Sightings

February 2009

Sunday 15th

Found my first House Spider of the year in our kitchen sink this morning.  It was a decent size, but not as big as some that I have seen.  Rescued it from the sink and released back on the floor in a dark corner of the room.

Tuesday 17th

Caught our first moths of the year in our garden moth trap on a night where the minimum temperature was seven degrees.  One was a Chestnut, while the second was a micro moth which was identified as Ypsolopha ustella.

Wednesday 18th

Dotted Border	Early Moth	Pale Brindled Beauty
Dark Chestnut	Chestnut

Another night where the temperature held up to seven degrees, and it was a good catch for us.  Dotted Border (melanic form) and Early Moth were both new for the garden, Pale Brindled Beauty and Dark Chestnut were new for this year and a few more Chestnuts made up the numbers.

Saturday 21st

Crocus

Primrose

Snowdrops

Ran the moth trap in the garden again, but it only contained a single Chestnut when we emptied it this morning.  Crocus and Primrose have joined the Snowdrops that have been out in the garden for a while now.  Chaffinch numbers appear to be building up again, and they were joined by a Yellowhammer and a Nuthatch today.

Sunday 22nd

Dotted Border

Pale Brindled Beauty

Early Moth

Nothing completely new in the moth trap this morning, but the two Dotted Borders were our first non-melanic ones.  A Pale Brindled Beauty and an Early Moth were also found. A Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Long-tailed Tit and two Yellowhammers visited the garden through the day.

Wednesday 25th

Saw a Fox in the garden for the first time this year - still haven't seen a Badger yet.  Ran the moth trap overnight, but there weren't any moths in it on Thursday morning.

Friday 27th

Castle Hill	View from Castle Hill	Speedwell
Dandelion	Red Dead-nettle

First trip this year to Scarborough's Castle Hill.  Not much wildlife seen, with a few flies being the only insects out and about and birds limited to Wren, Chaffinch, Blackbird and Wood Pigeon.  Flowers included Speedwell (Germander?), Dandelion, Red Dead-nettle, Snowdrops and Daisies.  No sign of any Lesser Celandine flowers so far.

Saturday 28th

Hebrew Character

Pale Brindled Beauty

The lowest temperature in the garden last night was six degrees, but it felt colder in the breeze and I was expecting an empty moth this morning.  Instead, we found two moths in there - Hebrew Character was our first this year, and another Pale Brindled Beauty.

 

About these sightings

This is a list of the wildlife I've seen recently, along with any photos I managed to take at the time.  Click on the small photos on this page to open a larger version in a new window.

Any references to 'home' or 'my garden' refer to the Newby area of Scarborough, North Yorkshire.

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