17/04/2022

An outbreak of Grey Squirrels, with at least 8 seen inc one in an old nest box formerly used by Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

Butterflies
Orange Tip - quite numerous
Peacock - ditto
Small Tortoiseshell 1
Small White 1
Green-veined White 1
Brimstone 1
Comma 1

Quite a few Queen Buff-tailed Bumblebees prospecting for nests
A large Hoverfly - black abdomen with a cinnamon stripe down each side of the top. Shot away before I could see more.

Fungi

A few Scarlet Elf Cap still in the usual location, plus two good clumps of Jelly Ear on their respective Elder hosts and quite a lot of Broadleaf Crust on dead wood in the mature copse of woodland below the east sid of the Upper Res.

22/08/21

Hardly any butterflies on this visit, apart from various, mostly distant whites. Otherwise 4 Speckled Woods and a Nymphalid which managed to hold level flight at the wrong height to get a good view of the upper surface of the wings. Probably Peacock.

Still Common Darter and Common Blue Damselflies on the upper reservoir, with a maximum of 2 each seen together. Brown Hawker and male Emperor Dragonflys both made visits. At the 'Cow Bath' Pond at least 3 Blue-tailed Damselflies were together, with at least 4 Common Darter, 1 male Emperor and 2 Brown Hawkers a male and an ovipositing female

The area of mature trees is still mainly free of Himalayan Balsam (a bit more went this weekend) so hopefully there might be an interesting range of native plants next year to complement the Pink Purslane. At least it was easy to spot the troops of Common Bonnet on the fallen trees. A good showing of Peeling Oysterling as well and singles of Flat Oysterling and Common Jellyear.

14/03/2021

No Foxes wandering through the woods today and again only 1 Squirrel but a good spread of Scarlet Elfcup at the usual spot. New locations for Jelly Ear and Blushing Bracket noted, and a fallen branch had a nice mix of Bleeding Broadleaf Crust and an aquamarine Lichen. Also a couple of Daffodils in flower, which was interesting as everywhere else, including local gardens, they're still in bud.

More new Jelly Ear in different places and a good sprouting of Coral Spot in the mature wooded area.

A yellow crucifer with notched petals still in flower by the side of the cobbled way to the Upper Reservoir seems to be a hybrid of Hoary Alison, unless anyone knows different.

At least half a dozen Meadow Browns around the site today, plus 1 Large White and a possible Small Tortoiseshell.

Also at least 1 Brown Hawker and a nice growth of Blushing Bracket revealed by the clearance in the mature wooded area

-- Edited by Mike Chorley on Sunday 20th of September 2020 05:08:38 PM

I Grey Squirrel

1/2 Brimstone
Several Orange Tip
Large and Small Whites

Brown Silver-line. Gave itself away by shifting to a more sheltered spot among bramble and bracken as I was passing then opened its' wings instead of closing them like a Noctuid as normal. Secluded sunbathing?

Lower numbers of butterflies this month, mainly because the three grassy areas where all the Ringlets were have been flattened by sunbathers etc.and the Painted Ladies haven't reached here yet.

Ringlet C24 seen throughout the site, including some very faded ones
Gatekeeper 2 at least
Meadow Brown C6
Speckled Wood 4
Small Skipper C4
Large White C6
Small White C6

Brown Hawker 2/3 1 female and at least but more likely 2 males.
4 blue Damselflies (probably Common) including a pair in tandem were seen along the most wooded edge of the top reservoir but too far away for positive i.d.
1 large green Mayfly.

Grey Squirrel 8 minimum including 6 together having some sort of ruckus in the mature trees along the west side of the site. Nearby there was some Common Funnel

-- Edited by Mike Chorley on Saturday 3rd of August 2019 11:10:54 PM

11.00 -13.00

As suspected, the last remaining small pond is now just an expanse of grassy mud, of no use to reproducing amphibians or as a silt trap/ drainage feature for the path beside it. To be effective it needs digging out on a regular basis as it's now almost level with the bank. Like the trees growing up in front of the view point, it shows what happens to a site when those in charge (United Utilities in this case) lose interest in what was originally a great project.

On a more positive note:
Orange-Tips all round the area - at least a dozen sightings, probably more
Speckled Wood 4 (minimum)
Small Tortoiseshell 1
Green-veined White 1)
Small White 1...........)..................There were quite a lot of whites on the wing but these were the only two I could get good enough views of to identify.

Grey Squirrel 1 , being scolded by a territorial Nuthatch

Pink Purslane, Lesser Celandine, Marsh Marigold, and Bluebell all coming in to flower, along with the ubiquitous Dandelion.


-- Edited by Mike Chorley on Sunday 21st of April 2019 09:38:20 PM

26/01/2019

11.00 - 12.15

Good numbers of the usual fungi:

Scarlet Elfcup
Jelly Ear - the new colony is doing very well
Birch Polypore
Blushing Bracket

Other than the fungi 1 Grey Squirrel in the mature pines close up against a main trunk impersonating a roosting Tawny Owl and some Rabbit droppings in the mature woodland. A good sign as I haven't seen Rabbits there for many years - nor the Stoat which used to hunt them

Cheers John. I suspected an aberration, but wasn't sure. Gatekeeper was my first thought on general jizz. I'll give the list a good study. Most of the aberrations concern the upper wings, which I didn't get to see, and there's no specific mention of the under wing pattern I saw, but unless further investigation proves otherwise I'm going with aberrant Gatekeeper

-- Edited by Mike Chorley on Tuesday 17th of July 2018 12:15:15 PM

14.07.18 11.30 - 13.15

A good day for butterflies, with plenty of Ringlets all over the site and good numbers of Small Whites. Hover flies out in good numbers too and one or two Bumble Bees but none at close enough range to identify. 1 Brown Hawker patrolling the upper run-off channel and several blue Damselflies over the top reservoir, most likely Commons, but only just visible with bins. Plus 1 very small Common Froglet.

