Natural History in Barnsley
Great to see so many this last Saturday morning at RSPB Adwick Washlands; a good birding session with splendid weather! Thanks to Lesley for leading the field visit and for producing the bird species list. As usual, great for a variety of wintering birds; a highlight was the five or six Tree Sparrows in the hedges at the Bolton-upon-Dearne end of the reserve. And of course we examined the lichens as well!
Here are some of Ron Marshall’s photographs of Redstarts and Whinchat taken at Broomhill in August 2023.
Images by Ron Marshall
Spoonbills have been seen in the Dearne Valley wetland reserves for a just a few years. Here are some images taken by Ron Marshall in 2022 and 2o23.
Our field visit this Saturday morning was to the Denby Delf nature reserve, managed by the Garganey Trust, near Upper Denby, just over the Barnsley border from Ingbirchworth and Gunthwaite.
It’s made up of meadows, heathland, acid grassland, scrub and woodland in old quarry workings. The reserve has spectacular views over to Emley Moor and down the Dearne Valley. https://garganeytrust.org.uk/reserves/denby-delf/
The meadow was unmown and there were still orchids, just going over. There were lots of speckled wood, meadow brown and ringlet butterflies. Birds included yellowhammer, skylark, and meadow pipit; plants common spotted orchid, yellow rattle, tormentil etc. And much more. A brilliant site and well worth coming again!
Images: Chris Tomson
Great find on a recent visit to Potteric Carr.
On an old pallet and about 5 mm diameter in size.
Has any one seen the Green Comet ? Doug asks.
The Green Comet will be closest to the earth and the brightest on the 1st February. It will be difficult to see being faint but observable.
It was last seen from earth 50,000 years ago in the Stone Age.
I can just about remember it. Doug.
An afternoon of surprises, as yesterday I found Dog Stinkhorn in Langford Wood, with Blackening Waxcap and Pestle Puffball on the stack at Dodworth . Quite a few Fly Agarics on the climb up to the Stack. Doug
58 glowing glowworms counted in the cutting along the TPT at Thurgoland on Wednesday evening, 17 August 2022. 78 were counted on Saturday 27 August 2022. Doug Brown carries out a count twice a week each summer.
Great Egret photographed at Broomhill Flash by Ron Marshall on Wednesday 27 July
The Silver-washed Fritillary butterfly, predominately found in southern England, is expanding its range. They have been recorded at Brockadale, we have been told, for the last four years. Are they likely to be found in Barnsley?
Alwyn Timms recorded one in Hugset Wood in 2014. Here are some of his images:
It’s been recorded occasionally since then.
Worth looking out for!
As you know due to the current lockdown restrictions and travel allowed only in our local area, we’ve all had to spend a lot more time in the Barnsley area. Not least Ron Marshall. ‘Any sunny, fine evening [of which there’s not been many] I have spent with this glorious Barn Owl.
Hope to see you in the New Year! Stay safe and well. Ron and Joyce.
I’ve got a cricket and a ladybird to share with you. I was washing the car one morning and noticed this insect just sitting there on the alloy wheel!
I think it’s a male Oak Bush Cricket- Meconema thalassinum. Males have two short rounded claspers as in the picture, whereas females have a long ovipositor at the end of their body. More
I think it’s there because I have about a dozen oak trees in my garden that might have attracted it, albeit they are miniatures. It looked as if it was still forming as it was so fresh and green. Such a beautiful creature!
I thought crickets sang (stridulate) with rubbing their legs together, this is not the case. It’s grasshoppers that do this. Apparently both the male and female cricket have a ridged vein at the base of their forewings that acts as a scraper. To sing they pull this ridge vein against the upper surface of the opposite wing, causing a vibration amplified by the thin membrane of the wing. More
We have all tried at times to locate crickets when we could hear them chirping in the grass. But their hearing is so acute that they can sense the vibrations of your feet so stop singing. A great defence from predators with their hearing.
And then, whilst cutting some shrubs back in my garden, I acquired this ladybird on my blue fleece. It hitched a ride into the house, where I supposed it was trying to get somewhere warm for winter.
I think it is a Two-spot Adalia bipunctata f. quadrimaculata red-on-black four spotted form. The black versions are more common in the north as this “melanism” helps them to absorb heat from the sun. These are much smaller than the harlequin, at about 5mm, and as you can see the underside is black and has black legs. Harlequins have reddish-brown legs, and orange abdomen.
Cheers Andy, keep safe and well. ? ?
The glowworm season started earlier this year at our site near Thurgoland with the first glowworm being recorded glowing on the 30 May, after a few weeks of hot dry weather. On the following three visits, the weather was wet with low glowworm counts.
The counts and the weather started to improve towards the end of June with a count of 11 on midsummer day (they usually peak around the 21st ). I was now expecting numbers to drop, but they kept increasing with 19 on the 1st July dropping to 7 on the 8th July; it was heavy rain which they do not seem to like!
Ten days later 48 were counted in the better weather. The numbers kept up throughout July/August with a peak of 55 on the 13th September (with a possible high percentage of juveniles).
Numbers slowly fell for the next two visits to the end of September – at this stage I thought I would be counting until Christmas – but then at the start of October numbers reduced dramatically and the 2020 glowworm season finished on the 21st October.
The length of the season has been 144 days compared to 132 days in 2019. Why this is, is unclear at the moment. Records compiled by Doug Brown.
[Congratulations Doug on your persistence and stamina! Thanks to Pete Riley for the images]
Is anyone able to identify the larvae in these photos? We wonder if they are greater wax moths but they seem to have a black head and our understanding is that greater wax moths have a brown head.
This example was found attached to the outside of a polystyrene hive between the roof and the hive strap (holding the lid down).
There was a slight grove under the silk case which appeared to be where the larvae had chewed the polystyrene!
Thanks, Barnsley Beekeepers Association.
The Brown Shrike is a very rare visitor to our shores from Eastern Europe and most of the few records are on the east coast of Great Britain. So when one turned up in West Yorkshire (so near to Barnsley) this was a major bird watching event. This was a first ever record for West Yorkshire.
The bird was discovered on Sunday 18th October and stayed until Thursday 22nd October. In that time most Barnsley birdwatchers made the short journey to South Kirby to see the bird, many wishing that the bird could fly another couple of miles into the Barnsley recording area.
Keep safe and hope to see you all soon. Ron and Joyce
