What a beautiful morning! I thought as I worked the patch today. Blackcaps, Willow warbler and Chiffchaffs were all in song as well as local birds. But like the last few days other that that no Whitethroat Sp were singing and to be fair not that much was about. Although a pair of Grey Wagtails at Caldene Fields and some lovely spring flowers did brighten things up.
At last a few moths…
As I have said before spring moths and butterflies are in short supply due to the cool weather. However, there was a ‘slight’ improvement overnight and a small number of usual moths were caught and logged these were : 1 Heart and Dart, I Shuttle-Shaped Dart, 1 White Ermine and 2 small-Square Spot
New website and updates…
Welcome to my new updated website, which should be more user friendly. However it is still work in progress.
Updates:
A juvenile Grey Wagtail was at Caldene Fields on 20/8 which suggests local breeding as a pair have been seen on a number of occasions.
You may have noticed given the recent warm muggy nights an increase in large moths which show a yellow underwing as they fly away. These are Large Yellow Underwings and on the 21/8 I had a record count of 204 LYU at Caldene fields. Also at the site I found 2 new species of marco moth a Dusky Thorn and a Double Lobed this brings the total of moths for the site to 196.
The first signs of migration were noted at Caldene Fields on the 22/8 with 7 Swallows moving west and a juvenile Common Whitethroat feeding (which has probably come from the Old Low Moor Tip site where breeding has taken place).
A kingfisher was at Toad Hole Beck also on the 22/8 which is a very early date as it is usually early winter before the species appears.
A healthy feeding flock of 36 Goldfinches including many juveniles were at Caldene Fields also on 22/8
Mystery Raptor…
On the 8th of August at 06.50 I had a Raptor flying very high and moving north over Caldene fields. I only viewed the bird through bins and due to distance I could see no plumage features. However, I took down as many flight features and jizz of the bird as I could. Which were Buzzard size with a slower more powerful deeper wing beat than Common buzzard and it would prolong a glide with a couple of deep wing beats, it soared on flat wings for a couple of seconds with a longish tail.
In my opinion the bird was NOT a Common buzzard and from jizz had a look of a Honey Buzzard!!!. Sadly from seeing no plumage features and only jizz to go on the sighting will have to go into the ‘ One that got away drawer’
Why Oh Why didn’t I have my camera with me….A lesson is learnt!
Siskins and Linnets…
Nationally there has been good movement of Siskins and today I picked up 4 at Raw Nook NR feeding in a Silver birch which is a bit of an early record for me.
Also the good news is that I found 11 Linnet feeding with Goldfinches at Caldene Fields which have been here now for a number of weeks. At least 2 of the birds were juveniles and were being fed by adults. This suggests local breeding but I’m not sure where. The Linnet was once a common breeding bird here and back in the early eighties is was not uncommon to have feeding flocks of 70+.
Linnets on a dead Elder at Caldene Fields.
Also it appears the Collard Dove has had a good breeding season with 15 birds noted at Caldene Fields.
Public moth night update…
The public moth night unfortunately didn’t produce any new moths for the recording area but it still was great fun… 26 different species were identified of which 13 were new species for Raw Nook NR. This brings the total to 49 identified and logged moths in 2 moth trapping sessions at the site. There were a number of highlights including a minimum count of 13 Clouded borders that seemed to be everywhere… and two Buff Footman were caught and both were freshly emerged suggesting the species may be breeding at the site and more abundant than I first thought.
Buff Footman
Perhaps the star of the show though was this beautiful Swallow-tailed moth (below)which for some reason took a liking to my jumper and stayed with me for about half an hour…
Moth night update…
I am running a public Moth Event on Saturday the 1st of August 2015 from 21.30 – 01.00
at Raw Nook Nr ( Railway Terrace Nature Reserve ) Low Moor
Everyone welcome, ( even if you only stop for 30 minutes…)
Learn about these fascinating insects, how a moth trap works and how to attract moths to your garden
I may even share MY Special mixture! for attracting them…
Please email Martyn at mvi.priestley@blueyonder.co.uk.co.uk for further details
Butterfly survey…
Today in the warm sunshine I carried out a butterfly survey at Toad Holes Beck. The counts will be under recorded due to some areas not walked through due to tall thistles and grasses.
Nine species were recorded. Starting with the negatives…No Common blues or Small Whites were recorded, low numbers of Speckled Wood and only 1 Large White was observed. On the positive side I had a record count of Ringlets, a very good count of Large Skippers and a good count of Small Skipper.
A pair of Meadow Browns mating
Species and Counts: Small Skipper Total=23, Large Skipper Total=21, Ringlet Total=139, Meadow Brown Total=44, Speckled Wood Total=4, Comma Total=2, Red Admiral Total=1
Large White Total=1, Small Tortoiseshell Total=16.
An Emperor Dragonfly was feeding at the larger pond at the site.
Lesser Whitethroat suspected breeding…
The low Moor & Oakenshaw Conservation group and myself has been involved in a site just S/W of Raw Nook Nr at Low Moor which used to be the old Low Moor tip. This site now forms part of the Greenway and is situated off Dealburn Road opposite the Recycling plant. It’s official name I believe is Dealburn Woodland walk.
Anyway I believe this site has a vast potential for wildlife. In May this year I found a Lesser Whitethroat in song. The next time I managed to visit was July the bird was in the same location. Yesterday I visited and the bird was still there. The breeding habitat is excellent for species and I have put the record down as ‘ Suspected breeding ‘ which is great news for a species that is now uncommon in the Bradford area.
Also I discovered 2 year ago that the site held Small Heath butterflies, a species I have not recorded on my nearby local patch. Yesterday I found 4 Small Heaths 1 slightly worn the others were fresh
Small Heath doing well at the site!
Public Moth Event…
Whilst most of my moth recording data is from Caldene Fields I have always wondered what species frequent the adjacent areas of Raw Nook Nr and Toad Holes Beck. Well last night I had a trial run at Raw Nook Nr to find out. We recorded with a 15 watt trap from 22.30 till 00.45
I The moth trap at Raw Nook Nr
Earlier in the day I made up some of my magic formula consisting of over rip fruit, dark sugar and red wine!!. We pasted some of this on some nearby trees to attract the moths to feed and then I could identify and then record them. Perhaps some may think I have lost my marbles…but it was great fun as we were full of anticipation as we went from tree to tree wondering what we may find…
My work will build up a better understanding of the moths that live and breed in the Lowland heath habitat of Raw Nook Nr and also their movements within our recording area.
24 species were recorded of which 3 have not been observed before in our recording area. These were Peach Blossom, Mottled Beauty,and Shoulder-striped Wainscot(bottom)
WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO SOMETHING A BIT DIFFERENT?
WOULD LIKE TO BE OUTSIDE IN THE DARK WITH YOUR TORCH ON A WARM SUMMERS EVENING ?
WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN ABOUT THESE FASCINATING INSECTS ?
WELL COME AND JOIN ME…
I AM GOING TO BE RUNNING A PUBLIC MOTH NIGHT EVENT AT RAW NOOK NR
FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE EVENT AND DATES WILL RELEASED SHORTLY
