MB

 

Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
BACK TO THE MANCHESTER BIRDING WEBSITE HOMEPAGE -> Manchester Birding Forum -> All other Greater Manchester wildlife sightings -> Out-of-county (other wildlife)
Post Info TOPIC: Out-of-county (other wildlife)
Doc Brewster


Status: Offline
Posts: 4104
Date:
RE: Out-of-county (other wildlife)
Permalink  

Morning in the warm sunshine at Newchurch Common, all Big Pool area.

The best sighting of the day was a large female Grass Snake basking and then slithering off in a secluded gorse glade north of Big Pool, my first of the year.

A new butterfly for the year was added today, a Red Admiral in the SW corner glade by Big Pool. Other butterflies were Speckled Wood, Small White, Green-veined White, Orange-tip and 3(1m) Brimstones.

The usual dragonflies were seen, 6(2 blue male) Broad-bodied Chasers, 2 Four-spotted Chasers and the same Downy Emerald in a private area. The only damselflies seen were Common Blue, Azure, Large Red-eyed and Blue-tailed.

A good haul of moths with another 3 Silver Y moths seen as well as numerous Brown Silver-lines. New moth species added were a nice Sandy Carpet and a Cinnabar. Another new species was Timothy Tortrix, and as with all the other moths this was in the north meadow above Big Pool.

A Cockchafer Beetle looked huge in flight north of Big Pool. Another new addition was Swollen-thighed Beetle, a male and female being seen. The final new beetle species was a smart Red-headed Cardinal Beetle, near the NE corner of Big Pool.

A Tachina fera fly was photographed by the main track after I am sure that I glimpsed one the other day close by. A Bramble Sawfly was also seen and was new for the year. Finally a probable Elder Sawfly (Macrophya alboannulata) was seen and photograhed. The ID between it and an identical species is based on the fact that my patch is full of elder but has no valerian which is the other species' larval foodplant!

The plants Field Pansy and Wall Speedwell were both in flower and were recorded for the first time in 2024.



__________________
facebook
Doc Brewster


Status: Offline
Posts: 4104
Date:
Permalink  

Onto Newchurch Common am today and again warm & sunny and again I was in Big Pool Meadows.

In Big Pool Island Cut hundreds of tadpoles, probably Common Toad given the previous strings of Toadspawn here, were gasping at the surface for air in the hot conditions and it didn't help that the water surface was covered in feathery seed heads and plant pollen forming a type of barrier here.

Same mix of butterflies and odonata as recently but a couple of noteworthy records. Today I had 6 Broad-bodied Chasers including one turning blue from the tail-end up, my first 'blue' male of the season rather than an immature specimen. Also seen were 2 Four-spotted Chasers and the same Downy Emerald as yesterday.

A great addition to my yearlist was a queen Hornet, I got pretty close to this huge beast but just failed to get a picture, she flew off ignoring me! Another addition was the Narcissus Bulb Fly (Merodon equestris), a bumblebee-mimic hoverfly.

A probable Tetragnatha montana Long-jawed Orb-weaver Spider was photographed and examined closely to give the most probable ID.

 



-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Saturday 18th of May 2024 06:15:55 PM

__________________
facebook
Doc Brewster


Status: Offline
Posts: 4104
Date:
Permalink  

A very short afternoon stroll in the Big Pool area of Newchurch Common. Sunny and hot! The length of the walk and its limited scope probably reduced species seen.

Butterflies seen were Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White and Orange-tip.

At least 2 Broad-bodied Chasers showed very well as well as a Four-spotted Chaser. I did just have time to check another area for a speciality here and saw 1 Downy Emerald for my efforts! Four damselfly specs were seen, and in good numbers for one! At least 520 Common Blue Damselflies were seen plus 1 Azure Damselfly, 1 Large Red Damselfly and 10 Blue-tailed Damselflies!

 A probable Pardosa armentata Wolf Spider was seen carrying an egg sac, but these are hard to ID to species in the field.

My first White Campion plants were in flower. The Nettle Rust fungus Puccinia urticata was seen.



__________________
facebook
Doc Brewster


Status: Offline
Posts: 4104
Date:
Permalink  

Full of cold so not out for 2 days but a short walk on my Newchurch Patch around Big Pool was in order today, early pm with warm weather, a wee glimpse of sun but a smattering of rain too.

Just 4 butterfly species, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White and Brimstone.

