A rare moth

Perhaps the highlight of Sunday's visit to Ashberry Pastures was a longhorn micro-moth found low down in vegetation.  Its small size drew my attention and I carefully potted it to photograph it in less windy conditions.  It soon became apparent that it was Adela croesella a scarce moth in Yorkshire, similar to the more common Nemophora degeerella.  It has been accepted from the photos by the County Moth Recorder Harry Beaumont.

Staveley Nature Reserve - Sunday 13 Sep

Staveley NR a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve is a superb wetland area, recovered from quarrying that finished in the 1980's and has been managed to offer some rare habitat, and the best thing about it is that it is close to home.  

Over the East lagoon I was greeted by a Hobby being chased by a Black-headed Gull.  There were many Chiffchaff and a small number of Blackcap calling, and a Redpoll flew over calling. Dragonflies were about in small numbers: Common Hawkers, a couple of Brown Hawker, 25+ Common Darters and several Coenagrion sp. which were too far away to see properly.

Common Darter  Sympetrum striolatum

A ladybird seen turned out to be a Harlequin Harmonia axyridis, a species that was first recorded in Britain in 2004 and has spread rapidly north and west.  There are a few extra-limital records further north and in Scotland but Yorkshire is currently at the northern edge of the main range.

Harlequin Ladybird   Harmonia axyridis 

As for butterflies, they were attracted to the blueish globe flowers of Field Scabious in the meadow areas, and included just the one Red Admiral, several Peacock, c.20 Small Tortoiseshell, three Speckled Brown and a Small Copper, while moths were represented by two Udea lutealis and eight Silver Y.

Peacock

Red Admiral

Red Admiral

Red Admiral

Small Copper

Continuing on from last week I had a go at photographing some of the hoverflies and associated species.  One big black beastie stood out with large size and black bristles on the thorax, which reminded me of the tachinid of last week, and was found to be Tachina grossa, and looking at the state of its wings it was amazing it could fly; a more complete one was seen nearby.

Tachina grossa

Tachina grossa

Tachina grossa

The number and variety of hoverflies was not as good as last week, but those identified are added here.

Helophilus pendulus

Syrphus sp

Eristalis pertinax

Oh alright...it's not that bad....

Saturday night was the first decent night for over a week, and Staveley NR was the site of choice.  As mentioned before, it is quite a long trek there with all the equipment, and I have to enlist the assistance of Emily's stable wheelbarrow....you don't think I would choose one of that colour, surely?  It is embarrassing enough strapping it to the roof of the car, and thankfully I have not met that many people at Staveley.  The barrow has to take a generator, a Robinson trap, a Gladiator trap, sleeping bag, books, tripod, sheets, two reels of cable etc., and there is a fine art in getting it all on without losing any on the way. 

So, on to the nights results.  It was a balmy +14, and the 98% moon was hidden for much of the night by high cloud.  It is that time of the year when summer species are on the decline, and a little early for the autumnal ones.  However, it paid off, with at least three new species for me, and a micro awaiting confirmation from Charlie.  Of c.350 moths of just over 70 species, the new ones were Water Veneer Acentria ephemerella, Brown-veined Wainscot Archanara dissoluta and Silky Wainscot Chilodes maritimus.  

Water Veneer

Brown-veined Wainscot

Silky Wainscot

 The other highlights were a Pale Eggar, several Bulrush Wainscot, and a Fen Wainscot, and a couple more each of Double Lobed and Crescent which I only had for the first time on the previous visit..

Pale Eggar

Not a bad night after all, and I think I got the wheelbarrow back to the yard before too many people saw me.....

Wainscots.....well a few, but at least 6 new moths

With August being peak Wainscot month, and a calm muggy night on the cards, it had to be Staveley NR, and a couple of traps in the reed-beds.  As it turned out, not too many wainscots, but did include Fen, Bulrush, Southern and Smoky.  Two marsh-dwelling macros did reveal themselves, and were new for me, Double Lobed and Crescent, with 15 of the first and just a single of the latter.

Double Lobed

Crescent

Several micros were new for me too, several of which are awaiting confirmation, but those I am happy with are a Pseudopostega crepusculella, five Orthotelia sparganella, three Calamotropha paludella and a rather faded pyralid that was an Endotricha flammealis (a first for the Harrogate area).

