Low Moor and Oakenshaw Wildlife

On Wednesday I decided to do a butterfly count at Caldene fields and Raw Nook NR.

The weather was fairly warm with sunny periods.

I managed 10 different species but sadly all were in low numbers.

Hopefully the weather affected the numbers of butterflies but there was one winner with a second brood of 5 Holly Blues recorded.

I couldn’t find a single Small Tortoiseshell which is concerning at this time of the year or a Common Blue in the meadow at Raw Nook.

The Comma did OK with 3 at Caldene fields and Speckled Wood numbers were down at Raw Nook NR with only 4 counted.

On Saturday we had our work morning down at Toad Holes Beck.

The forecast was for rain and it was warm and humid.

We had noticed that the vegetation was encroaching onto the paths, so the plan was to cut back where necessary.

Thankfully we had done the majority of the work before the heaven’s opened!

On a different note I seem to be having a bit of a purple patch with finding new species of moths for our recording area.

Firstly I found a leaf mine of Stigmella nylandriella on a Rowan tree at Raw Nook NR on the 10/7 and then on 12/7 I found a Gypsonoma oppressana which has a status of ”Rare and very local resident” ( Yorkshire Moths) at Caldene fields.

Now what is really important about this latter sighting is that it’s food plant are Poplar tree species.

The only Poplar trees are in nearby Toad Holes Beck not only showing the correlation of biodiversity between all the 3 sites in Low Moor but as well the species may well be breeding there.

A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine caught a Red-Tipped Clearwing moth at Rodley Leeds.

Hmm! not that far from my patch so I bought a Pheromone lure for the moth to see if it was in suitable habitat at Raw Nook NR.

I placed the lure yesterday near to the pond area and left it for about 4 hours.

When I came back two males were it the trap proving the species is in Raw Nook NR and also possibly breeding. The moths were photographed and released unharmed.

Then as the evening was warn and sunny I thought I would see if I could find a Purple Hairstreak butterfly in the large Oaks further up the site. I have suspected for years they must be there but could never prove it.

My luck was in when I saw three males through my binoculars high up in the trees. This is a new species for our recording area bringing the number of species recorded to 22.

I won’t forget this morning!

The sun was shining and skies were blue and I was just starting to record the moths caught in the moth trap.

There was nothing special at first then I came across what I first thought was a Dusky Brocade but it just wasn’t right.

Anyway further research showed the moth to be a Light Brocade Lacanobia w-latinum.

Now comes the excitement… as the moth is RARE!

It’s status in Yorkshire is described as ‘Very rare or migrant/wanderer.

The species is mainly southern so it maybe a rare migrant that has moved due to the weather patterns we are having at the moment. Either way this is an excellent record for our recording area and to state ‘ I am over the moon…Well is just an under statement!