Another good odonata day with my first emerging 8 Large Red-eyed Damselflies, at this stage almost unrecognisable from the final adults but weirdly obvious in flight! Also 2 fem/imm Broad-bodied Chasers, this time settling and allowing me to get photos. Also seen were 44 Blue-tailed Damselflies, my max. count so far this year for the species, plus 250 Common Blue Damselflies.

A cracking Wasp Beetle was found near Big Pool, always a spectacular species to photograph (pic attached)

A Cucumber Spider (Araniella cucurbitina) was found on an oak, and the difficult ID clinched by looking at its short, fat, hairy legs (as Eric would say!!). The lack of spines on one section of its tibia meaning it was A.cucurbitina for certain! The Long-jawed Orb-weaver Tetragnatha extensa was again seen.





-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Thursday 16th of May 2024 08:55:51 AM

Attachments
__________________
facebook
Doc Brewster


Status: Offline
Posts: 4104
Date:
Permalink  

Had a week of warm, sunny weather so I've been out on my Newchurch Patch daily, mainly on the mosslands as it's the warm weather hotspot.

A Common Lizard (11th) was seen on Shemmy Moss, hard to see at present as they are supercharged with the heat!

Green Hairstreaks are just hanging on with a single seen twice on Shemmy Moss, The last one was on Sunday 12th May, wonder whether that will be my last?! All other species were as expected.

A Really good period for odonata in particular. My first Broad-bodied Chaser (11th) appeared on the mosslands, not usually a hotspot for them. Not new but a nice male Hairy Dragonfly (10th) was quartering the mossland pools. An amazing count of 12 Downy Emeralds (13th) was made on Shemmy Moss, spread across several locations, my co-patch worker and I have never seen them in such good numbers. At last the emergences are being seen with odonata out over the pools on Shemmy Moss, attracting the Hobbies in to hunt them, 10 Four-spotted Chasers (10th) being noted on the best day. Damselflies were also doing well with 55 Azure Damselflies (13th) seen alongside the north edge of Shemmy Moss.

A Cheshire scarce moth was found on Shemmy Moss, Pleurota bicostella (10th), a micromoth and a heather specialist hence its scarity. The next day a moth seen on Newchurch was also seen on Shemmy Moss, but this time photographed, another county scarcity it was Small Yellow Underwing (11th). The final moth of no was one I've had before Cydia ulicetana (12th) also known as the Gorse Piercer, which the mosses are full of!

A parasitic braconid wasp was identifield from a previous walk, it being Zele deceptor (7th), seen in the Big Pool east meadow. Similar beetles to before but one nice new addition was a Malachite Beetle (Malachius bipustulatus (12th)). Also a stunning purple form of Plateumaris sericea (12th) was found rather than the usual bronzy-red form. A strikingly patterned caddisfly Limnephilus elegans (11th) was a new species for me.

The first orthopteran was a Common Ground Hopper (12th) on Shemmy Moss, roll on grasshopper and 'cricket' season!

Another new spider was added, one I've seen in past years though, a large female Furrow Orb-weaver (10th) out on Shemmy Moss.

Plants seen included swathes of Soft-brome grass bursting with seeds along the track up between the Nursery field and Shemmy Moss.

 



-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Tuesday 14th of May 2024 08:21:23 PM

__________________
facebook
Doc Brewster


Status: Offline
Posts: 4104
Date:
Permalink  

On Newchurch Patch in the morning with a guest who wanted a guided tour biggrin Warm but sunny intervals rather than constant sunshine but we found what he came for so he left happy

Amongst the usual butterflies a Large White lingered long enough for a photo.

His target eventually performed well with at least 5 Downy Emeralds see, including a mating pair in cop. Even better for me was a fem/imm Hairy Dragonfly on Shemmy Moss which was new for this year. Also new was my first Azure Damselfly, close to the Hairy spot. A few Common Blue Damselflies were also on Shemmy Moss as well as 20+Large Red Damselflies.

It was quite a beetle-y day with the first Minator and Black-headed Cardinal Beetles found on Shemmy Moss. Another first was a 10-Spot Ladybird on the mosses along with Harlequin Ladybirds of the forms succinea and conspicua, 14-Spot Ladybirds and 7-Spot Ladybirds.

Most other species were as before but nice to show them to Richard, my guest smile



__________________
facebook
« First  <  Page 3  >   Last »  sorted by
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.
BACK TO THE MANCHESTER BIRDING WEBSITE HOMEPAGE -> Manchester Birding Forum -> All other Greater Manchester wildlife sightings -> Out-of-county (other wildlife)

RODIS

 

This forum is dedicated to the memory of Eva Janice McKerchar.