Chatsworth - River Derwent

After the heavy rain last night the River Derwent was carrying a lot of water this morning. None of the rocks were visible below the wear, few birds though, a party of Crossbill, several well grown broods of Mandarin and a single Kingfisher by the Sand Martin colony.

River Derwent at Chatsworth

More Common Lizards

Checking the walls around the edge of the moor this morning with Ken and Mel Hayes produced around 9 Common Lizard. The middle photo looks like a pregnant female and the lower lizard has shed its tail which they are able to regrow.

Common Lizard

Waved Black - Darley Dale

Simon has done it again with his 5th record of Waved Black in 11 years. The population appears very local to Simon as I have never caught it despite trapping most of the nights when Simon has caught them, and only being approximately a kilometre away. 
We have previously speculated that there could be an established colony in the wood yard close to where Simon lives. How, or when, they became established there is anyone's guess but Simon has confirmed that wood is imported from France.
It has a status of Nationally Scarce B which means there are records from 31-100 10km squares in GB since 1980.

Waved Black (Simon Roddis)

Waved Black records from the NBN Gateway

Common Hawker

This male Common Hawker catches the sunlight as it crosses the black waters of the pool in Wragg's Quarry. Fortunately the water level is now largely replenished following the heavy rain earlier in the week.

Common Hawker

Pinion-streaked Snout

An occasional visitor to the garden and generally scarce in Derbyshire this Pinion-streaked Snout trapped last night is only about 12mm long and is easily overlooked or can be mistaken for a 'micro' moth. I also caught Large Twin-spot Carpet which has become an annual visitor in the last few years.

Pinion-streaked Snout

July Highflyer

A common moth at this time of the year, particularly on the moor, the July Highflyer is highly variable going from a very dark solid green to various shades producing some quite striking patterns and colours.

July Highflyer

Mottled Rustic

Not the most striking of moths but a good catch for me, the Mottled Rustic is much commoner in the south of the county.

Mottled Rustic

Leopard Moth

Surprisingly I caught the only moth which is likely to be confused with the Puss Moth, the Leopard Moth, at home last night. This is a scarce moth locally and is generally only thinly distributed across its range which extends only as far north as Yorkshire and Cheshire. Also caught White Satin Moth another scarce moth locally.

Leopard Moth

Puss Moth - Beeley Moor

With near perfect conditions for moth trapping I spent another evening on Beeley Moor with Brian Statham. It was a little disappointing for variety but good numbers of moths flying including over 500 True Lover's Knot. New for the year were this fine Puss Moth, Knot Grass and Small Elephant Hawkmoth.

Puss Moth

Eucosma campoliliana - Beeley Moor

Another striking black and white micro Eucosma campoliliana it has been given the English name Marbled Bell, which is easier to remember, and is probably fairly widespread in the area it feeds on Ragwort. Caught last night.

Eucosma campoliliana

July Belle - Beeley Moor

Despite a stiff breeze an evening moth trapping on Beeley Moor with Brian Statham produced some good results with the July Belle the first I have caught on the moor although I have caught it in good numbers on Longstone Edge. Other moths of note were at least 5 Black-neck which is a new location for this species, Northern Eggar, Garden Tiger, Scarce Silver Y, 2 Gold Spangle and several Ling Pug.

July Belle

Dingy Shell

I have only caught the Dingy Shell a couple of times in the last decade at home, it is easily overlooked and does not appear to be particularly attracted to light. The food plant is Alder which borders the river along much of the river bank locally so is probably commoner than my records suggest. This individual was found in the garden yesterday, it has an unusual resting position with the wings firmly closed and raised over the thorax/abdomen.

Dingy Shell

Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet

The Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet is very much in evidence around the moorland edges at the moment. Flashes of scarlet can be seen almost anywhere around the moor. The upper photo shows the empty cocoon with the remains of the larval skin. Almost as soon as a female emerges, and sometimes before, the males arrive to start the mating for the next generation.
The flight shot shows the narrow dark border to the hind wing which gives the moth its name, the hindwing of the Five-spot Burnet, which is only found in the south of the country, looks very similar however.

Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet

Golden-ringed Dragonfly - East Moor

The current spell of good weather is not just good for butterflies and moths it's also ideal weather for dragonflies. I set out this morning is search of one of Derbyshire's rarest and most striking species the Golden-ringed Dragonfly. It favours fast flowing acidic moorland streams and despite its appearance is probably under recorded on some of Derbyshire's more remote moorlands.
Unfortunately it was quite cloudy until mid-morning but once the sun came out I finally found two individuals on a moorland stream. This male spent almost all the time I was there hanging off a nettle so would be very easily overlooked.

Golden-ringed Dragonfly - male

Brown Argus - Lathkill Dale

Good numbers of Brown Argus flying in the sunshine today, they are already looking a bit worn.

Brown Argus