138 Meadow Pipits flew mainly to the south with a few moving to the west. Goldfinches seem to be moving early this year with counts of 87 on the 10th and a further 63 this morning which are reasonable counts for this time of the year. Two Common buzzards drifted to the west.
Found a 22-Spot Ladybird yesterday at Caldene Fields which is a new addition to my Ladybird species list. I am unsure of it’s status in our recording area at the moment this is due to how difficult it is to find due to it’s tiny size.
If anyone does find one in our recording area please let me know. Thank you.
Also of interest was finding another Heath Rustic moth again at Caldene Fields on 18/8
The reason is that this species of moth is associated with heathland and moorland and Raw Nook Nr which has a lowland heath habitat is adjacent to where the moth was caught. In addition the moth shows little signs of wear and it’ the 4th moth iv’e caught which strongly suggests the species may be breeding…and the site it’s just 3 miles from Bradford City centre!
Yes..sorry about this but I picked up an early sign of autumn this morning at Caldene Fields. I saw 5 Willow Warbler and a juvenile Common Whitethroat feeding in bushes. These are birds (mainly juveniles) that are starting to leave their breeding areas and are feeding up in preparation for autumn migration.
I the coming weeks keep an eye out in your gardens as birds like Chiffchaffs, Willow Warbler Blackcaps etc start to feed up to gain weight.
Any interesting local sightings please let me know.
Yes it’s celebration time on two fronts today with the news that last night I recorded a Ypsolopha sequella micro moth bringing the total of moths I have recorded in our area to 250..My research into our moth species will continue with work to do in Toad Holes Beck. And the second reason is the aberrant Gatekeeper has been identified as a possibly ab. albidus by UK Butterflies.
I went on a butterfly walk this afternoon at Raw Nook NR. As expected the numbers of all species were down however, I managed to find 10 different species but all in low numbers.
On the negative side I failed to find a single Small Tortoishell and Meadow Browns and Small White number were well down on what they should be at this time of the year. Only A single Common Blue male was observed which is worrying for the species.
Other species observed were Ringlet, Small & Large Skipper, Red Admiral, Large White, Speckled Wood and Gatekeeper.
Now for the positive…I was surveying the meadow area when I saw 2 Gatekeepers chasing each other but one was ‘ aberrations ‘ as below. At this stage I am not sure which aberration this one belongs to but I will update when I have further information. But at the end of the day a good find and something I have never seen before..
Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus
At last we are enjoying some warm sunshine and there has been a marked increase in moths and butterflies in our area. However, numbers are still down on previous years
First sighting yesterday of a Gatekeeper at Raw Nook NR. Also at the site were a minimum count of 22 Ringlet, 7 Meadow Brown and 5 Small white butterflies.
Narrow-bordered Five-spot burnet moths at Raw Nook NR. A red-barred Tortrix moth identified on the 21/7/16 at Caldene Fields brought my moth total to 248 for our recording area.
A Red Kite flew west over Tong on 20/7.
A single male Common Blue butterfly was found at Raw Nook NR today which is poor for this time of the year.
Can confirm that a pair of Linnets have successfully bred in our area juveniles on 10/7
26 Ringlet, 9 Meadow Brown butterflies, 17 Staw Dot and 2 Narrow-bordered Five spot Burnet moths seen at Raw Nook on 13/7. A Blackneck moth was caught at Caldene Fields on 11/7 a site first. I found a new Hoverfly for our area a Chrysotoxum festivum in and amongst 
the heather at Raw Nook Nr on the 30/6. This species is expanding it’s range north.
