Footmen & Drinkers

Overnight temperatures back to normal, minimum last night 10.8C. A lot of moths in the trap but certainly it was more quantity than quality.  There were 137 moths of 25 species present, 6 new for the year after eventually identifying a micro moth as Gypsonoma dealbana. The others were a Flax Tortrix and four larger species, a bit larger with Willow Beauty, several The Clay, Common Footman and The Drinker.

The Drinker - named after it's caterpillar's likeness for dew but
to me,  they always seem a bit of a biffer who likes a pint or two.

Considering 99 moths were one of three species  Heart & Dart (41), Garden Grass Veneer (31) and Dark Arches (27).  I've only had a few Drinkers and there were 5 Common Footman present which was a good count for the garden so quite a fair night overall.

The Clay - one of the Wainscots - the male
has a triangular area of black hair on the underside of it's abdomen

Common Footman - five were caught last night,. They get their
name apparently, because they fold their wings straight
back like a liveried servant standing to attention or two.

Late this afternoon, a Ringlet was in the garden, though briefly. Nearby a Speckled Wood and a Grey Squirrel were seen.

Grey Squirrel - Still a timid creature around here

Root vegetables

Tried with the net again last night, the result was only 3 moths, single Large Yellow Underwing, Double Square-spot and a Shaded Broadbar. Never mind, practice makes perfect (who am I kidding?).

A Common Tern was again on the Wear this afternoon, by the roadbridge.

A short walk in the sunshine this afternoon produced quite a few butterflies, with Small Skipper, 

Small Skipper, the commonest butterfly today

Ringlet and Meadow Brown being the commonest, but also single this year brood Small Tortoiseshell and Comma as well as good numbers of Shaded Broad-bars. Dozens of Large Red-tailed Bumblebees were around too.

One of many Large Red-tailed Bumblebee on the wing today.

Single Common Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Chiffchaff  and 2 Blackcaps were heard and my first Willow Tit for a while

I added another 5 (well 4 actually, I had forgotten to count the Sandwort) to the flora list. These were Autumn Hawkbit, Three-nerved Sandwort, Wild Parsnip, Lesser Stitchwort and Hairy Tare. I had also found some more Common Corn-salad, in the carpark opposite Wilkinsons in the town centre earlier.

Lesser Stitchwort - new for the year

Wild Carrot - spreading in the Chester-le-Street area

Wild Parsnip - another root vegetable

The flowering plant list for the year here moves on to 280

Another beauty

I knew I would have not time this morning to check the trap and with it being so warm I did not want to leave any moths caught inside so I didn't put the trap out. Instead I had another go with the net and torch, and again I managed another one new for the year, despite my technique not being any better.
A nice Marbled Beauty managed to find it's way into the net

Marbled Beauty

 as did a Mottled Beauty and a Bordered White.

Bordered White

Today I checked the riverside after work, well actually the little bridge over the Cong Burn by the miniature railway compound and found what I was looking for, in the form of 3 Banded Demoiselle dragonflies (damselflies). This is a very good spot for them, though others occur at several spots along the Wear here too. The best sighting I had of this species was in June 2006 when in the main Front street one morning I found one fluttering against the window of the Red Lion public house.

When I got home I added another new species for the year in the form of a Red Admiral in the garden.

OFFH List this year

Flowering plants - 275

Birds - 104

Moths - 149

Butterflies - 18

Dragonflies - 5

Hoverflies - 9

Mammals - 10

A peppering of moths

Temperature minimum last night was 14.7C so I put the trap out. 118 moths of 32 species, the commonest being Heart & Dart (37), Garden Grass Veneer (26) and much more surprisingly, Peppered moth, with 10 being present. Five new ones for the year, a Skin Moth, the grass moth Agriphila straminella, Grey Dagger, an early Six-striped Rustic and two Pale Mottled Willow.

Six-striped Rustic - another early this year

I say Grey Dagger, but cannot rule out Dark Dagger. This moth cannot be readily distinguished as an adult from Grey Dagger except by examination of the genitalia, although in the caterpillar stage this is not a problem as the species are quite different.  Considering how rare Dark Dagger is in the county  (about half a dozen county records - all confirmed?), compared with Grey Dagger which is common, and certainly all that have been checked in the garden have been Grey. I have also found several larvae on the fell, again all Grey as opposed to zero Dark.

Probable Grey Dagger

As well as the moths caught overnight,  there a Common Green Lacewing and a Heather Fly (Bibio pomonae) in the trap this morning.

Heather Fly, the moorland cousin of the St. Mark's Fly

The warmest day of the year, with my little weather station showing a record maximum temperature (I got it at Christmas) of 28.7C at 13:50 hrs today Scorchio!

Common Whitethroat and Garden Warbler were both singing today and an Oyster-catcher flew over Chester Moor. More unusual was a small party of Goldfinch that contained an adult Siskin. Not sure where the Siskin came from as I haven't seen one since early March.

Common Whitethroat - still singing

Bulbous Buttercup, Meadow Cranesbill and Wild Carrot were added to the Flora List.

Meadow Cranesbill - some nice plants along the
Chester Moor end of Waldridge Lane

Butterflies were out in force with good numbers particularly of Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Small Heath and Small Skipper plus a few very fresh looking Small Tortoiseshell.

My first Strawberry of the year, though these wild ones aren't exactly filling

OFFH List this year

Flowering plants - 275

Birds - 104

Moths - 148

Butterflies - 17

Dragonflies - 4

Hoverflies - 9

Mammals - 10

Rain, bees and pollen

I was going to put the moth trap out but after more particularly heavy downpour and more to follow I decided against it and leave it until tonight. In between the showers I kept popping out with a light and net and caught a few things, though nothing new. Considering I'm not that good with a net I was fairly pleased with my catch of
1 Snout
3 Large Yellow Underwing
1 Double Square-spot
5 Heart & Dart
3 Dark Arches
1 Setaceous Hebrew Character
1 Garden Grass Veneer
and best of all 1 Ghost Moth.

But the ones that got away, that's another story


I added 4 more flowering plants to the list Large Bindweed, Common Knapweed, Rosebay Willowherb and Timothy, all in or around the garden.

Lots of Bumblebees in the garden with the foxgloves being very popular with the Garden Bumblebee Bombus hortorum. 

Bombus hortorum, the garden bumblebee

Hoverflies, have all been a bit scarce so far this year. I did have a Syrphus species, probably vitripennis and a couple of Eristalis tenax in the garden this morning but we need a couple days of some sun to get them out properly.  What has appeared in the garden in vast numbers is the Common Pollen Beetle (Meligethes aeneus).  This is that small black beetle with a metallic  blue-green sheen that gets everywhere.

Common Pollen Beetles in the garden - Huge numbers at the moment

Both Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff were heard singing while I  was in the garden though much of the bird song has now stopped

OFFH List this year

Flowering plants - 272

Birds - 104

Moths - 143

Butterflies - 17

Dragonflies - 4

Hoverflies - 9

Mammals - 10

Summer solstice arches

As last night was the longest day, despite the heavy rain showers, I put the moth trap out and was rewarded with 84 moths of 31 species, eight of them being new for the year.
These were a Poplar Hawkmoth,

Poplar Hawkmoth - My first of the year here but he's not too happy

a Burnished Brass,

Burnished Brass

 a Wormwood Pug, a Light Arches and four species of micro moth - Scoparia ambigualis, Dipleurina lacustrata,  Eucosma cana and a Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix.  Amongst the rest there were three Green Arches and 9 Dark Arches, the numbers of the latter, together with Large Yellow Underwings  are starting to rise. Heart & Darts (29 last night) should start to drop now.

The Three Arches - (front left to right - Dark Arches, Green Arches and Light Arches)

A Great spotted Woodpecker again flew over the garden as checked the the trap this morning and Wood Burdock is now in flower under the big hedge.

Ringlets & Damsels

As I suspected there were a few moths hiding in the Greenhouse when I checked late yesterday, the only additional species to the days catch was a Dusky Brocade.
It rained most of yesterday and overnight but this morning was not too bad until the rain at lunchtime. A short walk in between the afternoon's showers allow a few butterflies on the area behind the village to flex their wings. Quite a few Small Heath, Common Blue

Common Blue - Ragged after the heavy rain

and Meadow Brown were flying about and 3 Ringlets, the first of the year, bringing the butterfly year list up to 17. 

Ringlets - This species only arrived on the Fell a few years ago

As I walked through the grass I was putting up the grass moth Crambus lathoniellus and 20 or so Shaded Broad-bar.

Shaded Broad-bar - a common moth both at the trap and in long grass

Two Common Blue and a single Blue-tailed Damselfly were also flushed out of the grass. A single plants of Upright Hedge-parsley was found in flower adding to the the year's flora list as did Crested Dog's-tail, Wild Privet and  Hedge Woundwort.
There was still a fair bird of bird song about, with most of summer visitors  still singing, even if only in snatches. Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Common & Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, Garden Warbler and Cuckoo all being heard.

OFFH List this year

Flowering plants - 268

Birds - 104

Moths - 135

Butterflies - 17

Dragonflies - 4

Hoverflies - 8

Mammals - 10