Monday 30th April 2007

Sunny, Blustery E
Again 2 traps overnight produced just 1 moth ( Wombwell garden ), but at least it was a year tick ;

White-pinion Spotted




Also a couple of butterflies were seen while i was there, but i only managed to photograph 2 species ;

Green-veined White


Red Admiral ( painted )






Did`nt hang about, wanted to get home and check on the pupae situation. Surprise, surprise nothing still had`nt emerged, but quite a few have took on a shiny appearance. Is this a sign that the emergence of the adults is`nt far off ?, if it is, they`ve got less than 2 days to do so!!!

Moth Year List - 47

Copyright Dean Stables

Sunday 29th April 2007

Low Cloud, Sunny ( late afternoon ), Light E
2 site year ticks this morning, Whitethroat at Cortonwood & 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls NW over the Wombwell garden while i was sorting the moth trap out this morning.
Also this morning i had a brief walk around the Knollbeck area, just a few more flowering plants from here ;

Birds-foot Trefoil


Red x White Campion


White Campion


Red Clover


Crucifer sp




Broom - garden escape


+ the Flame Shoulder, the only moth from my 2 traps overnight ;





Bird Year Lists - updates ;
Cortonwood - 63
Wombwell Garden - 44

Regards the filming next week, i`ve emailed the film producer explaining the moth situation, but i`ve had no news either way yet. Just hope he`s understanding :

Copyright Dean Stables

Sinking Deeper.....

..... and deeper into depression.
2 moth traps last night resulted in 1 Flame Shoulder. Plus still no Hawkmoths have emerged from the pupae.

Please excuse me now, while i go and build myself a set of GALLOWS!!!

Saturday 28th April 2007

Sunny, Breezy E/NE
It`s been a day of downs & ups. Firstly, the day got off to a very poor start. Despite running 2 moth traps overnight, i failed to catch a single moth ( it`s not looking good for the film scene next week, especially as none of the pupae have hatched yet either ).
After the major bad start to the day, it finally got better when Mike Richardson phoned to ask if i wanted to join him, his wife ( Claire ) & John Law on a trip to Sherwood Forest to look for the Star of Bethlehem that was found by a Notts birder the other day.
While waiting for Mike to arrive, i had my first garden Greylag Geese of the year when 2 birds flew over heading W.
Anyway, back to Sherwood Forest. It did`nt take us long to find the plant in question ( thanks to Ray Purser for the directions ).
The main stronghold of this flower is in East Anglia and elsewhere it is locally scarce ;





John - in photography mode


The plant Spring Beauty was also a first for me ;



Other highlights from here were a very showy Tree Pipit ( in song flight ), my first Small Copper ( butterfly ) of the year & this Glistening Inkcap ;



On the way home, Mike & I called into the Old Moor RSPB. A very decent hour was also spent here ;

Bogbean




Adders Tongue Fern ( 200+ of these around )






On the bird front, apart from a very showy Tawny Owl, i had my first Common Terns ( 2 ) & Mediterranean Gulls ( 2 2nd summer birds ) of the year.
So all in all it turned out to be a great day in the end. Thanks Mike.
All i want now is for the Hawkmoths ( all 300 of them ) to emerge and i`ll be very happy :)

*Edit - forgot to mention i had my first Garden Warbler of the year this morning at Cortonwood, as i passed on my way to the moth trap at the Wombwell garden.

Year Lists - Updates
Local Area Birds - 101 ( not included the Tripit )
Cortonwood Birds - 61
Garden Birds - 51
Butterflies - 12

Copyright Dean Stables

Friday 27th April 2007

Overcast, Rain am, Brightening up pm, Light NE
Started the day with a moth year tick when i found a White-shouldered House-moth in the bathroom, and then added another first of the year with a Bright-line Brown-eye in the trap in my garden. But that`s all there was, just 1 moth. God!! things are slow ;

Bright-line Brown-eye




Then off to the Wombwell garden where my other trap provided another year tick, with this Spectacle ;



This Pale Tussock was the best of the rest ;







Starting to panic now, only four an half days to the filming and not one of the 300 pupae has emerged yet. They`d better get a move on if they want to earn me some money.

