Got there in the end...

I caught a rather dull grey plume moth at Staveley on Friday night, took two crap photos the following morning before it made a dash for freedom, straight through the gap in the slightly ajar window...   So trying to match the little blighter with various books and web photos, I eventually settled on Oidaematophorus lithodactyla or Dusky Plume as it is called in Sterling and Parsons.  

Oidaematophorus lithodactyla

Fortunately Charlie agrees, him having had one there in 2008, only the second VC64 record.  The wing markings are rather subdued, but can just be made out, and the grey tufts by the spurs on the front two pairs of pale legs a good pointer.

Reed-bed goodies

I make no apologies for yet another visit to Staveley; it really is a magical place, if hard work.  Having done the woodland end last week, it had to be the reed-bed end this time.  I was rewarded with a new macro, a Butterbur,  a scarce moth nationally, the Yorkshire population of some importance.

Butterbur

In addition, a reasonable selection of reed-dwelling species made the visit worthwhile, with a hat-full of Limnaecia phragmitella, Calamatropha paludella, Southern Wainscot, Bulrush Wainscot, Silky Wainscot and Fen Wainscot.

Slender Pug

Rosy Minor

Brown-veined Wainscot

Lastly, here is a selection of the very variable species Epinotia nisella, some of which had me excited for a while until I realised they were the same species.

Avoiding the rain at Staveley

A belated post for a trapping attempt at Staveley on night of 4th August.  Having been suckered by the inaccuracies of the ever-changing weather forecasts and heavy rain over the previous two nights, I hung on as late as possible, looking at the lightning radar to watch where the activity was and the chances of avoiding the heavy showers.  So late on Saturday night I went for it and set up a couple of traps near the cairn at Staveley, one on the open grassy area and one in the wooded path next to some bulrushes.  A pleasant if slightly muggy night and a fairly modest catch compared with some recent attempts, with 266 moths of 57 species.  One new micro, a Teleiodes vulgella, and a selection of fairly common and photogenic others.

Teleiodes vulgella

Agapeta zoegana f. ferrugana and nominate

Acleris forsskaleana

Pyrausta purpuralis

Trachycera advenella

The forecast for the coming few days looks very conducive to some more trapping, which is good in that I have not done any trapping in Yorkshire for this 7 day period since moving here six years ago, indeed August as a whole is under-recorded generally.

Here's one I missed...

Having taken photos of the Himalayan Balsam on the canal cut at Langthorpe, I actually missed another Asian introduced pest plant, which is only now coming into leaf.  The naked spikes of the Japanese Knotweed are plainly visible in the second photo on 27 July, but these are now in leaf and rather more noticeable.

Japanese Knotweed surrounded by Himalayan Balsam

This is another species introduced from Asia as an ornamental plant, this one from Japan in 1825.  Unlike the previous two species, this is not spread by seed dispersal, but as a rhizome, where just 1cm of root in the soil can become a plant within 10 days.  It is a pernicious pest, and the roots cause damage to paths and walls, while the foliage shades out other vegetation.

The young stems are eaten in Japan, a sour taste similar to rhubarb, but also contains Emodin which has laxative qualities....

Famine to feast...

They say to make hay while the sun shines, so with four days of muggy but dry weather, meant four consecutive nights of trapping out and about.  The first night  was Saturday where I chose the open moorland site at Dallowgill due light wind forecast.  Sunday night was Sessay Wood at Pilmoor which offered shelter from quite a stiff breeze.  Monday night was a joint effort with Charlie, Jill and Bob at Staveley, where I left an MV out overnight and returned next morning.  Finally, on Tuesday night, buoyed by such a good return the previous night, I spent the night at Staveley up by the last hide in the reedbed.  So, what was the return for my efforts?  A fine total of 2837 moths of 236 species, including a few new ones.

Dallowgill only produced around 30 species with 362 True Lovers Knot and 76 Northern Spinach dominating the catch.  Of interest were my first Bilberry Tortrix, a Smoky Wave, Welsh Wave, five 'Ling' Pug Eupithecia absinthiata f.goossensiata and two Grey Scalloped Bar.

Bilberry Tortrix

'Ling' Pug

Sessay Wood, a good selection of the usual species, although Limnaecia phragmitella, five Hedya salisella,  Dark Spinach and three Scarce Silver-lines were new  for me.  The other highlights were 45 Four-dotted Footman, 66 Minor Shoulder-knot, three Suspected, an Olive and Angle-striped Sallow.

