Trevor has alerted us to the good news this last week for the river Don with the completion of the Masbrough Weir fish pass at Forge Island in Rotherham.
With Sheffield City Council also finishing the fish pass on Sanderson’s weir, this opens the entire migratory route from the North Sea to spawning grounds in and upstream of Sheffield.
Perhaps soon there will be a sustainable salmon population in the River Don after an absence of around 200 years. An adult salmon was found in the river Don in Sheffield last year so they are on their way.
Category: Information
Rearing Orange Tip butterflies
– quite a challenge!
Rearing Orange Tip butterflies. This week, I have started rearing four Orange Tip caterpillars, found on the seed pods of the Garlic Mustard plants in my garden.
The caterpillars are now indoors, in the gauze cage that I had used originally to rear my Painted Ladies a few years ago. They are still on the same plants (in a small vase) and they are munching away, day and night, at the long seed pods and are hopefully free from parasitic flies, birds etc.
Currently about 12mm long, they will develop (hopefully) to about 3.5cm.
Difficult to see and photograph because of their very small size (short and thin). They are well camouflaged, mimicking the seed pods along which they are resting.
You might notice the presence of small clear beads of liquid topping the black hairs on each caterpillar’s back. No one really knows their purpose, perhaps a guard against predators?
The caterpillars will eventually pupate at the 5th (and final) Instar into a Gondola boat-shaped Chrysalis, fastened to a stem with a silken girdle around its waist and a silk pad at its tail end.
Then it’s a long wait until next Spring when they will metamorphose into beautiful adult (Imago) butterflies.
These caterpillars are cannibalistic and the female Orange Tip usually only lays one egg per plant.
I’m hoping to photo-document their progress if I can, that is if they don’t eat each other! Lots of fun! Alwyn.
Barnsley Butterfly Atlas
A request for help with the Barnsley Butterfly Atlas …
Following a suggestion from Alwyn, a trustee of the Barnsley Biodiversity Trust, the Barnsley Butterfly Atlas project was launched in May 2017 by Sorby Natural History Society and Barnsley Biological Record Centre, with support from the Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership. The project aims to map the distribution of all the butterfly species found across the area of the borough of Barnsley in the 20 year period from 2000 to 2020. [Perhaps with the lockdown we need an extra year?]
So now we are asked to contribute our records of butterfly sightings … from our usual patch or perhaps somewhere different that has not been recorded so much before.
How far have we got: There are distribution maps from data held by BBRC at 07 January 2020 on this Sorby NHS webpage; they show where more recording is needed. http://www.sorby.org.uk/groups/sorby-invertebrate-group/barnsley-butterfly-atlas/
For further information from the start of the project: https://discoverdearne.org.uk/barnsley-butterfly-atlas/
For information about local butterflies: http://www.barnsleybiodiversity.org.uk/butterflies.html
For tips on identifying butterflies: http://butterfly-conservation.org/50/identify-a-butterfly.html
To get the ball rolling, here are some butterfly records from Peter and Annefie’s walk on Saturday …
Date: Saturday 2 May 2020
Location: Falthwaite & Lowe Wood LWS
Comment: On Wild Garlic and other flowering plants near Stainborough Dike
Grid Reference: 4-figure /1km square: SE3103 [Six-figure reference: from SE318039 to SE314039]
Observer: Peter and Annefie Roberts
Species: Brimstone (2), Comma (1), Holly Blue (1), Orange-tip (Males & Females, numerous), Small White (numerous), Speckled wood (1).
We will send them to Barnsley Biological Record Centre (BBRC): [email protected].
[Note the change of email address during the lockdown]
Social media …
Barnsley Nats posts on both twitter [and more occasionally facebook]. You can see what we post, ‘retweet’ and ‘like’ on our social media page.
A twitter post tagged @Barnsley_Nats with an image to identify recently had us thinking. Kent and Doug agreed it was a type of ichneumon wasp. However these are notoriously difficult to id at species level without using a microscope …
Photo competition
Later this year, the exhibition ‘International Garden Photographer of the Year’, is due at Cannon Hall. Hopefully all open by late August when it arrives here!
The photo competition ‘Beautiful Barnsley’ is a good opportunity to celebrate the landscapes, green spaces and biodiversity of Barnsley, from the moors to the Dearne valley. The competition is now closed so we will now wait to see the results.
Barnsley Nats Agm March 2020
Barnsley Nats AGM in March 2020 unfortunately had to be cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic restriction.
It has been agreed that the committee elected in 2019 will continue until the restrictions have ended.
