Saturday 25 June 2016

25th June

It’s almost exactly 70 years since the Yorkshire Naturalist’s Union held one of their annual excursions in Ainderby. The report on what they saw is a fascinating document on how things have changed in the parish. In part to mark this ‘anniversary’ the Botanical Society of the British Isles held a field meeting in the village today. We started in the Magic Garden and heading down to unlock the gate I saw my first Ringlet of the year along with three or four Speckled Woods.


In the garden a Little Grebe was sitting on eggs and at least one Reed Warbler was still singing away.


We later walked over to the ‘rich ditch’ and I flushed a Green Sandpiper from the residual flood pools in this field. This was a new species for the year and my first ever June sighting. Was it a very late migrant or an early returning non-breeder?  I also had two ‘hawkers’ here, a large unidentified dragonfly and a Hurricane from the Battle of Britain flight en route from Leeming.

The plant list was good and we re-found a number of the species mentioned in the 1946 report albeit in isolated pockets. Pick of the sightings though was this Opposite Leaved Pondweed  (Groenlandia densa)…



This was mentioned as being seen in Ainderby in a Victorian flora so it was very gratifying to find it still clinging on. Linda Robinson is the botanical recorder for Vice-county 65 (North-west Yorkshire) and this was the first one she had ever seen in her recording area. 

Saturday 18 June 2016

18th June

I popped down to the magic garden this afternoon to look for butterflies but the sun was at best intermittent and I only managed four Green-veined White. As I got close to the lake a Cormorant flapped heavily off the water and then I heard the unmistakeable chugging song of a Reed Warbler.
The bird was singing from the reeds at the north end of the island. As I searched for this bird I heard a second in the reeds along the bank! This is the first multiple sighting I have had in the village. These birds weren’t here on Thursday so are they very late migrants?  As usual they were very hard to pick out but I spotted the one bird in the reeds and managed to get two quick shots off before it disappeared back out of sight.



Their songs included some excellent mimicry with Reed Bunting, Blue Tit, Blackcap and Starling all in there whilst the one bird started each of its songs with a pitch perfect impression of a Swallow’s alarm note. If one or both of these birds stayed on to breed it would be the first confirmed nesting since the late 1940s.  

Near here I could hear the calls of young birds from an old apple tree , I put the lens to the hole and took one shot. The result is this chiaroscuro image of young Blue tits.


Tuesday 14 June 2016

14th June

Confirmation that the micro moth on Saturday night was indeed Prochoreutis myllerana, the first record for vice-county 65 (North-west Yorkshire) and one of less than a dozen records for the whole of Yorkshire.


It also emphasises how rich the Magic Garden’s tiny remnant of fen is. Imagine how good it would be if this could be extended (and also how fantastic the habitat must have been when the whole of Ainderby Bottoms was marshland).
I have started to notice some of the other insects here too although from a base of almost non-existent knowledge. This striking creature is a species of Scorpion Fly…



And this is Heliophilus pendulus, a rather distinctive species of hoverfly..


Birds on the other hand have been harder work although everything was in fine voice this evening in a late burst of sunshine…


and in abjectly failing to photograph swifts this evening I did at least capture this cloudscape...


Sunday 12 June 2016

12th June

It was National Moth Night so John decided to set up traps in the Magic Garden despite a rather unpromising weather forecast. This time we put one in an area of conifers which we hadn’t used before. My son Frank spotted a tiny moth perched on a pine branch as we set up, it was Spotted Shoot Moth, a new species for the parish!
The night had seen quite a lot of rain but nonetheless it was a reasonable catch with over 50 species. However the murky, overcast conditions this morning did not make for easy photography!  Pick of the catch for me was this lovely Green Silver Lines, a welcome new species for the parish.


This Green Arches was another striking addition to the list


And although we’ve caught a number of them I can’t resist these Scorched Wing moths…


And these brilliant little Buff Tips imitating fragments of Silver Birch…

And it’s always nice to get a couple of these gaudy Elephant Hawk Moths in the traps


Best find however, but still to be confirmed, was a tiny micro called Prochoreutis myllerana. No photo yet but this is a genuine Yorkshire rarity with less than a dozen records and these mainly towards the south of the county. Significantly, their foodplant is Skullcap which still clings on in the fen area of the Garden. 

Monday 6 June 2016

6th June

Things change rapidly now the sun has deigned to make an appearance. A couple of days ago the Magic Garden was full of Blue-tailed Damselflies but yesterday I only saw a single example, where have they gone? Instead their place had been taken by a host of Azure Damselflies…


A male Large Red Damselfly was here too…


Half a dozen butterfly species were around the garden but still in very low numbers, in fact they were outnumbered by day-flying Silver-ground Carpet moths…


I thought I would also include this rather magnificent fungus (photobombed by my youngest son!). It’s the evocatively named Dryad’s Saddle. Supposedly edible when young but not sure I fancy it…


Saturday 4 June 2016

4th June

A little bit of sunshine makes a big difference…the first (female) Banded Demoiselle was out by the river


And there were now dozens of Blue-tailed Damselflies in the Magic Garden…



my first Painted Lady for a couple of years was on the river bank…


Looking equally striking with its wings closed…


And I also finally managed a single photo of Brimstone butterfly…


Incidentally this is a Brimstone moth on the outside of one of  last weekend’s traps...


Talking of moths, if you have been watching Springwatch this week you’ll have seen mention of the Diamondback moth which is a continental immigrant. John Edwards texted me last night to suggest going out in the garden as there has obviously been a massive influx of this tiny moth. Sure enough as I opened the back door I saw one straight away and a quick late night walk down Warlaby Lane turned up many more. John caught 78 in his garden trap alone so the overall numbers arriving must be in the many millions.