Kirkstall Hill Large Skipper

After work I strolled over to nearby Kirkstall Hill where I spotted this male Large Skipper feeding on Red Clover, a first for this year, and a super sighting so close to home.  Previously I've struggled to distinguish between the Small and Large Skippers but this pic clearly shows the mottled wings of a Large Skipper rather than the cleaner golden wings of a Small Skipper, and the prominent diagonal black mark on the forewing indicates the male of the species.

Kirkstall Hill is adjacent to the busy crossroads of Kirkstall Lane and Morris Lane, and forms a steep south west facing grassland area.  The tall growing grasses are dotted with patches of red and white clover, buttercups, common vetch, birdsfoot trefoil, ribwort plantain, dandelion. Despite the discarded cans and bottles, the top path offers a great view towards Kirkstall Abbey and the Aire valley beyond, but I have to admit that this golden winged wonder was the highlight of my evening stroll.

Kirkstall creatures - Banded Demoiselles

Walking along the riverbank by Kirkstall Abbey, I encountered my first Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens). Yipee! On a sunny, south facing bank males and females settled amongst the leaves of tall growing nettles and Himalayan Balsam. The males were easily identifiable, with their dark banded wings and appeared more restless than the females (pictured above) which lack the coloured wing band. The body colouring of the male (below) is a metallic blue green, the females are a metallic green with a bronze coloured tip.

More information about Banded Demoiselles on the Yorkshire Branch of the British Dragonfly Society.

Small Copper in the Churchyard of St John the Baptist, Adel

During this weekend's variable weather we made the most of periodic sunshine and dropped in to the churchyard of St John the Baptist, Adel to see what was around.

Amidst the grassland, in sunny intervals, we were delighted by five or six Small Copper (Lycaena phlaes). Showing their bright copper coloured forewings, this pair headed towards us from the centre of the grassland to settle arms length away and feed from a buttercup. The churchyard contains patches of other foodplants, Hawkweed, Daisy, Dandelion, and Common Sorrel the larval foodplant of the butterfly.  

A Robin settled on a gravestone, accompanied in the churchyard by Blackbird, Wren, Goldfinch, Dunnock, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Crow and Magpie.

A common moth Silver Ground Carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata) settled in the grass.



Fairburn Ings

Our first damselflies of the year appeared in numbers at Fairburn Ings RSPB. This pair of Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula), an early and widespread species, settled on the roughly painted edge of the boardwalk while a dozen zipped around a bank of vegetation adjoining the stream. It provided a good opportunity to dust off my copy of the 'Field Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Great Britain and Ireland, S Brooks', where I read that the adults live on average between five and seven days, so they're unlikely to be around on my return.

Throughout our wander we heard the call of a male Cuckoo, settled just far enough away to remain out of view. At one point a blue butterfly, more Common Blue than Holly Blue darted past, the only exception to four or five Whites, the number of butterflies limited as a result of blustery winds. 

In the hedgerow surrounding the car park, we noticed hundreds of these tent making caterpillars, Spindle Ermine Moth perhaps?

We parked ourselves down by the pond for a few minutes to enjoy the view, surrounded by an abundance of fresh and vibrant, vertical green reeds, lit up by the afternoon sun. 

Hosta leaf

The large ribbed leaves of a variegated hosta, potted up in my back garden seem to retain raindrops more effectively than the surrounding plants. Undeterred by the failing light I snapped away to catch the quartet of glistening raindrops before they disappeared.