Orthotelia sparganella

Calamotropha paludella

Endotricha flammealis

The moths of interest included a Pseudopostega crepusculella, Caloptilia robustella, seven Bird-cherry Ermine, five Orthotelia sparganella, an Elachista atricomella, two Mompha raschkiella, a Lobesia abscisana, two Epinotia nisella, a Cydia fagiglandana, seven Chilo phragmitella, three Calamotropha paludella, a Eudonia pallida, two Small China-mark, a Endotricha flammealis, two Trachycera advenella, a Triple-spotted Pug, Bordered Beauty, two Antler Moth, seven Clay, Southern Wainscot, 30 Smoky Wainscot, 15 Double Lobed, three Small Dotted Buff, two Dusky Sallow, a Crescent, two each of Bulrush Wainscot, Fen Wainscot and Silver Y,


And just to round the day off, while setting the straw in the stable for Leo, a small moth was disturbed and settled on a rug, and it turned out to be a Meal Moth Pyralis farinalis, in typical habitat and another new one for me, just rounding off a productive 24 hours.

In search of Wainscots...

The attraction of a couple of new Wainscot species meant a night out at Staveley again, but this time at the end in the reed-beds.  As the previous night, the temperature dropped quickly, and being a 'damp' site, seemed chillier than it actually was.  Only fair numbers of Smoky Wainscot, and just one Southern Wainscot, my first up here, but the actual highlights were a Gothic and a Blackneck, again my first in Yorkshire.  I had forgotten how beautiful the Blacknecks were, and typically when trying to photograph them this morning, that was the one that shot off before I could get a shot!

Chilo phragmitella

Gothic

Southern Wainscot

Southern Wainscot (top) and Smoky Wainscot

The site has plenty to offer, although it is quite a long walk with a fully loaded barrow of equipment, but certainly deserves more effort in a couple more weeks, when the Wainscot species are at their best.

What a fantastic night...

With the forecast looking great, I thought I would give Staveley Nature Reserve a whirl, having sought the necessary permissions.  A super site, although a bit of a trek with all the equipment.  Having set up two traps in the wood, and the MVB over the sheet in the open area, I settled down to savour the last rays of sunlight on a beautiful warm and still evening.

Dawn at Staveley

It turned out to be a busy night with about 1000 moths of just over 100 species, including several new micros for me.  A pick of the best photos follows:

Leopard

Epiblema foenella

female Ghost

Eyed Hawk-moth and Elephant Hawk-moth

A pyralid which was new for me was Phlyctaenia perlucidalis of which I caught four, but as a moth was only first discovered in the UK in the Huntingdon fens in 1957.  It is still a scarce species with a mainly south-eastern distribution, but does occur in very small numbers in Yorkshire.

