Some Moths from Colin, Sallie, and Brian

Group members Colin Carr and Sallie Corfield, and our chairman Brian Hammond have sent in some photos of moths that they've caught in the moth traps, or in his conservatory in Colin's case!

Here's Colin's rather beautiful moth:-

Small Magpie (Eurryhypara hortulata) - Blackfordby

 Here are Sallie's - I'm very envious of the Poplar Hawk-moth, Sallie, as I've never caught one!

Flame Shoulder (Ochropleura plecta) - Blackfordby

Garden Carpet (Xanthorhoe fluctuata) - Blackfordby

Muslin Moth (Diaphora mendica) (male) - Blackfordby

Shuttle-shaped Dart (Agrotis puta) - Blackfordby

Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi) - Blackfordby

Here are Brian's moths:-

Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa) - Blackfordby

Bright-line Brown-eye (Lacanobia oleracea) - Blackfordby

Common Swift (Hepialus lupulinus) (male) - Blackfordby

Gold Spot (Plusia festucae) - Blackfordby

I finish this off with a fly, rather than a moth, from Brian. This fly looks more ferocious than it is! 

St Marks Fly (Bibio marci) - Blackfordby

Thank you, Colin, Sallie, and Brian for your much-appreciated contributions.

I hope that everyone is staying safe and well. I think that the next blog post will feature some work that Colin Carr has been doing with the aid of Stephen Sinfield!

Some Photos From Brian and Min

Firstly, my apologies for not posting on the blog for a while - I have been a bit busy and otherwise preoccupied. These photos were received a few days ago from our Chairman, Brian Hammond, and from group member Min Bell. My thanks for your much-appreciated contributions.

Here are Brian's photos, which are of shieldbugs. Brian also noted:- "Lot's of Green Shieldbugs (Palomena prasina) around at the moment. Haven't got a good picture from this year yet but here is one from 2019. Woundwort shieldbug (Eysarcoris venustissimusis) is tiny only 4-5mm. A very pretty small bug with a long name it was a devil to photograph as it wouldn't stay still. It also feeds on White Deadnettle & there is lots of that around Blackfordby at the moment."

Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina) (adult) - Blackfordby

Woundwort Shieldbug  (Eysarcoris venustissimusis) (adult) - Blackfordby

I have noted these as being 'adult' as shieldbugs, like many other beetles, bugs, etc. have several 'instars' before achieving adulthood, with the instars looking somewhat different to adults. You can find an excellent ID guide to shieldbugs here:-  https://www.britishbugs.org.uk/heteroptera/idcards/life_stages.html.

Min's contribution also came with a brief note:- "I don't have a good enough camera for garden birds. These starlings are very cheeky! And the blackbirds are nesting next door. The footballer was also obliging." - Sorry, Min, but I have to disagree with you about the standard of your camera - these photos are delightful!

"Starling queuing for grub" - Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) - Blackfordby

"Hen Blackbird also waiting" - Blackbird (Turdus merula) (female) - Blackfordby

Min also photographed this hoverfly which has a very apt common name!

The Footballer (Helophilus hybridus) - Blackfordby

That's all for this post. I have some more of Brian's photos waiting for a future blog post.

In the meantime, take great care and stay safe - - - Richard

April Wildflowers - From Brian

Our Chairman, Brian,  has been photographing wildflowers again, in his garden and in some nearby locations.

This first one is an introduced species.

White Spanish Bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica) - Blackfordby

This next one also is not a native wildflower, but a garden escape.

Honesty (Lunaria annua) - Blackfordby

Variegated Yellow Archangel is a British native but the plants in Blackfordby are probably garden escapes as they are regularly grown in gardens.

Variegated Yellow Archangel (Lamiastrum (Galeobdolon) luteum) - Blackfordby

Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) - Blackfordby

Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys) - Blackfordby

Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) - Blackfordby

Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) - Blackfordby

Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) - Blackfordby

May blossom (Crataegus monogyna) - Blackfordby

Red Campion (Silene dioica) - Blackfordby

Meadow Buttercup (Ranunculus acris) - Blackfordby

Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens) - Blackfordby

Groundsel - (Senecio vulgaris) - Blackfordby

Field Pansy (Viola arvensis) (pale form) - Blackfordby

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale agg.) - Blackfordby

The 'agg.' bit in the scientific name given above for the Dandelion is an indication that it has not been possible to tie the identification down to a fully specific level. Brian notes that "there are 210 different sub-species that are almost impossible to separate".

Thank you, Brian, for these photos with ID information.

I'm not sure, at this stage, what the next blog post will feature. In the meantime, stay safe, stay well, and stay at home! 

Richard

Notes and Photos from Sallie

Brian and I have had an email from group member Sallie Corfield to say that, having been furloughed from work this week, she is spending more time in her garden. 

I'll let Sallie explain the following photos in her own words by 'cut & pasting' them from her email.

"The photo of the blackbird nest is from my back garden, apologies for the poor quality, I was trying to be really quick when the bird was off the nest so I didn’t disturb her. The nest is tucked into some ivy growing on the fence."