Limnaecia phragmitella

Hedya salisella

Dark Spinach

Scarce Silver-lines

The first night at Staveley I sited the trap at the woodland edge backing on to the open rough field near the stone cairn.  Being slightly different habitat to where Charlie had sited the other five traps, it added about 15 species to the overall list of 170+ species.  I only recorded my own trap catch for the purpose of these totals.  Having actually enjoyed a few hours in my own bed it was a return to form with Tuesday night being an all-nighter by the hide in the reedbeds at Staveley.  I should have known better as it took 4 hours to do the two traps in an increasingly stiff breeze, and ran out of time and pots....   New species to me were three Adaina microdactyla, three Dark Umber, Bordered Pug, Pimpinel Pug, while others of interest were 25 Calamotropha palludella, another Dark Spinach, three Southern Wainscot, a Brown-veined Wainscot, five Fen Wainscot and two Silky Wainscot.

Adaina microdactyla

Bordered Pug

Pimpinel Pug

Not a bad return for a few nights trapping! 

The aliens have landed....

Here in Langthorpe on the river Ure, you cannot avoid seeing a couple of invasive alien plants on the banks of the canal cut.  The first is a single Giant Hogweed Heracleum mantegazzianum, which at just under 2 metres in height has just passed its prime with many of the white flowers now turning to seed.

Giant Hogweed

This impressive plant which can grow to 3 metres in height is originally from south-west Asia, and was introduced as a monumental curiosity by 1820, and was first  recorded in the wild in Cambridgeshire in 1828, and has since spread to much of the UK, the seeds spread along watercourses.  It is, however, a dangerous plant, in that its sap contains toxins that once on the skin reacts with sunlight to cause severe burns and blistering which can last several months, and if it makes contact with eyes can cause blindness.  Once the sores have subsided, the effects of the rash can last for five years or more.

The other plant that seems to be everywhere at the moment is the Himalayan Balsam Impatiens glandulifera with such interesting common names as Policeman's Helmet and Gnome's Hatstand, this too can grow to 2.5 metres, often seen in damp margins and roadside verges.  

Himalayan Balsam

Himalayan Balsam

This plant is also from Asia, introduced to Britain from Kashmir by Dr Royle at Kew Gardens in 1839, it too escaped and spread along water courses by 1855.  Now widespread across much of Britain, but rather patchy in the borders and Scotland, it can grow in such profusion that it can shade out many native species.  It is a pest species, and its management and removal is a major headache in many areas, and of course a cost to local authorities and nature reserves.

One lesser known use for the plant is that you can eat it!  The young leaves can be used as a vegetable but have to be cooked to negate the effects of calcium oxalate, and the dried seeds can be used to make curries.  

Some of these well-meaning plant-hunters bringing unusual and exotic flora and fauna back to Britain have a huge amount to answer for.

New balls please.....

With a long-planned visit by my elderly mother from Ireland, plans were thrown into confusion by a conversation between her and a fellow crocheter (?!) who had just returned from Wimbledon.  Mum expressed how much she would have loved to have gone at some time, but felt that the opportunity had passed her by.  Well within a few hours, Mum was presented with the offer of a couple of complementary tickets for the Ladies Singles finals on Saturday from a well-connected relative of her friend.  An opportunity too good to miss, and I was happy to take her on the 480mile round-trip on Saturday.  We managed to park in the car-park nearest to the main gate, and as I had a wheelchair to save Mum walking, we were put in the nearest part of the car-park to the gate!  I do not think it would have been possible to get any closer.  

I picked up the ticket which had been left in a booth for us (£105 pounds face value each!), and found our way the short distance to our seats.  A bit of a hassle to find a secure place to park the wheelchair, and just made it in to the arena in time for the players to walk out.

Getting a bit late to the seat, and a little flustered I missed the reminder announcement to turn mobile phones off, something that I normally do religiously, as I get hugely annoyed by the thoughtless numpties that allow their phones to go off at the most inopportune moments...    Sure enough, shortly after the match started my phone started emitting the rather loud call of a Scops Owl and I struggled to dig my phone out of my pocket to silence it.  It just happened to be my best mate Pog texting me to find out where we were sat in order that he could look out for us on the TV.  Bloody typical, if rather amusing in hindsight, but I had visions of being featured on the 6 o'clock news as the idiot that interrupted the 2012 Ladies Final!

No apologies for the indulgence of a few action shots of the day, and some shots of the two of us taken at distance by the generous benefactor who had supplied the tickets.

A quick close-up of the Royal Box, and I reckon there is one minor Royal, one actor and five Ladies tennis players...how many can you see?   Answers at the bottom of the page.

And some more photos of the after-match presentation.

Mum and I are extreme left, 2nd row in, me with the dark baseball cap....

 

A great day out, some superb tennis, including part of the mixed doubles, and some strawberries and cream from Centre Court, and Mum achieving a life-long ambition....

Marray in action...at least he won...

ANSWER to the celebs in the Royal Box
...and those in the picture were Prince Michael of Kent in front row, John Hurt in 2nd row with Navratilova, in third row Billie-Jean King, Ginnie Wade and Ann Jones, and Tracey Austin in row 4.