1380 Phlyctaenia perlucidalis

  Coleophora species (Coleophora sp.)  6
0014  Ghost Moth (Hepialus humuli)  3
0016  Gold Swift (Hepialus hecta)  3
0161  Leopard Moth (Zeuzera pyrina)  1
0937  Agapeta hamana  82
0946  Aethes rubigana  2
0970  Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix (Pandemis cerasana)  2
0977  Large Fruit-tree Tortrix (Archips podana)  1
1063  Celypha striana  17
1076  Celypha lacunana  16
1083  Marbled Orchard Tortrix (Hedya nubiferana)  1
1175  Bramble Shoot Moth (Epiblema uddmanniana)  6
1183  Epiblema foenella  1
1197  Eucosma campoliliana  1
1201  Eucosma cana  9
1219  Lathronympha strigana  1
1290  Chilo phragmitella  1
1293  Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)  235
1301  Crambus lathoniellus  2
1334  Scoparia ambigualis  13
1336  Eudonia pallida  3
1345  Brown China-mark (Elophila nymphaeata)  14
1354  Small China-mark (Cataclysta lemnata)  2
1376  Small Magpie (Eurrhypara hortulata)  5
1380  Phlyctaenia perlucidalis  4
1392  Udea olivalis  1
1405  Mother of Pearl (Pleuroptya ruralis)  2
1428  Bee Moth (Aphomia sociella)  2
1458  Thistle Ermine (Myelois circumvoluta)  4
1640  Drinker (Euthrix potatoria)  10
1653  Buff Arches (Habrosyne pyritoides)  2
1654  Figure of Eighty (Tethea ocularis)  1
1669  Common Emerald (Hemithea aestivaria)  2
1682  Blood-vein (Timandra comae)  2
1702  Small Fan-footed Wave (Idaea biselata)  1
1708  Single-dotted Wave (Idaea dimidiata)  2
1713  Riband Wave [non-banded form] (Idaea aversata ab. remutata)  6
1726  Large Twin-spot Carpet (Xanthorhoe quadrifasiata)  2
1727  Silver-ground Carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata)  2
1757  Spinach (Eulithis mellinata)  1
1758  Barred Straw (Eulithis pyraliata)  8
1765  Barred Yellow (Cidaria fulvata)  1
1776  Green Carpet (Colostygia pectinataria)  14
1777  July Highflyer (Hydriomena furcata)  23
1825  Lime-speck Pug (Eupithecia centaureata)  1
1860  Green Pug (Pasiphila rectangulata)  3
1862  Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata)  1
1887  Clouded Border (Lomaspilis marginata)  3
1904  Scorched Wing (Plagodis dolabraria)  1
1906  Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata)  2
1922  Swallow-tailed Moth (Ourapteryx sambucaria)  4
1931  Peppered Moth (Biston betularia)  3
1941  Mottled Beauty (Alcis repandata)  6
1947x  Engrailed/Small Engrailed (Ectropis bistortata/crepuscularia)  1
1955  Common White Wave (Cabera pusaria)  1
1956  Common Wave (Cabera exanthemata)  1
1961  Light Emerald (Campaea margaritata)  6
1980  Eyed Hawk-moth (Smerinthus ocellata)  1
1981  Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi)  9
1991  Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor)  9
1992  Small Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila porcellus)  1
1994  Buff-tip (Phalera bucephala)  5
2008  Coxcomb Prominent (Ptilodon capucina)  1
2028  Pale Tussock (Calliteara pudibunda)  1
2030  Yellow-tail (Euproctis similis)  1
2050  Common Footman (Eilema lurideola)  8
2060  White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda)  1
2061  Buff Ermine (Spilosoma luteum)  1
2064  Ruby Tiger (Phragmatobia fuliginosa)  2
2069  Cinnabar (Tyria jacobaeae)  6
2077  Short-cloaked Moth (Nola cucullatella)  2
2089  Heart and Dart (Agrotis exclamationis)  47
2098  Flame (Axylia putris)  21
2102  Flame Shoulder (Ochropleura plecta)  6
2107  Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba)  3
2120  Ingrailed Clay (Diarsia mendica)  1
2122  Purple Clay (Diarsia brunnea)  1
2126  Setaceous Hebrew Character (Xestia c-nigrum)  1
2128  Double Square-spot (Xestia triangulum)  50
2134  Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa)  17
2155  Dot Moth (Melanchra persicariae)  1
2160  Bright-line Brown-eye (Lacanobia oleracea)  5
2173  Lychnis (Hadena bicruris)  2
2193  Clay (Mythimna ferrago)  5
2198  Smoky Wainscot (Mythimna impura)  34
2205  Shoulder-striped Wainscot (Mythimna comma)  1
2305  Small Angle Shades (Euplexia lucipara)  1
2314  Dingy Shears (Parastichtis ypsillon)  8
2322  Light Arches (Apamea lithoxylaea)  7
2330  Dusky Brocade (Apamea remissa)  4
2337x  Marbled Minor agg. (Oligia strigilis agg.)  6
2340  Middle-barred Minor (Oligia fasciuncula)  22
2381  Uncertain (Hoplodrina alsines)  35
2382  Rustic (Hoplodrina blanda)  19
2410  Marbled White Spot (Protodeltote pygarga)  1
2434  Burnished Brass (Diachrysia chrysitis)  4
2442  Beautiful Golden Y (Autographa pulchrina)  6
2450  Spectacle (Abrostola tripartita)  2
2474  Straw Dot (Rivula sericealis)  23
2477  Snout (Hypena proboscidalis)  5
2489  Fan-foot (Zanclognatha tarsipennalis)  4

A gem of a place

Just 5 miles or so south-east of Boroughbridge is a small wet carr nature reserve, at Upper Dunsforth.  It is a small oasis of scarce damp habitat surrounded by improved (?!) grassland, and monocultural crop fields.  It consists of several rough meadows with juncus and rough herbage, and a boardwalk through some damp woodland and a small amount of reeds and phragmites.

On the odd occasion that the sun peeked through the clouds, a few butterflies braved the cool breeze, and a small number of daytime moths were flushed from the grass.

Small Copper

The highlight was a Small Yellow Underwing, a daytime moth of damp heath, and of the butterflies the bright and beautiful Small Copper.

Adela reaumurella, eight Crambus lathoniellus, an Orange-tip, three Small Copper, a Common Blue, two Red Admiral, two Peacock, a Silver-ground Carpet, five Common Carpet, a Silver-ground Carpet and a Small Yellow Underwing.