Baslow Edge- 19th July 2020

Jayne and I had a walk from Curbar Gap up to Baslow Edge on Sunday. Bird wise, it was pretty quiet, with just the usual Meadow Pipits and a few Crows flying around, but we did enjoy some butterflies, moths and dragonflies.

We started out walk on Clodhall Lane and walked across to the small pond. Here we had a very brief view of a hawker dragonfly, possibly Common. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see it again, so couldn't clinch the id. We did, however, see a couple of Emerald Damselflies and a couple of Common Darter. Walking on from there, towards the Wellington Monument, we sat by a small stream to watch a fantastic male Golden-ringed Dragonfly that was patrolling a small stretch of water by the path. He also perched up on the rocks allowing us some superb views and  a photo.

Golden-ringed Dragonfly

The butterflies seen were Ringlet (10+), Small Tortoiseshell (3), Small Heath (5+), Red Admiral (1), Gatekeeper (1), Small Skipper (3), Large Skipper (1), Meadow Brown (5) and best of all, a Painted Lady (our first record for 2020). 

Painted Lady

We also saw 2 species of day-flying moth, 3 Narrow-bordered 5-spot Burnet Moths and a Yellow Shell.

Narrow-bordered 5-spot Burnet Moth 

Summer Butterflies - 29th June 2019

We haven't yet had a great deal of decent sunny weather this summer, so, with the sun out, and a very decent temperature of 25 degrees today, I thought it was time to head over to Lindrick Dale near Worksop, to have a look at  the butterflies there.

I arrived at about 10am and straight away saw good numbers of Marbled White (15+), Dark Green Fritillary (c.20) and Silver-studded Blue (10+ males, no females).

Marbled White

Dark Green Fritillary

Dark Green Fritillary (underwing)

Silver-studded Blue (male upperwing)

Silver-studded Blue (male underwing)

Other butterflies seen were: Small Heath (2), Ringlet (10+), Meadow Brown (c.10), Large Skipper (1 male), Painted Lady (1 - my first record here) and a day flying moth, the Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet moth.

Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet Moth

Flowers seen were: Bladder Campion and 3 types of orchid: Bee (3), Common Spotted and Pyramidal.

RSPB Ryan's Field and Hayle Estuary

Every time we're down in Cornwall Jayne and I like to pay a visit to  the RSPB reserve at Hayle Estuary and nearby Ryan's Field. We popped down on Monday for about an hour to see what was about.

First stop was the enormous, open-fronted hide on Ryan's Field.

Ryan's Field

The first bird we spotted was a juvenile Moorhen, followed closely by 3 Common Sandpipers that were feeding on the mud. Scanning over the site we soon picked up a few Mediterranean Gulls, including a juvenile bird, a Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron, Herring Gulls and 2 Curlews. Just before we left, everything panicked and disappeared, as a female Sparrowhawk flew through and landed about 20m away.

Sparrowhawk

From there, we walked the 300m or so to the Hayle Estuary. On the way we spotted this day-flying moth, most likely a Narrow-bordered 5-spot Burnet Moth. It could be the less common 5-spot Burnet Moth, but I can't be sure, so I'll stick with the commoner species..

Narrow-bordered 5-spot Burnet Moth

When we got to the estuary we scanned the mud flats and picked up dozens of Herring Gulls, a few more distant Mediterranean Gulls, a single Whimbrel (thanks Jayne) and 5 Black Swans.

Black Swan

Dronfield Nature Park - 3rd July 2016

After Sunday's visit to Lindrick Dale, I popped into the Dronfield Nature Park, a small grassland site with a  pond.

Pond at Dronfield Nature Park

Despite the warm weather, the pond was quite quiet, with just 3 damselflies seen. These were a pair of blue damselflies in tandem, and another male blue damselfly. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good view to identify to species. The only other animal seen in the pond was a newt. Again, I wasn't able to identify it to species level.

Newt species

Other insects seen included Common Carder Bee, Holly Blue and 3 Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet moth.

Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet moth

Avenue Moths and Butterflies

In my last post I reported on a successful ringing trip to the Avenue Washlands in Chesterfield. Whilst there we also had time to look at the insect life of the site, so here are a few pictures and thoughts.

First up is a species of burnet moth, most likely Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet Moth.

Mating Pair

 

There is another species of moth called a Five-spot Burnet, but, according to the UK Moths website, the Narrow -Bordered species is much more common and widespread.

 

Another moth species seen in the grasslands was the Shaded Broad-Bar.

 

Shaded Broad Bar

 

 As well as the moths, we also recorded a couple of butterfly species: Ringlet (10+), Meadow Brown and a new froghopper species, which I believe is a Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius).

 

Common Froghopper