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| July Highflyer |
Thursday, 30 June 2011
Last night's catch
Whilst on Beeley Moor last night I picked up this striking example of the very varable July Highflyer. The trap at home produced Grey Arches and Single Dotted Wave otherwise numbers were low with current temperatures.
Three new additions to the year list
Added Plain Golden Y, Scalloped Oak and the Pyralid Udea prunalis on Tuesday night at home. All are regular visitors but good to add to the year list.
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| Scalloped Oak |
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Via Gellia 25/06 - Pseudargyrotoza conwagana
Two micro's from the Via Gellia last week; Agapeta hamana and Pseudargyrotoza conwagana.
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| Pseudargyrotoza conwagana |
Flash Lane - Beautiful Snout
Got set up on Flash Lane with Brian Statham just as the rain started around 9:30pm and had to move to a more sheltered spot before abandoning at 10:30. However, the low number of moths was more than compensated by the inclusion of both Beautiful Snout 2 and Welsh Wave. The Beautiful Snout was first recorded in Derbyshire on the S. Yorks border in 2000 but is now firmly established around Beeley Moor.
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| Beautiful Snout |
Monday, 27 June 2011
Dark Spectacle
Relatively common in parts of Derbyshire the Dark Spectacle is a rarity in the Peak District and this is my first for the garden. Also had the first Small Elephant Hawk-moth of the year in the garden trap.
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| Dark Spectacle |
Beeley Moor - Small Argent & Sable
Spent the evening on Beeley Moor with Brian Statham, the wind had dropped significantly and it was still very warm (22 Centigrade). Surprisingly most of the activity was away from the traps with the Billberry bushes and Cow Parsley hosting a variety of active macro's and micro's between 10pm and about 11:30pm when things quietened down. Added Northern Spinach which was one of the commonest moth with about 30 seen and Small Argent and Sable around a dozen seen. Brian also had Red-necked Footman which was unexpected. The trap held 30 or 40 Middle-barred Minor, several July Highflyer and Dusky Brocade.
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| Small Argent and Sable |
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Beautiful Yellow Underwing
Found this Beautiful Yellow Underwing feeding amongst the Bilberry bushes on Beeley this afternoon.
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| Beautiful Yellow Underwing |
Satin Beauty new for the garden
A good night at home last night with Satin Beauty new for the garden, it's not uncommon in the forests bordering the moor so not unexpected, plus Large Emerald, Light Arches and Currant Pug new for the year.
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| Satin Beauty |
Currant Pug
The distinct white spots on both the fore and rear wings and the size and shape of the black mark in the centre of the wing separate Current Pug from Wormwood/Ling Pugs.
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| Currant Pug |
Via Gellia - Barred Carpet
At last decent weather and a successful trip to the Via Gellia which produced Barred Carpet a national rarity, designated Na, it looks like this is the back end of their flight period as I only caught one and it was very dark which appears to occur with wear. Also Red-necked Footman, a Derbyshire rarity plus Small White Wave and Barred Yellow for the year. I've added another photo of Triple-spotted Clay, I caught three last night but still confuse them with Double Square-spot. Still to sort the micro's but Udea olivalis was by far the commonest moth with perhaps 50, also several Pandemis cinnamomeana. Clouded Magpie was the commonest macro with 30+.
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| Barred Carpet |
Black Stork Darley Dale 24th June
Seen and photographed by Ken Smith around 2pm on Friday as it came over Darley Dale and Two Dales before heading off towards Winster. Looks like it flew over my house, where is it now?
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| Black Stork |
More Long-eared Owl
A couple of shots of yesterday's Long-eared Owl from Ken Smith for comparison with mine! I think Ken must have been a little closer or at a better angle - nice shots!
Saturday, 25 June 2011
Long-eared Owl again on Beeley
Another individual Long-eared Owl hunting on Beeley this morning.
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| Long-eared Owl |
Another Large Twin-spot Carpet
Still suffering from heavy rain, highlight from last night was another Large Twin-spot Carpet, third for the year.
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| Large Twin-spot Carpet |
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Five more for the year
Another reasonable night only 28 species but included another Large Twin-spot Carpet, Swallow-tailed Moth, Common Emerald, Marbled Beauty, a couple of Small Dusty Wave and the micro's Agriphila geniculea and Blastobasis lacticolella.
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| Swallow-tailed Moth |
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Varied Coronet
This Varied Coronet was the highlight of another wet night.Along with Green Carpet, Silver-ground Carpet, Mottled Beauty 3, Brimstone, Peppered Moth, Dark Arches 4, Heart and Dart 37, Flame 3, White Ermine, Ingrailed Clay, Double Square-spot, Large Yellow Underwing and Common Footman 4.
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| Varied Coronet |
Long-eared Owl - Beeley Moor
Watched this Long-eared Owl hunting on Beeley Moor for half an hour this evening, before it kindly sat on this post, but the light had unfortunately deteriorated by then.
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| Long-eared Owl |
Good catch despite heavy rain
It rained most of the night spoiling my trip to the Via Gellia but leaving the trap on at home produced a decent catch adding Pandemis cinnamomeana both male, with the white forehead, and an accompanying much larger female also Phycitodes binaevella which is new for me.
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| Male |
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| Pandemis cinnamomeana - female |
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Via Gellia - Common Lutestring
Conditions looked almost perfect last night as I set of for the Via Gellia, warm temperature, overcast but unfortunately it started to rain and didn't stop. I did manage a Common Lutestring along with Map-winged Swift10+ , Clouded Silver 4, Clouded Magpie, July Highflyer, Pale Prominent and Ingrailed Clay 4 before rain stopped play around 10:30pm.
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| Common Lutestring |
Monday, 20 June 2011
Phlyctaenia perlucidalis
Taken at home last night, a reasonably fresh example of Phlyctaenia perlucidalis. This is a Pyralid which is expanding its range from the Norfolk fens and the SE with recent records in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire so I would expect that there have been records in southern Derbyshire but a record for the Peak District seems more unlikely. It appears to be a moth of the fens so I can only assume this individual is on its way somewhere else!
Just heard from Simon Roddis that he caught perlucidalis a couple of years ago in Darley Dale and Brian Statham has also taken it in Clough Wood so it appears to be scarce rather than rare.
Just heard from Simon Roddis that he caught perlucidalis a couple of years ago in Darley Dale and Brian Statham has also taken it in Clough Wood so it appears to be scarce rather than rare.
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| Phlyctaenia perlucidalis |
Sunday, 19 June 2011
Willow Warbler
Photographed this adult Willow Warbler today feeding fledged young, on the East coast the grey colouration plumage would have you thinking of Eastern races.
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| Willow Warbler |
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