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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!

 

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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+.

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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.

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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.

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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…

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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…

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Please email Martyn at mvi.priestley@blueyonder.co.uk.co.uk for further details

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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.

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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.

 

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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

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Small Heath doing well at the site!

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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

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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)

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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

 

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The Undertaker arrives at Caldene Fields…

I had a bit of a frightening experience this morning when I looked in the moth trap as a very large black beetle…the biggest I have seen in the UK…

It turn out to be a Black Sexton Beetle Nicrophorus humator. The Sexton beetles are the undertakers of the insect world and are large (20-30 mm)..

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There was a plus to all this as I found a new moth a Figure of Eighty f. fusca which was great news.

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Figure of Eighty

Butterflies are still been recorded in low numbers with only 3 Speckled Wood at Raw Nook Nr, 1 Green-veined White, and 2 Peacock at Caldene Fields.  On a more positive note it was nice to see that Bullfinches has bred at Toad Holes Beck and good numbers of juvenile Long tailed, Blue Tits and Goldfinches are busy feeding at the moment.

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Aren’t moths beautiful…

I have noticed an improvement in moth numbers at Caldene fields due to the ‘ slightly’ warmer temperature’s and cloudy nights but nearly all moths identified so far have been resident to our area.

Thinking of moths I still meet people who either don’t like these fascinating insects or are frightened of them!!…But to those people I would say ‘ What ever your views… no one can say how beautiful some of them are…

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Green Silver-lines a casual visitor to our area with 3 recorded to date

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Map -winged Swift

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Swifts fly in at night…

Found in the moth trap last night at Caldene Fields were 4 Common Swift (moths) 3 females + 1 Male which is a good count for the species.  Also in the pond at the site I found 4 Southern Hawker larvae/nymph. What is really interesting with this species is it is not uncommon to find the larvae/nymph or even see one emerging into a dragonfly. However, I have only ever seen one an adult and that was at Raw Nook Nr…so if anyone who sees an adult Southern Hawker in our recording area could you please let me know.  Thank you.

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Common Swift

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