Three new for the year!

 Not birds this time, but my first Forester and Latticed Heath moths and Common Lizard. The two moths are probably only just emerging now but the lizards will have been out since the spring, but I've only just managed to find one. All on Flash Lane this morning.

Forester

Latticed Heath

Common Lizard

Kites, moths and butterflies but no Red-foot

I went out early yesterday to look for a female Red-footed Falcon that had been seen on Saturday evening at Upper Loads. The Red-footed Falcon is a very rare visitor to Derbyshire last recorded on Beeley Moor in 1979! 
There was no sign of the falcon but a Red Kite put on a fantastic display over a recently mown silage field. It felt like it was almost flying close enough to touch at times as it slowly quartered the field. I'm sure this is set to become a much commoner sight in the future.

Red Kite

I've seen my first Forester moths of the spring at a new location on the Cathole as well as at the regular site on Flash Lane.

The Forester

The warm weather is good for butterflies and I have seen several Wall around the edge of the moor so hopefully they will have a good year.

Wall

Painted Ladies, Foresters and a mystery carcass

The recent influx of Painted Ladies has continued, I saw 5 last Saturday but over 20 today around Beeley Moor. They were most apparent on the newly replanted forest areas but I saw several crossing Beeley Moor in a southerly direction.
Many are very worn but some are in quite good condition which makes me wonder whether they have all travelled the same distance. Hundreds if not thousands have been reported from eastern and southern coastal sites so it's a very significant immigration.

Painted Lady

The first Forester Moths have emerged again on Flash Lane with at least a dozen seen today. I heard of other sightings in the Cromford and Ashover area so this is probably a fairly widely distributed moth on rough grassland which may have been overlooked in the past.

Forester Moth - male on right and smaller female on left

Walking in Whitesprings Plantation with Mel Hayes we came across the emaciated, headless corpse of a mustelid. We couldn't specifically identify the corpse which was about 35cm long, including the tail, but suspected it could be a young Polecat. There have been a few records of dead animals as road casualties in the area in recent years but I've yet to see a live one.

Possible Polecat corpse

The Forester moth - Flash Lane

In July 2014 Ken photographed a Forester moth at Stiches Plantation. I searched for it there immediately afterwards and again the following year without success. On Saturday Alan Stewardson contacted me to say he had seen at least two off Flash Lane so I went to have a look this morning and quickly located several feeding on clover and bird's-foot trefoil in the sunshine. I saw at least 7 in the immediate area but there is similar grassy habitat on Flash Lane and across to Sitches Plantation so it may be reasonably common in this area. 
In the Butterflies & Moths of Derbyshire Fred Harrison indicated that there were just two known colonies of the Forester in Derbyshire in the Moss Valley and at Unstone, although the latter is thought to have disappeared due to development. In 2006/2007 a colony was discovered near Ashover but this is clearly a scarce moth in Derbyshire and is reported to be in decline nationally as a result of agricultural intensification.

Forester Moth

Forester or Cistus Forester - Sitches Wood?

A couple of interesting photos of a forester moth taken by Ken at Sitches plantation on Thursday. There are two species of forester recorded in Derbyshire, the commonest is the Cistus which is found in the limestone dales and can often be seen in good numbers on Longstone Edge in May and June. The Forester is rarer with only a couple of historical locations known for the species both in NE Derbyshire but a new colony was reported near Ashover in 2006.
The larva of the Cistus Forester feed exclusively on Rock Rose, which is not a flower which is found on the gritstone moors whereas the Forester feeds on Common and Sheep's Sorrel which is much more widespread on both limestone and acidic grasslands. They are usually separated in the field on size, the Cistus Forester is a generally couple of mm smaller than Forester. I think given the habitat that The Forester is the more likely identification but either is a very interesting local record
I checked the area today without success in intermittent sunshine.

Forester or Cistus Forester Moth (c. Ken Smith)