The family of Mink mentioned in my bird report are the first Mink I have seen here for a number of years. I was hoping they had been pushed out with reports of Otters on Bradshaw Brook from a few years ago.
Only 1 butterfly seen around the reservoir, a white one flying past too quick to identify. Common Hawker by the information centre.
Plenty of Meadow Browns & a couple of Small Tortoiseshells on farmland.
Ousel Nest Meadow :- Numerous Meadow Browns & Large Skippers, 1 Small Skipper, a few Green-veined Whites. Numerous Straw Dots & a Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet. Large Red, Azure, & Blue-tailed Damselflies. 6 Brown Hawkers, 1 Common Hawker, & 1 Common Darter.
Lots of Rabbits on the field between Grange Road and the railway. A couple more on the other side of Grange Road. A couple of Grey Squirrels at the reservoir.
Ousel Nest Meadow :- 1 Southern Hawker 2 Common Hawkers 1 Brown Hawker 1 Common Darter
A few Green-veined Whites and 2 Speckled Woods on the meadow but only 1 Gatekeeper seen by the reservoir
A few Rabbits on Grange Road fields by the railway line Grey Squirrels in numerous places Lots of Snowdrops My first Daffodil in flower this year Lots of Yellow Brain on Gorse near the bridge at the overflow
Small Skippers, Large Skippers, Large Whites, Small Whites, Green-veined Whites, Small Tortoiseshells, Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns.
Hundreds of grass moths (usual common species), Lots of Udea utealis, Celypha lacunana, & Straw Dots, Antler Moth, 3 Silver Y, Beautiful Golden Y, Shaded Broad-bar.
5 Brown Hawkers, 1 Common Hawker, 1 Broad-bodied Chaser.
Large Skippers, Small Skippers, Green-veined Whites, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, Speckled Woods. Lots of Straw Dots, only 1 Chimney Sweeper, and my first sightings this year of Udea lutealis. Emperor dragonfly, Four-spotted Chasers, Brown Hawker (the latter at Ousel Nest Meadow). Large Red, Azure, & Blue-tailed damselflies.
Ousel Nest Meadow :-
12 Large Skippers, 1 Green-veined White, 11 Meadow Browns.
Still around 50 Chimney Sweepers spread across the meadow, 12 Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnets, 5 Silver-ground Carpets, 1 Straw Dot, 100+ Celypha lacunana, Agriphila straminella & tristella, Nettle-taps.
1 Brown Hawker, 2 Broad-bodied Chasers, & the usual damselflies.
Pill Box Field :-
3 Large Skippers & a few Chimney Sweepers.
At last the pond has come to life with a male Emperor dragonfly being constantly chased around by 5 Four-spotted Chasers. Azure damselflies.
The only butterflies around the reservoir were 2 Speckled Woods.
All these records are from the banking near the bridge at the top end and the bottom end of the field above. Not much else around the reservoir despite a good search.
2 Large Skippers An excellent count of 70+ Chimney Sweepers. Way up on my previous counts over the years of a dozen or so. Numerous Silver-ground Carpet, Bactra lancealana, Celypha lacunana, Timothy Tortrix. Azure damselflies. It was again too cool & windy for dragonflies at the pond.
Over two hours on Ousel Nest Meadow (sunny & sheltered). After the disastrous weather last year "tipping point" has now been suspended here.
50+ Chimney Sweepers, only just down on my best count of 60+ a couple of years ago. None seen last year. Usual areas, anywhere with horsetails. 28 Silver-ground Carpets 2 Siver Y. They have been around Southern England for a few weeks, nice to see them now moving up to us now 1 Beautiful Golden Y 1 Common White Wave 1 Light-brown Apple Moth 1 Timothy Tortrix 1 Epiblema scutulana Numerous Nettle-tap moths, Celypha lacunana, Bactra lancealana, Cydia ulicetana. Butterflies :- 4 Large Skippers, 3 Large Whites, 8 Green-veined Whites, 5 Orange Tips, 1 Peacock. Dragonflies :- 6 Broad-bodied Chasers Damselflies :- Large Red, Azure, Common Blue, Blue-tailed, and a Banded Demoiselle (my first here but I have seen them around Bradshaw Conservative Club/The Old School House) Bumblebees :- Buff-tailed, Red-tailed, White-tailed, Early (bombus pratorum, the most numerous, mainly on thistles), Carder Bees. New flowers from last time :- Yellow Iris, Common Duckweed, Broad-leaved Willowherb, Pencilled Cranesbill, Meadow Vetchling, Common Spotted Orchid.
Reservoir (overcast & breezy) :- 1 Green-veined White, 1 Speckled Wood. A Chimney Sweeper was my first ever near the reservoir, and numerous Silver-ground Carpets, Bactra lancealana, Celypha lacunana, Nettle-tap.
Field between the reservoir & the pill-box by Chapeltown Road :- 2 Large Skippers, 1 Small Copper. Smaller population of Chimney Sweepers to Ousel Nest, but still good to find about a dozen, about the expected numbers. Large Red & Azure damselflies. A bit too windy for dragonflies on the pond.
Late morning around Ousel Nest Meadow. Apart from a Large White the only butterflies were Green-veined Whites.
I had much more success with moths (all micro except one) by wandering through the grass putting up what I could, and checking vegetation. 1 Silver-ground Carpet A few Nettle -taps Lots of Bactra lancealana 2 Celypha lacunana 1 Elachista argentella 1 Phtheochroa sodaliana 3 Gypsonoma sociana 1 Ancylis badiana
A red & black Froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata), was the most distinctive of other insects.
A couple of hours around Ousel Nest Meadow this morning.
Wild flowers :- Bistort, Bluebell, Broad-leaved Dock, Bush Vetch, Common Cleavers, Common Sorrel, Cow Parsley, Creeping Buttercup, Creeping Thistle, Cuckoo Flower, Daisy, Dandelion, Germander Speedwell, Gorse, Greater Stitchwort, Herb Robert, Hogweed, Large Bittercress, Lesser Celandine, Meadow Buttercup, Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage, Red Campion, Red Clover, Ribwort Plantain, Self-heal, Sticky Mouse-ear, Sweet Cicely, Tormentil, Water Avens, Wavy Bittercress, Wood Sorrel, Yellow Pimpernel.
Lady Fern, Broad Buckler Fern, Field Horsetail, Wood Horsetail.
8 Green-veined Whites, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Speckled Woods. Moths :- Nettle-tap, Bactra lancealana, Grapholita jungiella, Epiblema cirsiana or scutulana (impossible to separate species from a photo). Damselflies :- Large Red, Azure, Common Blue. Common Pond Skaters, Whirligig Beetles, Green Lacewings (Chrysoperla carnea), a few species of Cranefly, Scorpion Flies, a few Hoverfly species (including Eristalis tenax, Volucella pellucens, Helophilus pendulus), Carder Bees, Tree Wasps (presumably this species as all my photos previously around here have been this one).
Roe Deer walking along Grange Road this morning without a care in the world. Rabbits on the field near the railway looking more lively in the sunshine.
2 Green-veined Whites, a Peacock, and a Small Tortoiseshell on Ousel Nest Meadow this afternoon.
