Small numbers of Common Blue Damselflies and 5-6 Banded Demoiselles along the Mersey this afternoon.

4 Brimstone and 2 Small Tortoiseshell on the Cow Field this lunchtime.

Lots of Common Blue damselflies today and best of all a Banded Demoiselle too.

Brimstone, Red Admiral, Holly Blue, Speckled Wood and Small White all out in the sunshine this morning.

7Brimstone and 3 Peacock yesterday.

Always a delight to see your first brimstone of the year. Flying along the path by Chorlton brook near the metal bridge at the carpark
C

Plenty of brimstone and orange tip today, also small tortoiseshell and comma.

Also a fox and a nice view of a field vole by the meadow pond.

Southern and brown hawker around this evening; possibly migrant, too, but not sure.

Lots of damselfies around today; mainly common blue, plus a few large red and a single blue-tailed.

Butterflies, plenty of small white and orange-tip, a few brimstone and speckled wood, and a single small tortoiseshell.

A couple of nice red-tipped flower beetle in the meadow pond field. The pond itself was teeming with tadpoles.

-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Saturday 26th of May 2018 06:28:36 PM

Singles of small tortoiseshell and orange tip today, and a young fox around the heronry.

Very handsome dog fox and a couple of peacock butterfly in the habitat between the Metrolink bridge and the golf course today.

Multiple frogs spawning on the dry weir pond today. Great to see.

Good day for insects today, with ringlet (possibly the first time I've noted one here), large skipper, comma, meadow brown, large white, speckled wood and red admiral (a few) all about.

The meadow pond and field was especially productive:

c40 common blue damselfly
1 blue-tailed damselfly (another on Ivy Green)
2 banded demoiselle
1 or 2 brown hawker
1 false oil beetle Oedemera nobilis male
1 scorpion fly male
On the pond itself, amongst the numerous backswimmers, pond skaters, whirligig beetles and 3 great pond snails were around twenty or so of the semaphore flies, Poecilobothrus nobilitatus, performing their courtship dance; had a thoroughly enjoyable time watching these gorgeous little creatures doing their thing.

-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Sunday 2nd of July 2017 06:14:29 PM

Fritillary sp on hardy farm this morning. I am no butterfly expert so could not precisely ID as it flew past.
On Friday I was clearing the cow field of balsam and saw plenty of ringlet, meadow brown and gatekeeper.
Chris

First meadow browns of the year today, with four or five about. Also several speckled wood and skipper sp. (large, I assume, as would this not be a little early still for small here?), a couple of comma and six-spot burnet, and a single red admiral.

Plenty of common blue damselfly, several ovipositing, around the meadow pond and surrounds, and a single blue-tailed amongst them, too. Brown hawker around the brook.

First butterflies of the year today, with brimstone (4+), peacock (2), comma (1) and small tortoiseshell (4, all on Barlow Tip) all about.

Nice common toad at the meadow pond, amongst much frog spawn.

3 foxes this aft/eve one of them close to me just casually looking around for food.

Several brown hawker, a few common blue damselfly and a single common darter yesterday.

Lots of speckled wood, but few other butterfly species noted.

First meadow brown of the year here last night.

Also a brown hawker and several common pipistrelle.

A few damselflies around the meadow pond today: c15 common blue, 1 large red, and 2 banded demoiselle.

Butterfly wise, brimstone in good evidence, as well as small tortoiseshell, small white, large white, orange tip and speckled wood. Also a stunning lacewing sp.

-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Sunday 29th of May 2016 08:30:22 PM

Comma around the old cow field today, and a small tortoiseshell by the river.

My first bats of the year, too, around Hardy Farm area (pipistrelle sp.).

Quite a few brown hawkers about here today, a couple of common darters on the Mersey valley, and good numbers of common blue damselfly, many mating.

Butterflies:

Speckled wood
Meadow brown
Gatekeeper
Small copper (the first time I've ever noted this species here)
Small white
Peacock

Also a cracking male scorpionfly.

Quite a few common pipistrelles around the meadow next to the brook car park this evening, and also a noctule over.

Spent yesterday doing a few butterfly counts for the Big Butterfly Count (link here, if anyone's interested: http://www.bigbutterflycount.org/); the species noted were:

Meadow brown (by far and away the most numerous, unsurprisingly)
Gatekeeper
Large skipper
Small skipper
Small tortoiseshell
Comma
Green-veined white
Small white
Peacock caterpillar

Also plenty of dragon/damselfly:

Brown hawker
Common blue damselfly
Blue-tailed damselfly
Banded demoiselle

Also a rabbit on Barlow Tip.

Common blue damselfly and a common toad last night.

Also a very fleeting glance of what looked like a small tiger moth. Far too small for a garden tiger, but would wood tiger be likely here? Size and habitat were about right.

A fair few common blue damselfly by the reedbed today, also 2 banded demoiselle and a male yellow-barred longhorn moth.

Common blue butterfly in one of the meadows just off the river.

Late report for yesterday
22 orchard spikes which I also believe to be a marsh speices also. Just by the football club.

Did the big bee count here today (what you spot in 2 minutes), and then found out I can't log the sightings because I don't have a smart phone. Bad one. Anyway:

c10 early bumblebee
3 red-tailed bumblebee
2 buff-tailed bumblebee
2 tree bumblebee

Also a fox.

My first orange tip of the year today.

Odonata :

Broad-bodied Chaser (1 male)
Southern Hawker
Brown Hawker - all at the meadow pond where reed has been cleared. Also
Common Darter
Blue-tailed Damselfly

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Wednesday 5th of September 2012 04:21:03 PM