Blackbird (Turdus merula) eggs in nest - Sallie's Blackfordby garden

"The other two photos are my front garden which I decided last year to stop mowing. Last year we had just grasses which I cut just once in September and have left to its own devices. This year so far we’ve had a lot of lesser celandine, lots of dandelions, green alkanet, honesty and now loads of cuckoo flower has appeared! I’m really looking forward to seeing what else appears."

the benefits of  'wilding' a lawn - Sallie's Blackfordby garden

"I’ve also got a patch of the back garden which I intend to leave unmown from this year onwards. Just shows how quickly wildflowers can colonise and that you don’t really need to do much or spend any money to create better habitat at home really easily. It would be great to encourage group members to leave bits of the garden to go wild and see what appears. "

I think that this is a brilliant idea, Sallie, and will be of great benefit to invertebrates, with the knock-on effect of assisting the birds with a food supply too.  Thank you for sharing this.

Last year, I made plans to convert my lawn to a flower meadow for the very same reasons. However, events overtook me and have done so again this year! 

I have been keen to let the Dandelions grow in the lawn (and the rest of the garden) this year, but I have also mown from time to time. I have noticed that, when the grass is relatively short, the birds (mainly Starlings, House Sparrows, and Dunnocks, but other birds too) like to peck at the lawn looking for leatherjackets, worms and insects. This got me wondering if I should shelve my plans to lose the lawn and just concentrate on insect-friendly plants in the garden. Sallie's intiative has caused me to rethink my ideas and I suspect that our lawn will now be a 'half and half' - half mown and half left to grow (with possibly a few wildflower seeds scattered on it to help with the process).

Thank you, Sallie, for your inspiration. Stay safe and healthy, and keep your ideas and photos coming, please.

Brian - your wildflowers will be in the next blog post!

Take good care everyone - - - Richard

Mating Red Mason Bees

Brian has forwarded to me an image kindly sent in by group member Melinda Bell. It shows a pair of Red Mason Bees (I hope I've got the ID correct!) mating. At first I wondered if this was an act of aggression, rather than love as I (a total novice as far as bees are concerned) was quite surprised by the relative positions. However, it seems that these bees might justifiably be called Missionary Bees. The female can be recognised as the one underneath as the 'horns' (the reason for the scientific name) on her all-black head are clearly visible, and the male has white tufts on his head.

Red Mason Bee (Osmia bicornis) (pair mating) - Ashby de la Zouch garden

Thank you Min for sending this in - I've learned something new (but, at my age, will probably forget it again in no time flat!)

I suspect that the next blog post will feature more of Brian's wildflower images.

Stay safe and well - - - Richard

 

Garden Moths

While we are in lockdown, one aspect of wildlife-watching in the garden which can be informative and interesting is looking at garden moths with the aid of a moth trap. Many moths, but not all, are attracted to light. Moth traps consist of a chamber with a light above, usually with clear baffles round the light so that a moth which is attracted to the light bumps into the baffles and drops, via a funnel, into the chamber below. It is customary for the chamber to have egg-tray sheets inside so that the moths have somewhere to rest until observed and released in the morning. To get best results, the light used needs to be a special one for the purpose. Mercury vapour lamps used to be the order of the day (or night!), but these can now be difficult to source because of safety and ecological concerns and regulations. Actinic bulbs or  fluorescent black-light bulbs are now the safest options.

At least three of the group members have moth traps, including myself and our Chairman, Brian.  The main season for moths is from spring to autumn, although a few species are around in the winter. I'm relatively new to moth-ing, but it seems to me that the best nights are warm still nights with a relatively humid atmosphere - but not wet! This year, the moth season seems to have got off to a slow start, although moths are now being found. However here are a few that Brian and I have found recently. They might not be the most colourful - hopefully there will be some of those later in the year!

Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) - Ashby de la Zouch garden

Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) - Ashby de la Zouch garden

March Moth (Alsophyla aescularia) - Ashby de la Zouch garden

Beautiful Plume (Amblyptilia acanthadactyla) - Ashby de la Zouch garden

Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) - Ashby de la Zoucg garden

This next one might look as if it was dead in this photo, but I assure you it was not and flew away later in the day. Quite a large moth - they usually hold their wings closed.

Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria) - Ashby de la Zouch garden

Light Brown Apple Moth (Epiphyas postvittana) - Ashby de la Zouch garden

Diurnea fagella - Ashby de la Zouch garden

Shoulder Stripe (Earophila badiata) - Ashby de la Zouch garden

Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda) - Ashby de la Zouch garden

Twenty Plume Moth (Alucita hexadactyla) - Ashby de la Zouch garden

Brian had his trap out for the first time last week. He manages to give his photographic subjects a much more natural-looking background by placing than on a leaf - I use a green cardboard folder!

Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) - Blackfordby garden

Powdered Quaker (Orthosia gracilis) - Blackfordby garden

Swallow Prominent (Pheosia tremula) - Blackfordby garden

Silver Y (Autographa gamma) - Blackfordby garden

That last moth is an immigrant from continental Europe but is still relatively common and can be seen flying in the daytime.

I have been trying to source moth traps at a competetive price for the group, should anyone want one. However, the source is having supply problems at the moment due to some key components coming from China. If the situation changes I'll get Brian to put a message out to the group.

If you would like any help with information about moth trapping, or identification of moths, please feel free to contact either Brian Hammond or myself (Richard Pegler). I will say that Brian is very much more an expert than I am (I'm just a novice with a couple of years experience!). 

If you want a good book to help with the identification of moths, I thoroughly recommend the 'Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland' by Waring, Townsend, and Lewington. It can currently be obtained for less than £30.

On-line assistance with moth ID can be found on Twitter from @MothIDUK .

Please consider sending records of any moths seen to the County Recorder - see the 'Wildlife Recording' tab under the banner header.

Happy mothing - take good care - - - Richard