Goat Moth

Group member Sallie Corfield has sent in an exciting bit of news about a moth sighting she reported to the County Moth Recorder. Sallie, in her capacity as Community Ranger for Forestry England, was working on Forestry England's stand at the Timber festival in Feanedock Wood in July, 2019. County Moth Recorder for Leicestershire & Rutland, Adrian Russell had a 'walk-in' moth trap (something I'd love to see in action!) set up there, and Sallie wandered in and spotted and photographed a hitherto undetected moth, which she reported to Adrian. It was a Goat Moth! This once-common moth has become extremely rare, and the previous record in VC55 (Leics & Rutland) was in 1990 at Brown's Hill Quarry, near Melton Mowbray.

Adrian suggested to Sallie that it might be worthwhile surveying the area for signs of the Goat Moth, and I agree with Sallie's suggestion that we should make the groups members aware of this in case they would like to involve themselves in such an activity. Although the moth flies in June and July, its presence can be detected by the holes bored in trees by the caterpillars. If you would like to know more about the Goat Moth, which is one of UK's largest moths, and how to find them, please look at https://butterfly-conservation.org/sites/default/files/1.goat-moth-species-factsheet.pdf. If you would like to discuss this with me (Richard Pegler), please get in touch. In current circumstances, visits will have to be on an individual basis but, in happier times ( fingers are crossed) a small group visit might be arranged. I visited Feanedock Wood yesterday, and it is a splendid place. It is within walking distance of Blackfordby and can be found on the right hand side of Gorse Lane bridleway (as accessed from Boothorpe) through a gate before you descend the hill to Rawdon Road and Conkers.

Goat Moth (Cossus cossus) - Feanedock Wood

Incidentally, I didn't find any hard evidence during my visit yesterday, but did see a couple of tree trunks that had me wondering!?

Thank you, Sallie for this, and congratulations on this fabulous find!

Take great care and stay safe, everyone - - - Richard
 

Cue For a Song?!

Brian has sent in a wonderful image, with the following note:-

Attached is a picture a friend in Montrose, Scotland, sent me of Pink-footed Geese flying in front of a rainbow. My friend's name is Andy Wakelin. Montrose has an inland sea called Montrose Basin which has a Wildlife Centre. It is famous for it's flocks of geese every Autumn. This year there were over 84,000 at the basin. It is a great place to visit if any members are ever on the East Coast of Scotland see web site https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/reserve/montrose-basin/

Pink-footed Goose (Anser brachyrhynchus) - Montrose Basin, Scotland

Thank you, Andy and Brian - much appreciated! 

 

Mouse Problem - Solved!

Our Chaiman, Brian, has had a mouse problem. I'll let Brian take over with the description, extracted from his emails to me. If you have a mouse problem you might find the following useful :-

 

I have a lot of problems with House mice in the shed that we store bird & dog food in, they even chew through plastic storage boxes if given the chance. I hate using lethal traps so bought a humane trap to try. I had tried a different design last year that wasn't very successful, however the new one has been out only 3 days & has already caught 2 mice so seems quite good. I am fairly sure they are House Mice (Mus musculus) but not certain. This one got a bath when I released it in the field away from the house as it jumped straight out of the trap into a puddle, shook itself and hopped off at a great pace. You need to clean & dry the trap between baiting it or the seesaw trap door sticks. They then eat the bait and can escape, cleaning & drying it stops that happening. Best bait is crunchy peanut butter.

The trap came from Ivanhoe Country Store & was less than £8. It works on a seesaw principle the weight of the mouse tips the seesaw & this raises the weighted door on the other end stopping the mouse from getting out again - (most of the time). The previous type I tried was much smaller & the whole trap was supposed to tip & a door shut but I never got it to catch anything so I threw it away. I always use Peanut butter as a bait as they love it, I also bait not only inside the trap but also on the inward end of the seesaw 

 

Thank you for this interesting information, Brian. I hope that the trap is continuing to serve you well

The Marmite Bird!

There are, I know, mixed feelings out there about visits to the garden by Sparrowhawks and taking the birds that we are attracting to the garden bird feeders. My wife is very much set against them and, although she wishes no harm to the Sparrowhawks, she insists on banging on the window or waving her arms to discourage them. I, however, am pleased to see them, and regard them as magnificent creatures and an indicator of the state of the environment  - although I'd prefer it if they'd not take some of our less common birds!

The male Sparrowhawk, with its orange tinged frontage, is somewhat smaller than the female, and confines its prey to the smaller species of bird.

Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) (male) - our Ashby garden on 9th October, 2020

The larger female of the species, which has the orange replaced by brown on the frontage, will take larger birds, such as Collared Doves, as prey. The one below is, I believe, a young female, having pale edges to the wing coverts and yellow, rather than orange, eyes.

Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) (female) - our Ashby garden on 23rd October, 2020

I would be interested to hear whether you see Sparrowhawks in your garden, and what your attitude towards them is!

Until the next time - take good care and stay safe - - - Richard Pegler

Shieldbugs

I'm no expert, but I have a passing interest in shieldbugs, sometimes referred to as 'stinkbugs' with good reason!

There are, I believe, 32 species of shieldbug to be found in UK if you exclude the Coreidae (which includes the common Dock Bug). Of these, I think that 23 species have been recorded inVC55 (Leicestershire and Rutland vice-county).

An excellent guide to shieldbug identification can be found here:-  https://www.britishbugs.org.uk/heteroptera/idcards/life_stages.html

There are still some to be found at this time as I write this and this is one I found recently sitting on top of my garden waste recycling bin.

Birch Shieldbug (Elasmostethus interstinctus) (adult) - our Ashby garden on 22nd October, 2020

If you have any information or photos of local wildlife interest, please contact me at blackfordbywg@btinternet.com

Best wishes to all - - - Richard Pegler
 

A Caterpillar and Some Fungi

Our Chairman, Brian, has recently had a short break in Suffolk, where he visited Sutton Hoo, and also took some photos of a caterpillar and some fungi. Brian asked if I thought it appropriate to put up non-local material, and I certainly do in this case as it has relevance to the local area too as it is a good time for fungi. However, I know virutally nothing about fungi, other than that the Parasol Mushroom is said to be excellent eating - provided you are confident in your identification!

Parasol Mushroom (Macrolepiota procera) - Sutton Hoo

Shaggy Inkcap (Coprinus comatus) - Sutton Hoo

The Fox Moth caterpillar is a fully-fed individual, which will bide its time without further feeding and pupate in the spring.

Fox Moth (Macrothylacia rubi) (larva) - Sutton Hoo

Thank you, Brian for these, which are much-appreciated. 

Please, folks, don't hesitate to send in your photos and observations. In the meantime, take great care and stay safe - - - Richard Pegler

 

Toadlet Rescue!

Our Chairman, Brian, found this baby toadlet in his dog's drinking bowl. It had managed to get itself in, but couldn't get out again as the sides of the bowl were too slippery. Brian rescued it and it hopped away again. Well done Brian - see you in the honours list for services to young toads!