Moth Year List - 46

Copyright Dean Stables

Thursday 26th April 2007

Sunshine & Patchy Cloud, Light N
Could`nt believe it when i looked in the moth trap ( my garden ) this morning. Not a single moth. There was`nt that much in the one at the Wombwell garden either, with the majority being Lunar Marbled Browns, Lesser Swallow Prominents & Muslin Moths. However, i did manage 1 species new for the year with Powdered Quaker, below ;



Nothing of interest on the bird front here, but there were a few butterflies ;

Small White






Orange Tip




Speckled Wood




The walk home along the western edge of Cortonwood produced a site year tick, with a single Lesser Whitethroat. Again, not a lot apart from quite a few butterflies and flowering Wild Strawberry ;



Back at home my garden did`nt produce anything better than 3 Swift & a couple of House Martin.

Year Lists - update ;
Cortonwood ( birds ) - 61
Moths - 43

Copyright Dean Stables

The Biiiiig Reveal

Time to put Emma ( bordersbirds ) out of her misery and anyone else that saw the brief note i left on yesterdays post.
Well, here goes. A couple of weeks ago i was contacted by a film producer from Steel Mill Pictures. He said that they were in the process of shooting a feature film " The Cottage " and that one of the proposed scenes requires quite a few moths.
That`s where i come in. He asked me if i would help by saving the moths from the previous nights trappings prior to the scene filming date ( 2nd May ). Also as a back up plan ( in case of poor trapping results ), the film company has purchased and had delivered to me 300 Hawkmoth pupae ( Lime, Eyed & Elephant ). ;





These i have to bring onto emergence ready for next Wednesday. Nothing like a bit of pressure/responsibility to get the old adrenalin pumping.
I`ve also been asked if i could be on set to oversee the moth scene, which will be shot overnight. If i remember rightly, i`ll be on set for at least 12 hours, which is being filmed on the Harewood Estate in West Yorkshire.
Just found out today, that the leading actor is none other than Andy Serkis ( Gollum - Lord of the Rings trilogy ), and i don`t want to make all the red blooded males out there envious, but the leading actress is " the very hot " Jennifer Ellison. I know one bloke that will be pulling his hair out at the thought of this " sorry Colin ", but that`s the way it goes.
Although this may sound exciting and a great financial opportunity, i can`t help feeling a tad nervous. Well, there is a lot resting on my ability to come up with the goods.

Just goes to show, you never know who`s out there trawling the web.

Edit - just this minute found out that this film also stars horror actor Doug Bradley ( aka " Pinhead " - Hellraiser ).

Brimstone

A couple of shots of a very obliging male at the Wombwell garden this morning ;








Painted - Gouache

Copyright Dean Stables

Moths

4 year ticks overnight ;
Nematopogon swammerdamella, Foxglove Pug, Iron Prominent & Lesser Swallow Prominent.

Foxglove Pug


Iron Prominent




Lesser Swallow Prominent


Moth Year List - 42

Not had much time for wildlife sightings today, due to getting prepared for next weeks once in a lifetime event. All will be revealed later :)

Copyright Dean Stables

Tuesday 24th April 2007

Cloudy, Patchy Light Rain, Light SW
Went along with Mike Richardson today to see the Early Purple Orchids at nearby Sprotborough. En-route we called in at Broomhill Flash to see the Black-necked Grebe that has been present in the area over the last 2 days. Although it showed well it was quite distant, but it was a year tick ( a very nice one at that ).
Anyway, back to the EPO`s. There were about 2 dozen, at different stages of flowering. Not only these were a first for me, i also saw & photographed my first ever Crosswort & Sanicle ( the latter caused some confusion as to its identity ) ;

EPO`s




Crosswort


Sanicle


Back at home i managed to get Chiffchaff onto the garden year list. Not much else apart from a male Chaffinch and a Holly Blue butterfly.


Garlic Mustard - i leave these in for the Green-veined Whites & the Orange Tips.

The moth trap`s up and running at the Wombwell garden tonight. With perfect conditions ( cloudy, warm & still ), i hope to boost the year list come tomorrow morning.

Bird Year Lists - updates ;
Local Area - 98
My Garden - 50

Copyright Dean Stables

Monday 23rd April 2007

Cloudy, Patchy Light Rain, Light SW
A couple of year ticks today ;
Lesser Whitethroat - 1 singing by Dearne Valley Parkway ( across from the Wombwell garden )
Whitethroat - 1 singing by Smithy Bridge, Hemingfield
Phyllonorycter sorbi ( micro moth ) - 1 at the Wombwell garden

Other highlights ;
Little Ringed Plover - 1 Cortonwood
Linnet - 6 Cortonwood ( site year tick )

Pics ( nothing at all to do with the above ) ;


Apple Blossom ( Wombwell )


Pasque Flower - cultivar ( Wombwell )


Dicentra ( Wombwell )


Broom ( Cortonwood )

Year Lists - update ;
Local Area Birds - 97
Cortonwood Birds - 60
Moths - 38

And last but not least, i`d like to thank the lady who stopped & got out of her vehicle this afternoon to ask if i was the Dean Stables of this blog. Sorry i did`nt get your name, but thanks again for taking the time to stop and to say that you visit this blog on a daily basis. Long may you find it interesting & THANKS again.

Copyright Dean Stables

Sunday 22nd April 2007

Overcast with brief bright spells, Breezy SW
Had a short walk along the Trans-Pennine Trail at Cortonwood this morning, where the only new species for the year was a single Adela reaumurella ( one of the Longhorn Moths ) & a couple of flowering plants ;


Herb Robert


Stitchwort

Then after dinner i had a look round the Knollbeck area. Not a lot here but i managed a few pics ;


Small White


Poppy ( very early )


Oxford Ragwort


Garden Marigold

Back at home, i had my first Swift of the year feeding over the garden this evening. Not a lot else, with just a single House Martin & a female Sparrowhawk heading NE.

Year Lists - update
Local Area Birds - 95
Garden Birds - 49
Moths - 37

Copyright Dean Stables

Saturday 21st April 2007

Hazy Sunshine, Breezy S
Not done a lot today ( well i have really ). Spent the morning pottering about in the garden ( cutting hedges etc ), then i went to help a ( girl ) friend of ours to dismantle 2 sheds ( yes 2!! ) and then carry them to her house. Absolutely knackered, but i got 8 cans of lager out of it, so i`m more than happy.
So as you can see not much time for wildlife, but i did have 2 House Martins ( year tick ) blogging over the back garden all morning.
Interestingly ( or not, as the case maybe ), my moth trap last night only managed to attract 2 Hebrew Characters.

Bird Year List updates ;
Local Area - 94
My Garden - 48

Will have to make up for it tomorrow.

Friday 20th April 2007

Cloudy, Light SE
A slightly better catch with the moth trap at the Wombwell garden which included 3 year ticks - Double-striped Pug, Muslin Moth & Shuttle-shaped Dart. The rest of the catch was ;
Eriocrania subpurpurella 5, Early Tooth-striped 2, Brindled Pug 5, Purple Thorn 1, Lunar Marbled Brown 5, Clouded Drab 1, Small Quaker 1, Hebrew Character 5, + a Median Wasp ( probably the same one that i did`nt identify yesterday ) ;

Muslin Moth


Shuttle-shaped Dart


Median Wasp - Queen






The only bird of note was of a single Swallow heading N over my garden this morning.

Moth Year List - 36

Copyright Dean Stables

Thursday 19th April 2007

Sunny, Patchy Cloud, Breezy W > N
With no interesting bird sightings to be noted, butterflies were on the agenda for today. First off, the Wombwell garden produced a few, with ;
Small White 1, Green-veined White 1, Orange Tip 4 ( 3 males ), Peacock 1, Speckled Wood 1.

Orange Tips


The female getting very excited by the attention of the 3
males ( note the raised abdomen )






Both sexes resting, side by side. ( How lucky was that )


The walk home, again saw me along the western edge of Cortonwood ( counting butterflies as usual ) ;
Small White 1, Green-veined White 3, Orange Tip 4, Comma 1, Peacock 6, Speckled Wood 6.
The only species from my garden during the afternoon was a single Speckled Wood.

Hope the cloud cover tonight makes a difference to tomorrow mornings moth count.

Copyright Dean Stables

Pathetic !!!!! pt 2

I thought that with all this glorious weather, that the mothing would be decent. Totally the opposite in fact, things seem to be getting worse. As you can see from the results of running 2 traps overnight ;

My Garden - Angle Shades 1 ( yes!!! that was it ) ;





Wombwell Garden - Emmelina monodactyla 1 ( first of the year ), Brindled Pug 1, Early Tooth-striped 1, Grey Birch 1, Lunar Marbled Brown 3, Hebrew Character 1. There was also a Wasp in the trap. I know for definate it`s not a Common, but can`t figure out what species it is ;

Grey Birch




Wasp sp


Not bothering with my garden tonight, but i`m giving the Wombwell one a go.

