Another unwelcome addition to the garden list, Langthorpe VC65

On the night of 25 July I ran the Robinson trap on my parking spot adjacent to the house.  One of the first moths seen was on the underside of the trap collar, a Box-tree Moth.  As good as it is to get a new species, this adventive is not a popular addition to the UK list, and perhaps significant that my small garden is dominated by two large Box bushes, about the only plant that thrives there!  A first for VC65.

63.054 Box-tree Moth (Cydalima perspectalis)

In addition there were several moths new for the garden, and a selection of the more colourful ones are included:

49.338 Codling Moth (Cydia pomonella)

62.035 (Acrobasis advenella)

73.084 Marbled Beauty (Bryophila domestica)

What a year...

Following the very belated posting covering the computer crash through to the end of the year, who would have thought it could get worse....  In December I was diagnosed with esophageal cancer which caused a period of great uncertainty and putting annual subscriptions on hold; various scans suggested it was treatable and I was booked in for four sessions of aggressive chemotherapy.  Then as a vulnerable person I was on total self isolation with my family, with the general lockdown just before my last dose of chemo.  My operation due late April was cancelled and I was put on lower dose tablet chemo until my operation was rescheduled for mid June.  The op and subsequent recovery went extremely well and actually got back to work a month ago.

I just cannot use the excuse of not having enough time but it is a matter of priorities.  I used much of the lockdown time assembling an up-to-date Atropos magazine index, some 2600+ pages to scour, and having done most of it I just need to finish off, check it and format it.  I have re-labelled the Yorkshire Moth website photos in preparation for the planned update by MapMate to cope with the new numbering which is currently holding the website data updates back, 

Initially I was rather down about the prospect of just trapping at home, but I did manage some trapping at my private site at Brafferton (VC62) where I 'exercised' at night on my own, probably safer there than anywhere.  Following subsequent generator malfunctions I reluctantly started trapping on my parking spot at home in Langthorpe (VC65) and was pleasantly surprised at the results until wasp infestation brought things to a halt in September.

As a result of this rather fractured and stop/start recording this year, I will just just pick out the highlights to get back up to date.

The first period of trapping was 16 May to 1 June, 8 nights in total all at Brafferton VC62, with 1550 moths of 130 species.  Highlights were 95 Grey Pine Carpets, 53 Poplar Hawkmoths and 98 Orange Footman.  The best night was 20 May which was excellent for scarcer Ancylis moths with examples of the rare Ancylis laetana and Ancylis upupana, and Ancylis myrtillana well away from upland heath.

Ancylis laetana, Brafferton, VC62

 Ancylis upupana, Brafferton, VC62

Ancylis myrtillana, Brafferton, VC62

The second period at Brafferton was four visits 12 July to 2 August, 956 moths of 122 species.  The highlights and new for me in this period were a Monochroa cytisella, a bracken feeder rare in Yorkshire and only the 2nd record for VC62; a nationally scarce B Nemaxera betulinella probably only 2nd recent VC62 record; a Zeiraphera isertana a scarce oak feeder, and the scarce pine feeding Clavigesta purdeyi.

Monochroa cytisella, Brafferton, 7 Jul 2020 

 

Nemaxera betulinella, Brafferton, 25 Jul 2020

Zeiraphera isertana, Brafferton, 18 Jul 2020

Clavigesta purdeyi, Brafferton, 30 Jul 2020

Following reliability issues with both generators I reverted with reluctance to trapping at home.  I trapped 14 nights between 6 August and 19 September, catching 821 moths of 115 species.  This was considerably more than I had trapped in the previous 13 years there, so unsurprisingly I added 71 new species to the garden list.  Most were the expected common species, but it was great to get 11 confirmed and obvious Willow Ermine 6 - 14 August, and best of all was a micro new to Yorkshire, Metalampra italica, not one but two specimens.

This Willow Ermine clearly shows the greyish cast to the cilia and main part of the wings, with a narrow white border to the outer edge of the wings.

Willow Ermine Yponomeuta rorrella, Langthorpe, 6 Aug 2020

The next was a huge surprise, very obvious and not difficult to identify.  As a species it has an interesting history in that it appeared in Devon for the first time in 2003, and has slowly spread to other counties in the south, with odd ones turning up as far north as Lincolnshire and Lancashire, it was to be expected in Yorkshire.  Metalampra italica was previously known only from Italy before occurring in Britain whereas another species, Metalampra cinnamomea, is more widespread in Europe, including France and so seemed to be a better candidate for turning up here.  Having let my first one go, the second was obviously on its last legs and died shortly after potting.  I have forwarded it to Harry for gen. det..  This is a species that the larva inhabits decaying oak, and as there are not that many oaks close to my garden I wondered whether they arrived in my neighbour's hardwood logs for firewood? 

Metalampra italica, Langthorpe, 14 Aug 2020

Metalampra italica, Langthorpe, 14 Aug 2020 (same as above individual)

Metalampra italica, Langthorpe, 20 Aug 2020 (different individual and moribund)

Trapping at Langthorpe becoming very uncomfortable in September with increasing numbers of wasps, on the last two occasions outnumbering the moths 10:1; fortunately they were very dopey and did not bother the moths or me.  I took the opportunity to set up my trap at my work premises nearby in Roecliffe (VC64) and was extremely fortunate to have another new species for me, a Tachystola acroxantha, new at least for the Harrogate DNS and quite a distance from the next nearest record...just 50 meters further north and it would have been new for VC65.  This adventive species originally from Australia and probably introduced on imported plants, was first found in Devon in 1908, and has gradually spread northwards.

Tachystola acroxantha, Roecliffe, 21 Sep 2020

Having spent many hours sat on my terrace while isolating, I was fortunate to see some reasonable birds and butterflies.  Birds included Common Tern, Red Kite, Yellow Wagtail heard, Lesser Whitethroat, nearby singing Corn Buntings, Tree Sparrows, probable breeding Yellow Wagtails and at least one Hobby and a Blue-headed Wagtail. A good selection of common butterflies including several sightings of Holly Blue.  Finally a couple of other photos just to show it has not all been moths.

Comma, Brafferton, 19 Sep 2020

Common Darter, Nosterfield, 20 Sep 2020

What will the rest of the year bring and what can one hope to achieve in 2021?  At least I made it this far, and looking positively to the future.

Noah can rest easy now....

Now ten days or so since the floods here in Langthorpe it was time for some photos of what the river should look like.  Not entirely true as there was torrential rain last night and the rather muddy water is about 50cm above normal levels; this is still 5.5 metres lower than last weeks record level.  The following pic shows some Giant Hogweed suspended in the willow to the left, which gives an indication of the flood level.  

In addition, the white water level scale attached to the bridge which tops out at 15.75 metres cannot be seen in last weeks photo!

Also compare the next photo with last week, now the detritus that was backing up against the bridge has gone.  Such blockages cause extra strain to the structure and the bridge was closed for 4 days allowing engineers to check the integrity had not been compromised.

Our house is actually just west of here and the water levels are artificially kept higher there due to the weir and the lock gates on the Milby Canal.  So the water level needs to 'fill in' the lower level river east of the weir before the level rises on our bit of the river.  It was still squeaky bum time for a while....

 

Here is a photo of our building, then a brewery for Mustill Brothers, and looking at the vehicles it must be around the 1920's.

It's a bit wet here.....

Arriving home from Ireland in the rain, it did not let up until the early hours of this morning, Wednesday.  The water levels on the River Ure outside were fairly high, and I spent much of a sleepless night keeping an eye on the Environment Agency websites.  With each update the levels were rising and the previous record was broken in the early hours, peaking 20cm higher than previous highest at around 7:00 this morning.

It actually peaked at 15.79 metres above datum point, some 6 metres higher than earlier in the week....

The access road to Waterside, the main road through Boroughbridge closed.

A view of the R. Ure from the front door.

From the main road bridge looking back towards Langthorpe

Just after taking these photos the Police removed everyone from the bridge to allow an inflatable to rescue stranded elderly people in sheltered accommodation in the buildings on the right and a couple from a barge that could not get off on the canal cut.

The only way to get back to our side of the river was to go right round on the old A1, the A168 by-pass to Kirby Hill and then head back south.  Where the A168 crosses over the R. Ure views back towards Langthorpe gave rather more of an impression of the scale of the flooding.  Our building is hidden by the large building with the chimney in the distance, the old Laundry, and the river is normally contained in a far more manageable strip between the willows...thank heavens for flood plains.

Still, could be worse, it could be raining....