Natural History in Barnsley
There is a good show of flowers on the TPT at Thurgoland, as spotted by Doug; in amongst the Yellow Rattle, Bedstraw and Crosswort was the rarer Dyers Greenweed. Dyers Greenweed is visited by many butterflies and moths including the Green Hairstreak. He also heard a Cuckoo calling.
As good a time of year as any to be out and about looking at our wonderful nature. To find out more drop us an email or join us on a walk or at a meeting; anyone with an interest in nature is welcome to come along.
We had a great walk yesterday at Wortley Hall gardens and parkland; there were quite a few colourful fungi to spot
We had a pleasant and interesting walk around the TPT and River Don in Oxspring, ending at Willow Bridge, an ancient packhorse bridge over the river Don, where we observed at least three species of bats: Daubenton, Pipestrelle and Soprano Pipestrelle.
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.
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.
For our field visit on Saturday 13 August 2022, twelve of us followed a route from the Royd Moor Hill view point above Thurlstone, down High Bank Lane to a former quarry. Four years ago in August 2018, Alwyn Timms led a Barnsley Nats group on a walk to count Wall Brown butterflies in this area. We decided to repeat the walk, a good way to remember Alwyn.
We counted 24 Wall Brown along High Bank Lane, equalling the 2018 number, far more than the recce the previous week.
We also had 8 Small Copper, 4 Red Admiral and 3 Small Tortoiseshell. And single examples of six other butterfly species. There were Gatekeeper in abundance a week ago but only one this time!
Images: Chris Tomson and Peter Roberts
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. ? ?