Moth Year List - 33

Wednesday 18th April 2007

Sunny, Light NW
Not a lot today folks. Highlights ;
Wombwell garden - Common Buzzard 1 displaying. That was till the pair of Carrion Crows clapped eyes on it ( again ). Also, Green-veined White 1, Orange Tip 1 male, Peacock 2, Speckled Wood 1 ;


Orange Tip


Peacock

Nether Haugh garden - Little Owl 1, Swallow 1, Blackcap 1 male, Tree Sparrow - several. Small Tortoiseshell 1.
My Garden - Sparrowhawk 1 female over. Small White 1, Holly Blue 1.

Running both traps tonight, so hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Copyright Dean Stables

Tuesday 17th April 2007

Sunny, Light > Blustery NW
Been running around here, there & everywhere today, but i did manage to stop for breath at the Wombwell garden this morning, where i had the following highlights ;
Sparrowhawk - pair displaying. Orange Tip 2 males, Holly Blue 1, Peacock 3, Speckled Wood 2 ;

Orange Tip






Speckled Wood






Hopefully tomorrow will not be such a rush.

( i must apologise to a few of my favourite blogs. I`ve been trying to leave a few comments here & there, but blogger won`t accept my password. Will have to go on as anonymous )

Copyright Dean Stables

Monday 16th April 2007

Cloudy, ( hazy ) Sunny Spells, Light N
The Wombwell garden produced a few tear ticks this morning. On the bird front Willow Warbler , Blackcap & Common Buzzard were all added to the site year list. The Buzzard came over low at about tree top height, but it was soon given a seeing to by the pair of nesting Carrion Crows.
Also added Lunar Marbled Brown ( 2 ) & a Grey Birch to the moth year list. A single Purple Thorn was also seen here.


Lunar Marbled Brown


Grey Birch

A few butterflies made the most of the bright spells, with the following recorded ;
Large White 1, Green-veined White 1, Orange Tip 2 ( m & f ), Holly Blue 1, Peacock 1, Speckled Wood 1 ;


Peacock


Speckled Wood

Then off to walk along the western edge of Cortonwood where i saw this unsightly burnt out wreckage ( it`s getting more & more like Stubbin every day ) ;



Could`nt be bothered with a bird count along here, but i did notice that Willow Warblers were now outnumbering their Chiffy cousins.
Quite a few butterflies from here as well, full count ;
Large White 1, Green-veined White 1, Orange Tip 7, Small Tortoiseshell 2, Comma 1, Peacock 10, Speckled Wood 5 ;


Peacock


Comma


Speckled Wood

The only thing different on the floral front were my first Ransoms of the year ;



And finally, my own garden could`nt produce anything better than 8 Goldfinch and a single Speckled Wood.

Year Lists - update ;
Wombwell Garden ( birds ) - 43
Moths - 34

Copyright Dean Stables

Sunday 15th April 2007

Sunny, Light W
My apologies for the late posting of this update, but unfortunately i suffered from a extremely severe attack of migraine. Spent most of the day & all night in bed, in complete agony. Anyway, prior to this i did manage about half an hour around the nearby Gypsy Marsh.
The main highlight for me was getting to grips with my first Grass Snake in about 10 years. It was one of the biggest i`ve ever seen, measuring about 3ft in length. No pictures though, as it was in dense vegetation and very active due to the extremely warm conditions.
The number of butterflies around was astounding, with Orange Tip being the most numerous ( at least 30 individuals ). These were also very active, but i did manage a couple of shots of 1 obliging female ;





Feeling a bit better ( but not 100% ), so i`m off out today. Try and make up for lost time.

Copyright Dean Stables

Pathetic !!!!!

Ran the Actinic in my garden last night. What i would call a complete waste of time with just 2 Hebrew Character & an Early Grey ;

Early Grey




Copyright Dean Stables

Saturday 14th April 2007

Sunny, Light E
The first decent bird of the day was my first garden Swallow of the year, with a single bird heading N early morning.
Nothing then till a visit to the Wentworth Estate. Not a great deal here but it made a change, highlights ;
Nuthatch 3, Common Buzzard 2, Chiffchaff 8, Great Crested Grebe 17 ( only 2 breeding pairs ), Greylag Goose 5, Blackcap 2, Mute Swan - pair nesting ( the first breeding record from here for at least 20 years ), Grey Heron - at least 20 occupied nests, Green Woodpecker 1, Swallow 1.
Also 5 Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Comma & 6 Peacock ;


G C Grebe - nest


Small Tortoiseshell


Marsh Marigold


Scentless Mayweed

I then made way to my parents house at Rawmarsh, passing through the Stubbin area. Highlights from here were ;
4 Fieldfare & 2 Redwing in the horse field. A male Orange Tip, 4 Small Tortoiseshell & 2 Peacock.
Plus it was great to see the Snakeshead Fritillary`s again, with 6 plants - 5 normal & 1 white form ;





Back at home for the rest of the day, where the highlights from the garden were ;
Sparrowhawk 3 birds circling together ( 1 male & 2 females ), and singles of the following butterflies - Brimstone ( female ), Small White, Comma & Peacock.