Also:

Meadow Brown 1
Speckled Wood 4 (min)
Green-veined White 1
Small Skipper 1

and a so far unidentified brown butterfly. Flushed from waterside vegetation by the Meadow Brown it flew onto a nearby footbridge and settled directly facing away with wings folded. It was Gatekeeper sized and the view I got of the underside showed no ocelli on the underside of the upper wing. There was a green patch in the right area with a diagonal streak running down and away from the leading edge of the fore wing, as if someone had run a fingernail through a paint spot before it was completely dry. I tried to get a photo but the little beastie was off and into a nearby birch thicket before I could manage one, so I missed getting a look at the lower under wing.

I've looked at my old Collins guide and at photos on-line and can't find a match. Colour wise the nearest is Large Skipper without the sex brand but it wasn't a Skipper, more like a Heath or Brown. Difficult without a photo, I know, but anyone any thoughts on i.d.

-- Edited by Mike Chorley on Sunday 15th of July 2018 11:29:43 PM

A good show of Scarlet Elf Cup in the stand of Birch below the east side of the Top Reservoir.

More surprisingly, around 30 Common Frogs croaking away in the small pond between the two reservoirs which got badly silted by the new drainage scheme. Only one pair mating but already quite a lot of spawn produced. Unfortunately mostly in the very shallow area, so chances of survival aren't that great I suspect.

Slightly better for butterflies today, with several Large and Small Whites, 2 Speckled Woods, 1 Meadow Brown and 1 Wall (a couple of pugnacious Large Whites and a Red Admiral around flower displays in Oldham town centre added to the total for trip)

A couple of Honey Bees and a species of Hoverfly were feeding on Ragwort in the top pastures, but the majority of Hymenoptera were feeding on the Himalayan Balsam on the Golden Steps, including a large Bumble Bee so covered in white pollen as to be unidentifiable to species. There were also a couple of swarms of St Mark's -type flies in the top pastures as well.

A Harlequin Ladybird, a couple of Grey Squirrels and two clumps of Velvet Shank on cut Cypress stumps at the R.S.P.C.A. shelter completed the list.

09/04/17

The frog fest produced a reasonable amount of spawn but unfortunately this is now all covered with mud as the pond has been incorporated into the drainage system and is silting up. There is an outflow but it is too high in the bank and too narrow to carry away the sediment. Hopefully the frogs on the margins of the top reservoir will have had more success.

Elsewhere

Brimstone 2
Orange-tip 1 male
Green-veined White 1 possibly 2

Fox popped in for a quick drink then settled down in the shade for a snooze - local wildfowl not too happy.

The advantages of leaving felled timber in situ already obvious from these nice clumps of Shaggy Scalycap Philotia squarrosa already developed on the felled Beech I mentioned last month. A few tiny parachute or similar mushrooms also growing in the same scar. Neither of these were present when the tree was standing.

Apart from 2 Grey Squirrels the only identifiable wildlife were 5 species of butterfly.

Speckled Wood 1
Gatekeeper 2
Meadow Brown 2
Ringlet 1
Small White 8(minimum)

Despite the water in the small pond being heavily muddied again at least 6 tadpoles were active. They seemed a reddish-brown colour. Maybe due to all the silt?

Grey Squirrel trying to camouflage itself as a branch in the fork of a tree (and failing )

Orange Tip 4
Large White 2
Comma 1

Cheers Dave, could be. I didn't think of Waxcap when I was looking at the shape of the cap but they could well be quite old and flattened out.

Despite the colder winds recently I found 2 new species of fungus for the site today as well as some recent growths of Candlesnuff. There were 4 clumps of Golden Spindles in the horse pasture to the west of the brook and at least 7 or 8 specimens of what looked like Garland Roundhead in the same pasture but on the other side of the new(ish) fenced path. Not sure on this I.d. as I could only take photos from beyond the fence. Any suggestions for a late-fruiting Orange Grisette type species favouring acidic upland horse pastures? One specimen had an intact rim to the cap but with the edges turned up to form a square.

Brown Hawker 1 hunting path between reservoirs
Common Hawker 1 hunting over Top Res.

1 each of:
Peacock
Small Tortoiseshell
Speckled Wood
Large White

12-07-2015

Southern Marsh Orchids well dispersed over the site but not as prolific as in earlier years. Plenty of Rosebay and Broad-leaved Willow herbs, Foxglove, Meadow Cranesbill, Birdsfoot Trefoil, Slender and Spear Thistles and a single specimen of Musk Mallow.

Ringlet at least 20, probably many more as those were only the ones seen to rise form the edges of the paths on a cool and breezy day
Meadow Brown similar numbers, again, just those active on the fringes of the long grasses
Speckled Wood 4/5 along the edge of the upper feeder channel
Large White 1
Brimstone 1

Lower numbers of butterflies but the highest number of species this year

Meadow Brown 2
Ringlet 1 (very tatty)
Large White c25
Small Copper 3
Small Tortoiseshell 1/2
Gatekeeper 4
Red Admiral 2
Peacock 2
Large Skipper1
Speckled Wood 4/5

also
Common Blue Damselfly 1
Brown Hawker 1/2
Southern Hawker

The level in the small pond has dropped a bit - no sign of any frogs, spawn or tadpoles(last year's over-winterers)

Coltsfoot, Cowslip, Dandelion, Marsh Marigold, Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage & Pink Purslane all in flower.

-- Edited by Mike Chorley on Sunday 20th of April 2014 05:02:03 PM