The papers for the meeting are available here:
[Just click on the link to read online]
Notes of Annual General Meeting 2019
2019-2020 Report
Records Report
2019-2020 accounts
Books that may be of interest
Recommended by the Wharncliffe Heath Trust at their presentation on April 3rd
Ferel; G Monbiot
Grazing Ecology and Forest History; F Vera
Wilding: I Tree
Grasses, Sedges and Rushes
“Sedges have edges, rushes are round, grasses have knees that bend to the ground.”
This little witty rhyme may be used to separate these three plants into there correct category.
The stems of sedges and rushes are solid; in cross-section the stems of rushes are round, while those of sedges are triangular and so have edges.
Back From Our Summer Break
Wednesday 2nd October
We are looking forward to seeing you all at the first indoor meeting of our Autumn and Winter Programme. As usual, we start with a members evening sharing knowledge and observations. This of a less formal structure than the meetings with guest speakers. Very much a catch up and news of what everyone has spotted over the break; multi-topic and hopefully with some interesting finds, images and stories. Please take part: it’s always really interesting to hear from a variety of people.
Our printed Autumn and Winter Programme will also be available.
Back Soon
Our Autumn and Winter Programme starts with an indoor meeting on Wednesday October 2nd; Presentation by Members. A chance to have a catch-up on what our members have been doing over our summer recess.
Planning is now well underway
Planning for our Autumn Winter programme is taking place. If anybody would like us to include something please drop us a line. As usual we are aiming for an array of field visits and indoor meetings. Nature inspired along with the many scientific processes behind them.
Saturday 23rd February
There are two activities that we have the option of attending on this date. South Yorkshire Natural History Day or Your Woods Your Future
South Yorkshire Natural History Day.
This event is taking place at the Treeton Miners Welfare, Arundel Street, Treeton, S60 5PW; OS grid Ref SK430876. The meeting will start at 10:00 am and finish at approximately 15:20 pm. Off street parking is available for visitors travelling by car. Buses run from, both, Sheffield and Rotherham; please check www.travelsouthyorkshire.com for up to date information.
There are planned intervals throughout the day; with refreshments available from the bar; prices reasonable.
There will be a number of talks, presentations and displays on many natural history topics of South Yorkshire. Ornothology, Sundew Plume Moth, crayfish and flies are among the topics being covered; full details on the Sorby website.
Booking a place at this event is free and can be done via email to Peter Clegg [email protected]. Further / changed information can be obtained from the Sorby website
Your Woods Your Future
This event will take place in The Ironworks building in the Elsecar Heritage Centre, Wath Road, Elsecar, S74 8HJ, OS Grid Ref SK384999. This meeting will start at 10:00 am and finish at 16:00 pm approximately. There is a large car park at the Heritage Centre to which is on Wentworth Road (SK384998). From there it is a short walk into the Heritage Centre grounds; which consist of a number of building with good signposting enabling you to get to the correct one. Elsecar Train Station is a short walk away; with trains from both Barnsley and Sheffield. Please check times and be aware that some trains do not stop at Elsecar. Buses run from Barnsley; please check on times and services; www.travelsouthyorkshire.com. Tea and Coffee are mentioned on the itinerary, but no there is no mention of cost. There is a cafe in the Heritage Centre and a pub on the edge of the car park.
This presentation is organised by the Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership (DVLP). Some of the topics being covered are woodland archaeology, biological recording and Willow Tits; all of the topics are related to the woodland environment.
To book to attend this event please go to www.eventbrite.com/e/your-woods-your-future where there is a link to the Register page
Some sad news:
Gordon Bristowe, Barnsley Naturalist and Scientific Society President for over 15 years, passed away early on the morning of Wednesday 6th February following time in hospital and a care home.
We remembered Gordon at our Barnsley Nats meeting on that Wednesday evening.
He was our President for many years, a fount of knowledge on all aspects of natural history, and always ready to share his knowledge.
Originally a ‘birder’ he developed a keen interest in all forms of plants. He surveyed a number of kilometre squares in Barnsley for the South Yorkshire Plant Atlas and contributed his extensive plant records to the Barnsley Biological Record Centre.
Gordon was a keen and expert photographer and was instrumental in bringing the Society – and its members – into the digital age. He launched the society’s website, took care of all of the society’s equipment, and supported their use for digital presentations at meetings.
We have many memories of Gordon and he will be much missed.
A good crowd of people heard Ron Marshall talking about Chile yesterday evening at a Barnsley Nats meeting.
Lots of fantastic images of the landscape and wildlife with some great shots of a family group of pumas. Well done Ron.
Barnsley Nats
Barnsley Nats brings together people with an interest in the natural world in and around Barnsley. We like to learn about wildlife and all aspects of nature and to share knowledge and information. There is also a social dimension to our activities.
We have a programme of talks and field visits throughout the year. We will put more on this our revamped website soon