Garden Bird Year List - 47

Copyright Dean Stables

Friday 13th April 2007

Foggy, Light E
Oh no the dreaded date, feared by many. Superstitious so & so`s. The only bad thing about today was the awful foggy & cold conditions, which did`nt improve till late afternoon. Well, back to the days highlights. First off i went to the Wombwell garden to check on my moth trapping. Just 2 year ticks, an early Flame Shoulder ( unfortunately this one flew off ) and a very battered Satellite ( thank **** it still had its white markings, otherwise i would never have identified it ). The rest of the catch was ;
Light Brown Apple Moth 1, Early Tooth-striped 1, Brindled Pug 3, Engrailed 1, Small Quaker 3, Common Quaker 1, Hebrew Character 6 ;


Satellite


Engrailed

With the weather being so poor i decided against visiting anywhere else, that was until Mike Richardson phoned me to say that the Morels were above ground on his local patch of Bilham Wood. Within 10 minutes he arrived to take me along. I found this a very fascinating and photogenic species of Fungi ;





Also saw my first Wood Anenome`s of the year there, along with a few Bluebells ;







The only notable sightings from my garden were of a Grey Heron stood on the back garden fence this morning and a pair of Blue Tits have started nest building in the nest box that the Great Tits were taking an interest in.
All in all it did`nt turn out too bad a day in the end.

Moth Year List - 32

Copyright Dean Stables

Thursday 12th April 2007

Hazy Sunshine, Light E/SE
Highlights ;
Wombwell Garden - Sparrowhawk 1 female, Speckled Wood 2 ;

Speckled Wood






Hawthorn Shieldbug


Cortonwood ( western edge ) - Chiffchaff 6, Willow Warbler 1, Willow Tit 1. Small Tortoiseshell 4, Comma 1, Peacock 6.

Banded Snail


My Garden - Sparrowhawk 2 females over ( 1 carrying prey ), Long-tailed Tit 2. Small White 1, Peacock 1.


Peacock ( one that`s seen better days )


Yellow Archangel ( cultivar )


Tulip

Copyright Dean Stables

The difference....

..... between habitats & lights.
Here`s the results from trapping at 2 sites last night.

Wombwell Garden ( Woodland ) - 125w Mercury Vapour ;
Eriocrania subpurpurella 5, Brindled Pug 2, Engrailed 2, Early Tooth Striped 1, Purple Thorn 1 ( year tick ), Brindled Beauty 1 ( year tick ), Hebrew Character 3, Early Grey 1, Common Quaker 1, Small Quaker 3.

My Garden ( suburban ) - 22w Actinic ;
Light Brown Apple Moth 2, Hebrew Character 4.

Early Tooth-striped


Purple Thorn




Brindled Beauty


Engrailed


I suspect it would`ve been a much bigger catch, had it not been so cold overnight.

Moth Year List - 30

Copyright Dean Stables

Wednesday 11th April 2007

Cloudy am, Sunny pm, Light W
Managed a few year ticks today. First off was a garden year tick, when an immature Mute Swan flew S over the garden this morning.
Then the Wombwell garden produced 3 first moths of the year, with singles of Agonopterix alstromeriana, Early Tooth-striped & Shoulder Stripe. Only the latter would pose for its pic ;



Nothing else here, apart from huggins of Forget me Nots ;



The walk home along the western edge of Cortonwood produced my first Swallow of the year ( they say 1 swallow does`nt make a summer, but it certainly lifted my spirits ). Other highlights from here were ;
Chiffchaff 10, Blackcap 2, Willow Tit 1, Reed Bunting 1 & a single Speckled Wood.


Elm

The rest of the day was spent in my garden, where i recorded the following highlights ;
Sparrowhawk 2 females over, Common Buzzard 1 SE, Long-tailed Tit 2, Song thrush 1, Carrion Crow 4 on house roof. Also, singles of Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock & Comma.


Carrion Crow ( digiscoped )

Year Lists - updates ;
Local Area ( birds ) - 93
Cortonwoo