Heatwave heaven at Strensall

Yesterday I spent the whole day at Strensall Common surveying Dark Bordered Beauties along with Dave Wainwright, Terry Crawford, Penny Relf, Tallulah Gullett, and, in the afternoon, a whole crowd of people from Golder Associates. 

Strensall Beauties

Over the last few weeks, I have been trained to monitor the Dark Bordered Beauty moth on Strensall Common. 

Vid-cast of my latest paper

Click here to watch and listen

On the trail of two Yorkshire rarities.

Last Sunday I had the opportunity to hop it to the Moors again, and I was very happy because the weather forecast was quite good, and it was about the right time of year to find two of Yorkshire’s special butterflies; Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary and Large Heath.

Ashberry Pasture

Yesterday I had the opportunity to take the car and do a long walk, so I headed for Ashberry Pasture near Rievaulx for a six-miler, hoping to see some nice plants and insects. The plants didn’t disappoint.

Mothing in Dalby

We set three moth traps out around Dalby forest during the field course, and on Thursday, Terry Crawford of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union Lepidoptera Group came out to tell us about them. Here we are plus some of the catch!

Ellerburn Pilgrimage

I’m tempted to say that I only really feel complete when I’m in  a place like Ellerburn Bank. I kept saying to myself how lucky I was to be alive in a place like that.

Climbing Hawnby Hill

We visited Hawnby Hill in Upper Ryedale last autumn to see the heather, but didn’t climb it. Last weekend we did.

Britain’s Rarest Butterfly

The Duke of Burgundy is likely to have the lowest population size of any UK butterfly species. Although it’s found at around 100 sites in the UK  still, the peak count of individuals at most sites is only around 12, making it possible that the total national population is less than 1000 adults. It has declined by a staggering 80% in the last 30 years.

All on Creeping Willow

On Friday morning, Terry Crawford showed Penny Relf and me around the dark Bordered Beauty Transect on Strensall Common. We found lots of creeping willow, the foodplant of the moth, which bodes well for it. We also found loads of other moths and butterflies, all seemingly nectaring on the willow flowers: