Category: Sightings and observations

Denby Delf —Saturday 8 July

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

Silver-washed Fritillary in Barnsley?

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!

Barn owl in December 2020

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. 

The cricket and the ladybird

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. ? ?

2020 Glowworm site report

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]

An ID request from a beekeeper

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.

Brown Shrike


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

A visit to the dentist …

I had a wonderful visit to dentist last week as you do and I was amazed at what I saw. I was waiting to go inside and I noticed on the black handrail at the front there were some ladybirds and larvae, sunning themselves in warm sunshine.

The first one was a Harlequin -Harmonia axyiridis f.succinea with larva. This lady bird has a distinctive white spot on its head. The larva on right looks as though it has been feasting on aphids.

As I was coming out of the dentist, I noticed another Harlequin a bit further along the handrail.

This was a Harmonia axyridis f.spectabilis with larva as well.

I think the larva on the right is moving into the pupa stage.

For my hat trick of ladybirds, I have a 22 spot Psyllobora vigintduopunctata discovered in under growth at Barnsley Main Heritage site in the Timber Yard whilst digging out.

This is one of only three yellow ladybirds in the UK.

The other two are both 14 spot black on yellow and yellow on black.

I shall endeavour to find the other two!

Oh the joys of nature keeping us sane!
Cheers from Andy, keep safe and well. ????